Weird? (Me, Too!) Let's Be Friends

Gr 3—6—This collection of 44 poems about friendship covers everyday topics like keeping secrets, getting angry, and telling the occasional lie. The introduction stresses the author's belief that reading, writing, and sharing poetry can help kids handle feelings. The first poem, "Me, Too," begins, "Are you normally weird/And strangely the same?/Are you lost and found/with a nervy brain?" and goes on to offer an invitation to friendship. It is a smooth blend of the fresh and the familiar. Other selections, though, seem dashed off and trite, like "Recalculating," which is about a bad day; "Today/turned the wrong way/down a one-way street with/bird poop on its shoulder./If you don't mind,/can we make a deal/and start this whole day over?" It's a plus that cartoon bubbles throughout offer ideas for students to write their own poems. However, while the full-color cartoon artwork is fairly cute and simple, it is not technically accomplished. Jack Prelutsky's Pizza, Pigs, and Poetry: How to Write a Poem (HarperCollins, 2008) offers a better mix of poems and writing ideas for this age group.—Lauralyn Persson, Wilmette Public Library, IL