Richard Wilbur, , illus. by David Diaz. . Harcourt, $6 (32pp) ISBN 978-0-15-216362-4
In a starred review, PW
wrote, "Wilbur starts at the beginning and imagines what life would be like without each of the 26 letters. With plenty of brain-tickling words to grow on and a plethora of visual puns, watch this one vanish from the family bookshelf." All ages. (Oct.)
"Part hide-and-seek game, part dictionary, Wilbur's exuberant text playfully demonstrates how smaller words are found within larger ones, and shows the relationship between their Continue reading »
During the early 1950s, no young poet was more admired, nor more imitated, than Wilbur: his elegant stanzas and courteous artifice, devoted to "wit and wakefulness," modest ironies and Continue reading »
Wilbur, who turns 90 next year, has stood for decades in the front rank of American poets who know how to use traditional forms: his confident rhymes and stanzas are second to none, their poise Continue reading »
``Reprinting six of his principal verse collections, this omnibus displays Wilbur's many facets as nature poet, mordant commentator on social mores, philosophizer and as a translator adept at Continue reading »
Wilbur is a poet for whom intellect serves as an antenna, filtering signals from an inscrutable world to create lyrical structures informed by wit and irony. There is something of Robert Frost in his Continue reading »
These 34 whimsical ditties, like those in Wilbur's Opposites, are built around synonyms and antonyms, mostly the latter (``The opposite of stop is go / But sometimes one does both, you know''). Each Continue reading »
Three boys, two gloves and one bad attitude add up to a zero-fun afternoon of baseball. More an illustrated short story than a traditional picture book (the text originally ran in the New Yorker in Continue reading »
Drescher (The Boy Who Ate Around; Pat the Beastie) pays homage to Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Wilbur's verse and the result is equal parts silliness and wit, with the artist's playful grotesques Continue reading »
If the alphabet started to disappear, as the premise of this inventively witty book sets up, then the world as we know it would, too. Wilbur (Opposites), a Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, starts at the Continue reading »
Two-time Pulitzer-winner Wilbur remains America's reigning master of poems in traditional forms, creating flawless, balanced, charming and even profound couplets, sonnets, sapphics, and intricately Continue reading »
Two-time Pulitzer-winner Wilbur remains America's reigning master of poems in traditional forms, creating flawless, balanced, charming and even profound couplets, sonnets, sapphics, and intricately Continue reading »
Part hide-and-seek game, part dictionary, Wilbur's (The Disappearing Alphabet) exuberant text playfully demonstrates how smaller words are found within larger ones and shows the relationship between Continue reading »
Weeks (Mrs. McNosh Hangs Up Her Wash) awkwardly balances prose and poetry in this sometimes lyrical if sentimental story of a boy who, intrigued by a butterfly, Continue reading »
Noted Mexican potter Juan Quezada is the subject of an inventive and engrossing biography from newcomer Andrews-Goebel (who coproduced a documentary on Quezada) and Caldecott winner Diaz. On the Continue reading »
JOS FELICIANO'S FELIZ NAVIDAD: Two Stories Celebrating Christmas
Jose Feliciano
Rare is the presiding adult who will be able to resist singing along to this invigorating picture-book adaptation of Feliciano's bilingual pop-music carol. After an introduction highlighting Continue reading »
Thomas (Brown Honey in Broomwheat Tea
) puts a Southern spin on a well-known fairy tale for a charismatic adaptation set in the swamp. When a hurricane sweeps Continue reading »
Radiant illustrations and an attention-grabbing narrative introduce the short life and times of Pocahontas, the spirited Powhatan princess of John Smith fame. Krull and Diaz, who collaborated on Continue reading »
This simple but melodic bedtime tale gains heft from an intriguing setting—the Beaufort seacoast of Alaska—and from transcendent illustrations by Caldecott Medalist Diaz (Continue reading »
This dynamic collection features 48 poems—12 for each of the seasons—mingling previously published poems by Carl Sandburg, Karla Kuskin, and others, with new works by several poets, Continue reading »
Like Creech's Walk Two Moons and Chasing Redbird, this intimate novel poetically connects journey with self-discovery. When 13-year-old Sophie learns that her three uncles and two male cousins plan Continue reading »
Novesky's (Elephant Prince) portrait of Mexican painter Frida Kahlo depicts the artist as a reticent newcomer in a foreign country, who gradually gains self-confidence from her surroundings. Continue reading »
Wilma Unlimited: How Wilma Rudolph Became the World's Fastest Woman
Kathleen Krull
""No one expected such a tiny girl to have a first birthday,"" begins this inspiring biographical sketch of a legendary track stars. Born in 1940 in Tennessee, the chronically sickly though Continue reading »
Bunting addresses urban violence in this thought-provoking and visually exciting picture book inspired by the Los Angeles riots. Although they're neighbors, Daniel's cat and Mrs. Kim's cat don't get Continue reading »
This posthumously published novella depicts the brutal conditions facing young African American men in 1940s Harlem. Though written more than 50 years ago, its portrayals of crime, alienation and Continue reading »
Diaz's fiesta-bright artwork ignites this joyous tale of a Mexican American family's sentimental journey. For the parents, the Christmastime trip to their Mexican home means a longed-for reunion with Continue reading »
Hewing to an earthy palette of cornfield yellows, oranges, and greens, with shades of blue for contrast, Caldecott Medalist Diaz (Smoky Night) makes a dramatic departure, in a winsome interpretation Continue reading »
""Fiesta-bright"" art ignites this ""joyous"" tale of a Mexican American family's Christmastime trip to the parents' home in Mexico, said PW in a starred review. Ages 4-8. Continue reading »
In a starred review of this 1995 Caldecott winner, PW praised the ""thought-provoking"" and ""thoroughly believable"" text, about urban violence, and the ""dazzling"" mixed-media collages. Ages 3-8. Continue reading »
colorfully adorned with intricate designs that loosely recall illuminated manuscripts, Newbery Medalist Creech's (Walk Two Moons ) protracted fairy tale traces how two orphaned peasants come to rub Continue reading »
The Hispanic neighborhood in Soto's 21 poems is brought sharply into focus by the care with which he records images of everyday life: the music of an ice cream vendor's truck, the top of a Continue reading »
Speaking with a staccato, rap-like cadence, the teenage narrator of this stark picture book for middle-graders sets the scene: ""The rule/ at my school/ is you're a fool/ if you can't get/ your hand Continue reading »
If the alphabet started to disappear, as the premise of this inventively witty book sets up, then the world as we know it would, too. Wilbur (Opposites), a Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, starts at the Continue reading »
Willard (The Tortilla Cat) brings her considerable storytelling powers to this enchanting tale of a girl with the wit and ingenuity to outfox a formidable opponent. Holly Go Lolly, thanks to a Continue reading »
Caldecott Medalist Diaz's (Smoky Nights) stylized art fittingly amplifies Anaya's (The Farolitos of Christmas) spirited pourquoi story about the first roadrunner and his victory over a tyrannical Continue reading »
Iridescent light, tropical colors, and entwined, nature-themed patterns distinguish Caldecott Medalist Diaz's (Smoky Night) lavish art, which is the bedrock of this resplendent book. Suggestive of Continue reading »
Caldecott Medalist Diaz (Before You Came) teams up with poet and writer Alexander (American Sublime) to create a stunning visual representation of Alexander?s poem, which was commissioned for Continue reading »
The authors of Tales Our Abuelitas Told shape fictional portraits of 13 young people living in the U.S., who have diverse experiences and backgrounds but share a Latino heritage. The first-person Continue reading »
A “The House That Jack Built” narrative structure gives a night of stargazing galactic dimensions in this expansive picture book. As the sun sets, a child cuddles on a blanket Continue reading »
Mushrooms provide an unconventional and earthy through line for this cozy bedtime book. Rhyming lines open with a simple introduction to different types of fungi (“This is a Continue reading »
Ogle pays clear-eyed tribute to his maternal abuela while covering heavy topics such as child abuse, financial precarity, and racism in this searing verse memoir, a standalone Continue reading »
Ireland (Dread Nation) delivers a knockout punch in this fantastical steampunk take on the Great Depression, in which the U.S. rebuilds after a magical blight throws the country Continue reading »