Moon Frog: Animal Poems for Young Children - Hardcover

PreSchool-Grade 3-- This attractive British import contains 29 short, accessible poems, some realistic, some whimsical. For the most part, Edwards uses strong rhythms, vivid detail, and economy of language to good effect. Soft colored-pencil and watercolor illustrations complement and extend the text. Fox-Davies's naturalistic approach shows animals that are not at all cartoonlike or stylized, although they are certainly expressive. Some of the pictures provide the punch line to the verse. While other collections of animal poetry may have more distinguished and consistent writing, and illustrations that are as good or better, such as A Zooful of Animals (Houghton, 1992), selected by William Cole, illustrated by Lynn Munsinger and Animals, Animals (Philomel, 1989) edited by Laura Whipple, illustrated by Eric Carle, this book has a place in larger children's poetry collections, especially where there is heavy use by preschoolers. --Lauralyn Persson, Wilmette Public Library, IL
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

In the title verse of this uneven collection, the moon slides "down the sky" low enough for a frog to leap on and ride "like a jockey on a horse." Although these rhythmic poems typically describe such original and creative situations, they frequently seem devoid of fresh language and substantive context. Like oddly detached snippets that lack a lyric poem's concentrated point of view or a narrative poem's action, Edwards's prosaic descriptions seem disconnected or not fully developed. Too often the rhymes seem strained ("You might make a mistake when you / Pick up the peeled fruit to chew") and in general the paintings are visually richer than the language they illustrate. Fox-Davies's ( Little Beaver and the Echo ) detailed watercolor and pencil illustrations are varied and handsomely designed, if rather uninspired in their choice of subject or method of presentation. Ages 4-up.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.