WON TON and CHOPSTICK- Lee Wardlaw

I'm still reviewing CYBILS nominees. Today's offering WONTON AND CHOPSTICK by Lee Wardlaw, is a sequel to WONTON, a story about a shelter cat and the boy who takes him home. Wonton and Chopstick is  broken into chapters, just like the original. In the first chapter, WONTON has become very comfortable in his routines.

The Routine

Nap, play, bathenap, eat, repeatpractice makes purr fect.

One day, he senses something different in the house. A new puppy has come home. And the adjustment is a little difficult.

The Surpriseputhimoutputhimoutputhimoutputhim-- waitI said him,  not me.  

Eventually Won-Ton and the intruder become co-conspirators.

You shouldn't rummagethrough the rubbishbut what's doneis done so…Let's eat!

And of course, ultimately they become friends.

Your secret revealed.What kind of name is Basho?I shall call you…Friend. 

Sweet, predictable, one that the little guys are sure to ask for again and again.

* I'm not sure why, but Blogspot is being difficult today and won't let me do line breaks. My apologies to Lee Wardlaw!

THE POPCORN ASTRONAUTS- Deborah Ruddell

I've spent the last two and half months as a first round poetry judge for the CYBILS award. We were charged with the task of choosing seven books from 48 terrific nominations, and The Popcorn Astronauts And Other Bite-able Rhymes by Deborah Ruddell was one of the seven finalists we selected. The book includes 21 poems about food, organized by season: spring is smoothies and guacamole, summer is, of course, watermelon, Fall is baked potatoes and brownies, and winter is popcorn, mac and cheese, and brownies. One of my fellow judges, Nancy Bo Flood, describes the book in this way:

"Delicious. Ridiculous. Funny. Engaging. Popcorn Astronauts offers a variety of “edible” poems that are as strange and crazy as the book’s title. For example, try a shake ordered to poetic specifications: “A frosty cup of moonlight, please … As mushy as a mittenful of slightly melted snow ….” If that is a little on the chilly side, then try “Dracula’s Late-Night Bite,”especially after he “flosses his fangs and he slides out the door for dessert.” Great poems to cause both laughter and interest in young readers and examples for writing one’s own delicious verse."
Nancy Bo Flood, ReaderKidz

Arrival of the Popcorn Astronauts
The daring popcorn astronauts
are brave beyond compare--
they scramble into puffy suits
and hurtle through the air.

And when they land, we say hooray
and crowd around the spot
to salt the little astronauts
and eat them while they're hot.

- Deborah Ruddell


And one of my personal favorites:

How a Poet Orders a Shake
"A frosty cup of moonlight, please"
the poet murmurs low.
As mushy as a mittenful
of slightly melted snow...

"And softer than a summer cloud
and paler than a swan
and pearlier than polar bears,"
the poet rambles on.

And let it be at least as sweet
as icing on a cake
In other words, my usual:
a small vanilla shake.
- - Deborah Ruddell

For reviews of the other six finalists, go to the CYBILS website.

Tabatha is hosting Poetry Friday this week at The Opposite of Indifference.

OVER THE HILLS AND FAR AWAY: A TREASURY OF NURSERY RHYMES- collected by Elizabeth Hammill

I almost always give books when I am invited to a baby shower. Let other people give nighties, and nose sucker outers and bath towels and bibs. This week, while reading for the CYBILS, I found a nursery rhyme collection that I am going to be giving for a long time.

150 nursery rhymes and songs- many traditional and well known. Some less so. Arranged so that versions from different countries are on facing pages, or sometimes spread over four pages.  Each two page spread, or sometimes a page, is illustrated by a different artist from the English speaking world. Some are well known- think Ashley Bryan, Eric Carle, Bob Graham, Shirley Hughes, Pat Hutchins, Jon Klassen, Jerry Pinkney, Chris Raschka. Others are emerging illustrators.

The book benefits Seven Stories, Britain's National Centre for Children's Books (which looks like someplace I would definitely like to visit if I ever get back to the United Kingdom).

A perfect gift for any baby or young child!

CHANGES BY CHARLOTTE ZOLOTOW

If she were still alive, Charlotte Zolotow would turn 100 this year. Just in case you don't know Zolotow's work, she was an editor of children's books, and worked with authors like Laura Ingalls Wilder, Maurice Sendak, and Arnold Lobel. And she was the author of more than 90 books of her own, including William's Doll, Mr. Rabbit and the Lovely Present, and My Grandson Lew. Zolotow actually died in 2013, in the home she had lived in for more than 55 years.

It seems only fitting, then, to honor her long legacy with a new book. CHANGES came out this year. The book includes 28 poems, arranged according to season. There is also a foreword by Zolotow's daughter, Crescent Dragonwagon.  The poems are lovely, and gentle, and cyclical, and comforting. A perfect lap book for opening a young child's ear and heart to poetry.


"Change"

This summer
still hangs
heavy and sweet
with sunlight
as it did last year

The autumn
still comes
showering cold and crimson
as it did last year.

The winter
still stings
clean and cold and white
as it did last year.

The spring
still comes
like a whisper in the dark night.

It is only I
who have changed.

(C) Charlotte Zolotow


Then a winter poem (which only seems fitting, since I actually wrote this post on Tuesday, when we had a very rare snow day in Denver).

Contrast
As I watch the snow fall
big, slow white flakes
like feathers floating down,
my hands are cold.

It's hard to remember
the summer
and soaking up the sun
feeling its warmth
seep through me
deep through me
down to these frozen toes.

(C) Charlotte Zolotow, 2015

Head over to Diane Mayr's Random Noodling for more poetry offerings.