The Horn Book Guide

LITERATURE

Fleischman, Paul

Big Talk: Poems for Four Voices

44 pp. | Candlewick | March, 2000 | Trade ISBN 0-7636-0636-7 $$14.99

(2) 4-6 Illustrated by Beppe Giacobbe. For this trio of choral poems, each voice is assigned its own color, on which the poems are printed in type large and bold enough to read over the shoulders of other participants, and it's clear when voices speak alone or join together. Each poem is more demanding, and more rewarding, than the last. Giacobbe highlights the humor in strips of vignettes that run along the bottom of the page. This is "toe-tapping, tongue-flapping fun."

Reviewer: Joanna Rudge Long | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2000