Please Bury Me in the Library

http://openlibrary.org/works/OL15039486W/Please_bury_me_in_the_library

Lewis, J Patrick. 2005. Please Bury Me in the Library. Ill. by Kyle M. Stone. Orlando, FL: Harcourt, Inc. ISBN 0152163875

Summary

J. Patrick Lewis' sixteen poem collection celebrates a love of words, books, and libraries.  Lewis weaves together a variety of poetry forms, from haiku and acrostic to couplet and quatrain, in this clever and humorous homage to reading.

Critical Analysis

Please Bury Me in the Library is an individual poet, topical collection with themes of books and reading in a poem picture book. The book's first poem "What if Books Had Different Names" clues the reader to the tone of the book. The poem, which sillily parodies book titles, is meant to tickle those familiar with the original titles and hints to the reader that more poems of literary fun will follow. This collection showcases many poetic conventions. In the poem, "Ab-so-lu-tas-ti-cal", the rhyming lines make it a delight to read aloud. While alliteration, such as the line "/Paint me a picture book, Parrot/", adds a dramatic element to the poem. The poem's use of figurative language with literary genres and the imaginative imagery of animals who create the wonder of reading combine for a fantastic play of words with surprising and unexpected visual images. The short, simplicity of the language in "A Classic" emotionally captures the joy found in a child sharing a great book with an elder; the poems defines a classic book as one that inspires a child of six to "/...read it to another kid/Who just turned sixty-three/".

Stone's illustrations compliment the poems without imposing on the imagination of the reader to create their own mental picture for the poem. The illustrations will provide younger readers a context for the more complicated poems. Stone's lively paintings are appropriate for creating the mood of Lewis' spirited poems, and the use of vivid colors will grow reader interest in the the poems.

The strength of the collection lies in its language and imagery. This can be seen in the poem "Are You a Book Person?" which compares a book to good friend who "/...has a spine /A heart, a soul/ And a goal-/." The balance or organization of the poems in  Please Bury Me in the Library may be the book's only weakness. It is difficult to assign an appropriate reading level to the book, because the poems have vastly different levels of structure and complexity. However, this book exposes children to a variety of poetry forms, and while they may not all be a favorite, there is certain to be one that appeals to every reader.

Reviews

The February 15, 2005 issue of Booklist says, "This homage to reading salutes all the essential elements: letters, words, books. Lewis' poetry is continually clever, whether pithily summing up children's classics (a book that is excitedly read by a kid of 6 to another kid of 63) or capturing the thrill of reading in the dark."

Publishers Weekly, March 14, 2005, was not as impressed with Please Bury Me in the Library, stating, "Despite its clever title, Lewis (Arithme-Tickle) and Stone's combination of sentimental rhymes and at times ghoulish whimsy creates a volume of poetry about reading that may leave bookworms with a bit of indigestion."

Connections

Lewis' book could be used in a storytime that celebrates poetry and books. Poems from his book could be read with other selections from Lee Bennett Hopkins' book Wonderful Words: Poems About Reading, Writing, Speaking, and Listening.

Children could participate in an activity that allows them to create their own poetry using book related language. Slips of paper printed with words related to literature and books could be chosen randomly from a box. The words could then be arranged to create a poem that the children could glue on construction paper and take home. The children could then decorate their poem using stickers, glitter, or Japanese washi tape.

References

Books In Print. Texas Woman's University. Accessed October 02, 2013