Poetry Friday - No Pancakes! It's "Wild Brunch"

 It's Poetry Friday, and Tabatha Yeatts-Lonske is hosting HERE on her blog The Opposite of Indifference.    Thanks for hosting, Tabatha, and for bringing us so lovely a poem about murmuration and more!

          I first met David L. Harrison in 1983 when I took my daughter to a book signing, and she wanted his new book, A Book of Giant Stories. I remember he was so kind to her and signed it in a special way. Back then, I didn't really know David's poetry power, but when Highlights offered a week of poetry writing with him, I went! And, then, I went the next year, too. Being at Highlights with David was so much fun, as were the ones with Rebecca Dotlich and Georgia Heard. I took the book back that second time, and he signed it then for Sarah's daughters, Ingrid and Imogene! I guess they'd better keep it for their daughters! 

        

          If you want to know more about David, you can see his extraordinary bio by googling his name on line and choosing among the many sites about him. He is now the Poet Laureate of Missouri and of Drury University, from which he has a science degree. He knows a lot about science, and you'll understand that when you see his titles that show off his knowledge. 

         I'm excited to share David's latest title today, showing off a few animals, what and how they eat!  Thanks to Charlesbridge Publishing for my copy!

           Various animals munch through the pages with David's usual humor shining through. There are piranhas where advice is warranted: "When piranha's on the hunt,/you're wise if you retreat." And, much larger, but also in the water, the hippo eats at night. Did you know? They have "teeth like spikes" and in the wisest, but funniest, of an underlying meaning, David writes, "No one ever called/a hippo sweet." The poem shows the warning of just how very fast those un-sweet beasts can run!    

           When he writes about aardvarks, the poem ends with "No matter/how you try to hide–/you can't."  A favorite reminds me of a memory I have. This poem shares all the things a seagull eats: "Darting fish,/leaping shrimp, bugs snatched in flight," and ending with "food from stashes/shaded by beach umbrellas." Once, I sat with a friend on the beach but under an overhang, about to take a bit of my sandwich when SWOOP, a seagull came flying through and grabbed it! As the poem says, "few with feathers/find more ways,/ to fill their bill."

            You can find and enjoy poems about jellyfish, narwhals, houseflies, and more, even one animal that does not eat in David's new book of poetry. Giles Laroche fills the double-page spreads with luscious illustrations, where the cover says he creates with as many as eight layers, "drawing, cutting, painting, gluing". Each one takes me into that animal's world!

            Added at the back are three different sections: "Swimming Eaters," "Land-based Eaters," and "Flying Eaters," which offer more information about each animal. There is also a bibliography for further reading. 

            Two companion books by this author/illustrator pair have come out in earlier years, also offering beautifully written and illustrated poems. Their covers are below!

 

         Reading and seeing David's, and this time, Giles', poetry books is always a joy. I'm happy to share this one with you, hoping you find time to get the book and enjoy every page and poem yourself.