I really enjoy reading and reviewing poetry collections that focus on one subject or theme. Today's poetry title offers readers five poems that feature rabbits. Each of the poems conveys a different mood and sentiment to the reader. The book is wonderfully illustrated throughout by Wendell Minor, a skilled illustrator whose love of nature comes through in his artwork.
Nibble Nibble
Nibble Nibble
Margaret Wise Brown
Wendell Minor
Poetry Picture Book
For ages 4 to 6
HarperCollins, 2007, 978-0060592080
In 1959 five poems written by Margaret Wise Brown where
published and shared with the world.
In this wonderful poetry picture book those five poems
are paired with Wendell Minor’s beautiful art. Wendell’s deep and abiding love
of nature comes through in the illustrations, and children will almost be able
to hear the soft hopping sound of bunny feet and the hum of a summer evening as
they turn the pages.
The poems capture
moments in the lives of some rabbits. In two we see the ways in which they move
about their world. Another is a kind of song, complete with repetitive, lilting
sound words, about the love that one person feels for another. There is also a
poem that takes us through the year from April until September, capturing the
essence of those warm weather months when young bunnies and robins leaves their
nests, when fireflies float above the grass, and when caterpillars, “creep /
Out of summer / And into sleep.”
The collection
wraps us with a poem called Cadence,
which describes a music that the poet has heard “In the cadence of the word /
Not spoken yet / And not yet heard.” This poem is a beautiful conclusion to a
poetry journey that children will want to revisit again and again.
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