These funny poems by Phillip Van Wagoner, illustrated by Spencer Smith, come in an all-color edition that was successfully funded on Kickstarter on 2015.
Sometimes you forget the sheer joy of sharing rhymes with an audience; this book is here to remind us of that. These fifty or so poems come in a variety of themes, all light-hearted and fun to read out loud. Their aim is to make you smile, think a bit, and run for the next one–and they definitely are worth a recommendation!
Here is a fragment of a thoughtful one and the complete “Could You Hug a Cactus.”
WORDS ARE WORDS
Words are words are pretty things.
They leap from tongue when your heart sings
To match the song on your heartstrings
And share the noise of joy it brings.Words are words are words are strong
And words can change who gets along
Or make you feel you don’t belong
When words are words are words are wrong.
COULD YOU HUG A CACTUS?
What if a cactus felt really bad?
Hurt and depressed and truly quite sad?Feeling unwelcome or feeling unliked,
Not feeling like dealing with being all spiked.
The desert might not be a whole lot of fun.
A tumbleweed isn’t much conversation.
What if it started to share all its fears?
Cry a small cry with its cactus-juice tears?
What if it gave all your heartstrings a tug?
Could you do the deed, could you give it a hug?
We definitely need more poems like these, quite simple and enjoyable, especially to share them with our kids and encourage them to make their own. The illustrations are clever and fun, just like the poems.
Since it was successfully funded, many backers are receiving it at a discount. The illustrator, Spencer Smith, is sharing one with us; just click here.
On the checkout page, you can click the “Use Gift Card or Promo Code” button and type in the promo code “GEEKOUT” for 25% off and a 3-pack of original greeting cards by the author and artist.
Featured image by Spencer Smith
Disclosure: I was given a copy of this book for review purposes.
