Anyone seeing "Poems selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins" on the cover of this book will know they have a good thing. (Just think back to My America, I Am the Book, or School People if you don't remember.) This latest anthology has poems by a baker's dozen of different writers, each taking on a different type of punctuation. Alice Schertle shares the colon's complaint. "I wish to complain of the following: neglect, disrespect, lack of use, abandonment, utter exclusion. I call it colon abuse." Jane Yolen points out that "Period is the point that halts you." And according to Betsy Franco, the semicolon claims that "On the page we're quite friendly; we look like a link." (They actually do look that way when you think about it.) Other authors include Charles Ghigna and J. Patrick Lewis, as well as Hopkins himself. Everything from commas to quotation marks are fair game for their verses, and each type of punctuation comes to unique life in their descriptions.
The illustrations by Serge Bloch add a visual dimension to the rhymes. Apostrophe walks with an S on a leash to illustrate the possessive use, while below them are various characters balancing contractions and kicking around the letters that the apostrophe has replaced. The ellipsis appear as "three lunar eclipses" floating in space while space ships labeled "missing" and "words" fly past. There is a comic flair in the illustrations that will have readers paying close attention to the details.
Perfect for poetry lovers and for use along with grammar lessons on punctuation. Who wouldn't want to learn about how to use exclamation marks to bring superhero mayhem to life? I read a review copy provided by the publisher.
The illustrations by Serge Bloch add a visual dimension to the rhymes. Apostrophe walks with an S on a leash to illustrate the possessive use, while below them are various characters balancing contractions and kicking around the letters that the apostrophe has replaced. The ellipsis appear as "three lunar eclipses" floating in space while space ships labeled "missing" and "words" fly past. There is a comic flair in the illustrations that will have readers paying close attention to the details.
Perfect for poetry lovers and for use along with grammar lessons on punctuation. Who wouldn't want to learn about how to use exclamation marks to bring superhero mayhem to life? I read a review copy provided by the publisher.
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