Poems Aloud

January 20, 2020
In this spunky anthology, Coelho encourages a theatrical approach to poetry: “Poetry and performance have always gone hand in hand,” he offers in an introduction about its early days, when it was set to the tune of a lyre (ergo, “lyrics”). Featured poems follow different styles (tongue twisters, action poems), communicate clever reading tricks (crescendo, reading in a group), and come with difficulty levels and recommendations—homophone-based “The Chilly Chili” instructs readers to emphasize bolded terms when reading. Vibrant mixed-media drawings by Gray-Barnett suggest loosely drawn poster art; expressive free lines and bright colors enliven each spread (a bear gazing out on a pink landscape attends “This Bear,” footprints decorate a page of riddles). The poems themselves range from zippy and amusing to thoughtful and leisurely (“This lumbering bear is old”) in this engaging approach to connecting young readers with poetry, which will be of particular use in the classroom. Ages 5–10.

March 1, 2020
Verses on diverse topics, to read fast or slow, loud or low, to audiences of one or many. Coelho writes in such a casual, loose-jointed style that even a poem written to demonstrate how "rhyming words really pop!" forcibly yokes "stars" with "far" and "snows" with "grow." He kits each short poem or group of poems with largely interchangeable performance suggestions, from "Start softly and finish LOUD. This is called crescendo!" to (for a choral presentation) an unhelpful "try reading some lines together and some lines separately." The typography is likewise generic, as all the poems are printed in the same size and, except for bolded homophones in one about the experiences of a "Chilly Chili," weight. Still, two scary entries--one featuring an unseen creature creeping up to whisper in your ear ("Don't Look Now"), the other about unexpectedly coming upon a cave filled with human remains ("The Bones of Pampachiri")--offer delicious chills that balance the lightheartedness of groups of riddles and tongue twisters. For visual exuberance, Gray-Barnett uses scribbly lines and garish colors to good effect, and children or other human figures, when they appear, seem a racially and ethnically diverse lot. A pleasant-enough gathering, with some bright spots. (Picture book/poetry. 7-9)

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