Book Speak!: Poems About Books

Bibliography
Salas, L. & Bisaillon, J. (2011). Bookspeak! : poems about books. Ill. by Josee Bisaillon. Boston: Clarion Books/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN: 9780547223001


Plot Summary
Laura Purdie Salas manages to describe the whimsy of books with this collection of poems. Each poem has its own topic of discussion but follows the simple theme: books. There are poems to explain the function of books. There is a poem that describes who all creates a book. There is a poem that is rather conflicted. All in all, this collection of poems is perfect for any lover of books and reading.

Critical Analysis
Calling All Readers announces the first poem. This, along with the whimsical illustrations by Josee Bisaillon, hint at an incredible journey ahead. Bisaillon’s illustrations on the first page are rudimentary, but in a way that works well in the context. The last stanza does state, “I promise adventure/Come on, take a look!/On a day like today,/there’s no friend like a book”.

Each page of this book is unique in its own way. The poem Skywriting uses different fonts, and there is a clever use of ink stains to look like birds. The next page boasts a new poem and begins a trend seen throughout the book of what appears to be book pages in the silhouette of another image. The poem A Character Pleads for His Life depicts a person on a surfboard and two turtles. These characters are both shaped with book pages. The illustrator uses a pen to create spots, sunglasses, and markings on the surfboard.

The poems are often told from the point of view of the book. The poet Salas also takes into account the parts that make up a book. There is a poem titled Index that speaks of that alone. There are other poems that refer to what is inside a book's pages such as conflicts, characters, cliffhangers, and the middle of a book.

Book Speak!: Poems About Books is a great way to get emerging readers excited about reading books. Older readers especially love of the topics within this book's pages, will appreciate the rhythm and imagery many of the poems create. Some of the poems may invoke emotions in the reader they didn’t realize were there.

Review Excerpt(s)
Minnesota Book Award for Children’s Literature - 2012
SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL: "Well crafted and clever, covering a variety of aspects of books and reading...An appealing offering that will be especially popular with librarians."
BULLETIN: "There's definite read-aloud and performance potential here.”
Connections

Connections 
This book could be used in Kindergarten classes as a read aloud in order to get students excited about reading.
Elementary grades could use this book as a scavenger hunt for what makes up a book.
This could be used as a mentor text for students to use for poetry. Conflicted could be a mentor text for students to mimic for their own purposes. The Middle’s Lament: A Poem for Three Voices is another poem that would be ideal for students to mimic. It is in a text message type format that students will recognize. It would be an engaging way to create a poem.
This could also be a mentor text for a topical or thematic collection that your class will create. After using this as a read aloud, the class can vote on a topic that they would like to center a class book around and create one of their own.