Welcome!

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, April 21, 2017

Poetry Friday with a review of The Barefoot Books of Earth Poems

Happy almost Earth Day! Tomorrow millions of Americans will finds ways to celebrate the fact that we live on a beautiful planet. Many will talk about what we can do to protect it. Others will actually do things to make our natural environment cleaner and healthier by committing to driving their cars less, by starting recycling programs, and by picking up rubbish in parks and on beaches. 

Today's poetry title serves as a tribute to Earth's many beauties, marvels, and gifts. 

The Barefoot Books of Earth Poems
Complied by Judith Nicholls
Illustrated by Beth Krommes
Poetry Picture Book
For ages 5 to 7
Barefoot Books, 2003, 978-1-78285-278-0
Nature is a powerful force in our world and over the centuries its beauty and majesty has inspired countless poets to “represent the sights and sounds of nature, and the feelings that nature evokes in us.” Through their poems, these writers have celebrated nature. Some have also asked their readers to appreciate what is around them, and to look after the natural world so that it might be enjoyed by future generations.
   For this collection Judith Nicholls has brought together poems that were written by people from all over the world. We begin with the words of Mary Kawena Pukui, a Hawaiian poet, whose poem celebrates the fact that birds, flowers, trees, and ocean creatures remind us that our planet is a truly “lovely world” no matter where we live.
   In Father and I in the woods David McCord uses spare language and dialogue to remind us that the best way to be a part of nature is to walk instead of run, to be silent instead of talking, and to just “be” so that we can observe the “sky and brook and bird / And tree.”
   In Everything’s Wet we experience a rainfall, and in Winter we read of a “white horse” that brings the snow, which “filled the land with its spirit.” We encounter stars and the sun, a lark rising up into the air and filling the sky with its song. We are told about Forest, a living entity that keeps her counsel, who dreams of the world when “the earth was young,” and who is woken by the howl of the howler monkey in the morning. Just as Forest keeps her secrets, we in turn must “keep Forest.”

   The poems in this collection are beautifully varied and constantly surprising. They delight they ear, and are accompanied by beautiful artwork which delights the eye. 

No comments:

Bookmark and Share