Rainbow Soup: Adventures in Poetry
Grade 3-6–Mixing a solid introduction to poetry with amusing examples, Cleary invites readers to "Come romp with me amongst the words./Come play amongst the phrases./Swing and climb from pun to rhyme/And hop through versey mazes." He tackles difficult concepts and defines terms and forms such as meter, iambic, personification, concrete poems, and parody. His short and simple explanations are included as footnotes at the bottom of the pages and are written in a tongue-in-cheek way that will engage young readers. The accompanying selections clearly illustrate the concepts, making for a concrete reinforcement of the message without the slightest hint of didacticism. The quality of the poems is a bit uneven and sometimes Cleary seems almost to be mocking what he is describing; however, this book is a great choice for getting children comfortable with poetry. Brightened up with splashes of color, Layton's quirky pen-and-ink pictures add to the fun. For a more in-depth take on poetic form and function, try Ralph J. Fletcher'sPoetry Matters(HarperCollins, 2002).–Laura Reed, Kitchener Public Library, Ontario, CanadaCopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.