Poetry - General & Miscellaneous, Parents, Poetry - Family Life

Mommy Poems

Name: Mommy Poems
Author: John Micklos
ISBN: 9781563978494

by John Micklos (Selected by), John Micklos, Lori McElrath-Eslick

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Overview

There is nothing quite as magical as a mother's love, and this collection of Mommy Poems truly captures the warm and wonderful bonds between mothers and children. John Micklos, Jr., an educational journalist and poet with two young children of his own, has gathered a collection of poems by such noted poets as Lee Bennett Hopkins, Arnold Adoff, Nikki Giovanni, and other contributors. Mothers (and others!) will want to share this collection with children again and again.

John Micklos, Jr. is editor-in-chief of Reading Today, the membership newspaper for the International Reading Association. he currently serves as president of EdPress, the Association of Educational Publishers. Mr. Micklos lives in Newark, Delaware.

Lori McElrath-Eslick illustrated Read for Me, Mama by Vashanti Rahaman. She has illustrated for several magazines and lives with her husband and their two children in North Muskegon, Michigan.

Synopsis

Boyds Mills Press publishes a wide range of high-quality fiction and nonfiction picture books, chapter books, novels, and nonfiction

About the Author, John Micklos

Deeply interested in children's literature, John Micklos Jr. saw a need in his community and set out to fill it. He initiated a monthly newspaper column, "Children's Book Bag," in which he reviews several of the latest titles in children's books for his local weekly newspaper. And that's only one way John's knowledge and enthusiasm for good reading serves others. John is Managing Editor, Newspaper, Book, and Special Projects for the International Reading Association. He is editor of Reading Today, IRA's bimonthly membership newspaper, and is also involved in editing book manuscripts. In addition, he handles print marketing for the IRA publications program. An active free-lance writer in his spare time, John knew he wanted to be a writer since age eight, when he wrote a twenty page book about a talking pig that travels into space. His first book since that effort, Leonard Nimoy: A Star's Trek, was published in 1988 by Dillon Press of Minneapolis. The author of nearly 75 newspaper, magazine, and journal articles, John is a former contributing editor to Delaware Today magazine. John is a member of the Educational Press Association, Education Writer's Association, National Writer's Club, and St. David's Christian Writer's Association. John and his wife, Deborah Amsden, a home economist with the New Castle County Cooperative Extension Service, live in Newark, Delaware.

Lori McElrath-Eslick is the illustrator of a number of children's books, including Read for Me, Mama and Mommy Poems, which were both published by Boyds Mills Press. Her illustrations have appeared in several magazines including Cricket, Highlights for Children, and Country Living. Ms. McElrath-Eslick lives with her husband and their two children in North Muskegon, Michigan.

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Editorials

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Mothers rule in two books of poetry. Mommy Poems, John Micklos Jr.'s follow-up to Daddy Poems, includes a preponderance of his own poetry, plus those of Lee Bennett Hopkins, Arnold Adoff, Nikki Giovanni and Aileen Fisher. The poems trace the cycle of a day, beginning with Jane Medina's soothing "Waiting for Mommy to Wake Up," expressed by a child wakened in the night, and closing with Rebecca Kai Dotlich's exquisite "Tucking-In Song." Some mothers may raise an eyebrow at 1950s images of a wife mending her husband's shirt or going to a tea party. Lori McElrath-Eslick's paintings tend to obscure facial expressions but set a serene mood. (Mar.) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Children's Literature

While I read this short compilation of poems about mothers, I couldn't help but think of my own mother. Memories of sneaking in early on a Saturday morning to see if mommy was awake to watch cartoons or fix breakfast and of how she took care of me while I was sick rolled through my mind. Each of these memories was heightened when I read poems of other people's memories of their mothers. This seems more suited as a gift from a child to a mother than as a children's book. The colorful illustrations of mothers with children serve to emphasize their special relationship. Even everyday activities are brought to light through these poems, which can create peaceful memories for a mother when her child has grown up and moved away. 2001, Boyds Mills Press, $15.95 and $8.95. Ages 5 up. Reviewer: Danielle Williams

School Library Journal

K-Gr 4-A compilation of 18 poems, several of which have been previously published. Some are memorable, like Gary Soto's "Ode to Family Photographs": "This is the pond, and these are my feet./This is the rooster,/and this is more of my feet./Mama was never good at pictures." Others are pedestrian, lacking sure rhythm and vivid detail. In "Bad, Mad, Sad, Glad," the child says, "When I calm down, I'm sad, sad, sad./Mom asks what I'm crying about./Soon we are both glad, glad, glad/When we have talked and worked things out." McElrath-Eslick's lovely paintings help tie the selections together. The artist is especially good with light, shadow, and people's faces. The book's overall atmosphere of coziness and warmth sets a fairly traditional mood. Libraries that have Myra Cohn Livingston's Poems for Mothers (Holiday, 1988; o.p.) should consider this an additional purchase. Janet S. Wong's The Rainbow Hand: Poems about Mothers and Children (McElderry, 1999) is for a slightly older audience.-Lauralyn Persson, Wilmette Public Library, IL Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.