Book Speak! Poems About Books by Laura Purdie Salas -- ADVISABLE

Salas, Laura Purdie.  Book Speak! Poems About Books, illustrated by Josee Bisaillon. Clarion Books (Harcourt), 2011.  $16.99.  Content: G.  NON-FICTION.  “Calling All Readers” is the title of the first poem of the book and the anthem of this collection of poetry.  Each poem is a tribute to different aspects of the written word.  Fictional Characters beg for the reader to read books so that they can come alive.  In a poem entitled, “On the Shelf and Under the Bed”, Salas’s crisp writing describes books as: “Sharp corners. / Clean pages. / Fresh ink. / Glossy cover…”   Some poems rhyme and others are written in free verse.  Some poems are funny, specifically the poem “Book Plate” which explains that a book plate is most certainly not a place for your peas.  Some poems are more abstract, like “Paper Sky” such as “My limbs wrote the sky with orange leaf pens…”  This set of poems is not quite as charming as her first poetic effort, Stampede, but bibliophiles and librarians will delight in these love poems to books.  The illustrations by Josee Bisaillon’s illustrations are unique and combine traditional illustrations with mixed media art.

EL- ADVISABLE.  Samantha Hastings, MA, MLS.