Yamakami- Jonathan

"In this visual stunner...the literal setting of the words is as key to the volume's success as are its text and illustrations... Indian folk art triumphantly meets 17th-century English trick verse in this sophisticated graphic venture fit for middle graders on up." - Starred, Kirkus Reviews

"With each line building upon the previous one and evoking the line that follows, readers may begin to think of a poem less as a chronological line than as a web of words, images, and possibilities." -Publishers Weekly

"Stunningly modern...a lyrical way to learn that all is not as it seems" -ForeWord Reviews

This 17th century British poem is a form of trick verse. Here, the very design of the book brings clarity to the verse, as whimsical die-cuts in each page reveal the poem's nuanced meaning.

I saw a peacock with a fiery tail
I saw a blazing comet drop down hail
I saw a cloud with ivy circled around ...

Read straightforwardly, the poem sounds interestingly surreal. But if the lines are broken up in the middle, then everything falls into place. Illustrations by award-winning Gond artist Ramsingh Urveti (of The Night Life of Trees), book design by Jonathan Yamakami.