Giant Children by Brod Bagert and illustrations by Tedd Arnold

I love this book of poems. I was never a fan of poetry as a child. I have only learned to appreciate it in my resent years. However, I loved this book. It was not a typical book of poems but was child friendly right from the start. It also was not condescending when read but clever.

            The illustrations are quite hysterical. They are not typical as seen with each character’s bulging eyes and too skinny arms and legs. They remind me of a comic book or something one might see on Nickelodian. They are not low quality however. The illustrations are detailed and help explain most of the intended meaning of the poems. This is a great aspect of the book as poems can be vague at times through language and imagery of their meanings and may need to be read several times before understanding them completely. For children just learning this process the illustrations will help them know if they are on the right track. The poetry itself is very relatable to children. It deals with issues that students might face and experience. The poetry is nothing shy of excellent however, some of them rhyme but not all, breaking any stereotype that students might have of poetry style.

            Over all I would represent these books to students. I would love to have them in my classroom and might even pick a couple of my favorites to read aloud during a poetry unit. This book would be great for students just learning about poetry. It guides them through illustrations as to what the poems are about. This book would not be needed (even though students would still enjoy it) for the upper grades that could have multiple interpretations for one poem as the illustrations might limit them.

Published: 2002