Wednesday, February 16, 2011

In the Wild by David Elliott

Do you like animals? You do? You're in luck because this collection of poems will introduce you to or reacquaint you with many wild animals including the elephant, the panda, and the kangaroo.

What I thought: I haven't read Elliott's other collection On the Farm, but I definitely like his style. The poems are short and lyrical, and they evoke beautiful pictures in my mind. Meade's illustrations are perfect. The colors are soft, but the woodcut's black lines adds the right definition. My favorite poems are the giraffe, the zebra, the panda, and the buffalo. I only lament the lack of a hippopotamus. Elliott's poems are ingenious in that they are short enough that In the Wild could easily be classified as a picture book. This collection is a great way to introduce preschoolers to poetry. The individual poems will work well with any number of story time themes. The collection, as a whole, will also make a wonderful addition to a zoo themed story time.

The Animals: lion, elephant, giraffe, zebra, rhinoceros, sloth, jaguar, panda, tiger, orangutan, kangaroo, buffalo, wolf, polar bear

Story Time Theme: Zoo

(Illus. Holly Meade. Candlewick, 2010)

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