MotherReader

I have a lot of chores to do today, so let's get right to the book.

Forgive Me, I Meant to Do It
by Gail Carson Levine, illustrated by Matthew Cordell
HarperCollins 2012, reviewed from library copy

Start with the idea that William Carol Williams' famous poem about plums in the icebox was pretty lame as a plea for forgiveness. Then turn the template of that poem into a series of false apologies and you have one entertaining poetry book for kids. Many of the poems allude to other familiar stories like Sleeping Beauty and Aladdin, while others refer to everyday situations. Well, with a bit of a stretch as to the normalcy of a kid's world, but it's all in good fun. The humorous, lightly sketched illustrations add to the entertainment value of a book of poems all entitled, This is Just to Say. My favorite:

This Is Just to Say

while you were buying
doll dresses
I sanded off
your Barbie's face

which
you constantly
patted
and praised.

Forgive me
her beauty
was only
skin deep.

Find more Poetry Friday selections with our host Teaching Young Writers. Also, don't forget to get in your Cybils nominations which are coming to a close (checking calendar....) on Monday, and consider sending a book to Ballou (which sounds like a Seuss village) the fall book drive which ends on Sunday. Go Nationals!