Poem Depot: Aisles of Smiles (2014)

Poem Depot: Aisles of Smiles. Douglas Florian. 2014. Penguin. 160 pages. [Source: Library]

I loved, loved, loved Douglas Florian's Poem Depot: Aisles of Smiles. I just LOVED it. After finding five or six poems that I loved, I thought this one would be well worth recommending. But as I kept reading, I kept finding more and more poems to LOVE. This isn't a "good" collection with a handful of poems to love. Generally, that is how I think of poetry books: find one with a handful of poems to LOVE, really LOVE, and you've got yourself a good book worth reading and rereading. To find a poetry book with so very many poems that you love and enjoy--poems with the potential to turn children of all ages into POETRY LOVERS--and you've got something magical, something worth GUSHING about!!! Poem Depot is worth gushing about!!!

Poems I Loved: "Insect Asides," "Driven," "More," "My Closet," "I Hate Broccoli," "Mean Meat Loaf," "Soup of the Day," "Water Water," "What A Monster Ate," "Hair Scare," "This Chair," "Where My Cat Sleeps," "Hold Your Horses," "I Am A Robot," "The Computers Are Down," "Zero," "Alphabetter," and "My Mother Has Two Voices."

Poems I Really Loved: "Train to Nowhere," "Exercise," "Appetite," "Alligator Calculator," "Rome and Room," "The Greatest Invention," and "Windshield Wipers."

© 2014 SukaYuka.com of SukaYuka's Book Reviews

Poem-Mobiles: Crazy Car Poems

Poem-Mobiles: Crazy Car Poems. J Patrick Lewis and Douglas Florian. 2014. Random House. 40 pages. [Source: Review copy]

Silly car poems. Silly futuristic car poems. J. Patrick Lewis and Douglas Florian have teamed up to bring readers delightful, over-the-top poems about automobiles. The illustrations are by Jeremy Holmes. Poems include: "Giant Bookmobile of Tomorrow," "Mini-Mini-Car," "Fish Car," "Eel-ectric Car," "Jurassic Park(ing)", "The Dragonwagon," "The Paper Car," "The Backwards Car," "High-Heel Car," "23rd-Century Motors," "Balloon Car," "Caterpillar Cab," "Bathtub Car," "The Egg Car," "Hot Dog Car," "The Sloppy-Floppy-Nonstop Jalopy," "Grass Taxi," "The Love Car," "The Banana Split Car," "The Supersonic Ionic Car," and the "Rubber-Band Car."

Without a doubt my absolute favorite is "The Giant Bookmobile of Tomorrow." This little poem is ABSOLUTELY delightful. It is just a gem of a poem, and chances are an instant favorite with librarians everywhere! There is probably a good reason why this poem is at the start! Just open it up, read it, and it might just hook you. I think it's the kind of poem that will appeal to readers even if they "don't like" poetry. The other poems, well, I'm not sure they're equally appealing to non-poetry-readers. But this one, all you have to do is LOVE books, and it's sure to delight!

Some poems are enjoyable because they are silly and playful and use language in a fun way. Some beg to be read aloud. Other poems, however, I didn't quite get as enthusiastic about. Probably the funnest poem title to read aloud is "Sloppy-Floppy-Nonstop Jalopy." I also enjoyed "Hot Dog Car" and "The Banana Split Car."

© 2014 SukaYuka.com of SukaYuka's Book Reviews