- illustrated by Harvey Stevenson
- poetry collection
- 32 pages
- contributing poets include: Karla Kuskin, Jack Prelutsky, Arnold Lobel, and more
Good Books, Good Times! is an anthology of poems collected specifically for their focus on books and reading. There are fourteen poems in all, and each poem is given a full, two-page spread for both the poem and its accompanying illustration. The effect of this is that the reader is truly able to focus on and get lost in each poem, without any distraction from the accompanying page. I love Shel Silverstein's Where the Sidewalk Ends, but I remember as a child rushing through certain poems because the illustration on the opposite page made its poem look so much more interesting. Good Books, Good Times! therefore does an effective job of allowing each poem to really be appreciated on its own.
One thing that impressed me about this anthology was the variety of poetry styles that are represented. Despite having only fourteen poems, the collection includes everything from free verse to familiar rhyming patterns to poems with only two words in each line. This makes it a wonderful introduction to poetry for children who may have the idea that poetry has to rhyme, or is always bound by specific syllable patterns. I love imagining students' faces after having this poem read to them:
AN HISTORIC MOMENT
by William J. Harris
The man said,
after inventing poetry,
"WOW!"
and did a full somersault.
- Good Books, Good Times!
Harvey Stevenson's illustrations to a wonderful job reflecting the poems they accompany in ways that often bring even more humor to the poem, and can help new readers of poetry begin to understand how you read and take meaning from poems. For example, look at the illustration that accompanies "An Historic Moment" from above:
There are many ways this could have been illustrated that would have shown the events of the poem. For example, Stevenson could have chose to divide the story in to separate frames, telling each moment (inventing poetry, WOW!, and the somersault) individually. However, that would not have been a true reflection of the poetry style Harris uses here. The poem is short, abrubt, unexpected. The entire poem, is in effect, a single moment- the moment that the man invented poetry. Thus, Stevenson's choice to show only that moment of movement into a somersault is completely appropriate. Too, it's funnier!
Which raises another point about the poems in this book- they are fun to read. Below is the first verse one of my favorites, by Isabel Joshlin Glaser and titled "What If . . .":
What if . . .
You opened a book
About dinosaurs
And one stumbled out
And another and another
And more and more pour
Until the whole place
Is bumbling and rumbling
And groaning and moaning
And snoring and roaring
And dinosauring?
Not only does it address a very real, rather wishful thought many of us have about our books (even in our twenties!) but it's fun to read, particularly aloud. "Bumbling and rumbling" and "snoring and roaring and dinosauring" are just silly and fun to say. This is important because the theme of the collection is the joy of reading. If it were full of poems that discussed the joy of reading without bringing any joy to their own reading, the collection would have fallen a bit flat.
Good Books, Good Times! is an excellent introduction to several different types of poetry, and to a variety of poets who whose work is truly fun to read. The illustrations lend humor while also providing support for interpretation of each poem. Overall, it is an excellent read-aloud choice for young readers of all ages, but is a particularly good starting point for independent readers beginning to grasp the concept of rhythm and rhyme.
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