21 March 2014 FIREFLY JULY: A YEAR OF VERY SHORT POEMS selected by Paul B. Janeczko and Melissa Sweet, ill. Candlewick, March 2014, 48p., ISBN: 978-0-7636-4842-8

"Sea Trade

All night long

the moonlit sea

tosses white chrysanthemums

to the rocky shore.

All night long

the rocky shore

offers in return...

tattered petals."

-- Patricia Hubbell

I was perched in an office early this morning, my ten month-old grandson Chayton in tow, seeking to amuse him while waiting my turn to conduct some business.  I'm more often than not singing to Chayton when we're together, but that doesn't really work well in somebody's office.  Instead, I was reciting some poems to him.

It just happened that one I recited was Patricia Hubbell's "A Trip of Goats," so I was jazzed to open FIREFLY JULY and find one of hers among the three dozen tasty little poems in this beautifully illustrated anthology.

"A Happy Meeting

Rain meets dust:

soft, cinnamon kisses.

Quick, noisy courtship,

then marriage: mud."

-- Joyce Sidman

Each poem that Paul Janeczko has selected for this collection evokes images and feelings with a minimum of words.  And for those of us who enjoy memorizing poems so that we can spit them out at opportune moments, this is a great selection of readily-memorized poetry.    The selected poems are primarily by classic and contemporary children's poets, along with a few by the likes of Sandburg, Frost, Dickinson, and Langston Hughes.

"A welcome mat of moonlight

on the floor.  Wipe your feet

before getting into bed

-- Jim Harrison and Ted Kooser

From beginning to end, Melissa Sweet’s colorful watercolor, gouache, and mixed media illustrations perfectly complement the text.

Richie Partington, MLIS
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