This collection touches cultures and countries all over the world, a fun read and you don't have to leave your seat! ( )

These poems are first-person narrations of a third grade boy and his best friend, Fernie, who dream of escaping their boring life in the city. The first poem describes how these two boys are “itching to travel' because they have only ever known their immediate homes. They have tried all sorts of silly ways to explore new things, such as 'sailing in a bathtub with its swamp of hot water' or going to a mall 'where in the plastic trees were perched plastic birds.' So, the boys decide to 'travel' (through their imaginations, it is clear) to far off destinations, each of which is the subject of one of the poems in the collection. They have silly adventures everywhere they go. In San Francisco, they lounge on a cloud of fog and eat doughnuts; in Haiwaii, they bury each other in the sand and have a run-in with an angry crab; in the Philippines, they get tattoos, which turn out to be the stick-on kind; in Switzerland, they feel sorry for the people who are so poor as to have holes in their cheese! At the end, after many more travels, the boys find themselves awakened from their dreaming by their third grade teacher, who quizzes them on world geography and praises them for all that they have learned! Students can relate to the boredom from which these boys suffer and laugh about their nonsensical experiences.

The colloquial language that Soto employs in Wolds Apart makes his poetry comprehensible and relevant to diverse young readers, especially those who are familiar with his previous works of fiction. In Worlds Apart Soto teaches all readers that one’s will is only restricted by the limitations one perceives. I would recommend that creative writing teachers use this book to inspire their students to stretch their imaginations . ( )