Wednesday, May 7, 2008

On the Farm by David Elliott, illustrated by Holly Meade - review



On the Farm by David Elliott, illustrated by Holly Meade
Simple, observation-based poems complement the large, bold woodcut-and-watercolor illustrations in this book of animal poems for the very young.

The Pig
Her tail? As coy as a ringlet.
In her eye there's a delicate sheen.
Some look at her and see a sow;
I see a beauty queen.
I don't ask much from poetry written for little kids - if it's got a good beat and you can read it out loud without tripping over your tongue, then I am all for it. But David Elliott, the author of the Evangeline Mudd books, which I quite liked, manages to create tone and atmosphere, and shoehorn unexpected observations into his extremely short poems. Nicely done.

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