Candy Corn by James Stevenson, James Stevenson (Illustrator)

From the Publisher

Give yourself a treat.

Open this book.

Smile!

An ALA Notable Book Give yourself a treat.
Open this book.
Smile!

In these twenty-four subtly powerful poems (including a memorable ode to eating peanuts), James Stevenson transforms the ordinary into the extraordinary. This new collection, the third in a series, features the cohesive blend of sharp insights and signature drawings that Stevenson's fans have come to expect. Readers who don't know they care about such seemingly mundane things as bare feet, auto parts, and buses at night will be convinced otherwise after a few servings of Candy Corn ... Funny, sad, wry, moving poetry for all ages.

2000 Notable Children's Books (ALA)

Children's Literature

Two dozen poems in rhyme or free verse, illustrated in watercolor and black line, call attention to whatever catches Stevenson's eye-dumpsters, a field full of daisies, hats, the way dogwood blooms at the forest's edge, an amazing paving machine-and make us see in a new way. A small house on a bridge populated by trolls who need their rest after growling all day, and imagined lives for fallen oak leaves or abandoned train stations and diners are some other subjects treated with gentle humor. These spare and economically illustrated poems, the author's third in this format, are more or less arranged seasonally from spring to fall. They invite writers to find the marvelous in the ordinary and demonstrate in a fresh way all those poetic devices teachers are always trying to teach.

School Library Journal

Gr 2-6-Like the sweet candy corn people nibble every autumn, these poems are delectable tidbits that tickle the taste buds. Stevenson's third collection of poignant, brief poems is both satisfying and illuminating. Once again, layout, text, color, line, and verse combine to produce a delightful array of treats. The 24 poems offer a new view of such diverse topics as peanuts, frogs, dumpsters, and dawn. Who but this master of succinct wordplay and pictures could see candy corn as dragon's teeth, imagine school buses chatting at the end of the day, or find 11 ways to express bird noises? Each selection is exquisitely illustrated in pastel watercolor and black ink; colored pages add interest to several verses and tinted ink highlights others. This gem belongs alongside Sweet Corn (1995) and Popcorn (1998, both Greenwillow) in every library.-Beth Tegart, Oneida City Schools, NY Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

Horn Book Magazine

Stevenson's unpretentious blending of whimsy and wisdom continues to surprise in this companion book to Sweet Corn (rev. 7/95) and Popcorn (rev. 5/98), although we should have learned by now that anything can be target for his eye and pen. A paving machine sitting by the highway is "part tank, part spaghetti"; yellow and orange candy corn scattered on the sidewalk look very much like dragon teeth; a stone wall with "all those different rocks / Working together, / Getting along fine" signals tranquility. The more lyrical passages are reserved for the natural world: "At the edge of the woods / The dogwoods are blooming / Like white surf tumbling / From a light green sea." Or, as in his description of the sky in the moments just before dawn: "You'll see torn bits of it / Scattered through the trees, / Fallen like confetti, / As if to say / Night is not forever." Like the other books in this noteworthy series, the watercolor and pen-and-ink sketches and the use of a variety of typefaces subtly extend the visual imagery inherent in the individual poems. A single brush stroke evokes a footprint in the sand; a blue that gets lighter as it moves from left to right across a page promises dawn.

Kirkus Reviews

Definitely on a roll, Stevenson has reinvented himself as a poet, following up Sweet Corn (1995) and Popcorn (1998) with this new set of small, seemingly artless, instantly engaging free verse, printed in a variety of shapes and colors. It's a mix of appreciative observations of the everyday—bird song, hats, the many things passersby carry—with imaginative flights, from the thought that a drawbridge structure makes "a swell hotel for trolls," to the claim that dumpsters rock-and-roll on Halloween; every one of the accompanying freely drawn watercolors captures to perfection the essence of its subject, whether it be a peanut, a shabby old building, dogwood in spring, or a spectacularly complicated road-paving machine. This is another gem from an astonishingly versatile veteran, and readers following the series will rightly speculate on the next collection's title: Feed Corn? Unicorn? (Poetry. 7-9) .

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