All the world a poem

The wide-eyed, button-nosed young poets in Gauthier's collages give this collection much of its appeal. Drawn on paper, cut out, and placed against backdrops filled with scribbled and scumbled textures, the children look at the world, think about poetry, and try writing it. In the first spread, three children listen to two others playing recorders: "Day or night, with friend or foe,/ I love poems even though/ I haven't found a rhyme for 'chocolate.' " Later, a boy gazes lovingly at a cluster of stuffed animals in his bed: "At night,/ all the poems/ from all the books/ put on their pajamas/ and curl up/ under my quilt." Though Tibo (Shy Guy) occasionally strays toward the trite ("Poetry is... the flight of a butterfly at the end of my nose"), he offers some memorable observations: "And then, to see if it sounds nice,/ I read the poem once or twice/ To all the lovely, little mice/ who listen silently." By portraying children as poets, Gauthier (Elliot) presents poetry as something that belongs to everyone-not just grownups. Ages 6-12. (Nov.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

K-Gr 2-Abstract thoughts pair with abstract collage illustrations to celebrate poetry. The first-person narrator tries to convey a love for verse and calls out everything that inspires writing and reading it: "I love poems sweet and silly/I love poems long and frilly-/All the poems dreaming on the shelf." Rhythm and rhyme vary frequently throughout the narration, from very tight to free form. Some lines and imagery are more successful than others: "I am a poet/in December,/November,/October,/September-/but never August./In August I rest,/always dressed/in white, and caressed/by a wind from the west,/with the one I love best/held close to my chest." The unusual illustrations, which are collages from childlike cut-out drawings, help bring some meaning to the words, but a lack of flow or transition sabotages the book's attempt to introduce young readers to the many forms of poetry. VERDICT This overly sentimental ode to poetry is too arcane and haphazard to be inviting, and young readers ready to explore the topic would be better served with titles from Douglas Florian, Paul B. Janeczko, or Jack Prelutsky or by Margaret McNamara's A Poem in Your Pocket.-Julie Roach, Cambridge Public Library, MA © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Poetry lives in books, yes,but also in the stars,on the moon,in tree-branch tangles.Anything the world can bein nighttime hush or daytime gleeis poetry. Excerpted from All the World a Poem by Gilles Tibo All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.