Because I Could Not Stop My Bike and Other Poems

Rating:
Summary: Educators Recommend
Review: In this poetry picture book, Shapiro takes 26 famous English and American poems and transforms them into fresh and fun verse for children. Elizabeth Barrett Browning's 'How Do I Love Thee?' becomes 'How Do I Love Ketchup? Let Me Count the Ways.' Joyce Kilmer's 'Trees,' becomes 'Me': 'I think that I will never see, / another person just like me.'

Faulkner's pen-and-ink and watercolor illustrations are in perfect tune with the text.
The cartoon-like double-page spreads and spot art are lively and expressive.

What is so wonderful about this book is that it works on many different levels. It is a winning choice for reading aloud to younger students. Too, teachers can use this in middle and high school classes. We took the book into an eighth-grade Language Arts classroom where we discussed various poetic forms. We read to the students the original poem (such as Kilmer's, 'Trees,') and then Shapiro's version. The students loved it. They then created their own versions of such classics as Robert Burns' 'A Red, Red Rose.'

This book receives our highest recommendation: Suitable for district-wide library acquisitions.

Reviewed by the Education Oasis Staff

Rating:
Summary: Poetry Can be Great Fun!
Review: Karen Jo Shapiro has written a charming collection of poems for kids and their parents. Based on classics that adults will recognize, each gives kids the giggles with amusing kid topics like favorite dinners and messy rooms. Clever and fun, this is perfect for cozy "read to me!" bedtime sharing!

Rating:
Summary: Tiger, Tiger took a bite/out of my dessert last night
Review: This is a very clever idea, and very well-executed, both in terms of the poems and the illustrations. The parodies of the poems I'm already familiar with are great fun, and the ones I don't know work well on their own -- they're also making me hunt down the originals so I can get more out of them. Although this book is aimed at slightly older kids, our 19-month-old enjoys it, and he'll continue to get more and more out of it as he understands more of it. As will I!