"A library book, I imagine, is a happy book." Cornelia Funke

"Everything puts me in mind of a story." Ben Franklin

Friday, June 28, 2013

Book Speak! : Poems About Books



Bookspeak! : Poems About Books by Laura Purdie Salas. Illus. by Josee Bisaillon, 2011.

In this celebration of books and reading, Minneapolis, Minnesota author Salas has delivered twenty- one fun and thoughtful poems. Inside, various books give their points of view, like a journal in "Top Secret," and a physically worn but well-loved title in "On the Shelf and Under the Bed." Components such as a cover ("I've Got This Covered,")" Index," "Book Plate," and a story's middle ("The Middle's Lament: a Poem for Three Voices") share their feelings and purposes. Reader's also hear from essential story devices in "A Character Pleads for His Life," "Cliffhanger," "Conflicted" (about the problem needed to drive the plot) and "The End."

The joyful mixed media pictures are provided by Josee Bisaillon and are the perfect accompaniment to the poems. In "Calling All Readers," we are treated to a merry scene including a child painting a rainbow in the sky, clouds sprouting flowers, a swimming polar bear and boy, and a barefoot princess floating away on a bunch of balloons. "Lights Out in the Bookstore" features a polka dotted seal balancing a book and a stack of cupcakes, an upside down boy with his horn, a goggle-eyed girl using an over sized volume as a parachute and some striped and dotted kitties. Readers will also love the final picture of a bespectacled octopus holding seven books and a zebra striped umbrella, with three little fish sneaking a peek inside one of the books.

Here is the beginning of my favorite of the poems:

"Vacation Time!"

"Whenever I'm checked out, it's like a vacation.
I'm scanned and I'm packed for a new destination!

I've floated in airplanes. I've lain on the beach.
I've hidden in bunk beds--just out of your reach..."

Laurie Purdie Salas

Please pick up the book to enjoy the rest!

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