From tongue-in-cheek sonnets to lyrical free verse, Susan Blackaby's poems explore the many kinds of homes animals make for themselves. Jaime Hogan's expressive line art is perfect complements to this clever collection of habitat poems. Extensive back matter provides intriguing information on animal habitats and the ins and outs of writing poetry.

Children's Literature

Otters loll like whiskered boats,/Bobbing gently in the swells. Utilizing similes and many other figures of speech, Blackaby has created an enchanting tool for teaching as well as for pure enjoyment. Here her poetry covers five different habitats (desert, grassland, shoreline, wetland, and woodland) and the creatures that dwell in each particular area. The table of contents reveals these five divisions and also lists habitats and writing poetry. The last two sections are invaluable. The habitats section succinctly defines the environment, flora, and fauna of each specialized environment; while the writing poetry section has references to individual poems which explain the poetic form used or gives explanations of how the poem was researched and developed. Teachers will be pleased to have precise explanations of such terms as homophones, sibilance, alliteration, onomatopoeia, consonance, and rhyme schemes. Blackaby employed a variety of poetic forms to support the various themes she presented, including: couplets, triplets, sonnet, unrhymed couplets, villanelle, than-bauk (a Burmese form), and a variety of rhyme schemes. Her explanations of the forms chosen for the different poems will open new channels of writing prowess for those who create their own poetry and those who aspire to do so. Pastel and charcoal pencil line drawings perfectly match the tone of the poems and give support to the information revealed in them as well. The drawing that goes with the heron poem gives life to the lines: Herons walk with stilted steps/Stalking, cautious, through the marsh... Every school and public library needs to own this gem. Reviewer: Sheilah Egan

Some animals are homebodies,
Like tortoises and snails.
Their heads stick out their front doors,
Out their back doors flick their tails.
Belongings go along with them
No matter where they roam,
And you can visit anytime
There's always someone home.

From tongue-in-cheek sonnets to lyrical free verse, Susan Blackaby's poems explore the many kinds of homes animals make for themselves. Jaime Hogan's expressive line art is perfect complements to this clever collection of habitat poems. Extensive back matter provides intriguing information on animal habitats and the ins and outs of writing poetry.

Children's Literature

Otters loll like whiskered boats,/Bobbing gently in the swells. Utilizing similes and many other figures of speech, Blackaby has created an enchanting tool for teaching as well as for pure enjoyment. Here her poetry covers five different habitats (desert, grassland, shoreline, wetland, and woodland) and the creatures that dwell in each particular area. The table of contents reveals these five divisions and also lists habitats and writing poetry. The last two sections are invaluable. The habitats section succinctly defines the environment, flora, and fauna of each specialized environment; while the writing poetry section has references to individual poems which explain the poetic form used or gives explanations of how the poem was researched and developed. Teachers will be pleased to have precise explanations of such terms as homophones, sibilance, alliteration, onomatopoeia, consonance, and rhyme schemes. Blackaby employed a variety of poetic forms to support the various themes she presented, including: couplets, triplets, sonnet, unrhymed couplets, villanelle, than-bauk (a Burmese form), and a variety of rhyme schemes. Her explanations of the forms chosen for the different poems will open new channels of writing prowess for those who create their own poetry and those who aspire to do so. Pastel and charcoal pencil line drawings perfectly match the tone of the poems and give support to the information revealed in them as well. The drawing that goes with the heron poem gives life to the lines: Herons walk with stilted steps/Stalking, cautious, through the marsh... Every school and public library needs to own this gem. Reviewer: Sheilah Egan