Poetry Friday - All For The Family

           
           Sally Murphy from way down under hosts today! Thanks, Sally, wishing you and everyone else a loving Valentine's Day!  In her welcoming post, Sally shared her "dental" version of terse verse. Be sure to see her versions. Here's mine.

A Terse Verse Valentine for Anyone in Love

Mush Crush

          Speaking of love, according to Pliny the Elder, "Home is where the heart is." Unless you're a black-tailed prairie dog, then it's underground. Or if you're a king cobra, it's in a pile of leaves. White storks find their hearts, uh, homes, on chimney tops. These animal homes and others can be found celebrated poetically in David L. Harrison's new poetry collection, A Place To Start A Family: Poems About Creatures Who Build, illustrated by Giles Laroche. 
          The diversity of poems that fill the pages parallel the diversity of animals written about, poems that will begin a journey of wonder about other animals' homes and construction prowess. There are four sections—building underground, on land, in the water, and in the air and a bonus poem at the end. Why? Because it is so unique a "home builder" that it doesn't fit in the earlier sections! 
           I recognized some of these animals, like the star-nosed mole that David describes in part: "I keep my babies/ safe and dry,/ but otherwise/ I don't deny--/I love it wet/and full of bugs, worms, beetles,/ grubs, and slugs."  And I know of the yellow garden spiders whose baby spiderlings hatch "the size of dust/sail away on gentle gust/to decorate another yard."  



          The incredible protection created by these creatures amazes with what appears to be instinct, that need to ensure the endurance of its species. David's poetic words uniquely respect each. That three-spined stickleback fish weaves its home underwater: "See the tunnel?/See the mound?/See I made it/nice and round?. . ."The best nest/that's ever been!/Please,/Ms. Stickleback, swim in." David's poems from "in the air"  include the red ovenbird and questions. I imagine reading this poem aloud with the repeating verses becoming increasingly louder because of the awe in viewing the nest. Here are a couple of verses: "How do you know/to weave/like that? and Make it round/with twigs/like that?" I also imagine students reading and hearing this and understanding that they too might try a poem with questions. 
           David and Giles Laroche collaborated and created an earlier book, Now You See Them, Now you Don't: Poems About Creatures That Hide, which I reviewed here. Giles again has used cut paper collages on what the book says is "a series of hand-painted papers." His art enhances the poems with depth and clarity, so much that I wanted to reach out and lift some off the page. Here is one double-page spread that I loved, with a favorite of the poems.

            I asked David to share the book's genesis. He replied: "The idea for this book was suggested by the artist, Giles Laroche. He has a background in architectural painting and has published his own successful books, including If You Lived Here and What’s Inside? Giles and I partnered on a 2016 book, Now You See Them, Now You Don’t and we were looking for something new. He suggested a book to feature various structures animals create and I loved the idea. We worked together from the beginning. I developed a list of potential subjects. He added his own nominees. We shared the list with our editor, Karen Boss, and eventually selected our cast of characters. After that, I wrote until the process was complete and the action moved to Giles to add his magic touch." 

            There is added information at the back of the book for each animal plus "Learn More" sections, too. It's a terrific non-fiction poetry collection that will inspire everyone, children to adults, to discover more about these interesting creatures, and perhaps look for others to add to the collection David and Giles created.
            
           Thanks to David for answering my question and for giving me permission to share. He  holds the copyright for this book, which is published by Charlesbridge.