Irene Latham is an Alabama author who does our state proud. (I was so tickled to get to meet her a few summers ago!) She wrote a terrific middle grade historical fiction novel, Leaving Gee’s Bend, as well as another work of middle grade fiction, Don’t Feed the Boy, which is on one of my many TBR shelves. Her newest juvenile offering is a collection of poetry entitled Dear Wandering Wildebeest: And Other Poems from the Water Hole. I shared most of these poems with my children, ages ten, eight, and four (plus a tag-along seventeen month old) for last week’s poetry tea time, and each one that I shared was met with enjoyment. I think animal poems are the perfect “hook” for most children–they’re accessible, and even when the animal is unfamiliar, there’s usually a natural interest there to draw the child in. Dear Wandering Wildebeest is a collection of fifteen poems, each one about some inhabitant of the African grasslands. Included are the titular wildebeest, the meerkat, the oxpecker, the dung beetle, the nightjar, and the lone representative of Kingdom Plantae, the wild bush willow tree, among others. One thing I like about the poems in this volume is that they’re varied in terms of form: there’s a triptych, a few with concrete/shape elements, and one written in the form of an advertisement. My favorite is “Impala Explosion.” Written in rhyming couplets with each line consisting of two tersely descriptive words, this poem really captures the hair trigger response of the impala to any threat of danger. It ends like this:
long leaps
athletic feats
flawless flight
dancer’s delight.
Included with each poem is a very informative paragraph about the poem’s topic. (We learned that impalas can leap as high as eight feet into the air and horizontally as far as nine feet!) The book also includes a short glossary and a short bibliography. Anna Wadham‘s illustrations are muted (like one might expect in the grasslands) and kid-friendly. (Check out some from this book here.) It’s not often that any of my libraries buys new poetry books (unless I request them! 😉 ), so I was very pleased to pick this one up prior to my Armchair Cybils book-requesting spree. I nominated it for the Cybils, and I definitely think it’s a noteworthy title. Highly Recommended. (Millbrook Press, 2014)
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I really enjoyed this book, too. Informational poetry is a favorite of my students – they love enjoying language while learning facts about things – especially animals!
I haven’t gotten my hands on a copy of this yet, but I’ve read several of the poems on blogs and just love them. I do have it on hold at my library so it won’t be long before I can enjoy the entire collection!
Amy! You are one of those people in the world I just want to SQUEEZE. Thank you for reading my books all the way back to Ludelphia — and for nominating WILDEBEEST for this year’s Cybils. I’m honored and thrilled and wondering when our paths will cross again! Thank you!!! xo
I shared Irene’s book last week, so happy it’s getting so much book love. And am planning to use it with young children next week for a poetry lesson. Happy to hear your children loved it, too. Thanks, Amy.
Enjoyed reading your thoughts about Wildebeest. It’s a brilliant debut collection from a very talented and versatile poet. Enjoyed featuring it at Alphabet Soup too :).
Just ordered my copy!
I’m hoping that the wandering wildebeest would soon wander into our part of the world here in Singapore. oops.. i just checked our online library database, we do have it here! Will find it soon. Thank you for sharing your lovely thoughts with us this week.