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January 12, 2007
They Should Just Go Ahead and Make More of Karla Kuskin's Poems into Picture Books: Poetry Friday
Under my hood
I have a hat
and under that
my hair is flat.
-from Under My Hood I Have a Hat by Karla Kuskin, illustrated by Fumi Kosaka
Why do I love Karla Kuskin's poetry?
#1 – She writes about cats.
#2 – She uses rhyme and meter in creative ways that don't sound sing-songy (a plague in so many poetry collections for children).
#3 – She writes about cats.
#4 – Her images and language often surprise me with their wit and just plain-old rightness.
#5 – Did you know? She writes about cats.
When poems get made into picture books, they often wind up with really artsy illustrations that are beautiful but not always child-friendly or engaging. Happily, Kuskin’s recent picture books haven’t fallen into this trap. So, What’s It Like to Be a Cat? is illustrated by none other than Besty “Click, Clack, Moo” Lewin. Her watercolored brownish-grayish cat invites the reader along as he slinks through the pages, his bright, expressive eyes elaborating on the hints in Kuskin’s text. Under My Hood I Have a Hat is brilliantly illustrated with Fumi Fosaka’s soft colors and thick lines. It doesn’t feature a cat, but Fosaka’s improvised puppy is almost as good. As a package, it makes an ideal storytime read-aloud. (I've read it aloud so often that I have a lot of it memorized.) Toots the Cat is illustrated by Lisze Bechtold. I don’t know Bechtold’s other work, but I want the fluffy-tailed calico that saunters through many of the pages in this book to live in my house. Strictly speaking, this is a poetry collection, but I decided to include it because it’s a more traditional picture book size and style of illustration. Besides, I like this book and want you to run away and read it posthaste. I can think of worse ways to spend a Friday....
[Check out the roundup over at Big A little a.]
Posted by adrienne at January 12, 2007 12:06 PM
Comments
I sent you and Tammy my phone and directions via email to yahoos.
Posted by: chuck at January 12, 2007 04:59 PM
CATS!
Posted by: Little Willow at January 12, 2007 08:51 PM