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Dear Book Lovers, Welcome! I am delighted that you have found The Through the Looking Glass blog. For over twenty years I reviewed children's literature titles for my online journal, which came out six times a year. Every book review written for that publication can be found on the Through the Looking Glass website (the link is below). I am now moving in a different direction, though the columns that I write are still book-centric. Instead of writing reviews, I'm offering you columns on topics that have been inspired by wonderful books that I have read. I tell you about the books in question, and describe how they have have impacted me. This may sound peculiar to some of you, but the books that I tend to choose are ones that resonate with me on some level. Therefore, when I read the last page and close the covers, I am not quite the same person that I was when first I started reading the book. The shift in my perspective might be miniscule, but it is still there. The books I am looking are both about adult and children's titles. Some of the children's titles will appeal to adults, while others will not. Some of the adult titles will appeal to younger readers, particularly those who are eager to expand their horizons.

Friday, July 4, 2014

Poetry Friday with a review of Mammalabilia

Douglas Florian is a master when it comes to writing short, often amusing poems about animals. I have reviewed several of his animal centric poetry books, and so far we have met animals that live in water, dinosaurs, reptiles and amphibians, and in his book Beast Feast we meet a collection of especially bizarre creatures. In today's poetry title he takes us into the lives of mammals.

mammalabiliaMammalabilia
Douglas Florian
Poetry Picture Book
For ages 5 to 7
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2004, 978-0152050245
Many of us are able to identify with mammals, perhaps because our pets are usually mammals. They are furry, have four legs, and give birth to live babies. Some of them even look a little like us, and we love to read stories about them.
   In this poetry collection poet and artist, Douglas Florian, introduces us to a wide variety of mammals, pairing clever little poems with his unique artwork. The poems come in many forms. There are rhyming poems, blank verse poems, concrete poems, and some of the poems contain word play elements that readers will find amusing.
   Our mammalian visit begins with the aardvark, which is without a doubt, a very odd animal. They are so odd that the poet believes that “Aardvarks look better / By far in the daark.” He is more complimentary about the ibex which “risk their necks / On scary, airy mountain treks,” and he thinks otters are “quite charismatic.”
   As they explore this book readers will enjoy ‘listening in’ when the poet asks a Bactrian camel a very important question, and they will find out what he thinks of gorillas, porcupines, the elephant, lemurs, and other mammals from around the world.
   This is one in a series of poetry books about animals that Douglas Florian has created.

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