If Your Clothes Could Talk, What Would They Say?

Button Up!

Written by Alice Schertle

Illustrated by Petra Mathers

Published by Harcourt Children’s Books

Copyright 2009

33 Pages

Poetry

 

I chose this book from the library. When I picked this book up off the shelf, I flipped through the pages to notice they were all different with very interesting titles and images. There is humor in this book, and it is displayed through the images as well as the text. Books with a little bit of humor are always my favorite. This very creative book holds fifteen different poems inside of it. Each poem is different with its own title and story. The poems are all about an animal’s piece of clothing. They are told from the perspective of the clothing item. For example, the very first poem is told by Bertie’s shoelaces, who talk about Bertie never remembering to tie them in a knot; therefore, they are always hanging loose and dragging the ground.

The illustrations within this book are done in watercolor on Arches 300lb. cold-press paper. The text placement is very informal, because every page is has the text displayed in a different form. The font is also displayed though different sizes and colors. Almost all of the illustrations within the book are spread across both sides of an open book, displaying the double page format. The inside of the book in the very front and back is covered with the end paper. Also glued on top of the end paper is informational text that appears to be cut and pasted. I admire this style. The illustrator does a great job at grabbing the reader’s attention with the images from the very first page.

Teachers could use this book in a classroom on a lesson about rhymes. The teacher could read the story out loud to the class stopping periodically to require the students to point out the rhymes in each poem. The teacher could also use this for a creative writing activity. The students could pick their favorite piece of clothing and brainstorm about what it might say if it were able to talk. The students could write in the form of poetry or narrative. In upper grade levels, the students may even be able to incorporate rhyming into their writing. I would highly recommend this book for a poetry lesson.