The Blue Fish Chronicles

       Walking on Earth and Touching the Sky: Poetry and Prose is a book of poetry written by Lakota Youth at Red Cloud Indian School. The poems are written by a variety of children, and they give their unique perspective of their life and culture. The book of poetry contains a table of contents and an index of authors and titles. The poetry book contains different themes, each containing multiple works of poetry. At the start of each theme, there is an author’s note to give information about each theme and how it pertains to the students. Each poem gives a unique perspective to those who are not Native American. To those who are Native or who are Lakota the poems give the reader validation of the unique struggles that Native Americans face. The language used is understandable by those whom the book is intended for.       The poems contain figurative language and repeating words and sayings. In some poems, the authors use words and statements tha...

       Starfish was written by Lisa Fipps. The book is a novel in verse. Each poem has a title however, the book does not contain a table of contents. The book is about a girl named Ellie. After an incident when she was five, she has been bullied about her weight. At the beginning of summer break, she finds allies in unexpected places (Fipps 2021). This book is very validating to those who have even been bullied about their weight when they were young. While this is a midgrade novel, I would recommend this book to anyone who has experienced the same experiences as Ellie or has an eating disorder from midgrade to adulthood. The language used is understandable to those to whom this book is recommended.       The author uses figurative language and emotional impact in the poems. Figurative language is not used often but when it is the author uses it to make an emotional statement. The author uses emotional impact to put the reader in the shoes of the...

       Hello, Earth! Poems to our Planet is a book of poems written by Joyce Sidman and illustrated by Miren Asiain Lora. It contains 22 poems from humanity to the earth. The book does not contain a table of contents. The poems describe different aspects of the earth. The poems come across as letters to the earth. The poems contain information about the topic they are describing. At the end of the book, the author added more scientific information about the earth and additional resources that people can access. The book uses language that the reader should be able to understand. The poems describe ways that we might be better citizens of the earth. This book would be a great addition to early earth sciences classes.      The author uses the mostly free verse in the poems. The author uses repeating words and figurative language. The author repeats words such as “and”. In Noisy the author lists things that we are doing to the earth and before the next th...

  Water Sing Blue: Ocean Poems is written by Kate Coombs and illustrated by Meilo So. This book of poetry is about the ocean. It contains poems about fish and things that live in the ocean, things that live in the air, and other things that relate to the ocean. It contains 23 poems that have their own names. However, this poetry book does not contain a table of contents. This book would contain experiences and topics familiar to those who have been to the ocean or have some knowledge of the ocean. This would be a great book for those who are not familiar with the ocean because it contains good descriptions of ocean life. There are some words that would not be familiar to those whom this book is intended for. This book would benefit from a short glossary or author notes about the information that might not be familiar to the reader. The author uses rhyming, imagery and figurative language, and haikus. The author uses imagery and figurative language to describe the ocean. For example...

       The Friendly Four is written by Eloise Greenfield and illustrated by Jan Spivey Gilchrist. The Friendly Four contains six chapters and a total of thirty-four poems. The book contains a table of contents that shows each chapter, the title of the chapter, and then the title of the poems. The book is about four children during their summer break from school. The book starts off with Drummond who is very bored and lonely. He wants attention; however, his parents and babysitter are putting most of their attention on the new baby. Then a new kid moves to the neighborhood. As a new friend is added a new chapter begins. The story follows as they meet new friends and then as they play together during their summer break. This book has topics that most children are familiar with. For example, gaining a new brother or sister and moving to a new neighborhood or street. There are some experiences in the book such as fostering/adoption and parental illness (Greenfield and Ja...

       Freedom in Congo Square was written by Carole Boston Weatherford and illustrated by R. Gregory Christie. It is a poem picture book. A picture book containing only one poem. This is a poem about a place in New Orleans, Louisiana called Congo Square; it is in Louis Armstrong Park. In 1817, Congo Park has designated the only space for slaves to gather. During this time, slaves worked from sunup until sundown and Sunday was their only day of rest. They would gather in this area and conduct African customs such as music, language, and religion. This poem highlights some of their day-to-day routines and marks each day until they were “free” (Carole Boston Weatherford, R Gregory Christie, and Freddi Williams Evans 2016). This book mostly contains words that are familiar to the intended reader however there are some words that the reader might not know, and they are explained in the glossary at the back of the book. At the front of the book, there is information that...