Poetry - Outside the Box: A Book of Poems by Karma Wilson

Illustrated by Diane Goode

2014 Margaret K. McElderry Books

HC $17.99

172 pgs.

Goodreads rating:  3.85 - 221 ratings

My rating:  4.5 

My comments:  In this homage to Shel Silverstein, funny, clever, rhythmic poems (including poems with no flabby rhyming) are not only dedicated to the great children's poet, but they even look and sound somewhat like his creations.  Such fun!  A few follow...

Goodreads: This laugh-out-loud poetry collaboration from a New York Timesand Publishers Weekly bestselling author and a Caldecott Honor illustrator is anything but ordinary.
          Dive in to Karma Wilson's latest collection of more than 100 poems: some humorous, some poignant, and all of them Outside the Box. Illustrated by Caldecott Honoree Diane Goode, Outside the Box has something for everyone. Appealing to kids and parents alike, poems such as Sick Day, My Pet Robot, Balloonaphobia, and Aliens Under My Bed are sure to delight and entertain.

Bubble Trouble

I bought myself two packs of gum.

I chewed and chewed some more.

I blew a bubble round a fat,

and bigger than ever before!

I blew and it grew

and grew

and grew

and grew!

None of my friends could believe it.

The biggest bubble ever blown,

and I was the kid to achieve it!

I kept on blowing, it kept on growing.

When would it ever stop?

It all seemed like such an awesome plan

till my sister made it

POP!

Man in the Moon

When you look at the face

of the Man in the Moon,

what kind of face do you see?

Is it aged and wise, sad, surprised,

or happy and beaming with glee?

Is it angry and stern, full of concern,

wistful, or filled with delight?

What mood do you see

in the face that shines down

and kisses the darkness with light?

A Lump of Clay

It’s just a lump of clay,

that’s it.

But pick it up

and squeeze a bit.

Now roll it, pat it,

poke it, too.

Pinch the clay

a time or two.

With imagination

and elbow grease,

you’ll create

a masterpiece

Pound it down

to a lump, and then

pick it up and

start again.

Shades of Gray

The shadows of trees, the clouds in the sky.

The wings of a wren as she flutter on by.

The face of the moon as he watches the night,

not quite black, but not quite white.

The hue of the world

when the sun slips away.

Beautiful shades of gray.

Moose on the Bus

There’s a moose on the bus,

and he caused quite a fuss

when he clambered aboard, big and brown.

We screamed for police

to restore general peace,

but they weren’t anywhere to be found.

The moose thought awhile,

then strolled down the aisle

and sat in the seat next to me.

He is kind, more or less,

and I have to confess,

he makes for polite company.

But one thing I’ve found

while the bus drives around

and I sit with a moose at my side,

He’s friendly and all,

but he’s really quite tall,

and his antlers are rater too wide.-