Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews
The Sun in Me: Poems about the Planet
Illustrator: Beth Krommes
Poetry
For ages 5 to 8
Barefoot Books, 2008 ISBN: 978-1846861611
Many of us live in worlds where everything is moving so fast that we rarely stop to notice the beauty in nature. Some of us live in places where nature has been covered with cement and asphalt, and we have to make a conscious decision to find a grove of trees, a burbling stream, or a still reflective pond. In this collection of twenty-nine poems, poets from around the world explore nature, and they gently remind young people that nature is a gift to be enjoyed, savored, and protected.
In Father and I in the woods, a father encourages his son to “walk,” rather than run, to be silent so that the birds will not be frightened off, and to just “be” with “sky and brook and bird/ And tree.”
In the poem Orders, A.M. Klein quiets the wind, the clock, the mice, the talk, and other sounds so that he might “sit silent” and “wonder” at the natural world around him.
This memorable collection of poems shows children that they have a wonderful legacy – the natural world. If they listen and observe they will find beauty in the rising sun, in the falling rain, and in the blue sky.
