Deborah Chandra

This is a collection of delightful poems that make words seem delicious. They could delight a child, I imagine, but not my boy, so I can't speak for that. I personally enjoyed them.

For teachers: Some of these poems are the exact length and level of complexity of the selections included in the NY State tests, levels 7 & 8. Unfortunately, they are the same low-interest level as well. For high-interest poems, I'd recommend "I Wouldn't Thank You for a Valentine", "Seeing the Blue Between", show more "Swimming Upstream" and "Poems for the Green Age" (at least), but these poems are perfect practice/exposure for what middle school students can expect on the test. There is a high-quality sampling of so many poetic devices, including some examples of the concrete format. show less

This was an interesting book. I knew George Washington has wooden teeth but I had no idea he had such bad teeth from an early age. I didn’t know either that he multiple sets of fake teeth over the years and they were all quite painful for him to wear. Some even pulled out good teeth left in his mouth. Horrible. He suffered from dental abscesses all his life also. I read this book together with my son and we were both astonished to learn something new about our first president. My son had show more to do a biobottle project on George Washington, he made him out of paper maiche and a two liter bottle. It was pretty cool. We used this book as a reference when we made his teeth together. show less

Cleverly written book about George Washington's teeth with historical information interjected throughout. Students will appreciate this as a read aloud as the story has a rhythm about it.

In my opinion this was a fun book to read. I liked it for a three reasons, the illustrations, the plot and the language. The illustrations in the book enhanced the story and fit what was in the written text. The illustrations in the book are kind of a cartoon drawings based on historically events, there are even real life photos in the book as well! It is important that the illustrations in the book match what is going on and the illustrations in this story definitely do! The plot of the show more story was very organized and suspenseful. The book is about our first president George Washington and his life while also telling the tale of his loosing teeth. Each page there was a different fact about George and a story of how he lost one of his teeth. Some during battle, some while eating, but each page something new and unexpected ! Lastly the language in the book was very descriptive and told in rhyme, making it exciting to read. It was also clearly written. Often times rhyme can be confusing but there was not one part of the story that I did not understand. What made this story so exciting was the fact that it had many facts mixed in it throughout, making it a biography but also kind of a historical text. I would recommend this book to all because it is informational, while also fun and silly. show less