If You Could Wear My Sneakers!

Ted McGee is an associate professor of English specializing in
children’s literature at St. Jerome’s College, University of
Waterloo.

Darcia Labrosse’s illustrations for this book are a tribute to the art
of posture and gesture. Never before have so many animals with such tiny
eyes revealed so much about human interactions. The soft monochromatic
backgrounds leave the focus on the animal figures, the variety of which
represents the diversity in the human realm. Human interactions and
human diversity are essential to this work, which consists of 15 poems
inspired by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and
produced in collaboration with UNICEF.

The connection of poems to rights—a connection set forth as a
matching game at the end of the book—sometimes seems forced. Although
that material is not likely to hold the attention of readers, young or
old, Labrosse’s curious cast of animal figures and Sheree Fitch’s
playful poems should do so. Despite Fitch’s regular use of very short
lines and a plethora of loud sound effects, the collection is rich in
its variety: there are longer narrative poems; verses asking for song;
dramatic monologues and exchanges; and beautifully suggestive little
lyrics such as, “One little firefly / In a jar / Lovely lonely /
Fallen star. / One little firefly / Flying free / Shining star / In a
galaxy.”

These poems would be an excellent starting point for a conversation
about fundamental principles of our social order. Highly recommended.