School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 5--A balanced collection of poetry punctuated with vibrant mixed media art, this oversized selection reflects seasonal changes, as each section is collected by month for daily readings. Layouts showcase diverse, bold illustrations created by paint, pens, crayons, and digital. Hunt's artistic interpretation of poetry, paired with Peacock's selections per spread, offer an imaginative and brilliant twist to the limericks, haiku, free verse, odes, and other rhymes. A deliciously disgusting image of a cheerful lad slurping worms while surrounded by birds on wet grass takes center stage between "The Worm" on April 3rd and "Nobody Loves Me, Everybody Hates Me" on April 4th. Children will grin, wondering if this is the boy who pretended to eat the worm, or who actually does eat them! The poems surround the space, with alliteration, onomatopoeia, and rhythm bouncing beautifully off the tongue. Jack Prelutsky, Valerie Bloom, John Agard, Spike Milligan, Ogden Nash, Edward Lear, Joshua Seigal, and Nikki Giovanni appear multiple times, among other authors, and while many of the poems are humorous, several are more introspective. Minor graphic design issues to fit some poems and misspelled words are distracting but rare. A few of the poems are quite advanced (Maya Angelou's "On Aging" and Jenny Joseph's "Warning") and would be best for older readers, while others are solidly for preschoolers. Back matter includes indices of authors, poems, and first lines. VERDICT A poetic gem for oversized collections that circulate well. Purchase this title to share daily poems at the reference desk or other display areas.--Rachel Zuffa
Kirkus Review
Short poems for each day of the calendar year, including February 29. Aside from the decision to include some poems in dialect, Peacock (a pseudonym) sticks to standard English in this hefty, lighthearted collection, including for the rare translations. Her 366 selections offer readers encounters with Jellicle Cats and Jumblies, limericks and nursery rhyme spinoffs ("Mary had a little lamb, / A lobster and some prunes"), and renowned versifiers from Jack Prelutsky ("It's raining pigs and noodles, / it's pouring frogs and hats") to the ever-popular Anonymous, who checks in with "There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly" and a five-verse version of "Nobody Loves Me, Everybody Hates Me." Except for groups of Thanksgiving- and Christmas-themed entries in November and December, respectively, holidays go unacknowledged; instead, the entries have been gathered around dozens of quotidian topics from dogs and elephants to socks, relatives, and sneezes. While some poets make multiple contributions, most are limited to one or two, so there are plenty of lesser-known but rising lights among the diverse if mostly British and American cast of modern contributors, joined by more familiar writers such as Sonia Sanchez, Maya Angelou, Linda Sue Park, and Nikki Giovanni. Hunt's cartoon illustrations, which feature a large and diverse cast of children in lively poses, add bright notes of energy and action to the spacious page layouts. Readable and unusually capacious. (poet, title, and first line indexes) (Poetry. 6-10) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
