Popcorn: Poems

From Publishers Weekly Like Stevenson's Sweet Corn, this inviting companion book of poems is graced by loose watercolor and black-ink sketches, skewed and inventive typography and clever layouts. A touching sequence about a dog named Chelsea and a wistful, nostalgic poem or two are balanced by the humor of poems in which the language is more playful and unexpected. In "Dredge," for instance, "The dredge dredges sludge:/ Sludge like fudge,/ Sludge that won't budge,/ Sludge you wouldn't care to tudge." The especially amusing "My New Bird Book" contains footnotes with references to nonexistent pages. Nonetheless, many of the entries here seem more pensive and reflective than those in Sweet Corn. In the "Picnic Table," for example, devoid of "the paper plates, the ketchup/ The napkins.... The table waits/ For next time." Another poem looks under the hull of a beached ship, quietly noting that "Where dolphins rolled,/ A golden dog lies sleeping/ In the shade." These unrhymed, free verses seem like yellowed snapshots, loving pictures of the ordinary world carefully preserved by a close observer but lacking substance. More successful poems present a fuller thought?how the poet notices that a spring crocus "no bigger than a baby's thumb/ Just arrived from the center of the earth, bearing a message:/ Soon," or how the husked corn's "threads of yellow silk" in "zig-zags, scribbles, loops, and swirls" spell out "What a party!" Ages 8-up. Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. From School Library Journal Grade 2-6AStevenson's brief, descriptive poems, each of which is accompanied by a pen-and-ink and/or watercolor drawing, are about life near the seashore. Driftwood, fog, crab shells, and morning mist are among the subjects. While a few of the selections are slight in style and interest, many are exquisite in use of language and point of view. Some of the illustrations are full page, others are small decorations; all reflect the mood of the poem to a tee. The typeface itself changes from page to page in shape, style, and color depending on the topic under discussion. One piece twists upon the page, while another needs to be held upside down to be read fully. Stevenson's briefest poems are his best. "Under the Hull" has a Haiku-like quality while "Crocus" is inspired in its beautiful turns of phrase. Others are touching, funny, or just plain fun to read. A fine addition to poetry collections.AElisabeth H. Hall, Arden Elementary School, Columbia, SCCopyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.