Poetry, Folktales and Picture books... Oh my! - Juvenile Corner

Hi everyone, 

This is reading log 4, which marks less than 6 weeks left of my first semester in grad school! Can you believe it? Because I know that I can't!
This reading log is going to focus on poetry.  Which is something that you probably guessed from the title of this post. 

The books will be listed below in alphabetical order, just like before.  (If you're curious about my other reading logs, you can click on the tab labeled "Juvenile Corner".  This will take you directly them)

Armadilly Chili written by Helen Ketteman and illustrated by Will Terry
Published by 
Category: Children's (illustrated) picture book, Folktale
Major Awards Won:
Age Range: 7-9
Pages and Spreads: 40 pages, 6 spreads

Armadilly Chili is a fun, refreshed take on folktale The Little Red Hen.  Miss. Billie is an armadillo who's a craving a bowl of beetle chili!  Miss. Billie goes around town and asks her friends if they are able to help her.  Much to her dismay, none of her friends are able to help her... That is until they smell the chili that Miss. Billie is making!  I found this story to have excellent illustrations.  The colors were bold and bright and they helped to tell the story.  Armadilly Chili is the a book that would be excellent one for a storytime.  I think that this book would be appropriate for children as young as 5 or 6.  I liked the story teaches the importance of friendship and sharing.  At the end of the story, Miss. Billie and her friends end up enjoying the armadilly chili!  Her friends even bring gifts as a token of their appreciation for allowing them to share her food with them.  It was a cute little story with a good moral at the end. 

A Coat for the Moon and Other Jewish Tales selected and retold by Howard Schwatrz and Barbara Rush; illustrated by Michael Iofin
Published by The Jewish Publication Society in 1999


Category: Children's (illustrated) picture book, Folktale, Anthology
Major Awards Won: 
Age Range: 9-12
Pages and Spreads: 94 pages, 0 spreads

Taking folktales from different counties within the Middle East, Africa and Eastern Europe, A Coat for the Moon and Other Jewish Tales combines different tales with the same theme into one collection.  The stories within this book, while are from different countries, they do feature some of the same characters. King Solomon is in several stories.  Each story features one illustration which is at the beginning of that said story. The illustrations are done with ink and are in black and white.  The stories are wordier, so I feel that if a child was reading them alone, they would need to be a little older or have a more advanced reading ability if they're younger than 9.  That being said, I think that this book would an excellent read for a parent or a caregiver to read to a younger child.  



Forget-Me-Nots: Poems to Learn by Heart; selected by Mary Anne Hoberman, illustrated by Michael Emberly
Published by Little, Brown & Co. in 2012
Category: Children's Poetry, Anthology (Thematic)
Major Awards Won: Poetry Foundation Children's Poet Laureate 2008-2010
Age Range: 5-6 years
Pages and Spreads: 144 pages, 42 spreads

Forget-Me-Nots: Poems to Learn by Heart is an anthology comprised of poems by lesser known authors and more famous authors.  The anthology is broken down into 11 selections covering various topics and themes.  The pages do have illustrations on them, some of the pages have more than one poem on them with an illustration.  The illustrations featured in the book were done in watercolor, pencils and pastels.  I felt like the age range on this book could include those who were aged 4 as well.  I think that this book would be great at bedtime or even a storytime. 




Poetry for Young People: Maya Angelou, edited by Edwin Graves Wilson, Ph.D., illustrated by Jerome Lagarrigue
Published by Sterling Publishing, Co. in 2007
Category: Children's Poetry, Anthology
Age Range: 8 and up
Pages and Spreads: 48 pages, 2 spreads

Featuring only poems authored by Maya Angelou, Poetry for Young People: Maya Angelou features 25 of her poems.  I really enjoyed this anthology.  The poems featured carry impact and are beautifully written and the focus on various topics.  The illustrations that are done in acrylic or in oil paint.  The illustrations help to enhance the poems.  Each poem featured in this anthology has a little expert about it and some of the poems have definitions at the bottom.  I felt like this age range on this book suits it well.  I think that it would be a good book for any independent reader.  




                                    Stone Soup: An Old Tale written and illustrated by Marcia Brown
Published by Aladdin Paperbacks, 1997 (second edition)
Category: Children's (illustrated) picture book, Folktale
Major Awards Won: 1948 Caldecott Honor Book
Age Range: 5-8
Pages and Spreads: 48 pages, 15 spreads

Stone Soup: An Old Tale was originally published in 1947, with a second publishing in 1997, is based on a folktale from France.  In Stone Soup, three soldiers find a small town where they hope that they are able to have a meal and find a place to rest their heads.  As the villagers see them coming down the road, they start to hide all of their food.  When asked by the soldiers if there was any food to spare or any beds to sleep in, they were told "no".  Using some creative thinking, the soldiers told the village that they wanted to make some stone soup.  The villagers were intrigued and willing to help with the various items and ingredients that were needed.  At the end of the story, the soldiers not only had their meal but they fed the rest of the people in the town (and they got a place to sleep!).

Happy reading!
- Jillian

Mapless by Erin Anastasia - Reshelved Books

Hello Dewey Readers!

I recently started attending a nearby open mic poetry night.  They're almost ALWAYS in NYC, so I was ecstatic to find one that meets on the other side of the Hudson close to home.  Because I was afraid to go alone, my boyfriend tagged along.  He's a mechanic not a reader or a poet, but I think he might be slowly edging towards the dark side... or at least he enjoyed the event and may even tag along again.  

Erin Anastasia was one of the main poets at the open mic, reading a few selections from her self published collection, Mapless.  As many of you know, I've been working with putting together a poetry collection myself and toying with the idea of self publication.  Because of this I LOVE seeing poets who have done it successfully well.  Erin Anastasia is one of these poets.

Erin Anastasia writes with such powerful imagery and emotion, and I love that she has not fallen on the "keep everything lowercase" bandwagon.  Lowercase is trendy right now, but it's not how I was taught to write in college.  I value poetry that pushes boundaries wile keeping grammar intact.  Not only is the way that she writes beautiful, but the performance of her poetry is AMAZING.  I think that hearing a poet recite their work gives a whole new appreciation to their poetry.

So Dewey Readers, check out Erin Anastasia's poetry book!  She also has an awesome YouTube page!  I's give it 5 out of 5 Coffee Beans.  

Until the next read!
~Jessica 

P.S.  I'll let you know if I ever get brave enough to read my poems aloud at one of the open mic nights.   

The Day My Kisses Tasted Like Disorder by Emmanuella Hristova - Reshelved Books

Hello Dewey Reads!  

Emmanuel Hristova reached out to us and asked if we would review her poetry collection The Day My Kisses Tasted Like Disorder.  Of course, we agreed.  Hristova's poetry is amazing.  She crafts language in a way that is both beautiful and powerful as she tackles difficult subjects while promoting female empowerment.  

One thing that I especially like about her work is how her poems do not each start on their own page.  Instead, her poems will start towards the end of a page and continue on to a next, in a way that is fluid and helps the reader to visually feel the fluidity of her work.

The copy that Hristova sent to us also contains images of her artwork.  This art only helps to show the depth and darkness of the feelings painted through her poetry.    

So Dewey Readers, for those looking for a new and fresh poet, definitely check her work out!  I rate her work as 5 out of 5 Coffee Beans.

Until the next read! 
~Jessica   

Welcome to Ghost Town by Gretchen Gomez

Hello Dewey Readers!

I found a new poet who I absolutely adore via Instagram.  Gretchen Gomez's book Welcome to Ghost Town is just wonderful.  She tackles tough subjects with brilliant images and breath taking vocabulary that I devoured.  

One thing that I think is particularly inspiring is that Gomez's book is self published, which seems to be the new trend amongst millennial poets.  It's also an idea that I have been toying with myself, so I love reading books by poets that have actually done it well.  

What drew me to this book right away was the cover.  Not only is it gorgeous but it was also designed by poet Cyrus Parker.  But once you crack open the spine to this collection it becomes clear that the cover is simply there to compliment the pages hold so much talent. 

With other self published poets getting deals with publishers, I find it hard to believe that Gomez hasn't yet signed with a publishing house.  She clearly has a gift and if anyone should be signed, it should be her. I give it 5 out of 5 Coffee Beans. 

Stay tuned for our next review!  
~Jessica 

To Make Monsters Out of Girls by Amanda Lovelace

Hello Dewey Readers!

We are interrupting our normally scheduled novel book review for a review of poetry.  Poetry is HOT right now and Amanda Lovelace's latest collection, To Make Monsters Out of Girls, is on FIRE.  

This book is the first in her Things That Haunt series, which focuses on heartbreak and laying the past to rest.  It is moving.  It's a quick read.  AND it's currently being sold in hardcover, which just goes to show you how big this revival in the popularity of the poetic verse is becoming, and is also something that I find especially inspiring because Lovelace is an example of many popular poets who got their start through self publishing.  

There is a lot of critique in the poetic world regarding "Instagram Poets" and the validation of their work.  Right now, it's trendy to write poems in all lowercase, with very short lines, and little to no punctuation.  Many of you who read our blog may know that I too write poetry, and had gone to school for it.  While this isn't how I was taught to write, or how I choose to express my writing, I have come to appreciate it.  Publishing poetry isn't like publishing a novel.  Many agents won't even consider representing poets, mainly because for years it hasn't sold that well at all.  In order to get published, poets usually submit to literary magazines.  A poem here, a poem there, followed my rejection letters, acceptances, and maybe eventually a published chapbook.  Social media is changing this.  It's allowing people to read poetry and to share their work, it's allowing for a rebirth in the freedom and expression of verse, and it's allowing people to appreciate words and the emotions behind them.  Basically, its allowing for poetic exposure, showing people that there are many different forms that poetry can encapsulate, forms quite different from the Shakespeare and Wordsworth that are taught (and dissected) in schools.

Lovelace's collection is an excellent example of how poetry is growing and changing.  Would Lovelace's poems be able to stand alone amongst others in a literary magazine, maybe but probably not.  But is her poetry strong as a collective whole? Definitely.  

I would rate this 5 out of 5 Coffee Beans.  

P.S.  I bought this collection after I gathered my quite scary to-read pile into the center of my room, to celebrate new organization.  You can thank my sister for this photo.  

P.S.S.  Follow my poetry instagram @JessicaBielenPoetry and stay tuned for my book coming soon.  

~Jessica 

Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur - Reshelved Books

Happy Thursday Reading Everyone!

I recently finished Rupi Kaur's book of poetry entitled Milk and Honey.  And when I say finished, I mean devoured.   For those of you who don't know, I dabble in writing poetry.  Actually, I had gone to school for it.  I've even gotten a couple published (one recently), but for the most part they stay private and only manifest every now and then.

Kaur's poetry is raw and and emotional.  It tells the story of heartbreak and abuse, but it also tells the story of strength and healing.  One thing that stood out to me was how Kaur constantly refers to herself in lowercase form of "i," mimicking how she sees herself, or rather how the scarring of her soul has made her see herself.  

Milk and Honey p. 194

*5 out of 5 Coffee Beans!* 

I only wish that this book existed when heartbreak tried to break me. 

~Jessica