Waiting to Waltz - A Childhood

By: Cynthia Rylant

Drawings by: Stephen Gammell

I am a fan of poetry. As I've said before, I'm one of those rare students who actually enjoys the poetry unit in English classes. I, on the other hand, do not like all poetry. Just as I'm an avid reader, I don't necessarily like all the books I read. Unfortunately, this collection of poems falls into the "I-don't-like" category! What I first noticed in this collection of poems is the depressing state of Rylant's early life. There are dead animals (poor Little Short Legs), poor people, an absent father, and no one at home in the summer. Don't get me wrong, these are all realities of the world. I just did not enjoy reading about them in this form.

I do give Rylant credit for choosing to write about her life using poetry. I just did not like the poems. I really don't know what else to say. I also did not like the drawings. I would have enjoyed seeing more "clear" pictures of her close experience to the great beyond or her walking home the scared child in the thunderstorm. Though I thought the illustrations were nicely done, I would have liked "clearer" pictures. I can use my imagination which I did as I was reading. I guess I just thought that if I did 't like the text, I would have liked the pictures.

I did see the progression of age reading from the first poem to the last. I am glad they are in a chronological order.

Maybe I'll change my mind about this collection of poems during/after class discussions and I hear some of my colleagues' thoughts.