Tomie dePaola’s Book of Poems

In this engaging poetry collection, popular children’s book illustrator Tomie dePaola succeeds again in creating cheerful, rib-tickling animal characters, from the renegade reptile in Eve Merriam’s “Alligator in the Escalator” to the cavorting cats in T. S. Eliot’s “The Song of the Jellicles.” This thoughtful selection of 86 poems–in a spacious, oversized format– includes well-known works from William Blake, Emily Dickinson, Langston Hughes, and Frederico Garcia Lorca, with a sprinkling of haiku for good measure. Many youngsters are drawn to the simplicity of dePaola’s art, which includes pictures of children of all races at home and at play. A great beginning poetry book. (Ages 4 to 8)