CM Magazine: Nothing Beats A Pizza.

________________ CM . . . . Volume VIII Number 5 . . . . November 2, 2001

Nothing Beats A Pizza.

Loris Lesynski.
Toronto, ON: Annick Press, 2001.
32 pp., pbk. & cl., $6.95 (pbk.), $19.95 (cl.).
ISBN 1-55037-700-0 (pbk.), ISBN 1-55037-701-9 (cl.).

Subject Heading:
Children's poetry, Canadian (English).

Grades 3-7 / Ages 8-12.

Review by Betsy Fraser.

**** /4

excerpt:

Do teachers ever giggle?
Do teachers ever drool?
Do teachers ever wish they didn't have to go to school?
Do teachers ever miss me when I'm sick and staying home?
When teachers get together with their friends at half past three,
do teachers have as good a time as all my friends and me?

Loris Lesynski's second volume of poetry for children, the first being The Dirty Dog Boogie, is a brightly-coloured, rollicking group of highly imaginative poems. Lesynski's use of language is wonderful, with rhymes and rhythms that beg to be read aloud and subject matter that would appeal to children and parents alike. A number of poems deal with pizza, and directions on the cover instruct readers to "Read out loud - with pizzazz!"

Lesynski's illustrations are bright and comical. The page layouts have been done carefully to achieve a gloriously cluttered feel, with a wide variety of fonts, textures and a large number of smaller illustrations and quips inserted in seemingly random locations. These cluttered layouts are perfect for drawing children back to this book for further readings. This is a book that is perfect for sharing and reading aloud for any age.

Highly Recommended.

Betsy Fraser is a Youth Services Librarian with Calgary Public Library. Backwards, she is Ysteb Resarf and still enjoys poetry.

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

Published by
The Manitoba Library Association
ISSN 1201-9364

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