Magic Comb Best Cheap Price: Musing And Amusing Poems For Kids

Friday, November 11, 2011

Musing And Amusing Poems For Kids

Our Price : $4.95
Average Customer Review:

Musing and Amusing Poems for Kids, written for ages 3 – 12, contains literature from a child's point of view – dreams, struggles and imaginings, plus several fanciful tales – each accompanied by illustrations in either pen and colored pencil or with graphite alone to enhance the poem's meaning. The poems are especially effective when shared with an adult such as a teacher, parent or grandparent.

NOTE: All profits from the sale of this book will be donated to four charities: Smile Train, Habitat for Humanity, World Wildlife Fund and the Nature Conservancy.

“The sorrows and consolations of childhood—strict moms, dull music lessons, enchanted beings, revolting cuisines—are plumbed in this collection of poetry.

“Combs, a music teacher, has a nice feel for the way small things, horrid or gratifying or both, loom large in a kid’s life. There is the sad predicament, in 'A Dreadful Day,' of being sick in bed: 'I’m bored and tired / but Mom will say / “Inside all day—in bed you’ll stay / and drink the fruit juice on your tray.”' There’s the 'Piano Time' search for something to liven up the practice-hour ordeal: 'But since I don’t know / what “willpower” means / I’ll play with the frog / I hid in my jeans.' There is the tragedy of conceitedness limned in 'I’m the Richest, Smartest, Prettiest Girl,' in which said paragon wonders why no one will play with her.

“But such travails are balanced by imaginative delights. One can commune with creatures both ordinary, such as the friendly ungulate in 'Bruce the Moose,' and extraordinary, such as the lurid flying ungulate in 'The Purple Gnu' or the tiny pranksters of 'Shy Shuggles,' who tease spiders by spinning green webs. And there is the giggly joy in sheer grossness, explored by the identical twins in 'Ollie? or Dollie?': 'So, Ollie ate slugs / Dollie ate bugs / Followed by slime juice in each other’s mugs.'

“Combs’s poems feature strong meters and rhyme schemes and a rich vocabulary, and are a good fit for four- to eight-year-olds; they can either be read aloud, with parents explaining unfamiliar words, or attempted alone by novice readers with the assistance of the author’s evocative drawings.

“A winsome blend of whimsical subjects and beguiling verse, sure to hook young minds.”

– From a review by Kirkus Indie