Journeys of the Imagination (Children's Review) (Book Review‪)‬

All of the books reviewed in this issue of Childhood Education are about journeys. Both actual and metaphorical journeys are portrayed in these works of poetry and fiction, from picture books for the youngest readers to novels of fantasy and realism for older children. I couldn't resist including Gina Hoagland's review of a 2005 publication, The Hiccupotamus (in the poetry section, although technically a rhyming picture book), because of the brilliant way in which Gina modeled her review on the creative language used in the book. Readers will definitely want to look for this title, which recounts how Hippo's various animal friends try to cure his hiccups. The two poetry collections reviewed focus on the natural world, but still adhere to the theme of journeys as readers follow various species on their evolutionary journey in Ubiquitous, and take a rain-filled trip across all four seasons in One Big Rain: Poems for Rainy Days. Rain is also an element in a reviewed picture book for young readers, The Falling Raindrop, as a childlike raindrop journeys from the sky to the ground and back again as he rises as steam. Animal characters also go on journeys. Piglets explore their farmyard world in Piggies in the Pumpkin Patch, and the giraffe, Belle, travels from her home in Egypt to a new life in A Giraffe Goes to Paris. Rounding out this small collection of picture books for young children is the story of a little girl's first month in kindergarten, told in The Kindergarten Diary, and the story of Napi, a young girl who, along with her entire village, is forced to make the arduous journey of starting a new life in a new place, told in Napi Funda un Pueblo/Napi Makes a Village.