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Monday, December 25, 2023

Welcome to the Wonder House, poems by Rebecca Kai Dotlich and Georgia Heard with illustrations by Deborah Freedman. Wordsong, Astra Books for Young Readers. Penguin Random House, 2023. $24.99 ages 6 and up

 


"A gnarled stick 
clutched in my hand can be:

a thin shovel 
to dig for wriggling worms, 

a charmed wand
to cast magic spells,

a ruler 
to measure how deep a mud puddle dips, 

a fishing pole 
to catch a fish like the world has never seen, 

a pencil 
to write the letters of my name in the sand.

-GH"

There are twelve rooms in this wonder house, and they offer space for twenty-nine poems on double-page spreads, both wondrous for language and exceptionally stunning for the artistic interpretation of those words. I have read them countless times and stopped to 'wonder' at every gorgeous image. What a team! 

As readers look at, read, and establish their own sense of wonder while exploring these pages, they are also seeing variety in poetic form, and investigating new learning. There are questions to be considered, thoughts to be pondered, imagination to be explored, observations to be made.  

Adults who spend time with children know they find wonder in the simplest things. It might be as simple as a favorite rock or as complicated as a spider's intricate web. They take the time to stop, if we allow them to do so. Wonder is not just for kids; what wonders are found in your many experiences, and how do you represent them?

There are rooms for curiosity, praise, ordinary things, creatures, nature, science, time, place, quiet, imagination, mystery, and wishes. Finally, there is a note about wonder itself, written by two remarkable poets. 

"You are a wonderer, too, brimming with 
imagination and creativity. So, grab a 
notebook, gaze out a window, follow a 
meandering creek, sit on a step, and look and
listen to the ordinary and the extraordinary 
all around you. You'll find wonder everywhere.

- RKD & GH                                                                            


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