cover image Did You Hear What I Heard? Poems About School

Did You Hear What I Heard? Poems About School

Kay Winters, illus. by Patrice Barton. Dial, $16.99 (40p) ISBN 978-0-399-53898-8

More than 20 years after Did You See What I Saw?, Winters returns with another collection of school-themed poetry: 35 light, energetic poems about catching the bus, being the new kid, lost permission slips, and memorable school-day moments, all accompanied by Barton’s airy images of multiracial students. “Out in the sunshine/ we march in a line,/ leaving all of those words behind./ Perfect timing!” reads an entry about the excitement of a fire drill. Elsewhere, two students are shocked to see their teacher at the grocery store (“There she is/ by the soup cans”), and several poems highlight the ups and downs of learning. Winters covers the gamut of school-year emotions, recognizing that school encompasses much more than what’s on the lesson plan. Ages 5–6. Illustrator’s agent: Christina Tugeau, Christina A. Tugeau Artist Agency. (Feb.)