A Meal of the Stars: Poems Up and Down
Each spread in this gentle and original collection offers a poem composed in one- and two-syllable lines. Some of the verses read top to bottom, while others read from the bottom up; the cartoon-style image accompanying each poem offers the clues needed for the reader to know whether to start at the bottom or the top. Imaginative and accessible, these verses show how the most ordinary of pleasures can pique a child’s or a pair of friends’ curiosity to explore the natural and urban worlds. Raindrops, a burst balloon, a Ferris wheel, and the top of a houses roof all offer starting points for real or imagined adventures. The cast of child adventurers is as diverse as the poems’ settings and suggest the kind of bounce and insouciance of children depicted by the likes of Helen Oxbury and Quentin Blake. A good collection for reading aloud and then offering to emerging readers to enjoy independently. Grades K-2. --Francisca Goldsmith