SATA
ENTRY TYPE:
WORK TITLE: THE MUSEUM ON THE MOON
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: http://www.irenelatham.com/
CITY: Birmingham
STATE:
COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY: American
LAST VOLUME: SATA 383
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born February 26, 1971, in GA; married, husband’s name Paul; children: three sons.
EDUCATION:University of Alabama at Birmingham, degree (social work); University of Alabama, degree (social work).
ADDRESS
CAREER
Poet, novelist, and editor. Presenter at schools, libraries, and conferences. Birmingham Arts Journal, poetry editor, 2003—.
AVOCATIONS:Travel, quilting, playing cello.
MEMBER:Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, Alabama Writers Forum, Big Table Poets (cofounder).
AWARDS:Named Alabama Poet of the Year, 2006; Book of the Year selection, Alabama State Poetry Society, 2007, and Independent Publishers Book Award, 2008, both for What Came Before; Children’s Book Award, Alabama Library Association, and Notable Children’s Book selection, American Library Association, both 2011, both for Leaving Gee’s Bend; Don’t Feed the Boy represented state of Alabama at National Book Festival, 2013; Notable Poetry Book selection, National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), 2015, and Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award Honor Book selection, Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, 2016, both for Dear Wandering Wildebeest, and Other Poems from the Water Hole, illustrated by Anna Wadham; Lee Bennett Hopkins Promising Poet Award, International Literacy Association, 2016; NCTE Notable Poetry Book selection, 2017, for both When the Sun Shines on Antarctica, illustrated by Wadham, and Fresh Delicious, illustrated by Mique Moriuchi; Randolph Caldecott Honor Award, 2021, for The Cat Man of Aleppo.
WRITINGS
Contributor to “Poetry Friday” anthologies, Pomelo Books. Contributor of poems to periodicals, including Scholastic’s Action, Scope, and Storyworks.
SIDELIGHTS
An accomplished poet, Irene Latham has written several verse works for children, including When the Sun Shines on Antarctica, and Other Poems about the Frozen Continent, Dear Wandering Wildebeest, and Other Poems from the Water Hole, and Dictionary for a Better World: Poems, Quotes, and Anecdotes from A to Z. Latham is also the author of Leaving Gee’s Bend and Meet Miss Fancy, works of historical fiction, as well as of the middle-grade novel Don’t Feed the Boy, and numerous other books.
Although Latham is best known today for her award-winning poetry and fiction for children, she began her working career in other areas. “When Irene was eight years old, she wrote in her Dr. Seuss’ My Book About Me that, in addition to mother, veterinarian and farmer, she wanted to be a writer. However, she didn’t take a single writing class in college. Instead, she earned degrees in social work,” explained the writer of a biographical blurb appearing on the author’s home page. “Irene also participated in the Walt Disney College Program and is the proud recipient of a Mouster’s Degree. For many years writing was Irene’s secret life, but after the birth of her third son, she decided to pull those poems and stories out of drawers and share them with others.”
Set in 1932, Leaving Gee’s Bend focuses on Ludelphia Bennett, a ten-year-old from an impoverished sharecropping family who displays a gift for quilting, despite being blind in one eye. When her mother falls seriously ill, Ludelphia leaves her small hamlet of Gee’s Bend and ventures to Camden, some forty miles away, to find a doctor. During her often-difficult journey, the youngster stitches together a quilt that memorializes her experiences, including her first encounters with white people. When Ludelphia discovers a planned raid on Gee’s Bend by a vengeful widow, she must take action to save her friends and family. “Ludelphia’s voice is authentic and memorable,” wrote Hazel Rochman in Booklist, and Joanna K. Fabicon noted in School Library Journal that, through her narrative, “Latham pays homage to the community spirit that historically fostered a heritage of artisan quilt-makers.”
In Don’t Feed the Boy, Latham introduces Whit Whitaker, a lonely, homeschooled eleven-year-old whose sole companions are the animals at the Meadowbrook Zoo, where his perpetually busy mother serves as the director. When Whit notices a girl his age spending her days sketching the zoo’s birds, he decides to make her acquaintance. As the two become friends, Whit realizes that Stella uses the zoo as an escape from her unhappy home and he faces a difficult decision when she confesses that she wants to run away. “The unusual setting and the characters’ tricky family dynamics add tension and zest to Latham’s … empathetic friendship tale,” observed a Publishers Weekly contributor.
Dear Wandering Wildebeest, and Other Poems from the Water Hole, Latham’s first poetry collection for children, explores life on the African savanna through both verse and prose sidebars, introducing young readers to creatures such as the impala, puff adder, meerkat, and oxpecker. “Latham’s knowledge of these creatures enhances both the well-crafted poems and the informational texts, the two working in tandem,” Teresa Pfeifer commented in School Library Journal. A writer in Kirkus Reviews also praised the volume, stating that “Latham’s finely crafted verse, at once humorous and serious, dazzlingly opens the imagination to the wilds of the world.”
Featuring artwork by Anna Wadham, When the Sun Shines on Antarctica, and Other Poems about the Frozen Continent examines the diverse flora and fauna that can be seen during the Antarctic summer, from Wendell seals and Adélie penguins to hair grass and red algae. As in Dear Wandering Wildebeest, and Other Poems from the Water Hole, Latham “does a compelling job of presenting facts alongside verse,” observed School Library Journal reviewer Ellen Norton. In Horn Book Guide, Carolyn Shute applauded the “evocative imagery” in the collection, and a Kirkus Reviews writer dubbed When the Sun Shines on Antarctica, and Other Poems about the Frozen Continent a “tender, lively, and mostly thoughtful tour through summer on the frozen continent.”
Latham offers a creative and imaginative take on fruits and vegetables in Fresh Delicious: Poems from the Farmers’ Market, illustrated by Mique Moriuchi. The author’s subject matter covers a variety of foodstuffs from blueberries, peaches, and watermelons to okra, lettuce, and basil. In Booklist, Abby Nolan remarked that “Latham lets the food items dictate the form and feeling of each poem,” comparing tomatoes to balloons and baseballs, for example. “Written mostly in free verse, clever poems show farmers market produce in a new light,” a contributor stated in appraising Fresh Delicious for Kirkus Reviews.
The historical picture book Meet Miss Fancy explores racism in the segregated South in the early twentieth century. In 1913, Miss Fancy, a circus elephant, is being retired to live in Avondale Park in Birmingham, Alabama. Frank, a young African American boy, loves wants to go see her, but the park is closed to members of his race. His church petitions Birmingham’s city government for the right to have a picnic at the park. The city initially gives its permission, then withdraws it for fear of violence. Frank is disappointed, but he becomes a hero when Miss Fancy escapes from the park and he is able to escort her back there. The church picnic happens after all. The story is based on real-life events, although the protagonist Frank is fictional.
Several critics thought Meet Miss Fancy, illustrated by John Holyfield, did an effective job of confronting racism through an engaging narrative. Frank’s “singular goal is a brilliant vehicle for making the injustice of segregation concrete for young readers while telling an interesting story based on historical events,” noted a Kirkus Reviews contributor, who added that the book’s “quality storytelling and beautiful art allow a likable protagonist to shine.” Horn Book reviewer Susan Dove Lempke added that Latham and Holyfield “create a window into the Jim Crow South while also telling a compelling tale about a boy and an elephant.”
Latham collaborated with fellow Birmingham writer Karim Shamsi-Basha for the nonfiction picture book The Cat Man of Aleppo. The story is based on the life and experience of Mohammad Aljaleel, familiarly known as Alaa, who ran a cat sanctuary in the Syrian city before the civil war that tore the country apart. “I have a fascination with the Middle East because I lived in Saudi Arabia for a couple of years as a child,” Latham explained in a joint interview with her coauthor and Tonia Trotter in Create Birmingham. “Some of my earliest memories are from there, and the Arab people are very dear to me. In 2016, I remember following the news about the siege on Aleppo. There was something awful happening every day. Through social media, this story about Alaa came to my attention.” “At the time,” Latham explained to Trotter, “most of the media coverage was about Syrian refugees. I kept wondering, ‘What about the people who stay behind?’ Not everyone chose to leave, and many couldn’t leave. It felt important to share something about the people who stay during a war.” “Latham and Shamsi-Basha pick out the glimmers of light that make up Alaa’s story,” praised a Kirkus Reviews contributor, “and [illustrator Yuko] Shimizu portrays their beauty.”
In Dictionary for a Better World, Latham and Charles Waters offer the titular poems, quotes, and anecdotes, along with suggestions for actions based on each word they select. The entries are aimed at promoting human connection and solving social problems—for instance, encouraging young readers to show compassion for others and serve their communities. “One of the quickest ways to get myself out of a funk is to … get busy serving others,” Latham writes. The authors use a variety of poetic forms. Mehrdokht Amini illustrates the collection.
The work received some critical praise. “Latham and Waters’s personal stories are plainspoken and relatable … and the suggested actions, accessible,” remarked a contributor to Publishers Weekly Online. A Kirkus Reviews commentator summed Dictionary for a Better World up as “a creative and inspirational resource suitable for a broad range of ages and uses.”
[open new]Latham finds a plethora of mini-poems within a larger one in This Poem Is a Nest. This original work opens with the thirty-seven-line poem “Nest,” about a robin building its home. Latham then takes snippets from this poem to produce new ones, dubbed “nestlings,” whose titles cue the reader to a particular focus. For example, a phrase juxtaposing wildness and safety is titled “The Definition of Maybe.” The 161 nestlings are divided by subject, including colors, animals, and time. Latham concludes with advice on how young readers can discover their own “found poetry.”
A Kirkus Reveiws writer called Latham a “gifted” poet and found This Poem Is a Nest “delightful,” as the “repetition of words becomes an echo of a familiar melody” made “fresh again.” Appreciating how the poems “encourage metaphorical thinking in young readers,” Angela Leeper concluded in Booklist that “this clever poetry exercise will inspire reflection, recreation, or simple enjoyment.”
With D-39: A Robodog’s Journey, another middle-grade novel, Latham offers a postapocalyptic survival tale centered on a girl and her robotic dog. Twelve-year-old Klynt Tovis, living in a war-torn world, has a talent for tinkering that comes in handy when dog robot D-39 turns up on her and her father’s farm. After a bombing and weeks in a shelter, they emerge to a world in disarray. Klynt’s father goes missing, and she must take action to save herself and neighbor boy Jopa, with D-39’s help. A Kirkus Reviews writer enjoyed the “invented lexicon of delightfully creative and expressive hybrid words” in this “slow-paced, atmospheric adventure story … of hope, perseverance, and survival.”
Latham foregrounds positivity in works including the picture book Wild Peace and the verse title Be a Bridge. Opening in an airless playroom, Wild Peace breaks out in color as a butterfly leads four children into fertile, abundant, and peaceful nature. A Kirkus Reviews writer observed that “feelings of escape and tranquility in nature shine through” as this book’s journey proves “worth taking.” Be a Bridge depicts a cohort of schoolchildren who cross a bridge on the way to school and who devote themselves to being actively kind and compassionate people once they get inside. Admiring the “upbeat” lyrical text, a Kirkus Reviews writer hailed Be a Bridge as an “exuberant ode to the virtues of kindness and inclusion” and a “charming … read bound to help cultivate a kinder next generation.”[suspend new]
African Town marks another collaboration between Latham and Waters. It focuses on a group of Africans, forcibly seized in 1860 and brought to the United States to be sold into slavery—in violation of international law. After the U.S. ended slavery following the Civil War, those slaves created a community of their own called Africatown, which still exists a few miles north of Mobile, Alabama. “We were so inspired by these courageous humans,” the poets stated in a joint interview with Linda M. Castellitto in BookPage. “They were ripped from their lives, and yet they continued to dream and to do. Every step of the research brought us to another ‘wow’ moment, and we wanted to help bring the story to young readers.” “The age of the characters and the brutality of parts of this history demanded that this book be marketed as young adult, but we approached it as a ‘family’ story,” the poets told Castellitto. “We imagine intergenerational families sharing this book and having rich discussions about our past, our future and how resilience and hope are cultivated at home—however (and wherever) one defines that word.”
[resume new]With The Museum on the Moon: The Curious Objects on the Lunar Surface, Latham offers a picture-book tour of the artifacts and junk that humans have left behind on the Moon. In surveying everything from golf balls and retroreflectors to a golden olive branch and a peace-proclaiming plaque, Latham carefully deploys an array of poetic forms, including acrostic, pantoum, triolet, and ghazal. Additional text includes sidebars about Apollo missions and “Moon Milestones.” In that Latham “urges readers to … regard the detritus as a record of human aspirations and achievement,” a Kirkus Reviews writer reckoned The Museum on the Moon a “provocative tally of treasures and trash.”[close new]
“For me, poetry is a way life,” Latham told an interviewer in Poetry Teatime. “Poetry is about being present, slowing down … about looking at the world very closely, and living in a state of wonder … and also about making deep connections and discoveries. What would happen in this world if we applied those things to all areas of our lives?”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, February 1, 2010, Hazel Rochman, review of Leaving Gee’s Bend, p. 61; December 15, 2014, Carolyn Phelan, review of Dear Wandering Wildebeest, and Other Poems from the Water Hole, p. 41; January 1, 2016, Kay Weisman, review of When the Sun Shines on Antarctica, and Other Poems about the Frozen Continent, p. 66; February 15, 2016, Abby Nolan, review of Fresh Delicious: Poems from the Farmers’ Market, p. 70; February 1, 2020, Ronny Khuri, review of The Cat Man of Aleppo, p. 38; March 1, 2021, Angela Leeper, review of This Poem Is a Nest, p. 40; April 15, 2022, Lolly Gepson, review of 12 Days of Kindness, p. 47; September, 2023, Angela Leeper, review of The Museum on the Moon: The Curious Objects on the Lunar Surface, p. 75.
Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, March, 2010, Kate Quealy-Gainer, review of Leaving Gee’s Bend, p. 293; January, 2013, Jeannette Hulick, review of Don’t Feed the Boy, p. 253; January, 2015, Deborah Stevenson, review of Dear Wandering Wildebeest, and Other Poems from the Water Hole, p. 264.
Chicago Tribune, March 6, 2010, Mary Harris Russell, review of Leaving Gee’s Bend, p. 16.
Horn Book, spring, 2013, Brittany Schlorff, review of Don’t Feed the Boy, p. 76; fall, 2015, Melinda Greenblatt, review of Dear Wandering Wildebeest, and Other Poems from the Water Hole, p. 204; fall, 2016, Carolyn Shute, review of When the Sun Shines on Antarctica, and Other Poems about the Frozen Continent, and Bridget McCaffrey, review of Fresh Delicious, both p. 201; January-February, 2019, Susan Dove Lempke, review of Meet Miss Fancy, p. 78.
Kirkus Reviews, December 15, 2009, review of Leaving Gee’s Bend; September 1, 2012, review of Don’t Feed the Boy; July 15, 2014, review of Dear Wandering Wildebeest, and Other Poems from the Water Hole; November 15, 2015, review of When the Sun Shines on Antarctica, and Other Poems about the Frozen Continent; December 15, 2016, review of Fresh Delicious; December 1, 2018, review of Meet Miss Fancy; November 1, 2019, review of Dictionary for a Better World: Poems, Quotes, and Anecdotes from A to Z; May 1, 2020, review of Nine: A Book of Nonets; August 1, 2020, review of This Poem Is a Nest; April 1, 2021, review of D-39: A Robodog’s Journey; October 1, 2021, review of Wild Peace; May 1, 2022, review of Snail’s Ark; June 1, 2022, review of Be a Bridge; October 1, 2023, review of The Museum on the Moon.
Publishers Weekly, January 11, 2010, review of Leaving Gee’s Bend, p. 48; September 24, 2012, review of Don’t Feed the Boy, p. 77; March 2, 2020, review of The Cat Man of Aleppo, p. 67; December 2, 2020, review of Dictionary for a Better World, p. 93; December 13, 2021, review of Snail’s Ark, p. 70.
School Library Journal, January, 2010, Joanna K. Fabicon, review of Leaving Gee’s Bend, p. 106; December, 2012, Jamie Kallio, review of Don’t Feed the Boy, p. 122; July, 2014, Teresa Pfeifer, review of Dear Wandering Wildebeest, and Other Poems from the Water Hole, p. 120; January, 2016, Ellen Norton, review of When the Sun Shines on Antarctica, and Other Poems about the Frozen Continent, p. 118; February, 2016, Ellen Norton, review of Fresh Delicious, p. 114; January, 2022, Kimberly Olson Fakih, review of Snail’s Ark, p. 59.
Voice of Youth Advocates, February, 2010, KaaVonia Hinton-Johnson, review of Leaving Gee’s Bend, p. 496.
ONLINE
Alabama NewsCenter, https://www.alabamanewscenter.com/ (February 26, 2019), “On This Day in Alabama History: Author Irene Latham Was Born.”
Beanstack, https://www.beanstack.com/ (January 4, 2022), “Meet Irene Latham: #WinterRead2022 Author Spotlight.”
BookPage, https://www.bookpage.com/ (January 3, 2022), Linda M. Castellitto, “Irene Latham and Charles Waters: Ambassadors of History.”
Create Birmingham, https://createbirmingham.org/ (March 30, 2021), Tonia Trotter, “We Create Birmingham: Irene Latham + Karim Shamsi-Basha.”
Cynsations, http://cynthialeitichsmith.blogspot.com/ (August 4, 2010), Cynthia Leitich Smith, author interview; (September 24, 2014) autobiographical essay by Latham.
Irene Latham website, https://www.irenelatham.com (April 17, 2024).
KidLit 411, http://www.kidlit411.com/ (May 21, 2021), “Author Spotlight: Irene Latham.”
Poetry Teatime, https://poetryteatime.com/ (January 12, 2020), author interview.
Publishers Weekly, https://www.publishersweekly.com/ (November 26, 2019), review of Dictionary for a Better World.
About Irene
Little Irene could often be found reading.
The Dykes Family in Thailand.
Irene is the one holding the yellow umbrella.
Irene is the middle child and first daughter of five kids.
Irene has lived all sorts of places and traveled worldwide. Since 1984 she has called Alabama, home.
She thinks growing up with three brothers was great preparation for raising her three sons. She also thinks getting a sister was one of the best things that has ever happened to her. (To read more about Irene's sister, click here.)
Irene is proud to be the only leftie in her family of origin AND in her current family.
According to Irene's Dr. Seuss' MY BOOK ABOUT ME, she has wanted to be writer since she was eight years old.
She also wanted to train a horse that her sister would ride to victory in the Kentucky Derby. That hasn't happened. Yet.
Irene didn't take a single writing course in college.
In 2000 Irene pulled her poems and stories out of drawers and began to pursue publication of her work. In the words of George Eliot, "It is never too late to be what you might have been."
Irene's favorite characters in book and real life are those who go their own way.
Irene is especially excited about bringing her poetry to the children's market, as her first literary love was Shel Silverstein, whose work was introduced to her by her father.
Official Biography
Little Irene living a life worth writing about.
The Dykes Family in Thailand.
Irene is the one holding the yellow umbrella.
Micro (50 words) Bio: Irene Latham is a grateful creator of many books, including the co-authored African Town, winner of the Scott O'Dell Award; Can I Touch Your Hair? Poems of Race, Mistakes, and Friendship, which earned a Charlotte Huck Honor; and The Cat Man of Aleppo, which was awarded a Caldecott Honor. Irene lives on a lake in rural Alabama.
Short (100 words) Bio: Irene Latham is a grateful creator of many novels, poetry collections, and picture books, but her first love is poetry. Her poetry books include Can I Touch Your Hair? Poems of Race, Mistakes, and Friendship, which earned a Charlotte Huck Honor, and African Town, winner of the 2023 Scott O'Dell Award, both co-written with her poetic-forever-friend Charles Waters. Winner of the 2016 Lee Bennett Hopkins Promising Poet Award, her solo poetry titles include Dear Wandering Wildebeest, This Poem is A Nest, D-39: A Robodog's Journey, and others. Irene lives with her husband on a lake in rural Alabama, where their favorite neighbors are a pair of bald eagles.
Longer Bio Especially for Poetry Events (500 words): Irene Latham's passion for poetry started as soon as she could read and write, with Shel Silverstein's book (read to her by her father) and love poems she crafted for her mother. Named the winner of the 2016 International Literary Association-Lee Bennett Hopkins Promising Poet Award and the Alabama State Poetry Society 2006 Poet of the Year, Irene has published poems for adults and children in literary journals; children's magazines, including Scholastic's Action, Scope and Storyworks; and anthologies edited by Lee Bennett Hopkins, J. Patrick Lewis, Paul B. Janeczko, Janet Wong, Sylvia Vardell and others. Her three full-length collections for adults have earned awards including the 2007 Alabama State Poetry Society Book of the Year, an Independent Publisher's (IPPY) Award, and the Writer's Digest 19th Annual Self-Published Book Prize for Poetry. She has served as poetry editor for Birmingham Arts Journal since 2003 and especially loves discovering and working with people just finding their poetic voices. Her blog Live Your Poem has been active since 2006 and currently features hundreds of free original poems inspired by art.
Irene's many poetry books for children include nature titles like Dear Wandering Wildebeest, When the Sun Shines on Africa, and This Poem is a Nest, an innovative book featuring found poetry. Five more poetry books are forthcoming. Together with Charles Waters, she created I & C Construction Co. (Building Books One Word at a Time sing 2015). Their first collaboration Can I Touch Your Hair? Poems of Race, Mistakes, and Friendship was named a Charlotte Huck Honor book, a Kirkus Best Book of 2018, and an NCTE Notable Poetry Book. Additional titles on similar themes include Dictionary for a Better World: Poems, Quotes and Anecdotes from A to Z and Be a Bridge. Their current focus is working as poetry co-anthologists, and their first collection will be released in 2024. Irene is also the author of award-winning novels for children: Leaving Gee's Bend (Putnam/Penguin, 2010), Don't Feed the Boy (Roaring Brook/Macmillan, 2012), and D-39: a Robodog's Journey (Charlesbridge, 2021), a dystopian verse novel which was named an Eleanor Cameron Notable Middle Grade Book. She's written many picture books, often featuring animals and themes of kindness, including: Meet Miss Fancy, historical fiction about a boy and an elephant in 1913 Birmingham, Alabama; Love, Agnes: Postcards from an Octopus, which is Irene's love letter to her patronus the octopus; and The Cat Man of Aleppo (with Karim Shamsi-Basha), which was awarded a Caldecott Honor.
Irene lives on a lake in rural Alabama with her husband Paul, Australian shepherd named Rosie and a senior cat named Maggie, who is Queen of the House. A new cellist, you can often find her practicing in her Purple Horse Poetry Studio and Music Room. She loves exploring new places and often uses "research" as an excuse to travel.
Rediculously Long (800 words) Bio: IIrene Latham is a poet and novelist and self- proclaimed polymath (a cool word for people with a wide variety of interests!). She was born in Georgia, the third in a family that would eventually include five children. At one time or another she had lived in various parts of Florida, Louisiana and Tennessee.
She also traveled worldwide with her family, including two and a half years in Saudi Arabia before settling in Alabama, where she has lived since 1984.
When Irene was eight years old, she wrote in her Dr. Seuss' My Book About Me that, in addition to mother, veterinarian and farmer, she wanted to be a writer. However, she didn't take a single writing class in college. Instead, she earned degrees in social work from University of Alabama at Birmingham and University of Alabama (Tuscaloosa).
Irene also participated in the Walt Disney College Program and is the proud recipient of a Mouster's Degree. For many years writing was Irene's secret life, but after the birth of her third son, she decided to pull those poems and stories out of drawers and share them with others. She got her start by writing poetry for adults, a venture that won her prizes and publications, including being named the Alabama State Poetry Society 2006 Poet of the Year. Her three collections for adults have earned awards like the Alabama State Poetry Society Book of the Year, an Independent Publisher's (IPPY) Award, and the Writer's Digest 19th Annual Self-Published Book Prize for Poetry.
In 2006, Irene shifted her focus to writing for the children's market. Her first historical novel for children, Leaving Gee's Bend (Putnam/Penguin, 2010) was awarded the Alabama Library Association's 2011 Children's Book Award. It was inspired by the now-famous quilts of Gee's Bend and has been called "a beautifully stitched quilt of a novel" by Richard Peck and "authentic and memorable" by Booklist. Her second novel Don't Feed the Boy (Roaring Brook/Macmillan, 2012), about a boy who wants to escape his life at the zoo, was named a Bank Street College Best Book and was selected to represent Alabama at the 2013 National Book Festival. A third novel D-39: A Robodog's Journey, employs prose poems to tells a dystopian tale about a girl and her robodog and was named an Eleanor Cameron Notable Middle Grade Book.
Her poetry for children has appeared in children's magazines including Scholastic's Action, Scope and Storyworks, as well as many anthologies edited by Lee Bennett Hopkins, J. Patrick Lewis, Paul B. Janeczko, Janet Wong, Sylvia Vardell and others. Her blog Live Your Poem has been active since 2006 and currently features her ongoing ArtSpeak! Project, that includes hundreds of free original poems inspired by art.
Named the winner of the 2016 International Literary Association-Lee Bennett Hopkins Promising Poet Award, she has seen seven collections of poems for children published to date, including nature award-winning titles like Dear Wandering Wildebeest, When the Sun Shines on Africa, and This Poem is a Nest, an innovative book featuring found poetry. Five more poetry collections are forthcoming. Together with Charles Waters, she created I & C Construction Co. (Building Books One Word at a Time sing 2015). Their first collaboration Can I Touch Your Hair? Poems of Race, Mistakes, and Friendship was named a Charlotte Huck Honor book, a Kirkus Best Book of 2018, and an NCTE Notable Poetry Book. Together they've written two other books on similar themes: Dictionary for a Better World: Poems, Quotes and Anecdotes from A to Z and Be a Bridge. Their next projects together are both anthologies, and they are excited to showcase powerful poems written by both living and classic poets.
In addition to her poetry books, Irene has written many narrative picture books that often feature animals, including the Caldecott Honor winning title The Cat Man of Aleppo, with Karim-Shamsi-Basha (Penguin, 2020), the true story about Mohammed Alaa Aljaleel who created a cat sanctuary in the midst of the Syrian War.
Irene has served since 2003 as poetry editor for Birmingham Arts Journal. She especially enjoys sharing her passion for writing with others at schools, universities, senior centers, libraries, Girl Scout meetings, writing conferences, and other gatherings, including SCBWI and the Highlights Foundation. Irene treasures her #lakelife in rural Alabama with her husband Paul, Australian shepherd named Rosie and a senior cat named Maggie, who is Queen of the House. A new cellist, you can often find her practicing in her Purple Horse Poetry Studio and Music Room. She also loves exploring new places and often uses "research" as an excuse to travel. Her favorite characters in books (and real life) are those who have the courage to go their own way.
Meet Irene Latham: #WinterRead2022 Author Spotlight
The Beanstack Team
Jan 4, 2022
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Welcome to our #WinterRead2022 "Read for a Better World" Author Spotlight Series! We’re thrilled to be featuring 6 incredibly talented authors from our 2022 sponsor Lerner Publishing Group as a part of our 5th Annual Winter Reading Challenge. This week, we’ve interviewed Irene Latham, author of many children’s novels, poetry, and picture books.
Together with Charles Waters she's written Dictionary for a Better World and Can I Touch Your Hair? Poems of Race, Mistakes and Friendship, which was named a Charlotte Huck Honor book and a Kirkus Best Book of 2018. Check out our interview with her below, and learn more about her work here. Follow her on social media on Instagram and Twitter.
What are you currently reading?
Pax: Journey Home by Sara Pennypacker.
Where is your favorite place to read?
In bed! I leave my husband to his TV shows an hour before bedtime each night and curl up with a book.
What is your favorite thing you've written? Book or otherwise!
My favorite is pretty much always what I'm currently working on...you just can't beat the joy and passion of that prime creative time. Though I do think often of this closing phrase I wrote in a letter to my parents while I was 10 and away at summer camp: "With love from your kindly-built daughter." I love it because I want to BE it. Those words inspire me.
What’s your favorite book by someone other than yourself?
I can't possibly answer this question! But one abiding lifetime book-friend is The Prophet by Khalil Gibran.
What is your favorite word and why?
“YES.” Because the whole world lives in that word. Anything is possible!
How does reading help us create a better world?
Reading SHOWS us the world. It creates compassion, empathy and wonder. Stories reveal who we are and who we CAN be. And books save lives. I was a shy kid who moved around A LOT. What I carried with me were books. They never let me down. I could always count on them and the comfort they would bring. If you can find friendship in a book, imagine what you can give the world!
When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer? And/or how did you become a writer?
Family legend says I was writing love poems—to my mom—as soon as I could read and write. She still has a box full of them.
If you could give one piece of advice to an aspiring writer, what would it be?
Keep writing. That's what the world needs most from you.
How does your work encourage conversations around diversity, inclusion, or other social and emotional concepts with parents, educators, and young readers?
Perhaps because of the time I lived overseas as a child, or my life as part of a family who took in foster children, or my degrees in social work, or being a mom to three sons, or just being a human, many of my books focus on these themes, some more directly than others. Dictionary for a BetterWorld: Poems, Quotes, & Anecdotes which I co-wrote with Charles Waters features words like “belonging,” “empathy,” “equality,” and “respect,” and offers multiple ways to engage with these concepts, including a "Try It" suggestion for readers to carry the word into their everyday lives.
Any additional information or fun facts?
I'm left-handed, a middle child, live on a lake, play cello, and love shopping in thrift stores. Thanks so much for having me! Happy reading!!
AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT: IRENE LATHAM
May 21, 2021
We are pleased to feature author Irene Latham and her latest middle grade novel, D-39: A ROBODOG'S JOURNEY (Charlesbridge, May 18, 2021). Enter to win a copy below!
Illustrator: Jamie Green
Designer: Cathleen Schaad
Tell us about yourself and how you came to write for children.
My first bits of writing (at age four) were love poems—for my mother. I'm a shy person, so I wrote furtively for many years, though with lots of encouragement from my parents. It never occurred to me to pursue writing as a career, even though I was constantly writing. It wasn't until I was in the throes of motherhood (we have three sons) that I decided to educate myself about how to get published. So I started with my first love: poetry. For adults. And I had some lovely success, including publishing in literary journals and anthologies, winning a chapbook contest, and publishing three collections. But I was always tinkering with children's fiction—because I've been an avid reader of it my whole life— and when I attended my first SCBWI conference, I knew I was in the right place! I signed with Rosemary Stimola, and Putnam/Penguin bought my first book for kids, a middle-grade historical fiction novel called Leaving Gee's Bend. I earned an MFA from generous, gifted editor Stacey Barney, and we've worked together on many projects since then (and more in the pipeline).
Congrats on your forthcoming middle-grade novel, D-39: A Robodog's Journey! Tell us about the story and what inspired you.
D-39 is dystopian middle grade about what happens when real dogs are outlawed, and a lonely girl who likes to tinker discovers a robodog. There's also a war, and a neighbor boy, and a missing mother—and a journey, obviously! It was inspired by my love of books like The Giver and The Road and movies like Star Wars (droids!) and The Sixth Sense (I LOVE to be surprised, and D-39 has a BIG secret!). It was also inspired by my interest (obsession) with the Middle East (I lived there as a young child), particularly Syria, and my curiosity about what it means to be a hero—I wrote the book to find out my own answer.
You write across a lot of age ranges as well as poetry. How do you decide what form a story or idea takes? Do you have a typical creative day?
I tend to do my best writing in the morning, and I determine pretty quickly what age group a project is best for. Nearly everything starts out as poetry for me, so often it takes me a while (and a lot of experimental writing!) to figure out what works best. I've learned to let myself PLAY, and to be really open to what presents itself to me—to at least TRY whatever calls to me. For instance, I knew D-39 was a middle-grade novel, and I wanted to see if dystopian would work in the verse format. I started with traditional poems with line breaks, but over time the poems transformed to boxy prose poems—which in my mind resemble the “burrow” Klynt, her father, and D-39 shelter in during part of the story. The shape provides a sense of safety in a dystopian world that also has a BUNCH of made-up words! (I had SO MUCH FUN inventing words for this world!)
What projects are you working on now?
During 2021 I'm chipping away every day at a project that feels like my life's work. It's for adults, and it's a huge undertaking, and I am alternately overwhelmed/deflated/ready to give up and ecstatic/energized/fulfilled by the process. I have a proposal for the completed project on submission, so we'll see what happens!
What advice would you give to your younger self? Is this the same as you'd give to aspiring authors?
A writing friend gifted me some words I keep very close, and I find them powerful for younger me as well as today-me and anyone who's ever felt called to write: Keep writing. It's what the world needs most from you.
What is something most people don't know about you?
I got off Facebook in 2011—ten years ago!— and look! I'm still writing, publishing, and sharing my books to groups of all kinds. (Did I mention I am a shy person?) I'm also currently on a Twitter hiatus that very well may be permanent.
Where can people find you online?
My website: http://irenelatham.com has upwards of 90 pages of content! And I've been an active blogger (since 2005!) at http://irenelatham.blogspot.com D-39 book trailer, Discussion Guide, and activity sheet are now available. Also, readers can view hundreds of poems through my (free!) ARTSPEAK project (poems inspired by art). This year's theme is “Four Seasons.”
Irene Latham is a grateful creator of many novels, poetry collections, and picture books, including the co-authored Can I Touch Your Hair?: Poems of Race, Mistakes, and Friendship, which earned a Charlotte Huck Honor, and The Cat Man of Aleppo, which won a Caldecott Honor. Irene lives on a lake in rural Alabama.
Latham, Irene NINE Charlesbridge (Children's None) $16.99 6, 9 ISBN: 978-1-62354-116-3
Hail the divine number nine!
Nine shines in this nonet anthology. A nonet is a nine-line poem about any subject and may rhyme but doesn’t have to. Heeding the syllables in a nonet’s lines is vital: The first line contains one syllable; each line thereafter adds one more in turn until the ninth line contains nine. However, this pattern can be reversed, and the offerings here reflect both counting schemes. Each nonet focuses on the number nine itself. “Before You Were Born” honors human gestation; “Nine Lives” salutes cats; “Play Ball!” refers to a baseball’s team’s nine players and the game’s nine innings. A few poems provide information: “The Little Rock Nine” nods to the landmark 1957 Arkansas school-integration effort; “Nonagon” introduces the nine-sided geometric shape; “Beethoven’s Ninth” highlights the composer’s last symphony. The anthology concludes with “The Whole Nine Yards,” a reminder that nine is the last one-digit numeral. As with many anthologies, the poems’ quality varies, though overall, they’re jaunty and read well. While most verses admirably demonstrate how cleverly poems can develop from strict adherence to form, some verses seem contrived in service to that principle. Colorful, lively illustrations depict a robustly diverse ensemble cast. Interesting backmatter adds an additional gloss on each poem and further celebrates the number nine.
Children may wish to compose nonets after delving into this unusual, entertaining collection. (Picture book/poetry. 6-9)
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"Latham, Irene: NINE." Kirkus Reviews, 1 May 2020. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A622503318/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=7ba23f9f. Accessed 20 Feb. 2024.
Latham, Irene THIS POEM IS A NEST Wordsong/Boyds Mills (Children's None) $17.99 9, 22 ISBN: 978-1-68437-363-5
A gifted poet demonstrates the remarkable versatility of words through one kind of found poetry.
The idea here is that “nested” poems are hidden inside larger poems like nesting dolls. Latham begins with a 37-line poem, describing a robin’s nest from its construction in spring through the other three seasons. She finds, nested within the 276 words of this initial poem, 161 new poems built from words in the original. These short poems cover simple themes, such as colors, days, seasons, and animals, as well as more complex ones: emotions and relationships: “What Hope Is:” “a cup / of stars.” Only the titles of the nested poems employ words not found in the initial poem—and the titles are charming, often longer than the poems themselves: “What To Do When You Know Something Is Wrong”: “mouse / squeaks.” The invitations to think metaphorically and to discover poetry that might be right at hand are friendly and clear: “The Power of Imagination:” “turtle tucked in moonlight / makes cathedral / inside” The repetition of words becomes an echo of a familiar melody running throughout the collection as they become the molecules of new poems and become fresh again. Latham’s note explaining the process for this collection mentions a few other kinds of found poetry. Wright’s art in full-page section-introducing illustrations, along with spot illustration and margin art, gives a warm and lighthearted dimension to the pages.
Delightful. (introduction, index) (Poetry. 7-10)
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"Latham, Irene: THIS POEM IS A NEST." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Aug. 2020, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A630892244/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=63567779. Accessed 20 Feb. 2024.
This Poem Is a Nest. By Irene Latham. Illus. by Johanna Wright. 2020.112p. Boyds Mills & Kane/Wordsong, $ 17.99 (9781684373635). Gr. 3-8.811.
Latham (Can I Touch Your Hair? 2018) suggests poems are nests in which poets "gather words, ideas, and dreams, and then ... set about weaving, arranging, and structuring." A lengthy 37-line opening poem, titled "Nest," solidifies this concept by combining imagery of birds and poets at work throughout the seasons. Latham then uses this anchor poem as a source for 161 very short found poems or "nestlings." These nestlings, in turn, are divided into broad subject areas, from time, colors, and animals to wordplay, places, and final musings. These tiny nestlings, no more than a few lines each, still offer I much to ponder: beauty, as in "Violet" ("morning's / glittery web / coated in / woodsmoke); whimsy, captured in "While You Sleep" ("moon / stocks poems / with dreams"); and even wisdom, like that in "A Definition of Maybe" ("hinge between / wild / and safe"). Above all, they encourage metaphorical thinking in young readers, while Wright's grayscale, loosely drawn illustrations enhance these sentiments. Latham ends her work with tips for budding poets to create or find their own nest poems and nestlings, such as using verbs as nouns (or vice versa), joining words to make unique words, and experimenting with the placement of words on the page. This clever poetry exercise will inspire reflection, recreation, or simple enjoyment. --Angela Leeper
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2021 American Library Association
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Leeper, Angela. "This Poem Is a Nest." Booklist, vol. 117, no. 13, 1 Mar. 2021, p. 40. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A655229095/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=3749a431. Accessed 20 Feb. 2024.
atham, Irene D-39 Charlesbridge (Children's None) $17.99 5, 18 ISBN: 978-1-62354-181-1
Twelve-year-old Klynt Tovis enjoys tinkering with and restoring gadgets.
She lives with her father on their family farm in a war-torn country where the greedy, violent, and unjust actions of warring factions have resulted in a time of scarcity and fear. Klynt’s only company when school is out is her father and, occasionally, her neighbor’s young son, Jopa. That is, until the day when a D-39 robodog—a realistic dog robot—turns up on her farm. Klynt and D-39 soon become inseparable. After a bomb forces them into their underground bunker for 21 days, Klynt and her father emerge to discover a world destroyed by violence. They head out for rations but end up separating when Klynt decides to stay back with Jopa, whom they discover all alone. After three days without word from her father, Klynt realizes that something must be wrong and that she must take charge. She sets out with D-39 and Jopa on a journey to find their families and, hopefully, salvation. Latham uses an invented lexicon of delightfully creative and expressive hybrid words—jinglesnap, boomblasts, itchglitchy—to tell this tale of a girl and her dog sticking together through illness, pain, and near-death experiences. This is an appealing story for animal-loving readers seeking a slow-paced, atmospheric adventure story. Human characters read as White by default.
A girl-meets-dog story of hope, perseverance, and survival. (glossary) (Dystopian. 8-12)
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"Latham, Irene: D-39." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Apr. 2021, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A656696300/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=ec262600. Accessed 20 Feb. 2024.
Latham, Irene WILD PEACE Roaring Brook Press (Children's None) $18.99 10, 19 ISBN: 978-1-250-31042-2
A meditative exploration of the peace that exists in the communion between humans and nature.
A small, pale-skinned, black-haired child wearing a bright orange-and-red dress shares an almost colorless playroom with three other children, all colorless. The text describes this place as filled with "noise and fury," and when a red butterfly flits through the open window, the protagonist follows the butterfly through a multihued crayon mural taped to the wall to the other side, into a wild forest. Suddenly, an abundance of colors in soothing shades fills the full-page spreads, depicting the flora and fauna of this (perhaps) imaginary forest in playful and delicate scenes. Clearly, nature is where the child finds peace, and the two are essentially equated. The poetic text, featuring one or two approximately rhyming lines on each page, presents a string of metaphors for peace such as, "Peace gathers as many nuts as it can carry / and feasts on a perfect berry." Almost a dozen such personifications extolling the wonders and beauty of nature conclude at dusk and bring the protagonist home. While the poetic form is awkward in places and the metaphors sometimes feel stretched, the feelings of escape and tranquility in nature shine through. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
This journey through nature may not be perfect, but it's worth taking. (Picture book. 3-7)
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"Latham, Irene: WILD PEACE." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Oct. 2021, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A677072871/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=1daf6274. Accessed 20 Feb. 2024.
Twelve Days of Kindness. By Irene Latham. Illus. by Junghwa Park. June 2022.32p. Putnam, $17.99 (9780525514169). PreS-Gr. 2.
Looking for an original sing-along with a familiar tune? "The Twelve Days of Christmas" turns into a dozen kindnesses that kids can practice every day. And what might those be? Hugs for sure. Smiles, gifts, salutations, sharing, encouraging words, and helping hands are all included. The rhyming text reinforces the lyrical pace, and children will quickly pick up the words as they add on each kindness and repeat the others, ending with the refrain "a hug that's warm and true." Each left-hand page introduces a new kindness, while the opposite page shows a line drawing of the others, the words, and a colorful cameo of the new one. By the twelfth one ("good-night kisses"), children should be able to sing and remember the whole song for some fun reprises. The imaginative details, illustrated warmly in watercolor, colored pencil, oil, and gouache, show children making valentines, taking out trash, finding treasures in nature, thanking community helpers, and enjoying family time. Use this for Thanksgiving or any time when kindness is a theme to elicit warm responses. --Lolly Gepson
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Gepson, Lolly. "Twelve Days of Kindness." Booklist, vol. 118, no. 16, 15 Apr. 2022, p. 47. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A702054487/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=a9a51d7f. Accessed 20 Feb. 2024.
Latham, Irene SNAIL'S ARK Putnam (Children's None) $18.99 2, 8 ISBN: 978-0-593-10939-7
Noah's Ark as told by one of the smallest passengers: Esther the snail.
When Esther awakens, she can tell something "big" is going on. The air feels like a storm is brewing, and there's a giant "something" far off that other animals are drawn to. As Esther watches, animals from the land, air, and water hurry toward it, their footsteps thumping, their wings thrumming, and the land, sky, and river all saying to Esther "hurry, hurry!" But Esther must find her friend Solomon. The two use their sticky feet to glue themselves to a fallen leaf, and Esther's prayer--"Please .Help us."--is answered with what some might see as a miracle, others as a deus ex machina: A gust of wind transports the two snails to the deck of the ark, where they say a final prayer--"Thank you, thank you"--before settling in. On the two pages that follow, readers see the ark afloat in the storm and then beached high amid mountains--a sudden ending to a somewhat breathless tale. The colors seem almost to glow in Amini's artwork, the animals drawn in a scratchy, cartoonlike style. Those up on their snail biology may cringe: Latham uses antlers instead of tentacles, and Esther, though she is shown on land near a river, is illustrated as a sea snail, with eyes on her body. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Doesn't add much to the Noah's Ark canon. (Religious picture book. 3-6)
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"Latham, Irene: SNAIL'S ARK." Kirkus Reviews, 1 May 2022, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A701896584/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=785ebe71. Accessed 20 Feb. 2024.
LATHAM, Irene. Snail's Ark. illus. by Mehrdokht Amini. 32p. Putnam. Feb. 2022. Tr $18.99. ISBN 9780593109397.
PreS-K--A deeply religious, sweet retelling of the story of Noah's ark, from the snail's perspective. Esther, a small snail, feels the earth moving and witnesses the procession of two-by-two animal pairs heading for an ark. Although Esther has survived rainy weather, something tells her that this storm is different. She seeks out her friend Solomon and then the two are airborne right into the ark. "They were flying!" What unfolds here is a tale that depends on readers to know every detail of the old story, and then to give themselves over to Esther's mindset. It works for secular collections, as there is no mention of God, or Noah, or any details of the biblical story. It falters only in voiding the suspense of the narrative--She's a snail! She cannot move quickly no matter how urgent!--in favor of a miraculous flight. That's in contrast with Dorothy M. Stewart's 2009 It's Hard to Hurry When You're a Snail, which is more overtly religious. Dramatic illustrations of the billowing skies and storm and then serene waters about to recede will seed some exciting story hour discussions. VERDICT The miraculous flight aside, this tale has a lot to offer for little-snail-that-could devotees. For collections that don't have Stewart's It's Hard to Hurry When You're a Snail, this works for children of any faith. --Kimberly Olson Fakih
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Fakih, Kimberly Olson. "LATHAM, Irene. Snail's Ark." School Library Journal, vol. 68, no. 1, Jan. 2022, p. 59. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A688744164/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=c365741b. Accessed 20 Feb. 2024.
Latham, Irene BE A BRIDGE Carolrhoda (Children's None) $19.99 8, 2 ISBN: 978-1-72842-338-8
An exuberant ode to the virtues of kindness and inclusion.
Latham and Waters take readers through a day in the lives of a diverse group of students who cross a literal bridge to school--and a metaphorical one toward a world of compassion and respect. Upbeat, rhyming text urges readers to persevere, connect with others, stand up to bullies, and be respectful, complemented by digital, watercolorlike illustrations depicting kids being welcoming to their fellow students in art class, in gym, at lunchtime, and at storytime. The theme of rainbows and bridges can be found throughout. Brimming with colorful details, each page is a visual delight that reminds teachers, librarians, and caregivers of the need to model kindness and compassion to little learners. The backmatter includes a "Bridge Builder Pledge" with statements such as "I will be the one to reach out and say hello," and "I will keep an open mind." Uplifting and accessible, this one pairs well with The Day You Begin (2018) by Jacqueline Woodson, illustrated by Rafael L�pez, and Be a King (2018), by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by James E. Ransome. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A charming and welcome read bound to help cultivate a kinder next generation. (authors' note, activities, further reading) (Picture book. 4-9)
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"Latham, Irene: BE A BRIDGE." Kirkus Reviews, 1 June 2022, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A705356150/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=8196e30f. Accessed 20 Feb. 2024.
The Museum on the Moon: The Curious Objects on the Lunar Surface. By Irene Latham. Illus. by Myriam Wares. Sept. 2023. 48p. Bushel 8t Peck/Moonshower, $19.99 (9781638192039). Gr. 2-5.523.3.
The last crewed mission to the moon was in 1972, and 50 years later, myriad objects left behind by astronauts--both intentionally and randomly--have become a unique collection. Latham spotlights some of the more unusual artifacts through 20 poems in such forms as rhyming, acrostic, pantoum, and ghazal. Space fans may already be familiar with Neil Armstrong's footprints or planted American flags, but some of these items will probably be new to readers: a golden replica of an olive branch, Alan Shepard's golf balls resting in moondust, and retroreflectors (or "gardens of mirrors") used to bounce laser pulses and give precise measurements of the Earth-moon distance. There are even poems about astronaut poop and space junk left on the moon. Short sidebars provide more information about the Apollo missions and the relevancy of the artifacts, while Wares' illustrations in deep blues that brighten the moon's surface feature children alongside astronauts in space suits. Concluding "Moon Milestones" and supplemental notes about the poems and artifacts create more interest in this STEAM selection. --Angela Leeper
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2023 American Library Association
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Leeper, Angela. "The Museum on the Moon: The Curious Objects on the Lunar Surface." Booklist, vol. 120, no. 1, Sept. 2023, p. 75. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A766069796/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=3a150208. Accessed 20 Feb. 2024.
Latham, Irene THE MUSEUM ON THE MOON Moonshower/Bushel & Peck Books (Children's None) $19.99 9, 19 ISBN: 9781638192039
In poems and descriptive notes, a catalog of items left by human visitors to the Moon.
From Neil Armstrong's boot prints to flags, family mementos, golf balls, and bags of poop, humans have been leaving signs of their presence on our nearest neighbor for more than 50 years. While freely admitting that much of it is "space junk," Latham urges readers to take a more elevated view and regard the detritus as a record of human aspirations and achievement--easier to do for, say, the memorials for dead astronauts and cosmonauts than the waste "collection bags" left by multiple Apollo missions. Wares's views of light- and dark-skinned children in street clothes standing on the lunar surface with vacuum-suited astronauts abandon accuracy for symbolism, and many of the poems, as the author notes at the end, are written as examples of various literary forms from "triolet" and "Golden Shovel" to "pantoum" and so come off more as exercises than spontaneous lyrical expressions. Still, there's something that encourages reflection in knowing a falcon's feather and the ashes of a renowned astronomer, not to mention the plaque reading "We came in peace for all mankind," are up there waiting for our return.
A provocative tally of treasures and trash. (timeline, end notes) (Informational picture book. 7-10)
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"Latham, Irene: THE MUSEUM ON THE MOON." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Oct. 2023, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A766904351/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=1d7d820c. Accessed 20 Feb. 2024.