Outside the Box: A Book of Poems

• by Karma Wilson
• illustrated by Diane Goode
• published by Simon and Schuster

This is a new one—just released at the beginning of this month (March 2014). Which means I’m actually timely with a review!

The cover grabbed us. It’s fairly simple, as far as covers go—especially for children’s books. It’s black and white. Mostly white, with some simple line drawings. But it’s SO evocative of Shel Silverstein’s books that it practically jumped into my hands.

Zoey has been enamored with Shel Silverstein poems for a while now. We’ve read through A Light in the Attic, Where the Sidewalk Ends, Falling Up, and Runny Babbit several times, a few poems a night. For her birthday this year, she got The Missing Piece and The Missing Piece Meets the Big O. So yeah, she’s a pretty big fan.

Outside the Box knowingly plays on that popularity (and nostalgia) with a bit of an homage cover. I thought the similarity would end there.

I was wrong. Karma Wilson’s poetic sensibilities here are cut from the same mold as Silverstein’s. Right off the bat, even before page 1 (if you pay attention to the folios), this book adeptly fills the void that Silverstein left.

It wasn’t until I went back through the book that I noticed Wilson’s dedication, hiding on top of the copyright page:

“To Shel S., who encouraged every child to play with words, and in doing so, encouraged them to learn how to love, fight, and reach others with words as well.”

So, yeah, this book seems to be very much intentionally following in Silverstein’s footsteps. And I adore it. It’s almost tailor-made for my daughter at this exact moment.

For me, the test of good children’s poetry is: Does it instill a sense of wonder? Does it fire their imaginations? Wilson achieves that and more over the course of this book:

I flew a kite down by the sea,
until, that is, the kite flew me!
It tugged me high into the sky.
I held on tight and learned to fly!
I felt so free, so featherlight,
flying the world, just me and Kite.

The poems are lighthearted, cheeky, imaginative, playful, and—most of all—funny. At 5, Zoey didn’t fully “get” all of them, but she laughed at all those she did. And there was a lot of laughter. What’s not to love about booger poems? Or werewolf poems? Or poems that say “poo”?

I’m also a sucker for unique typesetting. And when better to play with the physical manipulation of text than with poetry? Several poems here let the words escape and dance around the page. It’s wonderful.

I can always tell when a book is a hit when Zoey hides the bookmark. She thinks if I can’t find it, then I’ll have to keep reading. It’s a good trick. And the bookmark disappeared every time we cracked this book open.

Karma Wilson’s work—namely her Bear books—already has a nice little spot in our collection, and this book is a most welcome addition. Similar to Silverstein’s own drawings, Diane Goode’s art is loose, lively, and a nice complement to the poems.

Verdict? A hands-down, definite winner. It’s a worthy addition to any child’s library and certainly welcome to share space beside my treasured, childhood copy of Where the Sidewalk Ends.