Poetry Review #33

Nothing Rhymes with Orange

Author: Adam Rex
Publisher: Chronicle Books, 2017
ISBN: 978-1452154435
Reading Ages: 5 - 8 years

Genre: Children's Humor, Children's Poetry Picture Book

4 Roars! 🦁🦁🦁🦁

Why 4 Roars? Hey, it's a rhyming party! I would love to attend a rhyming party. I imagine it would be very similar to a riff-off in one of the Pitch Perfect movies. (No abandoned pools, please!) 

Poetic Elements: This is a story in rhyme. The author uses humor to relate to the reader and draws them into the fun. Children will have no problems connecting to Orange and his problems. It is a great way to invite children to contemplate ways to include others. 

“Fruit! They're healthy happy colorful and cute!" Collage images show walking, talking fruit, including a banana surfing near a cabana and a lychee who is "just peachy"...followed by a wacky reference to Friedrich Nietzsche; meanwhile, Orange stands on the sidelines bemoaning the forced rhymes and the fact that "nothing rhymes with me." A joyous, chaotic, puzzling, and awkwardly cadenced ode to fruit and rhyming.” 

~~ The Horn Book

Appeal: The phonemic awareness skills are great for readers practicing their abilities. The book is bright and entertaining. 

"Funny, visually entertaining and - yes, here comes the fruit pun - fresh as can be."

~~ Chicago Tribune

"Cheers for not only nutrition but for thinking outside the bowl to include the unfairly marginalized."

~~Booklist

Overall Quality: There are energetic ink faces sketched onto the photos of fruit that give the fruit personality and temperament. This helps to keep the book moving along. While younger readers might be confused by some of the rhymes, it adds an extra layer to keep older readers engaged. I think older readers will be equally as excited to read the book. 

"Here's a twist: at party-time I like a little slice of lime!" 

"That's not really much of a twist." 

~~ Orange, 

Nothing Rhymes with Orange

A Junior Library Guild selection

NCTE Notable Poetry Books

Layout: The layout is a typical picture book structure. It does include interjections and comments from Orange from time to time that add a touch of charm. 

Connections:

Spotlight

"Who wouldn't travel anywhere/ to get an apple or a pear?" 

"I'll be back here if you need me." 

~~Orange, 

Nothing Rhymes with Orange

Sharing—This book would be an easy read-aloud. A great way to kick off National School Lunch Week. 

Activity: A Rhyming Riff-off, anyone? Let's try it. Divide kids into groups. The group must rhyme a few verses focused on a given category. If the group cannot rhyme and match the category, then they must skip their turn. After a group rhymes, the next group must start its rhyme with the last word of the previous group. And it’s a Rhyming Riff-off! Then, try the word orange!