Am I Naturally This Crazy?

Children's Literature - Sheree Van Vreede

This collection of poems focuses on the pivotal experience in life when we begin to discover who we are and our place in the world. When we begin to notice both the similarities and differences between others and ourselves. More than just cute lyrics dealing with adolescent issues, these poems reflect the cleverness of language and its depth. Take, "A Nice Trip?" as an example: "If I bumble-bump along/klutz-awkward,/like some sloth-toed gangle-geek...." Sara Holbrook brings poetry into the teenage world.

School Library Journal

Gr 3-5Featuring full-color cover photos of appealing preteens, these poetry books promise more than they deliver. Although Holbrook has selected topics of great interest to elementary kidssuch as self-esteem, embarrassment, divorce, discipline, sports, dreams, pets, school, friendships, mischief, family relationshipsthe poems border on the too cute and often belie the very seriousness of those childhood concerns. The rhymes are far-fetched in many instances and often scan poorly. On the other hand, the poet's inventive wordplay and bouncy rhythms give some of the short pieces a surprising punch, as in these two examples from Which Way: "The lightning show/is followed by/dramatic pause./The clouds applaud" and "I saw it all./Bird walk./Cat stalk./Pounce./Squawk./Close call." Creative teachers might use these poems to show their students that poetry can be about the most mundane topics, but Prelutsky, Silverstein, Viorst, and others have trod the same path more successfully.Marjorie Lewis, formerly at Heathcote School, Scarsdale, NY