Button Up! - Poetry

Bibliography:

Schertle, Alice. 2009. BUTTON UP!. Ill. By Petra Mathers. New York: Harcourt Children's Books. 978-0-15-205050-4

Plot Summary:

Button Up! is an adorable children's book compiled of fifteen short poems written from the perspective of various articles of clothing.  Some of the poems are heartwarming, such as Hand-me-down SWEATSHIRT, while others are just down right funny, such as Emily's UNDIES.  These poems are funny, smart and sometimes nostalgic!

Critical Analysis:

This is one of the most amusing children's poetry books.  The animal characters are cute and full of character, the illustrations are full of life, the topic of each poem is so original and each story is very relatable for children and adults.  The tone in Bertie's SHOELACES matches perfectly with the illustration of a cool, purple mohawk and sunglasses wearing character.  There is almost an attitude that is shared between Bertie's character and the phrasing of the poem.  The last line in the poem, "We're hang loose lances and we don't do bows!" is the exact attitude that you see in the illustrated character of Bertie.

The Song of Harvey's GALOSHES  is a fun story of a pig who splashes through puddles with galoshes on.  The way this poem is written is like a song with repetitious lines like "we're together when the sunny weather's gone, weather's gone" that adds such a great element to the story.  You can see the enjoyment of splashing through mud on Harvey's face but the way the poem is written with the repetitious, rhythmic lines and how it sounds as if you can sing the poem matches perfectly. 

Hand-me-down SWEATSHIRT is a poem that brings out a lot of emotion, it makes one think back to their favorite articles of clothing as a child and wonder where they are, who inherited them and were they loved as much as you loved it?  "I've been lost and recovered, been torn and been sewn, been dribbled on, tumbled in, rained on and blown."  This creates such a vivid image and almost gives the sweatshirt a human quality, you want happiness and enjoyment for the sweatshirt like you would a human or animal.  The illustration of a child wearing the sweatshirt standing by the ocean makes this poem almost cozy and warm and rather nostalgic for those who might be able to think back on their own favorite sweatshirt.

Review Excerpts and Awards:

2010 winner of the Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award

"The whimsical illustrations pair perfectly with the wittiness of the text, and the whole is a clever and original poetic treat."--Booklist, starred review

"From delicately comical to downright funny, the art perfectly reflects the contagiously rhythmic, playful verse. Made for sharing, and worth learning by heart, too."--Horn Book, starred review

Connections:

• This is such a great book about different articles of clothing, all of which are their owners favorite!  A great school aged children project would be to have an open discussion about what their own favorite clothing item is after reading the book and then having each child write a poem about it would be and how they feel about that item would be so much fun!  The children would benefit from sharing their poems with the class too.  The children should draw an illustration to go along with their poem and then put together a bulletin board in the classroom, hallway or library showcasing their poetry and illustration skills.