17 July 2014 LITTLE POEMS FOR TINY EARS by Lin Oliver and Tomie dePaola, ill., February 2014, 32p., ISBN: 978-0-399-16605-X

“MY HIGH CHAIR

I like to drop food from my chair.

It lands kerplop, but I don’t care.

I watch it fall down to the floor.

It’s so much fun, I toss some more.

My mom says no, my dad says please

Stop launching bits of toast and cheese.

They’re right--I will try hard to stop

But first...just one more small kerplop!”

To quote a parenting website, “Preschool social skills depend on three abilities: self-control, empathy, and verbal communication.”

Any four- to six-year-old who has a baby or toddler sibling at home is constantly aware that these little brothers and sisters don’t exhibit these skills and somehow get away with doing all those things that would merit time-outs for the four- to six-year-old.

In studying child development, we learn that the world of a baby or toddler is literally that which is in his or her face.  There is no “out there” or “tomorrow.”  It is all right here and right now. 

Therefore, it is so appropriate and meaningful that the poems in LITTLE POEMS FOR TINY EARS are focused on those sorts of things that are within a toddler’s immediate view and grasp: toes, nose, mirror, stroller, tongue, car seat, belly button, blankie, diapers, baths, cats, and dogs.

I can so vividly imagine the knowing smiles and head nodding at circle time, as older siblings listen to these poems that so perfectly capture the behaviors that they--the older brothers and sisters--recognize from living with the little ones at home:

“The Kitchen Drawer

Watch me scoot across the floor.

I’m heading for the kitchen drawer

To knock the pots and pans around

And throw the dish towels on the ground.

I rattle pans and bang the pots

And make some noise...well...okay...lots.

The kitchen echoes with the sound,

Till Mommy laughs and says, ‘Pipe down!’

She puts the pots and lids away,

But I’ll be back another day!”

As to the illustrations, what can I say about Tomie dePaola?  I shared his books with my kids and a generation of preschool students,, and now I’m getting to read his books to my one-year-old grandson who repeatedly, deliberately, and gleefully launches a grand variety of foods from his high chair perch.  Throughout this book, a multicultural cast of happy little rugrats add another lively dimension to the poems. 

When shared with those four- to six-year-olds, LITTLE POEMS FOR TINY EARS will provide a lot of recognition of and validation of all the learning and growing that they have gone through and are continuing to go through.

Richie Partington, MLIS

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