In Climb Into My Lap: First Poems to Read Together, Lee Bennett Hopkins' collection of children's poetry welcomingly invites children to climb into parents' laps to share and read aloud an eclectic mixture of poems by renowned authors including beloved Robert Louis Stevenson, Eugene Field and Lewis Carroll. Familiar household poems children and adults will surely recognize such as "Jabberwocky," "On Top of Spaghetti," and "Wynken, Blynken and Nod" are included in this anthology. Newer poets will also be enjoyed as they make their contributions in this anthology with poems such as "How come?" by Marian Reiner.
Children will enjoy poems of Hopkins that are divided into sections such as "Me!," that deals with children developing a sense of independence as they learn to bathe, brush their teeth and discover a sense of self. Children will relate when Dorothy Aldis writes about a child who looks like their, mother father and Aunt Bee, who only "wants to look like ME! (12)." Hopkins frequently uses rhythmic poems to engage the children. Other sections such as "Secret Places," and "Some People" are realistic poems and discuss relationships and issues in childrens lives, while other sections contain fantastical poems that intrigue and expand the imagination such as "World's of Make-Believe."
Each section contains several poems around a central theme and they are listed in the table of contents at the beginning of the collection. "Its So Funny" includes humorous poems children will delight in such as "A Young Farmer of Leeds" who, "Swallowed six packets of seeds//And he couldnt sit down for the weeds (25)!" Aptly pictured, Kathryn Brown does a wonderful job creating a watercolor to capture this scene and make readers roar with laughter. Using rhyme and rhythm the poem is enjoyable because it expands a child's mind with images of this hysterical situation and allows thier imagination to run wild. Children will also enjoy participating in the singing and counting poems such as "Ten Little Fingers" and "Eentsy Weentsy Spider," and listening to whimsical rhyming and story poems as their imagination is stimulated with imagery throughout the book.
Although it contains many great poems, the collection covers such a wide variety of topics that it may be overwhelming to young children. Rather than reading all sections at one time, it is recommended to read a section at a time. Hopkins could have more carefully searched for poems to include in each section as some poems seemed out of place in their chosen sections such as "Magic Story for Falling Asleep." It is placed in "World's of Make-Believe," and involves a child's dream after he falls asleep, but would have more appropriately corresponded with poems in "Good Night!" Regardless of this tiny criticism, children will enjoy snuggling in parents laps to share witty tales, whimsical songs, and wonderful rhymes. As Lee Bennett Hopkins mentions, "One of the richest gifts we can give children is the gift of poetry, ...a gift from the past, a present for the future- words and thoughts and feelings they will remember, thank you for, their whole lives through (4-5)."
