Button Up!: Wrinkled Rhymes

Schertle, Alice. Ill. Petra Mathers. 2009. Button up!: Wrinkled Rhymes. New York: Harcourt Children's Books/ Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN: 978-0152050504

Plot Summary:

Button Up!: Wrinkled Rhymes is a collection of 15 mask poems for children written by Alice Schertle and illustrated by Petra Mathers. In these poems, articles of clothing have a story to tell of the experiences they have had with their owners. From shoes to coats to bicycle helmets to frilly underwear to soccer uniforms and a hand-me-down hoodie, the reader experiences what it is like for these articles of clothes, and the reader learns about each owner, who are all animals, through the clothing.

Critical Analysis:

Schertle's poems induce laughter and smiles from children as the articles of clothing relate their tales. One of the most interesting and engaging aspects of this collection is that every article of clothing has their own distinctive voice. My five-year-old daughter laughed as we read "The Song of Harvey's Galoshes" and "Tanya's Old T-Shirt" because of the unique voices of each poem and the fact that the owners are animals.

I enjoyed the petulance I heard in Tanya's t-shirt as she complained that it is her owner's fault she is now a dust rag. After all, as the shirt says, her owner grew, not her! The shirt says, "I didn't shrink," and in the book, the "I" is in a bolder print than most of the other text. For a reader, the bolding indicates a stronger emphasis should be placed on that word, so the reader hears a longer, more pronounced word at the beginning of the line than the rest of the line. That bolded "I" lends to the surly, petulant voice of the t-shirt. The voice is similar to the young children these poems are written for and the way young children sulk and pout when they are told they are too little (or too big!) to do something they want to do. The watercolor illustration of the old t-shirt evokes a bit of sympathy from the reader because the t-shirt is in an old metal bucket in a closet under the stairs. The shirt looks old, faded, and dirty as it sits in its dark and lonely home. But, above the bucket, is a thought cloud with a brightly colored illustration of a day at the beach in an obviously happier time as Tanya wears the t-shirt at the beach. The reader can't help but feel some sympathy for the shirt even as it complains about its new role in the family.

The language of the poems is varied and easily understandable for young readers. The use of onomatopoeia in "The Song of Harvey's Galoshes" helps young readers identify with Harvey's shoes because what young child hasn't (to their parents' chagrin) jumped into a mud puddle and made the "squash-galosh, squash-galosh, through the slime" with glee and laughter? The watercolor illustration of Harvey, who is, fittingly, a pig, and his galoshes dancing in the mud is just fun. The delight on Harvey's face is the glee we see on young children's faces as they do just what Harvey does in the mud. And, for Harvey, it's okay to dance in the mud because he is a pig, and we all know, pigs (and young children) love playing in mud.

One of the last poems in the collection, "Hand-me-down Sweatshirt" has a different tone to it as compared to the other poems. This poem is less humorous and the illustrations emphasize the more somber tone. In this poem, the sweatshirt has no complaints or any funny stories to relate. Instead, in this poem, the sweatshirt is just happy to still be "a friend of the family" after he has been passed down from family member to family member. The poem has a much slower pace to it. The animal that owns it stands off to the side. There is no action in the illustration save for the waves. The slower pace and lack of action create a calm mood that the other poems in the collection do not have. The illustration of this poem is a seaside scene with dark colors of moss green, grey, and brown with touches of white in the sea foam and hints of blue in the cloudy sky. The brightest spot in the illustration is the bright red sweatshirt on a figure standing on a rock looking out over the waves. As the sweatshirt says, he is "still looking good" even after so many owners and adventures. He is durable and loyal to his family.

Review Excerpt:
" these creatures have personality, exuberance and high style that perfectly match the verses. Loads of fun."--Kirkus, starred review

"From delicately comical to downright funny, the art perfectly reflects the contagiously rhythmic, playful verse. Made for sharing, and worth learning by heart, too."--Horn Book, starred review

"Playful spreads and spot art suit the small, snappy verses beautifully. This whimsical little volume will make a delightful addition to poetry collections."--School Library Journal, starred review

Awards:

2010 Hopkins Poetry Award Winner
NCTE Poetry for Children at Its Best: 2009 Poetry Notables

Connections:
The poems in this collection would be a great way to use Tonya Rodriguez's "Three Minutes a Day" poetry project, even for kindergartners like my daughter. The catchy rhymes in the poems, the actions of the animals, and the word plays would keep their attention, and kindergartners could easily focus on one of these poems for three minutes over a three-week period.

Children could have a very fun discussion of any of the poems in the collection. Asking them: "What did you see or imagine when we read this poem" (Vardell p.133) would give readers a chance to personally identify with the poems. I asked my daughter this after we read "Emily's Undies" and her answer was simple, but funny: She grinned and said "me."