Underneath My Bed: List Poems (Poetry Adventures) - Softcover

Brian P. Cleary is the author of the Words Are CATegorical®, Math Is CATegorical®, Food Is CATegorical™, and Animal Groups Are CATegorical™ series, as well as several picture books. He lives in Cleveland, Ohio.

Richard Watson spent many of his younger years drawing medieval knights, dragons, and entire comic books inspired by his love of reading. He studied illustration at Lincoln University and lives in the north of England.

"With this sixth addition to the Poetry Adventures series, Cleary is on his way to being an expert at introducing children to types of poems they would otherwise have no idea about. This entry presents list poems, which are exactly what they sound like―lyrical lists. Although the idea sounds simple enough, the poems are surprisingly rich, including an ode to a teacher's ties, the woes of phlegm, and an alphabetical classroom. A list of everything yellow reads, 'Butterscotch and bumblebees / ears of corn and mac and cheese / pet canaries, dandelions / those silly shoes of Uncle Brian's,' while the accompanying illustration on the page is just as delightful. Watson's cartoon illustrations are colorful and bright, featuring diverse and comically expressive people with round faces. In one, a mischievous-looking student has scrunched up in the class pet's cage, while in another, a child looks positively green from what lives in the school microwave. The combination of the poems and illustrations will cause a laugh in even the most devout of poem dislikers."―Booklist

"With polish and wit, Cleary has come up with a title for educators, homeschoolers, and young poets on how to create and read a list poem. Clustered around topics that would be of interest to the elementary set, poems take on home, school, sports, and camp. The school-themed poems tackle subjects such as the lost and found and the school microwave. Jump rope skippers will appreciate the iambic beat of 'Alison's a chatterbox. Ben is always crying./Chloe smells like chicken soup, and Dylan's often lying.' The themes of the pieces on home and family include the discovery of forgotten and unusual items from under the bed, the glove box, and the pockets of cargo shorts. One poem, 'Yellow,' has an accompanying yellow illustration and the rhyme 'Butterscotch and bumblebees,/ears of corn and mac and cheese.' There are many embellishments on the poetic form, such as rhyming couplets, internal rhymes, and alliteration. This selection will have students writing list poems in no time. Cute, cartoon-style illustrations support the images within each poem. VERDICT: Appropriately sized for independent readers, this fun and imaginative volume is a go-to poetry handbook for the elementary crowd."―School Library Journal

"The sixth installment in the growing list of Poetry Adventures focuses on just that: lists. Here Cleary and Watson present illustrated rhymed and unrhymed poems cataloging zany subjects ranging from wished-for delights to unsavory remnants moldering away in the school microwave or under one's bed. Though one might expect the 16 poems collected here just to center on objects, like things that are 'Yellow' or left 'At the Lost and Found,' Cleary also provides inventories of what happens, for example, in April, at the bus stop, in the classroom, or at camp, inspiring children to observe not only things but actions they encounter. He cleverly points to the irony of the 'glove compartment' that contains nearly every household item except gloves and, in an especially hilarious poem, suggests that dinosaurs went extinct out of boredom and deprivation, due to their having 'no skateboards, / . . . / no ice cream, / no smartphones, / no bicycles, / no french fries, / no amusement parks, / and / no Oreos.' Throughout, Cleary's creative lists are animated by Watson's light, vividly colored, and warmly drawn illustrations, spotlighting deliciously gory details like bug bites and scratches earned at camp or slimy, lime-green 'snot' covering everything an allergy-plagued boy touches. Whether capturing fun or chronicling items that disgust, Cleary and Watson again brilliantly open the world of verse, enticing young readers to dive in."―starred, Kirkus Reviews