Awards

• Short-listed for Bluebonnet Awards 2004
• Short-listed for Young Hoosier Book Award (Intermediate) 2005

Overview

Everything that happens when you go camping can be an adventure, from getting dressed inside your sleeping bag on a chilly morning to meeting a moose to sharing secrets in a tent at night.Kristine O'Connell George turns the memorable moments of a family outing into spirited, evocative verse, and Kate Kiesler's vivid paintings provide a cast of characters and the perfect setting.The captivating poems and pictures in Toasting Marshmallows will leave readers with wonderful memories of a camping trip-even if they've never been on one!

Full Product Details

9780618045976

Table of Contents

Reviews

George deftly describes the satisfying sequence of familiar events in a summer camping experience in this collection of 30 related poems perfectly paired once again with Kiesler's inviting oil paintings (The Great Frog Race and Other Poems, 1998 etc.) The daily rhythms of a camping trip are presented from the Tent to exploring an Abandoned Cabin to observing A Doe. Shared common experiences include Sleeping Bag': It's so cold outside. I'm getting dressed inside/my sleeping bag. I wriggle, scootch, scrunch, and jiggle. Flop/Front flips, back flips I'm a caterpillar/in a cozy cloth cocoon/that zips. Short pieces like Mosquito Song demonstrate pointed wordplay with a witty use of alliteration and onomatopeia. It's Meeeeeeeeeeeeeee!/Mosqueeeeeeeeeto!/Is that you, Dinner?/Greeeeeeeeetings. Kiesler expresses the changing vistas of the countryside from the uneasy, dark palette of the double-page spread for Storm to the bright, sunshiny view of a field for Wild Mustard. The changing layout of each page gives a sense of surprise to the most ordinary of events, the words of the concrete poem, Eavesdropping, Tipping/a slender/silver ear placed in the shape of a cresent moon, the stanzas of Flashlight positioned in the beams of light to name just a few. Altogether an engaging trip.Kirkus Reviews Like their previous collaboration, The Great Frog Race and Old Elm Speaks, this volume by George and Kiesler is as delicious as a toasted marshmallow treat. George's poems are well crafted, varied and easily accessible. The topics range from a tent-shaped poem about the careful raising of the family's canvas lodging to post-trip unpacking, in which a child tucks away a flannel shirt perfumed in scents of pine, wood fire and forest moss in her bottom drawer /where no one will find it/and wash away [her] memories. Though Kielser's human figures are sometimes wooden, she suffuses her acrylic landscapes with light filtered through leaves. A few of the illustrations seem too idyllic and scrubbed (in Abandoned Cabin, its crumbling fireplace looks newly constructed; in another, the brother's grubby hands seem freshly washed). Yet George's poems shine, the images clear and startling. A panther cloud crosses the sky ; after a storm, a confetti of birds... dance another rain shower. A concrete poem in the shape of a waning moon is exquisite: Tipping/a slender/silver ear, /Moon tries/to pretend/she isn't/listening/to our/secrets. Readers will definetly want S-mores.Publishers Weekly, Starred fine collection brings the outdoors up close...direct, satisfying poems that will engage kids at school, across the curriculum, or at home. Booklist, ALA, Starred Review The poems are varied and inventive, replete with marvelous images and universal truths. . . .A terrific idyll for summertime sharing, even for confirmed couch potatoes.School Library Journal, Starred The pleasure and surprise of going camping are conveyed in eighteen brief poems. . . .Richly colored paintings enhance the verses.Horn Book Guide Whether playful or profound, the exquisitely crafted poems reverberate with eloquent yet effortless language, while the radiant acrylic artwork hints at the awe-inspiring mysteries of nature.SLJ Best Books of the Year

George deftly describes the satisfying sequence of familiar events in a summer camping experience in this collection of 30 related poems perfectly paired once again with Kiesler's inviting oil paintings (The Great Frog Race and Other Poems, 1998 etc.) The daily rhythms of a camping trip are presented from the Tent to exploring an Abandoned Cabin to observing A Doe. Shared common experiences include Sleeping Bag': It's so cold outside. I'm getting dressed inside/my sleeping bag. I wriggle, scootch, scrunch, and jiggle. Flop/Front flips, back flips--I'm a caterpillar/in a cozy cloth cocoon/that zips. Short pieces like Mosquito Song demonstrate pointed wordplay with a witty use of alliteration and onomatopeia. It's Meeeeeeeeeeeeeee!/Mosqueeeeeeeeeto!/Is that you, Dinner?/Greeeeeeeeetings. Kiesler expresses the changing vistas of the countryside from the uneasy, dark palette of the double-page spread for Storm to the bright, sunshiny view of a field for Wild Mustard. The changing layout of each page gives a sense of surprise to the most ordinary of events, the words of the concrete poem, Eavesdropping, Tipping/a slender/silver ear placed in the shape of a cresent moon, the stanzas of Flashlight positioned in the beams of light to name just a few. Altogether an engaging trip. Kirkus Reviews Like their previous collaboration, The Great Frog Race and Old Elm Speaks, this volume by George and Kiesler is as delicious as a toasted marshmallow treat. George's poems are well crafted, varied and easily accessible. The topics range from a tent-shaped poem about the careful raising of the family's canvas lodging to post-trip unpacking, in which a child tucks away a flannel shirt perfumed in scents of pine, wood fire and forest moss in her bottom drawer--/where no one will find it/and wash away [her] memories. Though Kielser's human figures are sometimes wooden, she suffuses her acrylic landscapes with light filtered through leaves. A few of the illustrations seem too idyllic and scrubbed (in Abandoned Cabin, its crumbling fireplace looks newly constructed; in another, the brother's grubby hands seem freshly washed). Yet George's poems shine, the images clear and startling. A panther cloud crosses the sky; after a storm, a confetti of birds... dance another rain shower. A concrete poem in the shape of a waning moon is exquisite: Tipping/a slender/silver ear, /Moon tries/to pretend/she isn't/listening/to our/secrets. Readers will definetly want S-mores. Publishers Weekly, Starred fine collection brings the outdoors up close...direct, satisfying poems that will engage kids at school, across the curriculum, or at home. Booklist, ALA, Starred Review The poems are varied and inventive, replete with marvelous images and universal truths. . . .A terrific idyll for summertime sharing, even for confirmed couch potatoes. School Library Journal, Starred The pleasure and surprise of going camping are conveyed in eighteen brief poems. . . .Richly colored paintings enhance the verses. Horn Book Guide Whether playful or profound, the exquisitely crafted poems reverberate with eloquent yet effortless language, while the radiant acrylic artwork hints at the awe-inspiring mysteries of nature. SLJ Best Books of the Year--No Source

George deftly describes the satisfying sequence of familiar events in a summer camping experience in this collection of 30 related poems perfectly paired once again with Kiesler's inviting oil paintings (The Great Frog Race and Other Poems, 1998 etc.) The daily rhythms of a camping trip are presented from the Tent to exploring an Abandoned Cabin to observing A Doe. Shared common experiences include Sleeping Bag': It's so cold outside. I'm getting dressed inside/my sleeping bag. I wriggle, scootch, scrunch, and jiggle. Flop/Front flips, back flips--I'm a caterpillar/in a cozy cloth cocoon/that zips. Short pieces like Mosquito Song demonstrate pointed wordplay with a witty use of alliteration and onomatopeia. It's Meeeeeeeeeeeeeee!/Mosqueeeeeeeeeto!/Is that you, Dinner?/Greeeeeeeeetings. Kiesler expresses the changing vistas of the countryside from the uneasy, dark palette of the double-page spread for Storm to the bright, sunshiny view of a field for Wild Mustard. The changing layout of each page gives a sense of surprise to the most ordinary of events, the words of the concrete poem, Eavesdropping, Tipping/a slender/silver ear placed in the shape of a cresent moon, the stanzas of Flashlight positioned in the beams of light to name just a few. Altogether an engaging trip.

George deftly describes the satisfying sequence of familiar events in a summer camping experience in this collection of 30 related poems perfectly paired once again with Kiesler's inviting oil paintings (The Great Frog Race and Other Poems, 1998 etc.) The daily rhythms of a camping trip are presented from the Tent to exploring an Abandoned Cabin to observing A Doe. Shared common experiences include Sleeping Bag': It's so cold outside. I'm getting dressed inside/my sleeping bag. I wriggle, scootch, scrunch, and jiggle. Flop/Front flips, back flips--I'm a caterpillar/in a cozy cloth cocoon/that zips. Short pieces like Mosquito Song demonstrate pointed wordplay with a witty use of alliteration and onomatopeia. It's Meeeeeeeeeeeeeee!/Mosqueeeeeeeeeto!/Is that you, Dinner?/Greeeeeeeeetings. Kiesler expresses the changing vistas of the countryside from the uneasy, dark palette of the double-page spread for Storm to the bright, sunshiny view of a field for Wild Mustard. The c

Author Information

Kristine O'Connell George is an acclaimed poet who conducts poetry workshops for children and teachers. She is the author of several books of poetry for young people, including Toasting Marshmallows: Camping Poems and The Great Frog Race, winner of the Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award. She lives with her family in Southern California. Visit her online at kristinegeorge.com and on Twitter at @Kristine_George. Born in New Hampshire and raised in Vermont, Kate Kiesler began painting at an early age. She graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design and now paints and illustrates full-time. Kate paints with oils, and her rich style has been highly praised. Kate Kiesler has illustrated numerous picture books, including The Great Frog Race and Other Poems. She lives in Frisco, Colorado.

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