Poetry and Story Collections - The Popcorn astronauts and other bitable rhymes by Deborah Ruddell, Joan Rankin (Ill.)

The Popcorn astronauts and other bitable rhymes by Deborah Ruddell, Joan Rankin (Ill.)

Summary: The Popcorn astronauts and other bitable rhymes by Deborah Ruddell (2015) uses verse to describe the four seasons humorously.  Each season has five story poems to describe it with the exception of Fall that has six poems.  In Spring there is the Strawberry Queen, that needs to be addressed as Ma’am, “but don’t say a word about strawberry jam” (p.1); a picnic, a doozie of a smoothie with pickles, snails, a “nubbin of fish,” (p. 4).  Summer includes swimming in a watermelon lake, the story of a picky Ogre that eats only corn on the cob, a recipe to make raisins like “wrinkled rubber rocks...of well-worn pirate socks (p. 9), and don’t forget the summer peaches.  Fall welcomes canoes made of potatoes, a café that serves only toast, a list of 21 things to do with an apple, a menu to eat on a rainy day, and a chance to become a hero by eating the last hardened brownie.  Finally, Winter has the arrival of the popcorn astronauts, which she equates popped corn to astronauts hurtling through the air, a poem about the one and only mac and cheese, a tale about a gingerbread house makeover from sweets to vegetables.  It’s a healthy place now.  Winter also includes The Cocoa Cabana, where “the chef is a girl in a purple bandana, who goes by the name of Diana-Suzanna” (p.29), and the World’s biggest cake where” everyone’s craziest wishes come true” (p. 32).   

My Perspective:  The poems by Ruddell (2015) are creative and wonderfully imagined.  Ruddell speaks to the mind of a young child to use their imagination.  Children from ages four to eight years old would enjoy the imagery presented by Ruddell’s words. The best part of this book besides the humor, are the illustrations by Joan Rankin. The brightly painted images support the humor to match the words.  I found myself smiling throughout the book.  This will delight readers of all ages, but is great for introducing poetry to younger children and emerging readers.

Book Review: The team behind Today at the Bluebird Cafe and A Whiff of Pine, a Hint of Skunk reunites for a playful grouping of 21 food-themed poems, organized by season and likely to be as crowd-pleasing as “The Noodles Nibbled Nationwide! / The Famous Food Celebrities! / The Couple That You Know and Love! / The One, the Only, MAC and CHEESE!” (Ruddell knows her audience.) The author is similarly rhapsodic about guacamole and a smoothie of questionable ingredients (“A whisper of pickle/ is what I detect/ with glimmers of turnip/ I didn’t expect”), but making raisins from grapes is another story (“let them go until they look/ like wrinkled rubber rocks/ and have the bold, enchanting taste/ of well-worn pirate socks”). Rankin’s watercolors match Ruddell’s whimsy and enthusiasm ounce for ounce, making for delectable reading. Ages 4–8.

Library Application: This book can be used for story time to help in teaching rhyming skills and build vocabulary for the young learners (Pre-Kinder-First grade). 

 

 

References:

Ruddell, D.  (2015). The popcorn astronauts, and other bitable rhymes. New York:  Margaret K. McElderry Books, an imprint of Simon and Schuster Children’s Publishing Division.  

Publisher’s Weekly Book Review (2015 March, 3). [Review of the popcorn astronauts, and other bitable rhymes]. Retrieved from https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-4424-6555-8