Poetry: Jumping Off Library Shelves

Jumping Off Library Shelves: A Book of Poems
Selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins
Illustrated by Jane Manning

Hopkins, Lee Bennett, and Jane Manning. Jumping off Library Shelves: a Book of Poems. Honesdale, PA: WordSong, an imprint of Highlights, 2015. 9781590789247

Summary

Lee Bennett Hopkins has compiled fifteen poems that celebrate the joys of books and reading. The poems share the marvels of finding refuge, getting your first library card, exploring the internet, searching for the perfect story, meeting a librarian who knows exactly what you need, finding the best place to read the best books. People and animals alike find solace in the comfort of the warm library, a home away from home.

Analysis

Each poem uses a different poetic element that fits the author's style. Sound, rhythm, and rhyme are the most impactful, while sense imagery and figurative language turn the words into pictures. In Book Pillows, words like "Wild things on a rumpus!/ Fat evil kings!/ Boy wizards, girl witches!/ Horses with wings!" The author of this poem, Amy Ludwig Vanderwater, uses this figurative language to bring the words of her poem to life. In Enchantment, Jane Yolen writes "Stack by stack,/ shelf by shelf,/ I pick out books/ all by myself." Not only does this poem have a playful and easily recognized rhyme scheme, it also brings forth a sense of pride that readers can identify with. It's a relatable feeling, picking out a book by themselves.

Despite the wide variety of authors from many different backgrounds and experiences, each of the poems fits together beautifully. Hopkins has collected a strong group of poems that evoke strong emotions of happiness and contentment. Many readers have positive memories in a library, and reading this book of poems helps recall those fond memories. The poems are consistent in quality and build upon each other. Reading a poem individually is entertaining, but reading the entire collection is even more enriching. 

The illustrations match the positive feelings presented in this book. Jane Manning has created warm and inviting watercolor illustrations of the various characters and perspectives that resemble the warm and inviting atmosphere of the library. 

Excerpt

BREAKFAST BETWEEN THE SHELVES

They find words

sprinkled like cracker salt

on all those pages

where genius weaves letters

into magic; beckons new readers:

Look! This is the book for you.

Connections

While reading this book aloud, encourage children to study the illustrations and think about how the words reflect what is drawn. Start a conversation about how words can form pictures in our heads. Give them poems printed and have them circle the words the are the most descriptive of the poem. 

Reviews

A review from the Journal of Children’s Literature wrote "Jane Manning’s gouache-and-pencil paintings, featuring a softened background accented with splashes of vibrant color, beautifully complement the text and speak to both the serenity and the power of the library and the books it houses."

D. P. 2016. “Jumping Off Library Shelves: A Book of Poems.” Journal of Children’s Literature 42 (2): 51. https://search-ebscohost-com.ezp.twu.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=brd&AN=118900186&site=ehost-live.

Shelle Rosenfeld writing for Booklist said, "Enchanting gouache-and-pencil illustrations range from whimsical— a boy reads amid a swirling landscape of dinosaurs, basketballs, outer space, animals, and sea— to sweet, like cozily sharing a book a deux, snow falling outside. Honoring libraries as places and resources that can inspire joy, learning, and imagination, this is charming all around."

Rosenfeld, Shelle. 2015. “Jumping off Library Shelves: A Book of Poems.” Booklist 112 (5): 42. https://search-ebscohost-com.ezp.twu.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=brd&AN=110689679&site=ehost-live.