Please Bury Me in the Library

Please Bury Me in the Library by J. Patrick Lewis; illustrated by Kyle M. Stone  32 pages

 As I was sauntering through the St. Louis Public Library the other day, the title and cover art of this book caught my eye. Before I was able to pluck it from the shelf, I was already rethinking my decision to be cremated when my time comes. However, realizing that this would never be possible, I simply walked to the Issue Desk and checked it out.

I was expecting a little story of a mouse (after all that is the critter on the cover) who loved to read and seldom ventured outside the library’s walls.  The critter was at home in the shelves of all the various genres and subject. Imagine my surprise when I finally opened the cover and found a delightful little book of poetry (and considering that it’s April and National Poetry Month, it seemed like destiny).

Inside are 15 delightful, humorous poems that made me smile. My absolute favorite is the title poem, as I believe that being buried in the library would be its own paradise.  “Please Bury Me in the Library” receives 5 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

My Weird School #16

My Weird School #16: Miss Coco is Loco by Dan Gutman                     Audio Book:  .75 hour   Hardback Book:  112 pages                

Fun read.   A. J. and his classmate, Andrea, have been selected to be in the Gifted and Talented program at their school.    A.J. would rather NOT be in it, because he doesn’t want his friends razzing him about being smart or special, plus, he can barely stand, Andrea, who is reading the entire encyclopedia from A-Z so she will learn everything in the world there is to know.    Ms. Coco who runs the Gifted and Talented Program comes in to the classroom one day speaking in rhyme,  that is how she let them know she was assigning them poetry homework.    A.J. is bummed out because guys don’t read poetry that is for girls he says.   Turns out he tries to gross Ms. Coco out with putting wods and phrases like fart and armpit, nose picking, etc.    But instea of getting kicked out of class, Ms. Coco thinks he is very creative and is expressing himself in the poem.   The next time they meet she comes in singing, “Feelings,”  and telling A.J. how much she loves his poetry and how she wants him to really put his feelings into his next poem.  This is when A.J. decided that Ms. Coco is loco not just weird as he had first thought.      It turned out to be a timely read because it starts in March and goes through April – National Poetry Month.   The entire school is challenged to write 1,000 poems.    Some of A.J.’s friends are having issues completing a poem and ask A.J. for help.   Before long A.J. is selling his poems for the other guys’ lunch money.   Will he be found out or will the guys beat the girls in the poetry slam?   Gotta read it to find out, but, it is a fun read and little did I know when I requested it by the title Miss Coco is Loc, that it is actually part of a series.  Now I have to find out what led up to this and where will the go from here?    Fun premise.   I recommend it for young readers.

One Minute Till Bedtime:

One Minute Till Bedtime:  60 Second Poems To Send You Off To Sleep selected by Kenn Nesbitt  art by Christoph Niemann          

Every poem in this book takes no longer than one minute to read or recite.   Honestly, I don’t think these would be fare for trying to get little ones to bed.   Many are funny and require or ignite the desire to participate with the activities mentioned so other than the rhythm of the verses lulling little ones to dreamland, I think some of these poems would cause little minds to go on alert playing along with what is being said or causing them to ask questions or make observations which in turn would keep those little brains on alert and working, maybe even laying there awake with the light turned out once the reader called it a night and bid them sweet dreams.    The poems are fun and really good conceptual pieces from everything to a floating horse to riding a unicorn across the sky.   From an octopus who is a one man/octopus band to Lemony Snicket’s version of count your blessing.   The World’s Longest Yawn to Adventures in Slumberland does tend to make one kind of drawsy or maybe it is just the word yawn that conjures one up.    Lovely, fun, read-aloud poems that introduce young ones to the genre of poetry so well that I think many would return to poetry because of its flow, rhyme and playful images.   Good job Kenn Nesbitt selecting such a varied group of writers to introduce to early readers/listeners and their adult readers.   Well done.