I think the strongest poems are the ones about friends and family (what’s more cathartic than riffing on your wacky relatives?), or the playful rollicking verses that beg to be read aloud, such as, “This Substitute Teacher is Really Into Rhyming”:īeing a kid means you’re often curious and you spend lots of time observing and wondering about weird things (what are toes really for? why are there no places on Earth where lost eyeglasses belong?).
It’s always good to be assured that you’re not alone. They will nod in recognition, appreciate the honesty, and like having their feelings validated.
The mostly rhyming poems, whimsically illustrated by Lee White, will make kids laugh, question, think, and reflect.
And what are poems, if not about human emotion? With 50+ poems grouped in 11 appealing categories such as School Stuff, Mysteries, Songs of the Seasons, About This and That, and About the Family, she explores the many ups and downs of childhood through an emotional lens that engages and resonates. Judith knows that sometimes the right poem at the right time is just the thing. Her latest poetry collection, What Are You Glad About? What Are You Mad About? (Atheneum, 2016) is subtitled, “Poems for When a Person Needs a Poem.” Feeling a little lonely in your own skin? Or silly enough to eat a lamp for lunch? Maybe you’re fiercely jealous of too sweet, too kind, nauseatingly polite Anna May - why not bite or bop her? 🙂 What do you do when your best friend doesn’t want to be your best friend any more, or your mom is just too bossy, or your head is spinning from all those reading and writing rules? Months later, when the family across the street lost their cat, I gave them a copy of The Tenth Good Thing About Barney. Judith to the rescue again. Totally nailing the child voice, Viorst (who made me very glad I didn’t have gum stuck in my hair) had a way of telling it true and assuaging frustration and calamity with just the right dose of humor. I found myself coveting train pajamas and contemplating a move to Australia.
I became a Viorst fan that day as I eagerly made my way through the other Alexander books. “Read me,” demanded a well worn copy left behind on one of the round wooden tables in the children’s room. I picked it up, read it all the way through, then sat down in a tiny chair to read it again. I’ll always remember the day I found Judith Viorst’s Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day in the public library.
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