I Am the Book: Poems Review

Bibliographic citation: 

Lee, B.H. 2011. I AM THE BOOK: POEMS. New York: Holiday House. ISBN 9780823421190 (hardcover).

Lee, B.H. 2011. I AM THE BOOK: POEMS. Ill. By Yayo. New York: Holiday House. ISBN 9780823421190 (hardcover).

I Am the Book: Poems features thirteen poems by thirteen different authors, including one by Lee Bennett Hopkins. The theme of the poems in the collection is clear from the title of the book: the poems focus on reading books! The book’s level of quality is evident through the variety of poets included in the anthology. The poets include award winning poets, poets who are also illustrators and more well-known poets like Jane Yolen. The book's beautiful acrylic illustrations are by Yayo. The book features a helpful table of contents listing all of the poems, as well as information about the authors at the end of the book.

The poems throughout the book represent the various moods that reading and books can bring to children. The thirteen poems featured in this book evoke in the reader different emotions about the reading experience, including: adventure, tranquility, escape and imagination. Throughout the book the different poems also contain varied use of sound elements, such as alliteration, sensory imagery such as the taste of salt water, the feeling of the wind, and different types of figurative devices such as simile, metaphor and personification. These different poetic elements keep the reader engaged and excited to discover what the next poem contains.

The poem “Don’t Need a Window Seat” by Kristine O'Connell George gives the reader the sense of adventure and escape that reading provides. The poems range from point of view, including from the view of the reader, the book or a third-party narrator. The poem “When I Read” by Beverly McLoughland was a favorite of the second graders with whom I shared this book. Since the poem is written from the point of view of a child, the students were able to share their feelings about reading with the class. 

 I currently substitute teach, so I introduced this book as one of my favorite new poetry books to a group of second graders. The students enjoyed many of the poems, but one of their favorite poems was “Paperback Plunder” by Michele Krueger. The students liked that the illustration showed a seagull reading the book. The poem features the figurative devices of simile and personification. 

The first stanza of the poem reads as follows:

            Like a sunken treasure

            long forgotten,

            I lie half buried under sand.  

            (Hopkins, 15) 

The beautiful use of simile to describe the book as a “sunken treasure” immediately hooked the second graders as we read and re-read the poem together. The language used in this poem highlight the sense of wonder, excitement and discovery that can be found through reading. 

I Am the Book: Poems makes a great addition to a poetry collection for parents, teachers and librarians working with students in grades Kindergarten through third grade. The bright, colorful illustrations work in harmony with the text of the poems, making the layout of the book one that is inviting to the reader. By including poets from different backgrounds and with different writing styles, the book will help the reader to appreciate the power of words in many different ways. 

I am the book. JPEG. Retrieved from http://www.holidayhouse.com/title_display.php?ISBN=9780823421190