The Wizard

Written by Jack Prelutsky

Illustrated by Brandon Dorman

Published by Greenwillow Books

About two weeks back I was looking through the children's section of the library, minding my business, when this lovely book caught my eye. It was on the return cart waiting to be put back. I knew Jack Prelutsky as a children's poet, so I was perplexed to see his name on the cover of a picture book. Well, I opened up the book and was pleasantly surprised.

Here is one of Jack Prelutsky's poems brought to life by the help of an amazing illustrator, Brandon Dorman. If any kid complains that poetry is boring, he sure hasn't seen this book. Ever since I brought it home from the library, my two sons want to read it almost every night before bed. The rhyming text and vibrant illustrations help to really set your imagination wild with magical thoughts about wizardry and magic.

Prelutsky has a knack for setting the mood with his descriptive language, and Dorman runs with the creativity by creating two-page spreads of the wizard's tower, filled with burning candles, potions, black cats, crows, spider webs, ancient books, a portrait of Medusa, etc. The list could go on and on. One of the most wonderful things about this book is that you can go back and look at each sprawling illustration and find many things that you did not see before.

The thing I love most about this book is that it is poetry, literally, come to life by these wonderful illustrations. It is not to give Dorman full credit for the book, but the poem could not live on as it does in this book if it were just words on a blank page, like poetry sometimes is. It think this book would be a wonderful way to introduce students to poetry, especially young ones. It will get their feet wet with the text by slowly weaning them away from illustrations. Young audiences are so used to picture books, that I'm sure the move to pictureless poetry can be a little boring for them. So, as a teacher, I would use definitely use this book as a prelude to a poetry unit. It would also be a great activity to have students draw their own illustrations of a poem that doesn't have illustrations. This book could really get kids motivated for doing that.

Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!

Written and Illustrated by Mo Willems

Published by Hyperion Books for Children

Text begins right away when you open the front cover of the book, before you can even read the title. There is a bus driver with a speech bubble addressing the reader not to let the pigeon drive the bus. Then, through the book, the pigeon that we meet asks, then begs to drive the bus. He becomes increasingly agitated until he completely loses it, and then the bus driver comes back and thanks the reader for not letting the pigeon drive the bus.

This book is incredibly funny and endearing. The reader gets to take on the responsibility of telling the pigeon "no, he cannot drive the bus," while the pigeon takes on the role of the child. Mo Willems has captured the dream of every child who ever became frustrated at grown-ups telling them "no." This is a position that any kid would love to be in, the roles are reversed and the kids are now in charge. Also, children can definitely relate to the pigeons feelings about not being allowed to do what he wants. So this book is a great text-to-self read. Plus, it is just plain funny to see that pigeon freak out!

Mo Willems' illustrations are simple yet he completely tells the story with them. His stark backgrounds give real focus to the pigeon and how he's feeling. Willems really seems to understand what children like and how they feel, and children like the artwork because it is easy for them to understand also. Sometimes less is more, and I believe Willems really hit the nail on the head with the drawings in this book. Also, giving speech bubbles to the pigeon really helps to give the pigeon human qualities, helping children to relate more.