• 5 Star Reads
  • Audiobooks
  • Books on Screen
  • Children’s Books
  • Christian
  • Fiction
  • Giveaways

5 Minutes For Books

  • Home
  • About
    • Who Are We? Reviewer Bios
    • 5 Star Reads
    • Disclosure
    • Privacy Policy
    • About Us
  • Join In
    • 5 Minutes for Books Bookclub
    • Children’s Classics
    • Kids’ Picks
    • What’s on Your Nightstand
  • Link To Us
  • Contact
    • Advertise

Let’s Have a Bite!

September 21, 2010 by Jennifer

Don’t freak out! We haven’t turned into a children’s picture book blog (not that there’s anything wrong with that!). At 5 Minutes for Books, we are still proud to feature books across many genres for children and adults. This week is all about highlighting children’s books, and we are also posting more frequently than you may be used to, for this week only.

Read the anchor post to find all of the Fall Festival of Children’s Books reviews and see how you can get involved as well.

If you’d prefer, search our archives for other books containing a good dose of Humor.
********

Let’s Have a Bite!: A Banquet of Beastly Rhymes by Robert Forbes is a wonderful whimsical book of poetry sure to appeal to kids.

The illustrations by Ronald Searle have that sort of odd creepy feel, which perfectly complements the subject matter.

These poems all feature animals: “Baker Betty” (who happens to be a baboon), “The Turtle Dash,” “Ooh,Lala” (about a nasty-tempered koala named Lala), “The Story of Rory” (the rattler).

It’s a rather long collection, featuring 33 poems which each have a full two-page spread. My six-year-old son and I read a poem or two or three before bed each night. I absolutely love having a book of poems around for that purpose — a quick add-on to a picture book reading or simply a quick goodnight read of a poem or two to stand alone.

One thing that I really like about this collection is its diversity. All the poems are about animals, but they are all different. Most are silly, but they all have a different tone, and even better — a different form. Some collections offer poems that have the same ABBA or ABABAB rhyming scheme, or are all 14 lines long or whatever. Some of Forbes’ poems are 1 stanza of 5 lines, others are longer more free-formed poems, some have two stanzas, other have five. The variety keeps the collection from being too predictable, and also serves to teach children about the different forms a poem can take.

Check out our current giveaways, subscribe to our feed, and/or follow us @5M4B on Twitter.

Jennifer Donovan likes poetry a lot.
She thought she’d give this book a shot.

Jennifer blogs at Snapshot.

Filed Under: Children's Books, Easy Readers, Humor, Jennifer, Picture Books, Poetry Tagged With: Fall Festival of Children's Books

« Kids’ Picks – September
Chicken Big »

Comments

  1. Anne says

    September 21, 2010 at 7:39 pm

    I’m a sucker for poetry – I love to read a few before bed too – works well as we grow into chapter books…

  2. Katrina says

    September 21, 2010 at 9:05 pm

    Sounds very cute. My 4-year-old is if-y on poetry. Sometimes he loves it (the book, Runny Babbit, comes to mind), but often he’ll pass. Maybe I just need to get more good poetry books into the house.

  3. Casey says

    September 21, 2010 at 9:47 pm

    My three year old has been choosing books with poems recently. This one sounds right up her alley, so I have added to my Amazon wish list for Christmas gifts!

  4. Nancy says

    September 22, 2010 at 12:05 am

    Heh, love your poem at the end. This looks like a great book with Halloween looming.

  5. katklaw777 says

    September 22, 2010 at 12:40 pm

    I have a hard time with poetry…if it doesn’t rhyme I am lost. I luv Jack Prelutsky Poems.
    I think this book with it’s variety of poems would be good for all of us. lol

    • Jennifer (5 Minutes for Books) says

      September 22, 2010 at 1:35 pm

      Most of these do rhyme, and have that easy to read (and understand!) sort of meter!

  6. Amy says

    September 22, 2010 at 8:59 pm

    I’m always on the look out for good poetry books. Thanks for the review!

  7. Angela W. says

    September 23, 2010 at 11:49 pm

    Thanks for this review. I’m trying to read more poetry with my children. I’ll add this book to our list.

Connect with us

  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Welcome to 5 Minutes for Books. We are a team blog dedicated to sharing reviews and information about children's lit, fiction, memoir, and more. Read More…

Reviews

5 Minutes for Books

Jennifer Donovan
Managing Editor

MEET OUR TEAM



Connect With Us


Pinterest

Community

Cybils Logo Draft 3

Disclosure:

Find out about our relationships with publishers and affiliate networks in our full disclosure statement.

Recent Posts

  • Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers
  • The House of Eve
  • Bright and Deadly Things
  • Long Story Short
  • Stone Cold Fox

Categories

Privacy Policy    |     Disclosure Policy
Terms & Conditions
© 5 Minutes for Mom

Let’s Socialize

  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Pinterest is Our FAVORITE!

Find and Follow Us at
pinterest.com/5min4books

Copyright © 2023 · Tasteful theme by Restored 316