Poetry Friday: Builder Goose: It’s Construction Rhyme Time!

I picked up Builder Goose:  It’s Construction Rhyme Time! a few weeks ago because it looked so darn adorable!  I finally had a chance to read it today.   I was right:  It is so darn adorable!  Boni Ashburn, of whom I am already a fan, has rewritten popular nursery rhymes and given each one a construction theme.   he book begins with “Here We Go ‘Round the Construction Site” where the precious animal characters “make the plans on a sunny Monday morning” and ends with “Twinkle, Twinkle, Wrecking Ball” which pictures a wrecking ball waiting for the next morning to knock down a wall.  The animals are clocking out and leaving the site.  In between, this entertaining anthology will delight young listeners with familiar tunes and trucks pouring concrete, fixing bridges, grading the soil, excavating the land, and much more.  Artist Sergio De Giorgi has created energetic illustrations, with lots of vivid colors and sweet expressions.  He uses the same group of animals throughout that include a pig, a duck, giraffe, dog, cat, and others.  I recommend Builder Goose:  It’s Construction Rhyme Time!  for youngsters ages 0-5.   

A couple selections below give readers a peek:

“The Itsy-Bitsy Skid Steer”

The itsy-bitsy skid steer

drove up the steep dirt hill,

stockpiled rock

with nimbleness and skill.

Up can the loader to haul it all away,

and the itsy-bitsy skid steer

kept working hard all day.

“Little Jackhammer”

Little jackhammer

gets all the glamour

of busting up worn-out concrete.

Gets rid of the old

(it’s hard work, I’m told!),

so  workers can pave the new street. 

Visit Life is Better with Books for other Poetry Friday posts!