Plum

by Tony Mitton

Ranging from the haunting to the hilarious,PLUM was the first collection from Tony Mitton, who has become a major voice in the world of poetry for children. With beautiful illustrations by acclaimed artist Peter Bailey, this is a poetry book which should be read by everyone who has ever laughed at the sound of a word, cried at the twist of a story or asked a question that has no answer.

Genres: Poetry, Picture Books, Childrens

122 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

Reviews

[Deigan Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I literally grew up on this book 🥰

[Laura Rumohr · Rating 5 out of 5]

Summary & Review-
Plum is a children's poetry book. It is an anthology of 20 poems that cover a variety of topics and the poems are written in a variety of forms. Some of the topics include food while others are about animals and talents. There is a poem in here for everyone!

The illustrations are beautiful! The illustrator Mary Grand Pre (the illustrator of the Harry Potter books) makes each picture extremely unique. She uses pastels and each picture takes up the entire space of the page and somehow connect to the poem. For example, one poem was titled Flightpath. The poem is "The reason why the fly annoys me, as it does, is that, however hard I try, I can't ignore its BUZZ." The illustration is of a dog looking very irritated and the poem looks like it's following a fly and goes in one ear of the dog and moves all the way to the other ear.

A well-written and beautifully illustrated poetry book for kids!

[Sem · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eye-poppingly gorgeous illustrations and a cover so delicious that I want to lick the plum from the paper. 'The Elegant Elephant Delicatessen' is the visual centrepiece of the book (it opens up to a four page spread) but the longest poem is 'Mrs. Bhattacharya's Chapati Zap Machine', a title which trips from the tongue as readily as the wayward chapatis fly from the Zap Machine. Delightful.

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book when I was younger. I would read and re-read it and memorise poems to recite to my parents and friends! I still do think it is great.

[Simon Gonzalez · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m going to be honest, I only read this because Mary GrandPré is one of my favorite artists. Prior to finding this book, I went into a deep-dive of GrandPré’s work, watching videos and reading interviews from the early 2000s where GrandPré breaks down her process as an illustrator. Her work is wonderful, and I’m personally attached to it because of her gorgeous editions of the Harry Potter books. All to say, I’m obsessed with the way she illustrates and I will potentially eventually read every book that she has worked on.

Now onto the actual book…
Tony Mitton has such a way with words. There’s not too many things I have to say because I genuinely cherished every moment that this book gave me. Each poem was illustrious and exciting, and the art accompanying it was always satisfying, big, and detailed.

I like the fact that the entire book has a general theme of whimsy and exploration, ending with a sort of meta guide that provides children with a positive approach to books and poetry. Even as an adult, reading these poems out loud made me feel exhilarated. There’s a certain trust that Mitton has on the reader, for he doesn’t shy away from complicating words or presenting stories that are extensive and full of a wide range of characters.

I believe this book has what many children’s books now-a-days lack: a soft yet purposeful approach. The illustrations by GrandPré have a sense of determination and time put into them, and the way you can tell it’s all done with pastels is just lovely. Additionally, Mitton’s rhythmical style pops out from the page and demand attention. You can truly see the passion and care that was put into this book.

[Chandra Miramontes · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has great beautiful illustrations, I could just sit and look at the pictures. I found this book at our local library, and now I order it off of Amazon because I love it so much. These poems are silly, sad, scary, and just funny. I would highly recommend this book to any age group.

[Emily Dell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Genre: Poetry
Grade Level: Middle Grades

This book had so many wonderful things about it! The poems themselves were just plain FUN to read for me - which was a change from poems that make me self-reflect and think about how I can change. I think my favorite part of this book was the "Elegant Elephant Delicatessen..." so different from anything I've ever read!

[Bean · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely beautiful illustrations and the author playing with language.

[Brittany Dalziel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Personal Reaction: I LOVE this collection of poems. It is filled with concrete poems with beautiful illustrations. It is incredibly colorful and I like how the illustrator made the poems in the shape of what the poems are about or made the words somehow interact with the picture. For example, one of the poems, called "Puzzled Pea", has it's words in a pea pod that is shaped like a question mark. Not all of the poems in this story are concrete poems but I still really like this book and definitely want to own it one day and have it in my future classroom.

Purpose: The purpose of this book is to be read aloud to children in Kindergarten through 2rd grade, although it could be read to higher grades as well since it is a good example of poetry and isn't too easy for older grades, but still at the same time isn't too complex for the younger ones. The purpose is for enjoyment and enrichment. Children would love seeing all of the colorful illustrations and the creative ways that the words in the poems are displayed. Because of their enjoyment in this being read to them and the beautiful pictures, children would gain an appreciation for literature and poetry, and be more determined to learn how to read so that they can read the book themselves. These poems also contain quite a few words that would be new to children that would help build their vocabulary. For example, in just one poem the words "piston", "mustered", "hoisted", "tame", and "fond" are used. Although it seems like there may be too many "rare" words for children in these poems that they wouldn't be able to grasp the meanings behind them, this is not true. Through the illustrations depicting what the poem is about as well as some of the meanings of these more difficult words, children can gain a better understanding of them. Also, teachers would probably only read a select few out of the collection at a given time in order to analyze what the words mean, build the student's vocabulary, and understand the meaning behind the poems.

[Gemma Kilgore · Rating 3 out of 5]

As his first book of poems, "Plum" showcases an extensive and satisfying anthology written by Tony Milton. Within this series of poems, Milton explores several moods such as whimsical, thoughtful, and just plain silliness. Complimented by Mary Grand Pre's fantastical illustrations and "soft geometry" style, Milton's stanzas are textured with excitement, goofiness, and deeper meanings. With poems such as "Mrs. Rummage's Muddle-Up Shop," "Green Man Lane," and "What is Under?" Milton and Grand Pre's collaboration serves as a quirky addition to a child's poetry shelf.

***I would consider adding this book to my classroom library, because the poems are goofy and illustrate the complexities of a child's mind and their different emotions. Some of the poems could offer insightful analysis while others are not very appealing.

[Kaitlin McDonough · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is filled with wildly colorful illustrations and shape poems. These two aspects will help students who may not like or may not have a lot of experience with poetry books. I think this is important because I was not a student who was drawn to poetry books. So if the pictures in the book where beautiful and if there were shape poems I was more likely to read them. I think that is true with most students today as well because poetry books are often looked over by students.

I would use this book in the classroom in a poetry unit. I would read a poem from this book a loud to the class and then we would write our own poems based off of the poems that we have read in class. I think that this book helps poetry seem more fun to kids who seem to dread and even more exciting for students who already love poetry books.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I discovered this beautiful poetry book, published in 1998, in my school library. It is filled with quirky poems, several story poems, and some clever food poems. The opening, title poem, Plum, had such lines as “Don’t be glum/plum” and “Don’t feel beaten, you were made to be eaten.” Because Tony is British, there are a number of British traditional tales told in rhyme that I didn’t know, like “The Histon Boulder”. that tells a story of a giant of a man named Moses Carter (perhaps he really was a giant) who moved a boulder for the village. This is based on a real person who really did move one, and who is buried in the local cemetery. It’s a wonderfully written book, with whimsically pastel-rendered illustrations.

[J-Lynn Van Pelt · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of folktales and stories written in poetic form, this book has unique stories with multicultural characters and various poetic styles. My favorite story is "Mrs. Bhattacharya's Chapati Zap Machine" which tells of a woman who is both a cook and a brilliant engineer creating a machine that makes Chapati for the Queen.

The illustrations take this book from an interesting collection of poems to a journey through fantastical worlds full of wonder. They have a whimsical quality full of bright colors and sweeping motion. The layouts change from poem to poem too with one poem pulling out into a four page spread.

A great read.

[Elaine Duree · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book. My children love this book. they ask for it over and over.

[Krista the Krazy Kataloguer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bright, colorful illustrations and snappy, happy poetry make this a great readaloud choice.

[Erica Hendrickson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wonderful illustrations to accompany poems.

[Délice · Rating 5 out of 5]

fabulous children's poetry! <3

[Kestrel Class · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are lots of jokes and riddles as well as poems.

[Nicolo · Rating 5 out of 5]

tony mitton is a very nice person:

[Adam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very imaginative poetry with great illustrations for gr. 3+