Incredible Inventions
Kindergarten-Grade 5&mdash;The highlighted inventions in these 16 poems&mdash;blue jeans, roller coaster, basketball, and Popsicle, to name a few&mdash;have great kid-appeal. Poets such as Joan Bransfield Graham, Kristine O'Connell George, J. Patrick Lewis, and Alice Schertle each single out one invention. Their poetic styles vary from couplets to free verse and concrete poetry. Some poems are pure fun; others are a mix of facts and history. Four pages of informational paragraphs follow the chronologically arranged selections, followed by an illustrated time line. Sarcone-Roach unites the different poems with double-page illustrations, which vary in style from painterly to cartoon. Quick sketches and notes in the margins of the contents page suggest that the inventing is still in progress. This anthology does an excellent job of uniting the creativity of words, art, and innovation. It will spark children's curiosity and hold their interest.&mdash;Carolyn Janssen, Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, OHCopyright &copy; Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.