Barefoot: Poems for Naked Feet
Grade 1–5—Weisburd recognizes the marriage between bare feet and summer, and many of these 27 poems describe seasonal experiences, such as the first day of vacation, walking on the beach, and turning cartwheels at dusk after a long, hot day. The themes vary from quiet and touching, as in "Camping," in which a father warms his child's cold bare feet beneath his shirt and against his warm chest, to wildly imaginative, as in "Vacant Houses," which compares unworn shoes to real estate and describes flip-flops as "great lakefront property/a drummer lives downstairs/so be prepared for swacking sounds." The selections vary in length and form, and effectively use nontraditional structure when describing the joys of jumping on a trampoline or drawing a self-portrait with one's feet. Children of various races and cultures are portrayed, and "Mehndi Party" beautifully describes Southeast Asian cultural traditions that might be unfamiliar to some readers. The light, breezy watercolor illustrations lend an impressionistic tone and are thoughtful accompaniments to the sunny poems. This collection is ideal for sharing between morning romps in the dewy grass and afternoon strolls on the beach.—Shawn Brommer, South Central Library System, Madison, WICopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.