CM Magazine: A Small Child's Series.

________________ CM . . . . Volume VI Number 21 . . . . June 23, 2000

A Small Child's Series.

Illustrated by Cyndy Szekeres.

New York, NY: Scholastic/Cartwheel Books (Distributed in Canada by Scholastic Canada), 1999.
32 pp., cloth, $9.99.

Preschool-grade 2 / Ages 3-7.
Review by Joan Payzant.

A Small Child's Book of Cozy Poems.
ISBN 0-590-38364-7.
Subject Headings:
Children's poetry, American.
Children's poetry, English.
**** / 4

A Small Child's Book of Prayers.
ISBN 0-590-38363-9.
Subject Headings:
Children-Prayer-books and devotations-English.
**** / 4

excerpt:

        Reading
A story is a special thing.
    The ones that I have read,
They do not stay inside the books.
    They stay inside my head.
        -Marchette Chute
        Prayer
Father, we thank Thee for the night,
    And for the pleasant morning light,
For rest and food and loving care,
    And all that makes the world so fair.
        -Anonymous

These two sturdy, hard-covered little books of poems and prayers are nostalgically old-fashioned. Illustrated by Cyndy Szekeres, every page pictures personalized little animals - mice, rabbits, kittens, turtles, bears, squirrels and others. They are reminiscent of Beatrix Potter's much loved characters in her children's stories. The 19 poems and 15 prayers are those of familiar authors, such as Christina Rosetti, Marchette Chute, Christopher Morley, Jane Yolen, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Ogden Nash and several by "Anonymous". The prayer quoted above in the excerpt is said to be anonymous, but, in one of my older hymn books, it is ascribed to Rebecca Weston, c 1890. (Of course the hymn book could be wrong.) Small children will love the whimsical illustrations in the two books, while the brief poems and prayers will appeal to listening children as well as to the adults who read them aloud with a sense of deja vu.

The pair of books are a great antidote for high-powered, noisy television programs, or computer games.

Highly Recommended.

Joan Payzant, a former teacher-librarian, now lives in Dartmouth, NS.

To comment on this title or this review, send mail to cm@umanitoba.ca.

Published by
The Manitoba Library Association
ISSN 1201-9364

TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR THIS ISSUE - June 23, 2000.