Book Review Poetry #1

 BOOKSPEAK! POEMS ABOUT BOOKS

By: Laura Purdie Salas 

Illustrated By: Josee Bisaillon

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Salas, Laura Purdie. 2011. BOOKSPEAK! BOOKS ABOUT POEMS.  Ill. by Josee Bisaillon. New York: Clarion Books. ISBN 9780547223001

PLOT SUMMARY

Laura Purdie Salas writes many poems in this book that give us an insight to the ones who don't speak, the books.  She uses unique points of views to show the reader how different parts of the book would show and express their thoughts through  pleas and desires.  An example of this is in the poem "I've Got This Covered", this poem is my favorite poem in the book, this poem talks about the attempt the cover of the book makes to draw the reader in to stop and look at it, read it.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS

All the poems in this book are beautifully written to engage the reader throughout every single poem, wanting to know more about the feelings and voice of every part of this book.  She begins with a wonderful poem title "Calling All Readers' which tell us what to do and describes exactly what a book will do for us, the reader.  Here is a bit of what it says that engages us and tells the reader what a book exactly does:

"I promise adventure,

Come on, take a look!

On a day like today,

That poem tells us in simple, but well said what the book will create for us.  All the poems are plain, simple, and fun to read with a thought and lesson we can learn about each part of the book.

Josee Bisaillon, the illustrator does an amazing job of creating beautiful illustrations that go hand and hand with the poems.  All the illustrations in BookSpeak! have rich, beautiful colors that are very attractive and appealing to the reader.  These illustrations definitely make the poems come alive with its action and charm.

REVIEW EXCERPTS

Minnesota Book Award

Starred review in PUBLISHERS WEEKLY: "Salas polished verse demonstrates a deep love for  all aspects of books, from their content to their creators, and she's not above using a touch of guilt to get her audience invested."

Starred review in SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL: "Well crafted and clever, covering a variety of aspects of books and reading."

CONNECTIONS

*Invite children to choose their favorite part of the book (the cover, the ending, the index, the cliffhanger, etc.) and write a poem, if they were that part of the book what would they tell the reader. Display poems in the library along with the poem book BookSpeak!

*Expose children to other books by Laura Purdie Salas:

STAMPEDE! ISBN 9780547223001