Tanka-poetry reviews

Thanks to Lark Writes for giving me the inspiration to write short, poetic book reviews. Hers are called 'Haiku Reviews.' I'll make mine a little longer and call them tanka-poetry reviews. Similar to haikus, tanka poems are short, using only 31-syllables in the cadence pattern of 5, 7, 5, 7, 7. Almost all of the books reviewed here are actually poetry books themselves.

Out of Wonder: Poems Celebrating Poets by Kwame Alexander, Chris Colderley, and Marjory Wentworth

(Candlewick Press, 2017)

 

Out of gratitude

for the joys of poetry,

poets write poems

in the style of admired

poets. Results -- magical.

5 stars

Two samples:

"How to Write a Poem" celebrating Naomi Shihab Nye by Kwame Alexander

"Hue and Cry" celebrating Gwendolyn Brooks by Kwame Alexander

Bright Wings: An Illustrated Anthology of Poems About Birds edited by Billy Collins

(Columbia University Press 2010)

 

Part poetry book,

Part field guide and art book,

Celebrates all birds.

Illustrations way better

than the poems.  A pity.

3 stars

Note: my favorite poem of the bunch was one mentioned by Collins in the preface: "The Swan at Edgewater Park" by Ruth Schwartz

 

O's Little Book of Happiness by the editors of O. The Oprah Magazine

(Flatiron Books, 2015)

A sprinkling of

advice and a bounty of

exuberant tales

by great writers that appeared

in magazine over years.

3 stars

Patriarchy Blues: Poems by Rena Priest

(Moonpath Press, 2017)

Poet Laureate 

for Washington State, Priest writes

poems about love,

lust, and loss. She watches

and records her thoughts for us. 

4 stars

From the poem "The Encyclopedia Britannica, Sunshine, A Mosquito" by Priest

Change Sings: A Children's Anthem by Amanda Gorman

(Viking Books for Young Readers, 2021)

In this quite stirring,

lyrical book, Amanda

Gorman's poem calls

 out: “I can hear change humming
In its loudest, proudest song."

 

5 stars

Note: Shout out to the illustrator Loren Long, too. Sample:

-Anne