School Supplies: A Book of Poems
Pack your book bag--it's time for school! Eminent poets Carl Sandburg,  Jane Yolen, and Myra Cohn Livingston join pens with newer writers to celebrate  that most delicious of autumn icons: school supplies. A "wide-awake /  freshly-painted-yellow / school bus" takes 30 students to school, where they  spend their day with ballet-dancing ballpoint pens, tiny-jawed dragons (paper  clips), lunch bags full of mysteries, and all the colors of the world in a box  of crayons. Sixteen beautiful poems by a diverse array of wordsmiths, collected  by poet Lee Bennett Hopkins (anthologist ofHand in Hand: An American History  Through PoetryandSports! Sports! Sports! A Poetry  Collectionto name two of many) provide an unusual, absolutely  delightful new perspective on the ordinary tools of school. Renee Flower's  energetic, almost garish watercolor and colored pencil illustrations are  captivating, although they seem out of balance with the elegant verses. All in  all, though, this is a striking compilation that will appeal to kids, parents,  and teachers, especially in the days leading up to the beginning of school.  (Ages 5 and older)--Emilie Coulter