ChildrensPictureBook.info Review

Under the Moon and Over the Sea: A Collection of Caribbean Poems
Illustrator Christopher Corr
Editor John Agard
Publisher Candlewick Press

Under the Moon and Over the Sea is a collection of poems illustrated by five contemporary artists. The sections deal with important aspects of Caribbean life: the sea, the night and ghosts, the land, the flavors of Caribbean food, and Caribbean peoples traveling to other lands. You'll come away with a sense of the rhythms of Caribbean life and a desire to sample the taste of coconut and pineapple and spicy meat. Many of the poems are written in the dialect of the area. A little boy tells of his grandmother making Johnnie Bake. "She kneading de flour and she whole body shake."

The section titled "See Full Moon, Hear Jumbie Story" may give some parents cause for concern. The section focuses on the night and has a number of poems about jumbie or ghost stories and witchcraft. The illustrations for the poems "Duppy Dan" and "Jumbie Man" are scary and gruesome. There's also an illustration of a bare-breasted mermaid. You'll have to decide if the objectionable material outweighs the wonderful poetry and illustrations in the other four sections. I haven't allowed my rather fearful eleven-year-old any independent access to the book.

Under the Moon and Over the Sea

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