J. Patrick Lewis
Beautiful crackle-varnished pictures (like an old, old world globe) set this playful and informative collection of travel verses apart. Author J. Patrick Lewis explores the world through unconventional poems and riddles, accompanied by illustrator Alison Jay's oil paintings, seen behind a delicate web of wiggly lines in antique-map shades of blue, tan, and green. The quirky verses feature exotic destinations, amazing explorers, and fascinating trivia about geography. (In "One Square Foot Per Person, Please," Lewis writes: "Did you know that all the people / in the world could stand shoulder / to shoulder in a space the size / of the Indonesian island of Bali? / And if they did? / How jolly!") Young readers who wonder why the Red Sea is red, where they can ride a bullet train, or what the difference is between latitude and longitude will get a mini education in this thoughtful and witty picture book. Lewis's previous titles include
Doodle Dandies and
A Book of Firsts, while Alison Jay's lovely illustrations can be found in
Picture This and several others. (Ages 5 and older)
--Emilie Coulter
1 "Travel by Poem....."
"So many places have fabulous names./Like Fried, North Dakota,/The Court of St. James./Siberia, Nigeria, Elyria, Peru,/The White Nile, Black Sea,/And Kalamazoo!/The Great Wall of China, South Pole and Loch Ness,/And 104 Fairview - that's my address!// Thousands of spaces are places to be-/Discover the World of GE-OG-RA-PHY!// Travel by boat or by car or by plane/To visit East Africa, Singapore, Spain./Go by yourself or invite a good friend,/But traveling by poem is what I recommend." J. Patrick Lewis takes the reader on a marvelous geographic journey through poetry. From those who discovered and mapped our world, Columbus, Magellan, and Marco Polo, and amazing phenomena, the Aurora Borealis, San Adreas Fault, stalactites, and stalagmites, to oceans, islands, mountains, places, names, and geographic terms, Mr Lewis fills his poems with the many wonders of our amazing world. Each clever and creative verse is full of interesting and engaging facts, trivia, and fascinating details, and complemented by Alison Jay's beautiful and expressive, evocative artwork, in the soft subdued tones of old maps and globes. Together word and art bring geography to life with imagery, magic, and wit. Perfect for youngsters 9-12, A World Of Wonders is an innovative and inventive collection that challenges the imagination and sends it soaring. "Make the Earth your companion./Walk lightly on it, as other creatures do."
