Tuesday, January 8, 2019

Toilet Trouble, Take a Hike! and Bedtime Story by Brett Fleishman

As I continue playing catch-up on the blog posts, I move on to Episode 119 of the GSMC Book Review Podcast and my interview with Brett Fleishman. Brett writes collections of children's poetry and joined me on the episode to talk about the three books in his second collection, one each for different levels of readers.
A collection of 20 humorous poems designed for beginner readers (grades K-2). Volume 2 of this series includes a reunion of the Big Bad Wolf and the Three Little Pigs, a surprise birthday present for a baby crocodile, an uninviting hole in an ice skating rink, and much, much more. (Source)

A collection of 30 humorous poems designed for intermediate readers (grades 3-5). Volume 2 of this series includes a store that sells human body parts, a girl who controls the moon with her nose, a white-water rafting trip with an unexpected ending, and much, much more! (Source)

A collection of 25 humorous poems designed for advanced readers (grades 5-7). Volume 2 of this series includes a poorly planned Treasure Hunt, a rather chaotic manure machine, a very competitive laundry-shooting game, and much, much more! (Source)
All three collections are delightful. Brett's poetry reminds me a lot of that of  Shel Silverstein, and he captures the humor of each of the three age groups perfectly. I love that the books also contain word puzzles (some of which are actually quite hard!). In addition, he uses a lot of puns, metaphors, etc. which are explained in a glossary at the back of the book so if a child is confused or wants clarification while reading he or she can find it easily.

Brett does quite a bit of work with different schools, so something else I really appreciated about these collections is that they contain poems written by students from the schools he works with. He asks the students to write a specific type of poetry after they've discussed it and then he chooses winners to be included in his books. How cool would it be for a kid to have his or her poem chosen to be published?

If you would like to know more about Brett's poetry collections you can find him in the following places:
Brett Fleishman grew up in the suburbs of Philadelphia. In 1995, he earned his B.A. In 2001, he earned his M.B.A. At no point did he earn a roster spot in the N.B.A. Since 2001, Brett has been living with his two sons, Jacob and Dylan, in the greater Boston area. (Please note that, while Brett and his sons enjoy living in Boston, their sports allegiances remain firmly Philadelphian.) (Source)

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