Review: MARC BROWNS PLAYTIME RHYMES

I'm a huge fan of Marc Brown and children's rhymes, so it's not surprising that that I love this book.  

One of the things I always did when my children were younger, and still do, is to read them poetry.  When they were little rhymes served to provide them with great, kid-friendly memory exercises; and poems and rhymes taught them about language structure-- which is probably one of the reasons they have always scored high on vocabulary assays.

What's nice about Marc Brown's new book is that he has incorporated finger play reminders, so moms, dads and others can also share those with their little ones.  (I don't know about you, but I don't always remember what the finger plays are, so a reminder is appreciated.)  If you look at the sample page below, you can see the little boxes which harbor the hints.

Facing page for the Little Turtle poem

There are 20 poems in this collection.

Table of Contents

Whoop! Johnny
The Counting Game
Do Your Ears Hang Low?
Teddy Bear
Wheels on the Bus
I'm a Little Teapot
The Itsy Bitsy Spider
Two Little Monkeys
Five Little Pigs
The Church
Here is the Beehive
Grammy's Glasses
Little Bunny
Sleepy Fingers
The Squirrel
There was a Little Turtle
Five Little Goblins
Snowflakes
The Snowman
My Book

Some I'm 'overly' familiar with; and some were new to me.  (Which I love.)

Overall this is a really pretty book.  The artwork is in soft tones and I think it would make a nice gift, or good book to add to the home shelves.

Pam~



MARC BROWNS PLAYTIME RHYMES
A Treasury for Families to Learn and Play Together
by Marc Brown (of aardvark Arthur fame)

no reading information available
Page Count:  40
-- sample pages and price

Other reviews you might be interested in

•  April is Poetry Month!
•  MICE by Lois Ehlert
• Sylvia Long's Mother Goose
• Best Loved Nursery Rhymes

April is Poetry Month!

Generally, when I bring up poetry to my classes I get a lot of groans and sighs and general looks that translate as “oh please no! Read us something fun like you did the last time! Please!” But I’m a stickler. Every April I rev up for poetry programs with every class that comes to visit me-- first through fifth grade. And the reason I’m a stickler is that by the time I’m done, most of my listeners race to the poetry section, eager to discover more. Or, at least they realize that poetry is not always a groan-worthy boring exercise.

Now, to be perfectly fair, poetry can be boring. Teachers tend to focus on the mechanics of it and how to write it and like any lessons that can be hard work to learn. I don’t have to worry about that bit. I’m not there to teach kids how to identify, classify or create poetry. I’m there to teach them how to enjoy it, and some of the stuff out there that they can find. I’m a firm believer that poetry in large part is meant to be read aloud. Most poems on the page are dead and lifeless until they are heard. So that is what I do.

But what to read them? Years ago, it was difficult to find any kind of children’s poetry other than nursery rhymes and a few authors who wrote poetry that was sort of okay for children. Nowadays, there’s a whole section featuring authors who specialize in children’s poetry. And there's a range of poems to suit just about any reader and theme. The list I’ve compiled here are my personal favorites that I use annually with my students. It’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to poems, but hopefully it will give you some surefire winners, some inspiration and some excitement for poetry this April.

A Tale of Two Bedtime Books...

Any parent worth his or her salt knows a few tried and true bedtime picture books. These are the books that help your child wind down, and are often full of soft, soothing pictures, lyrical text and a sleeping theme.

As a librarian, I run across dozens of these bedtime style stories, and I have to say that I am not an easily pleased customer when it comes to this type of book.


I’ll start with a confession. I find Goodnight Moon dull and monotonous without much to spark my interest as either reader or listener. When my mother was reading it to my younger sibs, I used to figure the book was literally meant to bore them to sleep. I know that won’t hold true for everyone, but for me the best thing that’s come out of Goodnight Moon is all the parodies of it. When it comes to bedtime books, I want something soothing without being syrupy toothache sweet. A lot of books seem to go with the attitude that if you throw in lots of fuzzy baby animals and cute images with rhyming words it’s an automatic winner. Sorry, that won’t work for me.

Then there’s the text. I happen to feel that poetry is meant to be read aloud, and I love reading good lyrical stuff where the words just flow. I get really cranky with clumsy or forced rhyming in a picture book, as though the author didn’t care enough to spend the effort for quality. In my opinion, if you’re going to write rhyming text, make it good, or don’t rhyme at all.

So there’s my standing in all of this. Now onto the books themselves. Last week, two new bedtime books arrived at my library. The first, Sleepy ABC by Margaret Wise Brown, illustrated by Karen Katz. This book takes an older copyrighted text of the author and renews it with the bright art work of Karen Katz. The book essentially runs through the alphabet from A to Z rhyming each couplet of letters and referencing in some way bedtime. I think that publishers may be hoping to ride a bit too much on the coattails of Goodnight Moon with this book. The conceit of running through the alphabet as a concept or to tell a story can work—but it doesn’t work here.

The wording is clumsy, awkward and sometimes downright nonsensical. (“C is for Caw when the last crow crows” “E is for eyes that all must close—the child’s the rabbits and the rose”). It’s forced, and trite and it just doesn’t read well aloud. The only thing that saves this book is Karen Katz’s bright and blocky illustrations, so well known from her numerous lift-the–flap books. These images are appealing to youngsters and give the book a pleasing and dynamic presentation—if only the text could match it. So I admit I was disappointed by this book and moved on to the next one in the pile.

Another bedtime book—and by this time I was a little less enthusiastic about picking it up. But I cracked the cover on Debi Gliori’s Stormy Weather, and I’m glad I did. While not as well known, Debi Gliori has written and illustrated numerous children’s books and it’s obvious she knows her stuff. Stormy Weather is a soothing lullaby good for dark and stormy nights or simply rainy days. At the opening, a mother fox comes in to tuck her child into bed, a book tucked under one arm and a wide window open on a starry night. The text spills in naturally to the scene: “Pull up the quilt, turn out the light/ dear child, it’s time to say good night./ In darkness black and soft and deep/ I’ll watch beside you while you sleep.” From here the book launches into scenes that literally spill from the pages of the book, where small animals are juxtaposed against what seem to be fearful ocean waves, or winds, or snowstorms,--but the parent animal is always close at hand to reassure and keep them close. The text is lustrous and rich with wonderfully evocative phrasing and perfectly synched rhymes that flow without effort when reading aloud. There’s never too much text per page—even when faced with an impatient page turner like my son! In the end, everything wraps up back with the foxes cuddled up asleep, and the book upon the bed, a star-rich sky overhead.

For a very young child, the images might be a little busy, but they are lovely. And the text is perfect for reading even without the pictures—a perfect parental message to a sleepy child of reassurance and comfort. My 15 month old would like me to add that he likes picking out the stars that are on most of the pages and he’s very keen on the polar bears as well.

In conclusion, not all bedtime books are the same, and in the case of these two, I’d highly recommend Stormy Weather over Sleepy ABC’s to any parent with a need for a sleepy-time text.

Happy Reading! ^_^ Shanshad

Stormy Weather
Accelerated Reading level : generic "2"

• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Walker Books for Young Readers (October 27, 2009)
• ISBN-10: 080279419X

Sleepy ABC's
Accelerated Reading level : generic "1"

• Hardcover: 40 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins; 1 edition (December 29, 2009)
• ISBN-10: 0061288632
• See-a-Sample
  (doesn't work in Safari)
  

Sylvia Long's Mother Goose

Being raised, as most young folk are in this country on Mother Goose Rhymes. And having read, used, collected, bought, sold and generally studied these collections for years, I can truthfully say that this works s probably the best I've run across. Not only are many of the over 75 selections some of the lesser known ones; but the artwork accompanying each rhyme is unique to say the least. [Fear not the obscurity though, all of the old favorites are present.]


As to verbiage, I admit to being a traditionalist when it comes to work such as this. I do not like modern authors mucking about changing words, themes and story lines to meet political correctness standards of the time nor to mellow the stories out so that ultra sensitive kids will not be overly traumatized. Many of these old tales are from a different era where children were treated much differently than those of today. As an example, some of these rhymes date back to the Elizabethan era where it was considered a "good thing" for children to watch public hangings and executions to teach them moral lessons. Times were a bit different then. I must admit that I was at first rather put off by the author's opening statement that she had softened some of the tales. My fears were unnecessary! The author has not changed the wording one bit, but rather through her art work has given some of the little ditties a different interpretation than we would find in a standard or work from an earlier time. These changes, and I might add that there were very few, I found completely acceptable and in fact felt many of the pieces were actually enhanced.

The author has use animal, insects and other creatures in all of her illustrations in lieu of people. All of the critters are dressed in very detailed and exquisite Victorian or Post Victorian garb. The author has really done her research in this area. Using a pen and watercolor technique the reader will find the illustrations reminiscent of Beatrix Potters work, although in this case Long has added far more detail than that found in Potter's work. The creatures the illustrator has use range from insects to frogs to bears, cats, lions, rabbits, many species of birds, cows, pigs, cranes, sheep...and the list goes on. As I said, the clothing used on these creatures is something to behold. Sylvia Long has taken anthropomorphism to new and delightful heights.

The author has also linked many of these rhymes through her art. The sharp eyed child will note that a lost shoe in one illustrated rhyme will show up under a bush or tree in another rhyme several pages later. There are many examples of this and to be quite frank, I find new ones with each reading.

The author/illustrator has provided us with an Index of First Lines in the back of the book and even it has been wonderfully illustrated.

If you find yourself in need of a wonderful collection of Mother Goose Rhymes, then this would certainly be a work worth considering. My personal copy is in library binding; very stout and serviceable which is needed because if you have little ones this book will get quite a workout.

Don Blankenship
The Ozarks

Sylvia Long's Mother Goose

• Accelerated Reading level : unknown
  
• Hardcover: 112 pages
• Publisher: Chronicle Books; First Edition edition (September 1, 1999)
• ISBN-10: 0811820882
• Take-a-Peek
  

Haiku Baby by Betsy E. Snyder

Little treasure box/ small fingers explore pages/ and find poetry

This little board book looks rather unassuming at first. Parents may pass over it in favor of slightly larger volumes, or those board books with familiar stories and characters. Given a chance, however, haiku baby is a delightful addition to a baby's library.

Each 2-page layout in the book (seven in all) features a different haiku about a natural element, such as rain, or sun or the moon. These haiku follow the traditional format of a certain number of syllables per line, but the actual content tends to be livelier for the younger audience. The author makes use of onomatopoeic words as well as animal characters and exclamations. The result is warm and engaging without becoming overly cute and keeping the character of haiku. Rather than the usual page structure, each page of the board book has an outstanding tab on the side that allows the reader to thumb through to the different pages. Each tab has a symbol for the particular haiku on that page layout. For instance, on the autumnal page with a haiku about a leaf, the tab has the image of a small gingko leaf. These tabs will help youngsters still learning how to work their fingers learn to turn the pages.

The art work in this book is whimsical and colorful; each page features a different animal and a different color scheme. The pages appear to be created by a mix of cut outs and possibly watercolors, there are no bold outlines here and it gives the whole book a softer feel. Each page has the repeating image of a small blue bird that appears originally on the front cover, providing a challenge to older children to find the bird in each scene. In addition to the actual artwork, each page includes the main poetic element represented by a Chinese character. Overall, there's a lot packed into this small package--not to mention it's a joy to read aloud. Parents who like to expose their young children to a wide range of culture, art and style may want to include this book in their collection. I definitely think it worth the purchase price!

For those who enjoy haiku and picture books, look for Today and Today, featuring the poetry of Issa Kobayashi and If Not for the Cat by Jack Prelutsky, which contains non-traditional riddle haiku about animals.

Happy Reading! ^_^ Shanshad

Haiku Baby

• Accelerated Reading level : unknown
  
• Board book: 14 pages
• Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers (May 27, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 0375843957
• See-a-Sample
  

Scary Fairies by Dugald Steer

The gooseberry bush by the garden fence
Is a place you should never go.
For down by the roots of the greenest shoots,
The fairy babies grow.

Now fairy babies are rather fierce.
For up your legs they'll climb,
And pull on our hair and your nose and your ears,
A hundred or more at a time.

The above lines are from the rhyming poem which tells and warns of some rather mean and mischievous fairies which, as ever one knows, lurk just outside your yard in the weeds, forest, trees and flower patches. When you leave the end of the garden path, at night when the moon is out...well there is a very good chance you will encounter these less than friendly and pleasant little imps.

This work, despite what the School Library Journal tells us -- goodness, those folks must perpetually wake up on the wrong side of the bed...what a bunch of crabby individuals they are -- has a whole lot going for it. First there is the somewhat fun and soothing rhyme that makes up the entire text. It is cute, funny and tells a very neat little story that, if read right, children love to listen to. Secondly, and this is important, the art work in this one is absolutely fantastic. Each page is filled with forest scenes which are extremely detailed. Mingled with the leaves, weeds, trees, toadstools, vines, flowers and the like are some very well drawn mean little fairy people. I say mean, and they are a bit scary looking, but they are rather cute at the same time.

It should be noted that there are exactly four holograms, rather small ones, included in the book which can be viewed through cut-outs. They add a bit of novelty to the book but were actually quite unnecessary as the books stands quite well without them. The little ones seem to enjoy them though so I suppose they do not do much harm. I tend to more or less ignore these holograms as they neither add nor subtract to the overall work.

The Fairies are rather creepy little things, some quite mean looking and scary. Again, the little ones delight in these drawings and I have watched several spends quite some time, day after day, deeply studying these little creatures. I must admit they are quite fascinating and adults will enjoy seeing them also.

A crooked old fairy with only three teeth
May invite you home for some stew.
But don't ever go, `cause you never know...
The stew could turn out to be you!

Just say, "Not today!" and walk right away.
Even though you are hungry and hot.
You're sticky and icky, in deed of a bath,
But you don't want it to be in her pot!

Kids get quite a giggle out of these little rhymes, in particularly if they are read with a bit of play acting on the reader's part.

I am rather fond of this particular genre of children's books. They are exposed to some very nice writing, very, very good art, get to have their already vast imaginations stimulated even further, and have a very good time while doing so.

I like this particular work and very much recommend this one.

Don Blankenship
The Ozarks

Scary Fairies

• Accelerated Reading level : 4.0
  
• AR Quiz: 28829
  
• Word Count: 720
  
• Page Count: 24 pages
• Publisher: Millbrook Press
  
• ISBN-10: 0761302980

The Dragons Are Singing Tonight Jack Prelutsky

YOU DON"T BELIEVE IN DRAGONS? Well, they probably don't believe in you either!

Poems by Jack Prelutsky and pictures by Peter Sis...in my opinion it just not get much better than this. This team is one of my favorite. Each has quite a number of children's books to their credit and they just keep getting better and better.

This 1993 hard cover edition contains 17 short to medium length poems by Jack Prelutsky, all of course pertaining to and about dragons. Now you may not believe in dragons (I pity you...of course there are those that do not even believe in fairies and elves and my pity goes out to them too), but you will enjoy this one never the less. One of my favorite poems in this work is entitled "If you don't Believe in Dragons." It goes:

If you don't believe in dragons,
It is curiously true
That the dragons you disparage
Choose to not believe in you.

Each dragon poem is accompanied by a double page illustration by Peter Sis and for those of you familiar with the work of this artist; I can assure you that Sis is at his best here. He delivers a wide assortment of fantastic beasts in strange and not so strange locations and situation; the man is versatile!
Each illustration or painting is in perfect sync with the text and the text and painting enhance each other making a wonder whole world of dragons.

Once They All Believed In Dragons

Once they all believed in dragons
When the world was fresh and young.
We were woven into legends,
Tales were told and songs were sung,
We were treated with obeisance,
We were honored, we were feared,
Then one day they stopped believing -
On that day, we disappeared.

Now they say our time is over,
now they say we've lived our last,
Now we're treated with derision
Where we once ruled unsurpassed.
We must make them all remember,
In some way we must reveal
That our spirit lives forever -
We are dragons! We are real!

This work makes a wonderful read aloud book and I do highly recommend it.

Don Blankenship
The Ozarks

The Dragons Are Singing Tonight

• Accelerated Reading level : 5.8
  
• Paperback: 40 pages
• Publisher: Greenwillow Books (August 27, 1998)
• ISBN-10: 0688161626

CARING FOR EMILY'S FAMILY by Carol Zelaya

Caring for Emily’s Family by Carol Zelaya is a continuation of the wonderful little story found in Emily Waits for her Family, where we are introduced to the nature loving little girl and her new friend, Emily the Chickadee. This work, like the previous was illustrated by Kristin Metcalf and we certainly have a winner with this team!

In this current little book, our little girl shows how the relationship with her friend the Chickadee develops and how she, the little girl, helps Emily and her family in a nonintrusive way. Setting up bird feeders, making sure there is a supply of water for drinking, bathing and keeping cool and nice housing. All the while, the little story makes it abundantly clear as to the joy the little girl is getting from her bird friends.

Again, the author has used light verse to tell her story, a rhythmic verse which is pleasing to the ear while still using simply words that the little ones will be able to fully understand. The book is short and is perfect to set down for a quick read with your child or grand child and is absolutely ideal for a bed time read. The author obviously knows and loves her critters and knows kids. This shines through on every page.

As with the first Emily book, the illustrations are of the highest technical quality, filling the pages with beautiful colors. Again, the artist, Kristin Metcalf has captured the birds and plants perfectly as to anatomical correctness. I always feel this is important because books at this level are quite able to instill the beginnings of a love for nature in a child and it is always a good thing when the subject is being properly presented. I have no doubt that most children, after reading through this book, will be able to identify a Chickadee when they see one in the wild, and perhaps several different verities of flower.

Each short verse goes perfectly with the painting and even though the art is simply, it still gives the reader plenty of material to point out to the child and discuss. Little things like making the strawberries distinctive from the black berries are important when teaching a child to pay attention to detail.

The book is quite well put together and is a class act in itself, as are the writing and illustrations. This is the kind of small board book that can take quite a beating over the years. I suspect that this book, and the others in series for that matter, will be eventually handed down to the next generation. As you get older, you think of stuff like that, huh!

I cannot think of a better gift to give to a child (I always give books, have for years) than this little volume and the other two which make a nice set. Let’s hope the author continues with either an addition to this series or starts another.

Recommend this one highly.

Considerations :::
We could not find a Reading Level for this book, so the best assumption would be that you will need to read this to your children.

related posts:
Emily the Chickadee
Emily's New Home

POETRY FOR YOUNG PEOPLE: CARL SANDBURG

This is another addition to one of the best literary projects to come along in quite some time…Poetry for Children. This particular work of course deals with the works of Carl Sandburg (wiki). It is illustrated by Steven Arcella whose semi-surrealistic art work is worth the price of the book alone.

This book, as with the others in this series, starts with an introduction to the poet. This is good stuff. It is good to know something about the author of the work you are reading, and children, probably more so than adults, need this information.

This volume includes Sandburg’s Fog, From the Shore, Young Sea, Last Answers, A Sphinx, Little Girl… Be Careful What You Say, Margaret, Arithmetic, Plowboy, Monotone, Phizzog, Mask, Summer Grass, Summer Stars, Sky Talk, October Paint, Old Woman, Buffalo Dust, a Coin and Doors.

I certainly am not going to remark on the quality of Sandburg’s work. Those who read him will be well aware of this. This collection though, is upbeat, delightful and gives a pretty good view of the poet’s range.

The art work which accompanies the poems is very appealing and relaxing and very well executed. Like the poetry, it has a dream like quality and is a delight.

This is a book which is perfect to read to your child or to an entire class. Poetry has fallen out of fashion in many of our schools now, which is not only a shame, but I feel almost a crime. Our kids are missing so very, very much. This little edition is an ideal start. It, and the rest of this series, should be in ever school library, in every class room and indeed, on your kid’s book shelf. This work is recommended for children ages 9-12, but to be quite frank, age has little to do with this poets work. A child under the age of nine may have problems reading the book on their own, but this is why parents and teachers exist! Reading poetry with a child is a wonderful experience for both the child and the reader. This particular collection of poem is idea for this activity. I do highly recommend this one.

Considerations:::
Full Accelerated Reading numbers are not available for this book. The general number "5" has been assigned which means that the book is on the 5th Grade level. But whether that is 5.0 or 5.9 has not been determined.

For a list of all the POETRY FOR YOUNG PEOPLE books see our list.

The Brook by Alfred Tennyson, Charles Micucci artist

Let me start by saying that this book isn't going to be right for every child. However, if you have children who like poetry you ought to give it a try as I think it is an excellent introduction to more adult fair.

What makes “The Brook” a good transition piece is the gentle quality of the poem and in the case of this book, the artwork. The pastel drawings are not flashy, nor something you would hunt down and appreciate on their own, but they are a fantastic match for the theme of the poem, which is best exemplified by the lines: “Men may come and Men may go, but I go on forever....”

In the drawings we see children maturing into young adulthood, wooing, getting married and finally having children of their own. And while they and other wild life grows old, the brook and it's little surroundings of hills and bridges, goes on unchanged.

Because my own children are only 6 and 8 years of age, I quite certain that they don't understand the finer nuances of this poem, but I'm a firm believer that understanding comes in stages and for right now I am satisfied that we've discussed the general gist of the theme, and that they enjoy the cadence and beauty of the words.

Rating ::: A
This is not a 'perfect' book, but without being able to say how they could possibly have improved it, I'm going to give it an “A”. The artwork is simple, attractive and fits the poem beautifully. And the poem... what can one say, Tennyson is delightful and this is a poem that enriches the lives of all who can appreciate it.

Find It!
At Amazon => The Brook