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Poetry Book Review

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poems and paintings by Douglas Florian

sum.jpg
Available from www.harperchildrens.com.Accessed June 21, 2005

Florian, Douglas, 2002. Summersaults.New York:
     Greenwillow Books.ISBN 0-06-029267-9.

     Summersaults is a collection of 28 playful poems that portray the essence of summer.  The poems appeal not only to children but to adults as well. The simple but stylish watercolor illustrations attach themselves to each of the poems. The book opens with all the things that epitomize summer like:

“Picking cherries-and blueberries –riding bikes –mountain hikes –bird calls –curve balls” 

until all of sudden you remembered the things you hated about summer in the next poem

“skinned knees—ninety degrees thunderstorms –humid nights—mosquito bites.”

Florian uses different styles in his poems like simple rhyming verse in some poems such as his poem about the Dande-lion

 The dande-lion doesn’t roar.

It’s quiet as a closet door.

Nor does the dande-lion race

All day it stays in just one place

Except for when its seeds are flying-

Believe me-,

I’m not dande-lying

 

     He also has a few concrete poems such as Double Dutch Girls and Summersaults where he has mirrored the actions with the words. The humorous verses such as Greenager and Dog Day are in keeping with what the main theme of the book is all about, summer.

Florian’s use of  actions in his poems is evident in his poems skateboarding and eating watermelon. The poems follow the pattern of summer and one can actually feel the disappointment when it comes to the end of summer in the poem, Three Words

 

Three words

Most cruel:

Back to school.

 

Children and adults will love reading these rhythmic, imaginative poems, as well as

Winter Eyes and Autumnblings companion books to Summersaults .

 

Gillian Engberg, from booklist says this about summersaults booklist available from

“Florian ably captures the freedom and exuberance of the season in bright, new greens, sun-baked browns, and images of leaping, grinning figures. The gleeful puns, wordplay, and creative grammar will charm youngsters, but some of the best poems are the quietest: a boy collecting treasures along a beach asks: "Five feathers from / A seabird's wings. / I wonder: Who has lost these things?"

Available from www.amazon.com, Accessed June 24.2005

 

In an interview with Douglas Florian, Heidi Henneman from Book Page had this to say about his book, “Florian’s pictures and poems undoubtedly convey the fun he had writing Summersaults. But more importantly, his poems show readers that words do not have to be literal and mundane. They can be played with and adapted to whatever meanings we choose.”

Available from http://www.bookpage.com, Accessed June 25, 2005