Introduce your little one to some exotic new animals, like a jaguar, panda, and polar bear in this poetry book for children! Sound is the first sense your child has (even in the womb!), and music is one of the first complete patterns they can understand. Poetry is the music of language - both in written form and read aloud - so give your little one something to appreciate with In the Wild. Each of the 14 poems feature an animal that your child will likely not have seen before; trust me, there are no puppies and kitties in this book! The poems vary in length and complexity, but they are all fun. The eleven syllable Giraffe poem proves that a poem doesn't need to be long in order to be powerful; "Stilt-walker! Tree Topper! Long-necked/show-stopper!" Many poetic devices are used throughout the book, such as enjambment, metaphors, similes, internal rhyme, and slant rhyme. The poems are embedded in two-page picture spreads, depicting the animal and its environment. The pictures have a tribal feel to them with heavy charcoal lines, negative space attributing an abstract quality to the scenes, and earth tone colors.
Play games with your little one, quizzing them on the name of the animals after you ahve read the book a few times. A fun game may be trying to make the noise each animal makes. Odds are, you may be stumped on a few. Do you know what a rhinoceros sounds like? How about a sloth? Although a two-year-old may not understand that rhyming is a poetic or literary technique, they do know two things - it sounds silly, and they like it. Identify some rhymes in the poems and try to come up with your own rhymes together. Does anything rhyme with their name? How about with 'mom' and 'dad'? Or other animals they are more familiar with?
I read this book in several small increments with my two-year-old friend Kyle. He enjoyed the pictures and asked me frequently if the animals featured were real. When I answered 'yes', he looked amazed. I could see his mind turning, daydreaming about meeting one of these animals one day.
--Audra