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Soccerverse — a Review

rosihollinbeck

Thought for the Day:

“In the end, the poem is not a thing we see; it is, rather, a light by which we may see–and what we see is life.”
~ Robert Penn Warren ~

Gifts for My Writer Friends:

Stephen King has warned all of us writers to not use adverbs, but Louise Harnby has an excellent post HERE on the use and non-use of adverbs. Maybe this is a little more balanced view.

Sarah McGuire has a wonderful post HERE on Fiction University that will give you Five Ways to Create a Memorable (and Distinguishable) Cast of Characters.

I don’t enter a lot of writing contests, but I do enter a few. When I do, I want to be sure they are fair and legit. Anne R. Allen has a good post HERE with some red flags on writing contests.

soccerverse-cover-smallI get most of the books I review through the San Francisco Book Review or one of its sister publications, but now and then a publisher will send a book directly to me. When I heard Elizabeth Steinglass had a poetry collection coming out from WindSong Publishing, I requested a copy, and they were good enough to send one. I have been following Elizabeth on her blog (you can check it out HERE) for several years. She certainly has a way with words, and I have become a big fan. Getting a poetry collection for kids published is a very big deal. Most children’s publishers won’t even look at a poetry collection, so there are only a few places to try. WindSong is probably considered to be the premier publisher of children’s poetry collections, and that is where Elizabeth landed with her wonderful book. I’ve enjoyed reading every line, and now I’d like to tell you a little about Soccerverse: Poems about Soccer.

elizabeth-steinglass-headshot-300x290
Elizabeth Steinglass

There is a whole lot that goes into a soccer game that many of us may not think about. It isn’t just kids running around a field on Saturday mornings while parent clutch their Starbucks cups to warm their hands. Soccerverse shines a poetic spotlight on many different aspects of the game. The poems in this collection, twenty-two of them, are written from different points of view and in many different forms. The poems are fresh and fun. Imagine if you received a note from your left shin guard and another from your right one, especially when you can’t find them. Such a cute idea. Some of the poems will really make kids think about the importance of acting the right way on the field — whatever field they are on. Remember the dreaded handshake line in any kids sports, especially when you were on the losing team? Yeah. She has a poem about that. She also has poems about when kids might hurt others or be hurt — how they feel and how they should act. There is one called The Fans that parents really should read. And then the poem about Uniform Day really spoke to me. We all have expectations and hopes, and when they are dashed, well, that’s something that speaks to all of us. All of these sweet poems are illustrated by a Brazilian artist named Edson Ikê. His illustrations are active, bright, and perfect for this collection.

Elizabeth was featured recently on Michelle Heidenrich Barnes wonderful poetry blog, Today’s Little Ditty. The post has some great tips for teachers and also a lot more information than I have covered. If you click HERE, you can read that as well. Worth your time, I’m just sayin’.

No giveaway this week. Some books I just can’t part with. Sorry.  If you are reading this in your email, please click HERE to get to my blog, then click on the title of the post, and leave a comment. And don’t forget to check for other Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday posts at the Greg Pattridge’s blog HERE.

Published by rosihollinbeck

26 thoughts on “Soccerverse — a Review”

  6. I can’t wait for my copy. I’ve read and thoroughly enjoyed some of the poems in Soccerverse. I am a poetry friend of Liz. I love that she uses different forms! I predict this book will be a hit with soccer enthusiasts everywhere!

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  7. This really sounds wonderful! What a great idea, to do a book of poetry about something that children and their parents are really interested in.

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  8. Fantastic theme for poetry. Soccer is hugely popular and these would make great read-alouds in any classroom. The links were wonderful as always. Nice to see a more balanced approach to adverbs and the post on memorable characters was helpful.

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  9. I just added this to my TBR and hope my library gets a copy after it’s published. Thanks for the post–I love poetry for kids and enjoy writing it. This book may inspire my own writing.

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