A Lucky Thing

I found this book in a Scholastic catalogue when I was teaching third grade. I bought it so that I could expose my students to different poems and poets, and I found it to be truly fabulous! The poems are imaginative, clever, and beautiful. And the illustrations are simply amazing. The poems and artwork delicately capture the harmony and magic of both the natural world, and the world of writing itself. Many of my students, especially my lower readers, bought this book when the following month's catalogue came out. I was surprised just how many kids were inspired and entertained by it. It has become one of my favorite children's poetry books, and I highly recommend it!

A Lucky Thing is a wonderful book to share with your favorite elementary children. The crisp and seemingly 3-dimensional pictures will reel these children in and hold them long enough to discover the gentle, thought-provoking poems. The 14 poems use a clear voice to share with the reader common sights on a farm. The poems are often funny without being silly. What do chickens think when they see birds flying by? What could frogs be trying to say when sitting on a lily pad croaking all day? These poems will give you some answers. When I beckoned my 9 year old to explore this book with me, he complained, "No, please not poetry"! Then he couldn't help but touch sharpened pencil and feather quill on the opening pages. They were so clear, so sharp, they seemed to be real. Ha... he was caught. We were soon reading together and aloud! We went back and forth in the book looking at the details in the pictures and trying to decide which poems were our favorite. Later I caught him reading it again, on his own. The magic in this book had worked. He had put down the video game and read a book!