The Horn Book
This poetry collection opens with an explanation of its invented term wordspinner: “A poetry form inspired by a Nikki Grimes wordplay exercise. It seeks to define a word by spinning together the sound of the word and the function of the word. The only rule is that the first line...must end with ‘word.’ Length varies. Rhyming optional.” Welcome, for example, is “a smiling word, / it wraps its arms around you. / It says, come in! come in! / Let me show you / my world.” The book does just that, first introducing an array of types of homes (treehouse, loft, townhouse) with a wordspinner poem about each, and then giving each kind of home its own spread, with poems distributed throughout about places (parlor, bedroom) and objects (lamp, clock) found in those homes.
Inviting pastel-hued illustrations, done in acrylic paint on wood panels and digitally collaged, are populated with anthropomorphized woodland creatures and thoroughly preschooler-pitched. The bite-sized poems, too, should work well for reading aloud to young listeners, especially those that focus on sounds (loft: “a soft word, / it floats in your mouth / like feather-fluff”). Older children may get more out of examining words and understanding the wordspinner format—and perhaps feel at home enough to create their own wordspinners.
—SHOSHANA FLAX
