Don't Eat Spiders

Virginia Gillham is Associate Librarian in the Public Service Library at
the University of Guelph.

The philosophical intent of this collection of children’s poetry is obviously similar to that of Alligator Pie and other Dennis Lee favorites. The target audience would appear to be children in the three to six age range. Topics of discussion such as spiders, zoo animals, and rocket ships are familiar to the child of the ‘80s, and references to Canadian places and landmarks are sprinkled liberally throughout.

There, unfortunately, the similarity ends. While the delicious rhythms of the Dennis Lee poems roll off the tongue and induce clapping, stamping, and bouncing in audience members of every age, author Robert Heidbreder has introduced complicated, convoluted non-rhythms that frequently succeed in boring the reader and his youthful listeners.

In general, the shorter poems (such as “Fabling Leaves” and “How to Catch a Bird”) and those with a constant rhythm (such as “Sticky Maple Syrup”), while not extraordinary, will have some appeal for young listeners. Many of the others, however, are flawed by too much unimaginative repetition and by long, cumbersome lines completely devoid of the musical patterns young children love.

Karen Patkau’s illustrations are colorful if predictable.

Dennis Lee remains unchallenged as Canada’s poet laureate for the preschool and primary set.