Genre 3 - Poetry -Book Review 3

Poetry Book Review

Toasting Marshmallows:Camping Poems

By: Kristine O'connell George

Illustrated by Kate Kiesler

BIBLIOGRAPHY
George, Kristine O’Connell. 2001. TOASTING MARSHMALLOWS: CAMPING POEMS. Ill. By Kate Kiesier. New York: Hougton Mufflin Company. ISBN 061804597

PLOT SUMMARY-
Toasting Marshmallows celebrates the experiences of camping through a child’s eyes. Kristine O’Connell George has put together a collection of poems that depicts the adventures of camping from sharing the warm feelings of a campfire to long forest walks. She allows readers to get up close and personal with nature and get in touch with their senses while encouraging readers to explore their inner feelings and imagination.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Kristine O’Connell George shows a range of poetic styles when presenting her collection of camping poems. She gives the readers a sensory field trip experiencing clever word play in the poem Two Voices in a Tent at Night where she has the words aligned on opposites of the page to depict a conversation.

“Shhhhh…./”
Something is scratching/
On our tent./ Is not.”

She brings to life the sound of nature using a onomatopoeia in the Mosquito Song “It’s meeeeeeeeee!/ Mosqueeeeeeeto!/ Is that you, Dinner? Greeeeeeeeeeeeeetings!/ and keeps the readers interested by shaping her poems in Eavesdropping depicting the shape of the moon listening in to all of our conversations.

George uses imagery to help acclimate the readers to nature using deliberate word choice. This is shown in the Rain Dance “It was dry/ under these trees, until a confetti of birds/in wet leaves/ danced/another/rain shower. / With these careful word choices helps put a picture in the readers brain.

Kiesler’s acrylic paintings help set tone of each poem offering the perfect match to Goerge’s sensory building ambience. Her touch of illuminating artwork gives just the right amount of light to the twinkling stars, the glow of the campfire embers, or showing the beauty of a doe surrounded by a glowing sunset and even spotlighting the feeling of solitude itself. She uses full pages of imagery to show the pure power of nature in the illustration of the poem Storm. Kiesler does a remarkable job pulling the reader into the experiences of the campers.

Readers will enjoy the warm feeling they will get by unfolding each poem to see what nature has in store for them.

REVIEW EXCERPTS
School Library Journal- A terrific idyll for summertime sharing, even for confirmed couch potatoes
Horn Books- The pleasure and surprises of going camping are conveyed in eighteen brief poems

CONNECTIONS

This would be a great book to read aloud before Spring Break or Summer Vacation and encourage readers to keep their on memento of their encounters with nature.

Other Books By The Author:
George, Kristine O’Connell. Little Dog Poems. ISBN 0395822661.
George, Kristine O’Connell. Old Elm Speaks: Tree Poems. ISBN 0395876117.