It's a fun poem and I always love David McPhail's illustrations, but this has so many "fish" and "wish" words (trips for my speech impediment), making it hard as a read-aloud for me. ( )

This book has interesting illustrations and can be used when teaching about poetry as well as personification. ( )

a girl's dream runs wild as she explores the amazing dream she has created
1 large book

Field's lullaby is illutrated with whimsical water colors that help young children stretch their visual imaginations. ( )

I enjoyed this poem for a number of reasons, mainly because the language and plot were well developed and appropriate. The story begins with three characters that set off on a night fishing trip where the author describes them speaking to the stars and the moon. Descriptive language is used to create an imaginative scene throughout the poem; something that is easy for children to understand. I really appreciate the sound and rhythm of the poem as it rhymes and flows with each page and each event that occurs. The poem reads,

“The old moon laughed and sang a song,
As they rocked in the wooden shoe,
And the wind that sped them all night long
Ruffled the waves of dew.”

As I read the poem, I clearly followed the plot and was able to see the settings and characters adjust accordingly. I really like the ending where the narrator expresses that the whole story was a dream and the characters are all a part of this little baby’s imagination. This concept of an imaginary story is something more abstract and fits well in a poem making it even more authentic. The big idea of this poem is that dreams can take you anywhere you let your imagination roam. Imagination is important to children and creativity can be sparked in anyone from anything. ( )