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Santa Clauses: Short Poems from the North Pole by Bob Raczka, illustrated by Chuck Groenink

April 15, 2016 by

NPMBlogTour2016

Source: Public Library
Hardcover, 32 pgs.
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Santa Clauses: Short Poems from the North Pole by Bob Raczka, illustrated by Chuck Groenink, emphasizes what we already know about Santa Claus and his life as a gift giver, toy maker, husband, and reindeer trainer.  But he has one more talent, a secret talent — he’s a poet who write haiku.  Inside this book, there are 25 haiku poems that illustrate life at the North Pole, giving young readers and inside look at what it is like to be Santa Claus.

Although some of the haiku are not perfect, and one or two are a bit simplistic, overall the haiku are fun to read, and would make a great addition to the holiday reading list with little kids.  My favorite haiku is the one in which Mrs. Claus becomes a young girl again, making a snow angel.  My daughter loves the part when Comet and the white fox return from the woods with their own Christmas tree, helping Santa with his preparations.

Some of the haiku will have readers thinking about the stories they know well, and others will have readers looking at things a little differently.  Santa Clauses: Short Poems from the North Pole by Bob Raczka, illustrated by Chuck Groenink, is a cute book with short poems that could be read one day at a time beginning on Dec. 1.

Rating: Quatrain

About the Author:

Bob Raczka loved to draw, especially dinosaurs, cars and airplanes, as a boy. He spent a lot of time making paper airplanes and model rockets. He studied art in college, which came in quite handy while writing a series of art appreciation books, Bob Raczka’s Art Adventures. He also studied advertising, a creative field in which he worked in for more than 25 years. Bob also discovered how much he loved poetry and began writing his own. His message for today’s kids is to make stuff!”

Filed Under: borrowed copy, challenges, children's fiction, Events, national poetry month, poetry, Poetry Reading Challenge, Read in 2016, reviews Tagged With: , , , , ,

Joy in Mudville by Bob Raczka, illustrated by Glin Dibley

March 18, 2016 by

Source: Public Library
Hardcover, 32 pgs.
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Joy in Mudville by Bob Raczka, illustrated by Glin Dibley, is a wonderful book about empowering girls to think outside the normal roles of princess and dancer.  Joy is a pitcher for the local baseball team, but she’s an untried rookie.  What happens when the team needs her will surprise young and old readers, as well as the team’s fans.

Joy shows the fans and the team that she’s not only good at baseball, but also other sports.  Jump shots, pump fakes, and more, as she takes the mound by storm.  She has the other team scratching their heads, but none of her moves are considered illegal.  The illustrations are wonderful, and she gets her own baseball card just like the team’s slugger Mighty Casey.

Joy in Mudville by Bob Raczka, illustrated by Glin Dibley, is wonderfully illustrated and tells a great story of courage and originality.  Young girls will be inspired by Joy’s bravery and her ability as an athlete.

Rating: Cinquain

About the Author:

Bob Raczka loved to draw, especially dinosaurs, cars and airplanes, as a boy. He spent a lot of time making paper airplanes and model rockets. He studied art in college, which came in quite handy while writing a series of art appreciation books, Bob Raczka’s Art Adventures. He also studied advertising, a creative field in which he worked in for more than 25 years. Bob also discovered how much he loved poetry and began writing his own. His message for today’s kids is to make stuff!”

Filed Under: borrowed copy, children's fiction, Read in 2016, reviews Tagged With: , , ,

Lemonade and Other Poems Squeezed from a Single Word by Bob Raczka, illustrated by Nancy Doniger

March 11, 2016 by

Source: Public Library
Hardcover, 48 pgs.
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Lemonade and Other Poems Squeezed from a Single Word by Bob Raczka, illustrated by Nancy Doniger, is an odd little book that makes poems out of single words, but the adoption of an e.e. Cummings style might be a little much for younger readers and even some parents.  Visual poetry forms are often tough to decipher for those unfamiliar with them.

At least in this book, the visual poems have a counterpart on the other side of the page that is more traditional, allowing the parent to review each poem to get the lines before reading the visual poem aloud to the child.  The visual poems can be talked about in terms of what shapes they represent, but in some cases, it is hard to tell what the author intended the shapes to be.

Lemonade and Other Poems Squeezed from a Single Word by Bob Raczka, illustrated by Nancy Doniger, might be better for an older audience than my daughter, probably those children that know more words and can form sentences on their own.  It could be used to create a writing exercise in which the kids take one word and use its letters to create their own poems.

Rating: Tercet

About the Author:

Bob Raczka loved to draw, especially dinosaurs, cars and airplanes, as a boy. He spent a lot of time making paper airplanes and model rockets. He studied art in college, which came in quite handy while writing a series of art appreciation books, Bob Raczka’s Art Adventures. He also studied advertising, a creative field in which he worked in for more than 25 years. Bob also discovered how much he loved poetry and began writing his own. His message for today’s kids is to make stuff!”

Filed Under: borrowed copy, challenges, children's fiction, poetry, Poetry Reading Challenge, Read in 2016, reviews Tagged With: , , ,

Guyku: A Year of Haiku for Boys by Bob Raczka, illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds

February 5, 2016 by

Source: Public Library
Hardcover, 48 pgs
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Guyku: A Year of Haiku for Boys by Bob Raczka, illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds, is a book I picked up to read with my daughter because I love finding new poetry books to read with her.  I want her to at least appreciate poetry, even if she doesn’t love it as much as I do later on in life.  Although this says its a year of haiku for boys, I think even girls can appreciate these short poems and the seasons they represent.  My daughter participates in some of the same activities as boys, such as flying kites and bike riding, and I’m sure when she grows older, she’ll be climbing trees and taking other adventures.

The illustrations are great, very simply drawn and colored, reflecting the poems themselves in their obvious and fun witticisms.  In one of the first haikus, a young boy is flying a kite, but he’s engaged in a game of tug-of-war, and he’s not winning.  I bet you can guess who is.  These poems speak to the imagination of children, like boys making their bikes sound like motorcycles by putting baseball cards and other objects in their wheels.  These boys are imaginative and curious, and they take on anything that comes their way.  It’s hard to imagine them ever being bored.

The wind and I play
tug-of-war with my new kite.
The wind is winning.

Guyku: A Year of Haiku for Boys by Bob Raczka, illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds, is a wonderful collection of poems for boys and girls.  Not only are the poems short enough for younger kids to pay attention to them, but they are about subjects that they are familiar with and probably already engage in regularly.

Rating: Cinquain

About the Author:

Bob Raczka loved to draw, especially dinosaurs, cars and airplanes, as a boy. He spent a lot of time making paper airplanes and model rockets. He studied art in college, which came in quite handy while writing a series of art appreciation books, Bob Raczka’s Art Adventures. He also studied advertising, a creative field in which he worked in for more than 25 years. Bob also discovered how much he loved poetry and began writing his own. His message for today’s kids is to make stuff!”

Filed Under: borrowed copy, challenges, children's fiction, New Authors Challenge, poetry, Read in 2016, reviews Tagged With: , , ,