Bound To Stay Bound

School Library Journal - 04/01/2022 PreS-Gr 3—A series of poems dictated by a four-year-old boy to his mother, and supplemented with poems written by his younger sister and by his preschool class, provide insight into a child's budding artistic voice and elucidates broad themes of the everyday human experience. The clear, expressive free-form pieces examine the cornerstones of a young person's world: home, school, family, friends, sensations, memories, and emotions. Many of the verses reveal that certain linguistic and rhetorical devices typically viewed as intentional components of a poet's craft are, in fact, instinctive elements of human play originating in the landscape of imagination. Nadim employs onomatopoeia (a train ride "Feels like bumpity-bump/ Sounds like chuka chuka shhhh"), repetition ("It's my mom, it's my mom"), personification ("Wednesday wears a shirt with glitter on it"), and concrete symbolism (a mix of nervousness and excitement is dubbed "Scared-sugar"), all with a natural and authentic ease. In mixed-media illustrations replete with soft washes of desaturated color, Ismail locates introspective moments in the text and amplifies them, using them as jumping-off points for scenes depicting archetypal imagery of youth: exuberant dancing and pretend play, exploration in nature, a skinned knee, the peak of a jump-rope jump, hiding in a cardboard box. The treatment of these scenes—busy, but uncluttered; energetic, but never distracting—evokes both the wildness and calm of childhood. VERDICT This unique collection will serve as an appealing introduction to poetry for children: reflecting their daily experience to them, bolstering their appreciation of the written word, and perhaps inspiring them to construct poems of their own.—Jonah Dragan - Copyright 2022 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.

Booklist - 03/01/2022 This charming collection of original poetry is accompanied by vibrantly joyful illustrations. A majority of the poems have been attributed to a four-year-old named Nadim. This may seem a little suspicious, considering that his mother is an educator and literature instructor, but once the poems start rolling out, readers will immediately respond to their authenticity. Everything from cadence to word choice to imagery rings true to a preschool perspective, and audiences of all ages will enjoy the imaginative descriptions of and fresh insights about everyday activities featuring family, pets, friends, teachers, feelings, and various firsts. Poems are appropriately brief and usually appear one per page, occasionally continuing onto the facing spread. The naive, cartoonlike illustrations feature a diverse cast of preschoolers happily engaged in all sorts of adventures, rendered in bold primary colors that perfectly complement the upbeat text. As engaging introductions to writing poetry and to poems themselves, these selections beg to be read aloud and will enhance classroom lessons and story hours. - Copyright 2022 Booklist.