Thursday, June 25, 2015

The Death of The Hat (2015)

The Death of the Hat: A Brief History of Poetry in 50 Objects. Paul B. Janeczko. Illustrated by Chris Raschka. 2015. Candlewick. 80 pages. [Source: Review copy]

The premise of The Death of the Hat is intriguing and challenging. Is it possible to give a brief history of poetry in 50 poems? And in 50 poems about things? What I noticed is that by limiting it to things--to objects--what you get is not 50 of the best poems ever written, but 50 poems that fit the criteria. I would have preferred 50 of the best poems ever OR 50 poems that are really good and still accessible to children. The spanning of the poems through the centuries is nice enough. And as I said, in theory, this one has potential. But in fact, I found it a challenging read. The poems varied in accessibility. Some were REALLY hard to connect to, to understand, to enjoy. Authors probably weren't hoping for a response of "so what?" Of course, there are some exceptions. Still this one would be for people who already LOVE poetry.
© 2015 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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