Mirror Mirror: A Book of Reverso Poems by Marilyn Singer with pictures by Josee Masse contains reverso poetry based on fairy tales which when read in one direction tells one story (and from one POV) but when read in reverse is a wholly different story. An example would be Cinderella’s story on one page and the stepsister's tale on the other page. The illustrations were truly excellent and the concept unique (and well executed) but as I had hoped to use this as a readaloud it didn't quite hit the mark for me. This is more of a singular reading experience or one-to-one with just one child. 6/10

What I'm Currently Reading: The Star Diaries by Stanislaw Lem

I picked up Songs With Our Eyes Closed on a good feeling and it was a wise choice I have read this well-written collection of poems from Tyler Kent White. As his debut, all of his poems are common themes many modern poets faced today - depression, life, loss, love and resilience. There are some poems I felt connected that I became emotional towards it, and while others I felt are good but not much better. Still, I did enjoy reading them and even though there's nothing exceptional in most of the words we say today, its still a good read. Written poems about life is almost every single poet of what they experience in writing. In brilliance or whether in its common ground that we can identify, Songs With Our Eyes Closed is a good debut read worth picking up.

I knew I had to talk to her.

I asked her out six times.

In thirty seconds. She said yes

after the third one, but none of them

felt right so I had to keep going.

 

Here is a debut collection from Neil Hilborn's Our Numbered Days, a raw perspective of what we thought and knew about love, is rarely that simple. It's a funny and sad, crazy but make sense and what we love is likely a poor choice without us knowing it. His famous OCD is included along with Joey, Here and Away & Future Tense. There is so much to love about this debut collection, and if you have heard about Neil Hilborn from his poetry slam performances or from Button Poetry or if you haven't heard about him at all, pick this up.

p/s: It's a rarity that I can smile while reading this poem and that means its good.

This book is great to teach on poems and they are easy to annotate. The Lexile is NP on the Lexile level, it wouuld be best for older grades to me.

What a fun book! You will never get tired of reading the entertaining bits and pieces from this book. There are many quotes that are indeed 'thought provoking' but for the most part, this book is just plain fun to read. Do you know that June 1st is Dinosaur Day? Neither did I. June 1st is also National Go Barefoot Day, flip a coin day and National Hazelnut cake day. (June 1st has no special significance, just picked this day because my kid loves dinosaurs). There are plenty of cute short poems for each day. You are certain to get a chuckle while reading this book. I looked up my birthday to find The Universal Postal Union was established in 1874. Not only are fun things included, but you will learn interesting facts (my birthday is also Fire Prevention Day)