A Planet Is a Poem

March 1, 2024
A tour of the solar system in prose, poetry, and prosody. Atop Averill's dramatic, impressionistic views of solar explosions, gas giants floating on starry backdrops, and craggy planetary landscapes, Lewis floats 14 poems in as many forms, each on a gatefold flap concealing general descriptions of both the poem's type and subject. The tour kicks off with "A Sonnet for the Solar System" ("A family made of many complex parts, / Our solar system's great adventure starts"), an analysis of the typical metrics and structure of a Shakespearean sonnet, and an overview of our solar neighborhood from the sun to the Oort Cloud. From there on, Venus, for example, gets a villanelle, Saturn a sestina, Jupiter's striped disk is filled with a round concrete poem, and the Kuiper Belt ("a belted donut salsa on stormy seas") a "prose poem," recognizable as such by a preponderance of images and metaphors. "Scientists," she writes, "use metaphors all the time to help us understand what's in our universe." In both prose and hip-hop-style verse, she closes with invitations to "future astronomers" and other readers to keep the outward flight going. The poems show clearer signs of deliberate composition than inspiration, and the factual payload (mostly, the author acknowledges, drawn from a single NASA website) is relatively light; still, budding wordsmiths and skywatchers alike will find the ride worth taking. Occupies both scientific and literary orbits, ably if not incandescently. (glossary, resource lists) (Informational picture book/poetry. 7-10)

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Starred review from April 1, 2024

Gr 3-5-A combined exploration of poetry and our solar system, this book covers both with an eye to detail. A brief overview of planets and poetry begins the narrative. The poems cover the solar system from planets to belts, and what lies beyond. Each poem is on a gatefold atop a spread. Under the gatefold is a rectangle with a couple of paragraphs sharing facts about the poem's topic. On the back of the poem page, a circle contains an explanation of the type of poetry used. The illustrations are in bright hues with collage-style drawings. For example, Jupiter is shown against a blue background with a rocket heading towards it. The text of the concrete poem, "Jupiter the Giant," is written on the exterior of the planet in different colors: "The Giant Red Spot is shrinking, tearing off, vanishing, into spinning clouds." The fact rectangle tells Jupiter's place in and impact on the creation of our solar system. Fourteen different types of poetry feature the sun through the Kuiper Belt, with a mention of the mysterious potential Planet X. The final illustration shows the full solar system. Lewis ends the book by encouraging readers to write poems based on Planet X. A glossary and resources are provided. VERDICT This combination of poems and planets is a fun way to introduce readers to both. An excellent purchase, though the full-page gatefolds may limit shelf life.-Tamara Saarinen

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May 1, 2024
Grades 3-6 *Starred Review* In A Planet Is a Poem, Lewis cleverly combines multiple genres into a unique book that will appeal to poetry lovers, fans of outer space, educators, and more. Each spread contains a poem about one element of our solar system--not only the planets and the sun but also the Kuiper Belt, the dwarf planets Pluto and Charon, and the asteroid Arrokoth. Each poem has a different form, from the classic ode and sonnet to the acrostic, prose poem, and hip-hop rhyme. In a fun surprise, the right-hand page unfolds to reveal text boxes that identify and explain the poetic form used, also providing rich factual information about the page's subject. The additional information is not just an aside; it is substantive and specific. The author's eagerness to share her expertise will likely lead readers to share her enthusiasm about both poetry and the solar system. (She notes as well that poetry and space science are naturally connected, as scientists borrow poetic language to describe their amazing observations of space.) Averill's beautiful illustrations are simple enough not to overshadow the poems on each page, but they emphasize perfectly the poetic mood of the solar system and space. A final page guides readers to write their own poems about the hypothetical ""Planet X."" An impressive achievement that is unique in our solar system!

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