The 20 Little Poems for 20 Little Gnomes By Raven Howell Illustrated by Nazli Tarcan Handersen Publishing, 2022 97816470307
Review by Carole Mertz
This delightful children’s book, told in 20 stories within 20 poems, lets the children hop over rocks, view their own smiles in a mirror, study a robin’s feather, look at the sky, play with pets, and do other things children love to do. Sure to charm the children is not only Howell’s sweet rhyming, but also the brilliant illustrations that accompany each poem. Some poems make jest with wordplay. For example, a poem about picking boysenberries is titled “Boys in Berries.”
On another page, as a child tumbles upside down out of his bed, (the bed cover is painted in turquoise and bright purple, with a green background) poet Howell allows this rhyme to tumble forth:
When things keep turning upside down, something else wants to be found. For instance, standing on your head turns the frown to smile instead!
Illustrator Nazli Tarcan takes us into a wintry scene of red barn, red house and light blue snow, while two children dressed in multi-colored clothes make snow angels.
The creators of this book undoubtedly had as much fun creating it as children will have when entering its pages, for the book offers aural and visual delights from page to page. Bright red gnome hats resting on a deep blue dresser (on the front cover) invite the children into the cheerful, seven-by-ten-inch book. Though targeted for ages 6 to 9, the book is sure to please the younger child and the parents or grandparents, as well.