Childrens Poetry
Where is the center of the sea? Why do the waves never break there? A book containing unanswerable, fantastical questions, inviting us to be curious, while simultaneously embracing what we cannot know.
A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the 21st Century (So Far)
A New York Times Best Children's Book of 2022
A Marginalian (formerly Brain Pickings) Favorite Book of 2022
A New York Times Bestseller!
A USBBY Outstanding International Book of 2023
A 2023 Bologna Ragazzi Award Amazing Bookshelf Selection
Selected for the Academy of American Poets 2022 Featured Fall Books List for Young Readers
Starred reviews in The Horn Book, Kirkus, SLJ, and PW!
This bilingual Spanish-English edition is the first illustrated selection of questions, 70 in all, from Pablo Neruda's original poem (320 questions) The Book of Questions.
Holding the wonder and mystery of childhood and the experience and knowing that come with growing up, these questions are by turns lyrical, strange, surreal, spiritual, historical and political. They foreground the natural world, and their curiosity transcends all logic; and because they are paradoxes and riddles that embrace the limits of our ability to know, they engage with human freedom in the deepest way, removing the burden and constraint that somehow, we are meant to have answers to every question.
Gorgeously, cosmically illustrated by Paloma Valdivia, here Neruda's questions, already visual in themselves, gain a double visuality that makes them even more palpable and resonant. So clearly rooted in Chilean landscapes as they are, the questions are revealed as a communion with nature and its mysteries.
hands bound, descendants of Africa
picked up their souls--all that they owned--
leaving shackles where they fell on the ground,
headed for the nearest resting place to be found. Deeply emotional, evocative free verse by poet and activist Sojourner Kincaid Rolle traces the solemnity and celebration of Juneteenth from its 1865 origins in Galveston, Texas to contemporary observances all over the United States. This is an ode to the strength of Black Americans and a call to remember and honor a holiday whose importance reverberates far beyond the borders of Texas.
"Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me." That's what children chant when they are being teased; it's what their parents chanted, and their grandparents and their great-grandparents before them. Collected in this invaluable book are the wit and wisdom of generations of schoolchildren -- more than one hundred and seventy rhymes ranging from insults and riddles to tongue twisters, jeers, and jump-rope rhymes. With Iona Opie's introduction and detailed notes and Maurice Sendak's remarkable pictures -- vignettes, sequences, and full-page paintings both wickedly funny and comically sad -- here is a book that deserves a place among the classic texts of childhood.
From the legendary creator of Where the Sidewalk Ends, A Light in the Attic, Falling Up, and The Giving Tree comes an unforgettable new character in children's literature: Runny Babbit.
Runny Babbit is Shel Silverstein's hilarious and New York Times-bestselling book of spoonerisms--words or phrases with letters or syllables swapped: bunny rabbit becomes Runny Babbit.
Welcome to the world of Runny Babbit and his friends Toe Jurtle, Skertie Gunk, Rirty Dat, Dungry Hog, Snerry Jake, and many others who speak a topsy-turvy language all their own.
So if you say, "Let's bead a rook
That's billy as can se,"
You're talkin' Runny Babbit talk,
Just like mim and he.
And don't miss Runny Babbit Returns, the new book from Shel Silverstein!
And you can take it off again, when you realize it's OK.
And that's it. Scary and sweet. Scared-sugar. Four-year-old Nadim puts his words on paper and gives us a glimpse of how he sees the world: one filled with glitter, magical boxes, and cuddles with Mom. A place where school smells like daffodils and honey (and sometimes dirty socks), where Wednesdays are rainbow-colored, where fish in the sea make a shhhh sound, and where everyone has love, even baddies. The poems in this anthology make for joyful reading and are paired with vibrant, child-friendly artwork by Yasmeen Ismail that invites us to full-heartedly enter Nadim's world. At once funny and sweet, gentle and zany, this anthology may just entice readers young and old to release the poet within.
and the gift of loud,
your hand in my hand
out in a crowd. New York Times bestselling author Emily Winfield Martin joyously and thoughtfully shares the different ways of giving and loving. Like a beautifully wrapped gift, life's every day moments are precious: in both the little things and the big things, we can all find wonder. From a feather, to a hug, to a sunset, this book captures these gifts within its pages to remind readers how much they are loved, and how incredible this world we share is. A meaningful gift for any occasion or holiday, and a stand-out for birthdays, graduations and other milestones, with its loving and inspiring message: "But this is a gift, here, just you and me." This Is a Gift for You is perfect for little ones (and those who read to them!) who love The Wonderful Things You Will Be and are looking for more magic, inspiration, and unconditional love from the pen and paintbrush of Emily Winfield Martin.
Shel Silverstein, the New York Times bestselling author of The Giving Tree, A Light in the Attic, Falling Up, and Every Thing On It, has created a poetry collection that is outrageously funny and deeply profound. Come in...for where the sidewalk ends, Shel Silverstein's world begins. This special edition contains 12 extra poems.
You'll meet a boy who turns into a TV set, and a girl who eats a whale. The Unicorn and the Bloath live there, and so does Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout who will not take the garbage out. It is a place where you wash your shadow and plant diamond gardens, a place where shoes fly, sisters are auctioned off, and crocodiles go to the dentist.
Shel Silverstein's masterful collection of poems and drawings stretches the bounds of imagination and will be cherished by readers of all ages. This is a collection that belongs on everyone's bookshelf. Makes a great gift for special occasions such as holidays, birthdays, and graduation.
And don't miss Runny Babbit Returns, the new book by Shel Silverstein!
