Bound To Stay Bound

School Library Journal - 10/01/2024 K-Gr 2—Comprised of 60 poems gathered from Hoberman's decades-long body of work, as well as eight new poems, this collection celebrates the acclaimed poet's lifelong love of animals and bugs. While a few selections feel a bit dated, overall the poetry is lighthearted and full of lively wordplay. It is Frazee's clever illustrations, however, that really steal the spotlight. The art places the bugs and animals at a retro, mid-century hotel with a zebra concierge and a staff of squirrels. Rendered in black pencil and watercolor, the artwork simultaneously complements each poem and engages observant readers in amusing subplots set in various locales in and around the hotel. For example, alongside the poem "So Many Kinds of Animals," Frazee depicts a host of hotel guests in a yoga class; on the next page, a poem about a donkey is paired with an illustration of the underappreciated animal toting a bundle of yoga mats on its back. VERDICT A playful addition to larger poetry collections.—Lauren Strohecker - Copyright 2024 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.

Booklist - 01/01/2025 An accomplished children’s book writer and poet for over 60 years, Hoberman first worked with illustrator Frazee on the picture book The Seven Silly Eaters. For the current verse collection, Hoberman, who died in 2023, chose her favorites among her animal-themed poems that were originally published in books that are now out of print, in addition to writing eight new poems specifically for this volume. The book’s gracious introduction includes reflections on her approach to writing poetry as well as advice to children on how to make a beloved poem your own, so that you will have it for the rest of your life. Among the new poems is Horse, a brief but challenging tongue twister that is particularly fun to read aloud: “A horse that whinnies all the time / Will very soon be hoarse; / And though he’d like to neigh all day, / A hoarse horse can’t, of course.” Frazee’s lively illustrations, created with pencil and watercolors, capture the tone of the verse and amplify its humor for young children. - Copyright 2025 Booklist.