Please Bury Me in the Library

  

Bibliographic Data: 
 

Lewis, Patrick J. 2005. Please Bury Me in the Library. Ill. Stone, Kyle M. New York: Gulliver Books/Harcourt, Inc.

ISBN 9780152163877

Plot Summary:

This book of poems is a tribute to books and the joys of reading. Each poem represents a different aspect of literature ranging in topics such as optional books names, picture books, summer reading, and even the pleasure of finding letters in a bowl of alphabet soup. Various forms of poetry are explored including Haiku, rhyme, and acrostic. Poems vary in design and layout while conveying a love of books and literature through wit and humor.

Critical Analysis:

Please Bury Me in the Library offers the reader fun, witty poetry that observes the magical world of literature and books. The overall format of the book is kid-friendly and includes bold headings, a contents page and an illustration to accompany each poem. Lewis uses various forms of poetry within this collection of sixteen poems. Sixteen poems if you include his clever “acknowledgments” which pays homage to his influences “Shel and Jack, and Myra Cohn”.  The first fifteen poems are rhythmic collaborations that invite the reader to explore topics such as optional book titles like “Furious George/Goodnight Noon/Babar the Beaver” in the poem What if Books Had Different Names? The poem that gives the book its title, Please Bury Me in the Library, describes a desire to stay “Where the Kids’ Books dance/With true romance”.

Stone’s illustrations capture the quirkiness of the poetry by contributing odd depictions of animals and characters using acrylics and mixed media. For example, the illustration that accompanies the poem “A Classic” includes a strange, blue furry figure with a top hat. Inside the hat sits a funny, little rabbit reading a book. Most of human depictions are exaggerated figures, as well with odd shapes and peculiar facial expressions. The colors are vibrant. Children will definitely be drawn to each poem due to the fantastic combination of Stone’s eccentric images and Lewis’ rhythmic humor and figurative language throughout.

Review Excerpt(s):

Booklist, February 2005:
“Lewis' poetry is continually clever, whether pithily summing up children's classics (a book that is excitedly read by a kid of 6 to another kid of 63) or capturing the thrill of reading in the dark.”

 

Kirkus, Starred Review, April, 2005:

“Stone debuts with broadly brushed, page-filling acrylics to match: Children in pj's rest beneath or teeter atop piles of books; mice and owls peruse large volumes by moon- and candle-light; an elderly, rather Seussian creature listens contentedly to a young reader."
 

Children’s Literature, 2005 

“What a joy to find, in our technological instant communication age, a book about books and words and pleasure! From the deliciously polite title through the ab-so-lu-tas-ti-cal final acknowledgement the author tickles the funny bone as he plays with words and ideas designed to delight and intrigue the discerning reader.”

Connections:

* Have students write an acrostic poem like the one Necessary Gardens using their favorite book title.

* Students can create their own silly book titles to correspond with the poem What if Books had Different Names?

*A great site with activities for individual poems. TEKS connections are included: http://www.roundrockisd.org/docs/please_bury_me.pdf

*Another poetry book about books and literature:
Purdie Salas, Laura; Ill. Bisaillon, Josee. BookSpeak: Poems about Books ISBN 9780547223001