I just read a book that is part of the “Poems Just for Me” series titled “Animal Poems” written by various authors, illustrated by Natalia Moore. The illustrations are soft, sweet, and adorable. Impressive drawing skills, they remind me of a well-done newspaper cartoon artist’s work. Do you like poetry for children? Do you like animals? If so, you’ll love this book. I love both, for many reasons. I love poems and rhyming because it helps children’s memories. As you read, I love the tiny picture a poem paints for the reader. Also, any book can be considered a work of art, but books that are filled with poems are impressive to me.
I also love animals. I always have and I always will. This book’s poems are all about animals, every different kind of animal. I especially like the “Komodo Dragon” poem by Graham Denton. It was somewhat simple, but very descriptive. There are interactive poems in this book as well. The book starts with a poem that teaches children to count with animal sounds and movements, so I liked it immediately. One poem about a hungry crocodile where you stretch out your arms, then bring your hands together on each “snap” like jaws! One poem titled “Animal Riddles” by Marian Swinger, an example in the poem is, “It’s dressed in feathers, rhymes with carrot, sharp curved beak, must be a . . .” Parrot! Really fun for children.
I certainly loved this book. Maybe one or two poems made me slightly sad, but almost every poem made me smile. It’s a keeper. Get it? Zookeeper. Just joking. But seriously, this is a great book that I highly recommend. There are two pages at the end of the book about all the authors. I always appreciate that in case I liked a specific poem, I can find other work that author might have done. On the back of the book, there is a list of other books in this series. One that really caught my eye was, “Poems for the Seasons”. That sounds like a fun way to teach children about the different seasons. I will have to try it out as well. Enjoy.
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