Library
Mrs. Benton
Collection Total:
2,550 Items
Last Updated:
Sep 10, 2023
Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night
Joyce Sidman*****A 2011 Newbery Honor Book

  Come feel the cool and shadowed breeze,
come smell your way among the trees,
come touch rough bark and leathered leaves:
Welcome to the night.

Welcome to the night, where mice stir and furry moths flutter. Where snails spiral into shells as orb spiders circle in silk. Where the roots of oak trees recover and repair from their time in the light. Where the porcupette eats delicacies—raspberry leaves!—and coos and sings.

Come out to the cool, night wood, and buzz and hoot and howl—but do beware of the great horned owl—for it’s wild and it’s windy way out in the woods!
This Newbery Honor-winning picture book combines beautifully written poetry with facts of the forest and elaborate illustrations to form a marvelously engaging collection.
Falling Up
Shel Silverstein*****Millie McDeevit screamed a scream
So loud it made her eyebrows steam.
She screamed so loud
Her jawbone broke,
Her tongue caught fire,
Her nostrils smoked...

Poor Screamin' Millie is just one of the unforgettable characters in this wondrous new book of poems and drawings by the creator of Where the Sidewalk Ends and A Light in the Attic. Here you will also meet Allison Beals and her twenty-five eels; Danny O'Dare, the dancin' bear; the Human Balloon; and Headphone Harold.

So come, wander through the Nose Garden, ride the Little Hoarse, eat in the Strange Restaurant, and let the magic of Shel Silverstein open your eyes and tickle your mind.

Supports the Common Core State Standards
I Never Saw Another Butterfly
Hana Volavkova*****Fifteen thousand children under the age of fifteen passed through the Terezin Concentration Camp. Fewer than 100 survived. In these poems and pictures drawn by the young inmates, we see the daily misery of these uprooted children, as well as their hopes and fears, their courage and optimism. 60 color illustrations.
If I Ran the School
Bruce Lansky*****Bruce Lansky, the "King of Giggle Poetry", has written five new poems for this book and selected nineteen others from some of his favorite poets, including Jack Prelutsky, Kenn Nesbitt, Ted Scheu, and Robert Pottle.
If I Ran the School
Bruce Lansky*****Bruce Lansky, the "King of Giggle Poetry", has written five new poems for this book and selected nineteen others from some of his favorite poets, including Jack Prelutsky, Kenn Nesbitt, Ted Scheu, and Robert Pottle.
Insectlopedia
Douglas Florian*****The windows are open and bugs are everywhere! Children will delight in this collection of twenty-one buggy poems—just don't forget the calamine lotion.
Love That Dog 1
Sharon Creech*****Newbery Medal winner Sharon Creech's Love That Dog, a funny, sweet, original short novel written in free verse, introduces us to an endearingly unassuming, straight-talking boy who discovers the powers and pleasures of poetry. Against his will. After all, "boys don't write poetry. Girls do." What does he say of the famous poem "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening"? "I think Mr. Robert Frost / has a little / too / much / time / on his / hands." As his teacher, Ms. Stretchberry, introduces the canon to the class, however, he starts to see the light. Poetry is not so bad, it's not just for girls, and it's not even that hard to write. Take William Carlos Williams, for example: "If that is a poem / about the red wheelbarrow / and the white chickens / then any words / can be a poem. / You've just got to / make / short / lines." He becomes more and more discerning as the days go by, and readers' spirits will rise with Jack's as he begins to find his own voice through his own poetry and through that of others. His favorite poem of all is a short, rhythmic one by Walter Dean Myers called "Love That Boy" (included at the end of the book with all the rest of Ms. Stretchberry's assignments). The words completely captivate him, reminding him of the loving way his dad calls him in the morning and of the way he used to call his yellow dog, Sky. Jack's reverence for the poem ultimately leads to meeting the poet himself, an experience he will never forget.
Love That Dog 2: Hate That Cat
Sharon Creech*****Unknown Binding Publisher: Scholastic (2010) ISBN-10: 0545168147 ISBN-13: 978-0545168144 Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 5.2 x 0.5 inches Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
The New Kid on the Block
Jack Prelutsky*****There's a new kid on the block,
and boy, that kid is tough,
that new kid punches hard,
that new kid plays real rough,
that new kid's big and strong,
with muscles everywhere,
that new kid tweaked my arm,
that new kid pulled my hair.

Open this book to any page and begin your exploration. Here are more than 100 poems about things you may never have thought about before. Turn the pages and be introduced to jellyf ish stew, a bouncing mouse, a ridiculous dog, a boneless chicken, and the very unexpected new kid!
Paul Revere's Ride
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow*****Longfellow's tribute to the famous revolutionary hero begins with the stirring cadence that American schoolchildren have committed to memory for over a century. Now illustrator Ted Rand brings these vivid and beautiful lines to life as dramatically as the poet's immortal message inspires."The clatter of hooves seems to echo in Rand's evocative paintings of that famed midnight ride...." —Kirkus reviews
Runny Babbit: A Billy Sook
Shel Silverstein*****Runny Babbit lent to wunch
And heard the saitress way,
"We have some lovely stabbit rew —
Our Special for today."

From the legendary creator of Where the Sidewalk Ends, A Light in the Attic, Falling Up, and The Giving Tree comes an unforgettable new character in children's literature.

Welcome to the world of Runny Babbit and his friends Toe Jurtle, Skertie Gunk, Rirty Dat, Dungry Hog, Snerry Jake, and many others who speak a topsy-turvy language all their own.

So if you say, "Let's bead a rook
That's billy as can se,"
You're talkin' Runny Babbit talk,
Just like mim and he.
Serafina's Promise
Ann E. Burg*****NAACP Image Award winner and ALA Notable, this luminous, celebrated novel in verse is now in paperback.

Serafina made a secret promise
to go to school and learn to read
so she can become a doctor
with her best friend, Julie Marie.

But following her dream isn't easy-
endless chores, little money
and stomach-rumbling hunger
all test her resolve.

When an earthquake hits
and separates Serafina
from friends and family,
she encounters her biggest test of all.

Serafina made a secret promise.
Will she survive to keep it?
Serafina's Promise
Ann E. Burg*****
Songs of Myself: An Anthology of Poems and Art
Georgia Heard*****
Technically, It's Not My Fault: Concrete Poems
John Grandits*****An eleven-year-old boy named Robert voices typical—and not so typical—middle-grade concerns in this unique, memorable collection of hilarious poems. His musings cover the usual stuff, like pizza, homework, thank-you notes, and his annoying older sister. In addition, he speculates about professional wrestling for animals, wonders why no one makes scratch-and-sniff fart stickers, designs the ultimate roller coaster (complete with poisonous spiders), and deconstructs the origins of a new word, snarpy. A playful layout and ingenious graphics extend the wry humor that is sure to resonate with readers of all ages.
Tyrannosaurus Was a Beast: Dinosaur Poems
Arnold Lobel*****In Tyrannosaurus Was a Beast, Jack Prelutsky offers young children a rhyming introduction to the world o f the dinosaurs. Ankylosaurus and brachiosaurus are just two of the mighty Mesozoic creatures featured. '
Where Does the Butterfly Go When It Rains?
May Garelick*****May Garelick's rhythmic text explores what happens to various animals when it rains. Where do they go? What do they do? Nicholas Wilton's illustrations are a rich visual experience that haunt the reader like an illusive dream. Full color.
Where Does the Butterfly Go When It Rains?
May Garelick*****May Garelick's rhythmic text explores what happens to various animals when it rains. Where do they go? What do they do? Nicholas Wilton's illustrations are a rich visual experience that haunt the reader like an illusive dream. Full color.
Where the Sidewalk Ends: Poems and Drawings
Shel Silverstein*****Where the Sidewalk Ends turns forty! Celebrate with this anniversary edition that features an eye-catching commemorative red sticker. This classic poetry collection, which is both outrageously funny and profound, has been the most beloved of Shel Silverstein's poetry books for generations.

Where the sidewalk ends, Shel Silverstein's world begins. There you'll meet a boy who turns into a TV set and a girl who eats a whale. The Unicorn and the Bloath live there, and so does Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout who will not take the garbage out. It is a place where you wash your shadow and plant diamond gardens, a place where shoes fly, sisters are auctioned off, and crocodiles go to the dentist.

Shel Silverstein's masterful collection of poems and drawings is one of Parent & Child magazine's 100 Greatest Books for Kids. School Library Journal said, "Silverstein has an excellent sense of rhythm and rhyme and a good ear for alliteration and assonance that make these poems a pleasure to read aloud."

Shel Silverstein's incomparable career as a children's book author and illustrator began with Lafcadio, the Lion Who Shot Back. In 1964, Shel's creativity continued to flourish as four more books were published in the same year—Don't Bump the Glump!, A Giraffe and a Half, Who Wants a Cheap Rhinoceros?, and the beloved classic The Giving Tree. Later he continued to build his remarkable body of work with Where the Sidewalk Ends, A Light in the Attic, Falling Up, Every Thing On It, The Missing Piece, The Missing Piece Meets the Big O, and Runny Babbit.

Supports the Common Core State Standards.