Review by Booklist Review
This whimsical collection offers 26 short poems in a variety of rhyme schemes intended to engage and inspire young makers. Many selections celebrate art projects, involving painting, clay, soap carving, collage, or drawing, but there are nods to other areas as well: fashion (tie-dye), kits (rockets), carpentry (birdhouse), science (leaf prints), or the sheer joy of hands-on activity itself being a maker, making messes (with a special tribute to glitter), playing outdoors, or simply appreciating all the things our hands can do. The imaginative pencil, crayon, and watercolor illustrations portray realistic scenes of kids in action (smacking a piñata) or dreamy scenes of makers enjoying their efforts (curling up with an origami polar bear). Of course, there is one picture of a child gleefully reveling in a cloud of glitter (and most of us can probably think of a likely suspect or two). Whether invoking cooking, sewing, tying knots, or other undertakings, this provides an enjoyable springboard for aspiring makers.--McBroom, Kathleen Copyright 2018 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
In a cheery reminder of the pride of creating something and the many forms art can take, VanDerwater uses 26 poems to celebrate drawing, building, and designing, no matter one's preferred medium. Fancher and Johnson use pencil, paint, and snippets of photos and text in their exuberant illustrations. A boy rides a horse with a thumb-print body across a field of photographed clover in the opening poem, "Maker," and corrugated cardboard lends texture to a boy's hideaway in "Fort" ("Make one out of fuzzy blankets./ Make one out of fallen sticks. Make one out of packing snow./ Make one out of mud and bricks"). Every poem is an invitation to get creative-the book is an obvious springboard into collaging, painting, baking, piñata making, and other activities at home or at school. Ages 4-7. Author's agent: Elizabeth Harding, Curtis Brown. (Mar.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 2-This is art about art. Mostly rhyming poems present creations meant to inspire readers to make something. "I see spaceships every day/rocketing inside my mind./I would rather build those ships/than make the one this box assigned." From birdhouses to shadow puppets, the variety of projects included are delightful. The accompanying illustrations reflect the subject and medium of the poem. "Maker" is matched with photo cut-outs and thumbprint art. "Painting," "Collage," "Drawing," and "Leaf pictures," feature exact examples. The poems "Boat," "Piñata," and "Origami," are enhanced with a variety of art styles including watercolor and pencil sketches. The illustrations are inclusive and present a subtle challenge to gender norms with boys doing both the knitting and the glitter art. VERDICT An effective medley of concept, poetry, and artwork. Hand this title directly to elementary school art teachers.-Elaine Fultz, Madison Jr. Sr. High School, Middletown, OH © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
Twenty-six brief, mostly rhyming, first-person poems celebrate making things with all kinds of media: paint, clay, soap, glitter, socks, leaves, flour, yarn, and more. Every poem invites activity and underscores the pride and satisfaction that's frequently an outcome of creativity. Colorful mixed-media and paper-collage illustrations capture the joyful and often messy process of making "something new / with my hands / my head / my heart. (c) Copyright 2019. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
This trove of construction projects, relayed through a series of poems, rouses readers to roll up their sleeves and make something with their own handsa painting, a birdhouse, a knot, a piata, a soap-bar sculpture, a batch of cookies, a painting, or even a shadow-puppet show. Lithe, immersive verse, voiced in the first person, inspires children to find solace, joy, and power in their handiwork. "I learn to draw by staying still. / I follow every line. / I love to draw because I know / what I draw is mine." This orderly, balanced, primly conscientious closing stanza conveys both the focus a finely executed drawing requires and the private pride that arrives upon its completion. Varied pacing, style, and format allow these nimble poems to perfectly reflect the activity they describe. The taut verse binding "This knot / is not easy to tie. / It is not" captures the child's jaw-clenched frustration and concentration; its deft economy brilliantly embodies a tightly knotted rope. Teachers and caregivers will find ample opportunities to delve both into these fine poems' mechanics and the fantastic construction ideas they encourage and describe. Fancher and Johnson's mixed-media-collage illustrations support the verse, showing children of varying skin tones engaged in their projects; at times they allow their activities to swell surreally across the page, suggesting their transportive powers.Poetry sparks an irresistible, primal urge to twist, cut, paint, draw, glue, carve, whittle, daub, tie, hammer, to simply make. (Picture book/poetry. 4-10) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
