Birthday Poems

School Library Journal

K-Gr 3--Twenty-four birthday poems are included in this collection, part of Livingston's series of books of poetry for holidays. The selections cover a va riety of aspects of birthdays including age, party planning and set-up, party activities, and greediness about pre sents. While the party activities reflect the lives of middle-class children, with beach and museum trips, camp-outs, and entertainments, a number of poems could be used with children who are less fortunate. In addition, Tomes has provided integration through her art work, using children of various races and dressed in clothing of various time periods to broaden the meanings of the poems. Libraries that do not own the Brewtons' more comprehensive Birth day Candles Burning Bright (Macmil lan, 1960; o.p.) or who do lots of birth day programming will find this collection useful.--Barbara Chatton, College of Education, University of Wyoming, Laramie