Apr 20, 2023

THE DIRT BOOK: A Poetry Book With Surprises

As April winds down, my life ramps up with final preparations to move from my long time home in Wisconsin to my home town in central Ohio. I considered calling a hiatus on posts here until the transition was complete, but I can always find ways to squeeze excellent picture books into the cracks of  even the busiest of times. That is true of POETRY, too, and April is officially a month to celebrate poetry, right?

So this post and several that will follow in coming days will be short and, I hope sweet, featuring some picture books of poems that I especially enjoy. I hope you will, too. And certainly chime in with comments recommending your own favorites, fresh off the presses or classics. 


Penguin Random House, 2022


The Dirt Book: Poems About Animals That Live Beneath Our Feet is written by David L. Harrison  and Illustrated by Kate Cosgrove.

What's better than a collection of poems in a variety of formats that informs and explores the various lives (from roots to earthworms to mice) that abide mostly underground. Easy, right, to conclude "out of sight out of mind"? 

Not so in this case. 

Sharing the common habitat of "dirt", each exploration entertains and amazes in ways both familiar and unexpected. A " What's better?" response should attend to the trim size and art design that requires readers to turn the book 90 degrees and view the spreads from very long tops-to-bottom expanses. The dark-toned illustrations also remind and invite readers to consider things that don't sparkle or flash, but may well, often do, prove to be treasures of nature.

Until the next short poetry snack, enjoy some springtime DIRT!

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Picture books are as versatile and diverse as the readers who enjoy them. Join me to explore the wacky, wonderful, challenging and changing world of picture books.