Babushka's Mother Goose / Patricia Polacco.

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

An old babushka who lives in a boot, three babushkas who count their toes,a boy and a girl and a goat and a dog'and a babushka'who go by train all theway to Ivanovo! Well-loved storyteller Patricia Polacco reaches into her family's story bag to presenta most unusual Mother Goose. Here you'll find "Yasha," who has a beard that grows andgrows; "Matroishka," the nesting doll and her sisters; "The Traveler," who gets an entirevillage to make soup out of stones; and "The Little Angel," who bounces so high on a bedwith a friend that the two end up in heaven! In this Russian-flavored Mother Goose treasury, Patricia Polacco tells and illustratesrhymes and stories, some new, some that she heard from her own Russian grandmother,her "Babush," and passed on to her own children. Here is a book to share for the joy of it.

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Publishers Weekly Review

Renowned for portraying favorite episodes of her family's history in her picture books, Polacco (Pink and Say; Chicken Sunday) here mines the treasures of her grandmother's Russian heritage. Many of the 24 stories and rhymes in this unusual volume are culled from the storytelling sessions Polacco remembers sharing with her beloved Babushka. While a couple of the narratives are clunky, children will relish the generally jaunty language and the sound of foreign names and places (``Babushka pulled Diadushka,/ Diadushka pulled the turnip;'' ``Klootchka Plootchka count your little toes;'' ``The Train to Ivanovo.'' Some of her strongest work, the gouache and pencil illustrations here show an impressive range of composition. In a slight stylistic shift, Polacco has included a cast of whimsically drawn, anthropormophic animals that have a clean, childlike simplicity. These new characters fit right in with her typically robust and kind human figures bedecked in bold Russian frocks. This exotic-flavored volume is a welcome addition to the nursery rhyme shelf. Ages 3-7. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

School Library Journal Review

PreS-Gr 1‘Polacco credits her storytelling Babushka as the reshaper of many of the 24 rhymes and stories in this collection, borrowed from such sources as Aesop, Moldavian folktales, and Mother Goose. Some are variations of familiar tales, while others are original family stories. Each selection is seasoned with a distinctly Russian flavor through a combination of tap-your-toe text and bright, homespun illustrations. The wonderfully cozy experience of settling into the security of a grandmother's lap is re-created, from the vibrant warmth of the pictures to the bouncy verses that invite participation. The integrated arrangement of the full-page artwork, the textured detail of the characters' clothing, and the charming decorative borders complement the traditional folkloric theme. Although scores of Mother Goose collections are available, this one offers both variety and an entertaining introduction to Russian folk literature. Whether sharing the book with one child or a story time audience, the family treasures within are meant to be read aloud, repeated, and celebrated. Be sure to pair it with the author's Babushka Baba Yaga (Philomel, 1993).‘Sarabeth Kalajian, Venice Public Library, FL (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Booklist Review

Ages 2^-7. As Polacco explains in an introductory note, she has written down some of the stories and rhymes she heard as a child sitting on her babushka's (grandmother's) lap and added to them some she created herself. The result is mixed: a few of the rhymes are strained or create unintentionally bizarre images (for instance, a button landing on mutton), but many of the rhymes are good, snappy fun. A rhyme about a Matroishka doll is especially successful, as are retellings of two of Aesop's fables. Polacco puts a nicer spin on the tale "Stone Soup," turning it into a story about sharing, and adds a poem about a "golden child" who "walks with God each day." Her illustrations are packed with a variety of comically drawn animals and ebullient people in brightly patterned, traditional Russian clothing. The zesty paintings and general tone of goodwill will make this a family favorite. --Susan Dove Lempke

Horn Book Review

(Younger, Intermediate) Illustrated by Pat Lowery Collins. Divided into three sections labeled "Sports," "Power," and "Dreams of Glory," the thirty poems in this collection reflect the hopes, fears, and aspirations of modern girls. They speak in a variety of voices about the personal and public thrills as well as the disappointments inherent in sports, about girls who defy convention, and about those who, as in Nikki Giovanni's "mattie lou at twelve," glory in taming it. Cynthia Rylant's "The Rescue" and Constance Levy's "I'm Going to Pet a Worm Today" remind us of the different forms courage can take. A positive spirit reverberates throughout, exemplified in lines like "I can float, I can soar. / The earth cannot hold me / In place anymore" from Sandra Liatsos's "Ice Skating." A good number of poets are represented - Lillian Morrison, Gertrude Stein, John Ridland, and May Swenson among them - and Isabel Joshlin Glaser has included a few verses of her own. The poems are brief and accessible; the tone, inspirational and quietly resonating; the book, an attention grabber - from the cover featuring a girl staring out from under the brim of her cap to the contents within. n.v. Paul B. Janeczko, Selector Wherever Home Begins: 100 Contemporary Poems (Older) For a country that has always entertained a rootless spirit at its core, the notion of home conjures up a host of nostalgic images. Yet there is nothing sentimental about the word as it is conceived in this anthology. It evokes place, pure and simple, in the abstract and in the particular. There are poems about houses and the rooms in them; poems about small towns, mining towns, and cities. The poets give new perspectives to familiar places from their memories - garages and stores and places of work; prairies, lakes, and mountains. There is occasional humor, as in David Huddle's "Bill Spraker's Store, or the Day Geronimo Couldn't Find the Scoop" and in "The Closet" by Brooke Horvath. Jim Simmerman introduces an ineffable sense of loss in "Child's Grave, Hale County, Alabama." George Ella Lyon's "Cousin Ella Goes to Texas" draws slick rhythms out of Texas twang: "I reckon it was 19 and 52 / and I was gonna drive Bea and her kids / to Corpus Christi Texas in my old Chev / and my brother Joe took a look at her and said / Eller, you gonna slide right into Mexico on them tires." There is exquisite imagery in Paul Ruffin's "Devil's Finger Island," which "rises from the / dark palm of the sea / to lodge bright as a beam / in the corner of God's blue eye." Richard Snyder plays with interior and end rhymes in "A Grammar of the Sea." Janeczko continues to bring to our attention some of the best contemporary poetry, for which we are, as always, grateful. Index of poets and titles included. n.v. (Picture Book) Illustrated by Victoria Chess. Following their successful collaboration in Hippopotamusn't: And Other Animal Verses (Dial), this author and illustrator have joined forces once again to offer young readers some cheerfully anarchic versifications on the animal world. Echoes of Edward Lear and other nonsense poets can be heard in the title poem, in Lewis's depictions of hippos "barging with a smile / single file up the Nile," or in his warnings regarding friendship with a boa constrictor: "Show him the teeniest / Inch of affection, he'll / Give you a yard and a / Half of a squee- / eeze!" N. M. Bodecker's precisely rhymed reflections on the insect world are recalled in the lines "Take a tiny traveling ant / Set him on your knee / He should reach Mount Elbow / By this afternoon at three." Tricky interior rhymes and other forms of wordplay are all employed to advantage in this attractively designed book. The nonsense of the poems is amply matched by illustrations featuring slightly bewildered round-eyed beasts with the barest hint of smiles on muzzles, mouths, and beaks. Naturalists may frown at such anomalies as alligators and crocodiles living side by side or at the notion of tomcat, momcat, and baby kitten making up a cozy family of three, waiting for family member number four to be born. Most others, however, will happily lay all reason aside and simply enjoy the preposterous fun. n.v. Myra Cohn Livingston, Selector Call Down the Moon: Poems of Music (Intermediate) This noted anthologist has assembled an extensive collection of poems relating to music. The volume is divided into twelve parts, several of which are composed of poems about various musical instruments, while other sections cover such topics as practice time, singers, and "other musicians." The anthology scans centuries and includes works by William Shakespeare, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and Thomas Moore, as well as many contemporary poems for both children and adults. It also includes a number of translations. The verses are by turns sparkling, reverential, witty, or winsome; occasionally humorous; sometimes sad. A generous assortment of limericks appears here, by Edward Lear and others. The eclecticism of the collection brings about some surprising juxtapositions. The modern idioms of Ralph Fletcher's "Won't You Come Home Bill Bailey?" from his recently published I Am Wings (Bradbury) sound flat and ephemeral next to the stirring strains of Walt Whitman's "I Hear America Singing" and the formal language and structure of Thomas Moore's "The Minstrel Boy." But for those searching for a poem with a musical theme, this collection will be invaluable for its very inclusiveness. Indexes of authors, titles, first lines, and translators are included. n.v. NaomiShihab Nye, Selector The Tree Is Older Than You Are: A Bilingual Gathering of Poems and Stories from Mexico with Paintings by Mexican Artists (Intermediate) Illustrated with color reproductions of paintings by various artists. This extensive anthology conveys in vibrant words and pictures the buoyancy of the Mexican spirit. The topics are far-reaching and elemental, dealing with family, dreams, and familiar objects. Images of animals and food, sun and water, and birds and trees abound. In addition to the poetry of some of Mexico's foremost writers - Alberto Blanco, Octavio Paz, Rosario Castellanos, Homero Aridjis, and José Emilio Pacheco - the collection also includes a number of brief prose segments and stories, some of which originated with the Mayan peoples of the country. The writings appear first in Spanish and then in their English translations, and in one case a sample of the original Tzotzil version is provided. Many full- and half-page paintings, all rendered by Mexican artists, are interspersed throughout the text. Executed in a variety of media, they are a powerful reflection of the fanciful and light-filled imagery so prevalent in the writing. Although the translations do not always succeed in breaking through the language barrier to convey the music of the original words, this bountiful, joyous collection offers much to appreciate. The book includes an introduction, extensive notes on the contributors, source notes, and indexes of titles, writers, and artists. n.v. Patricia Polacco Babushka's Mother Goose (Picture Book) Babushkas, rosy-cheeked children, and lively animals tumble across the pages in this unique collection of rhymes and tales. There are original rhymes for Sasha and Yasha, for Misha and his goat, and for the three babushkas who lived in their bed and counted their toes. Also included are Ukrainian folktales and retellings from Mother Goose and Aesop that Polacco heard as a child from her own babushka. Among them is her grandmother's loving version of the babush who lived in a boot with too many children: "She gave them some borscht / without any bread. / She kissed them all loudly, / then sent them off to bed." The exuberant and humorous folk art illustrations and the merry verses will make this book a delight to share with children. h.b.z. Joyce Carol Thomas Gingerbread Days (Picture Book) Illustrated by Floyd Cooper. Twelve poems - one for each month of the year, told from the perspective of a young African-American boy - celebrate universal family relationships as well as African-American heritage and life. In "April Medicine," the boy wonders at his mother's ability to comfort him when he is sick: "My mother's hands already know / The temperature of my head / The weather of my heart / How do they know to be cool when I'm hot / And warm when I'm not?" October's poem celebrates the cooperation in the boy's family as they all help with the work: "Mama sets the table / Daddy cooks the bread / My sister stirs oatmeal with cinnamon spices / I peel the oranges and part the slices / We drink love for breakfast / Can't you tell?" In "A Gingered January" the boy and his grandmother make a molasses-brown gingerbread man that, the grandmother tells the boy, "looks just like you"; August's poem makes reference to the role black cowboys played in the Old West. This worthy companion to Brown Honey in Broomwheat Tea (Harper) is made even stronger by Floyd Cooper's glowing, golden illustrations. m.v.p. From HORN BOOK, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Kirkus Book Review

An anthology of original poems and flavorfully adapted folk tales and rhymes, carefully sourced and credited. There's a Babush in a boot with ``too many children,/who cried with a hoot,'' and one who glared at the boy who kissed the girl who milked the cow on ``The Train to Ivanovo.'' Babushka pulls Diadushka, who's pulling on a giant turnip; and Babushka is also the old lady with the millions of cats who ``loved her ever more.'' Some of the weaker selections are those with a message, but Polacco (Pink and Say, 1994, etc.) conjures pure nonsense (Pum-a-doodle./Soup bag, pebble webble.'') that is pure magic. Mother Goose's high spirits reside in this Russian fare, accompanied by boldly painted scenes of people and animals dashing around and happily kicking up claws, paws, and heels. (Picture book/folklore. 3-7)