Poems in the Attic
by Nikki Grimes
illustrated by Elizabeth Zunon
Published by Lee & Low, 2015
40 pages
ISBN: 978-1-62014-027-7
Ages 5-9
A warm picture book
collection alternates between poems in the voice of an African American girl
whose mom is away in the military, and poems in the voice of her mother as a
child, growing up in a military family that moved many times. The contemporary
girl’s discovery of her mother’s childhood poems has inspired her to write her
own, which often reflect on the differences between their childhoods,
especially as she is living in one place with her grandmother while her mom is
away, rather than moving from place to place. But there are many parallel
experiences that play out in the two poems on each page spread, one in each
voice. There is a strong sense of connection and continuity—grandmother,
mother, grandchild—while in both present and past there is a child missing a
parent who is away on duty. The illustrations do a terrific job of
distinguishing between present and past on the same page spread. An
author’s note talks more about the experiences of military children and identifies
the actual U.S. air force bases which formed the locales for the places the
girl’s mother lived as a child. ©2015 Cooperative Children’s Book Center
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