Worlds Apart: Fernie and Me

by Gary Soto, Greg Clarke (Illustrator)

We met these spirited best friends in Fearless Fernie, and now they're taking on the world! From boxing a kangaroo in Australia to craving Mexican food in Taiwan, or riding a runaway camel in Egypt and eating cheese as holey and smelly as their socks in Switzerland, the globe is their imaginary playground.
Gary Soto's accessible and humorous poems will elicit nods of recognition and bursts of laughter as readers enjoy this outrageous jaunt around the world.
Praise for Fearless Hanging Out With Fernie and Me

Genres: Poetry, Young Adult, Juvenile

64 pages, Hardcover

First published March 17, 2005

About the author

Gary Soto is the author of eleven poetry collections for adults, most notably New and Selected Poems, a 1995 finalist for both the Los Angeles Times Book Award and the National Book Award. His poems have appeared in many literary magazines, including Ploughshares, Michigan Quarterly, Poetry International, and Poetry, which has honored him with the Bess Hokin Prize and the Levinson Award and by featuring him in the interview series Poets in Person. He has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Guggenheim Foundation. For ITVS, he produced the film “The Pool Party,” which received the 1993 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Film Excellence. In 1997, because of his advocacy for reading, he was featured as NBC’s Person-of-the-Week. In 1999, he received the Literature Award from the Hispanic Heritage Foundation, the Author-Illustrator Civil Rights Award from the National Education Association, and the PEN Center West Book Award for Petty Crimes. He divides his time between Berkeley, California and his hometown of Fresno.

Reviews

[Chris Calzolaio · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of children's poems follows the travels of Fernie and the narrator as they travel the world, at least in their minds. These usually short poems each include some comical misadventure of the two travelers. Each poem takes place in a different country or city and each poem includes references to trademarks of the culture. For example the poem "Scottish Attire" includes references to Scottish weather, attire, speech and patriotism.

I loved most of the poems included in this collection. I love to travel and have been to some of the places that are described in these poems. I think Soto does a wonderful job capturing foreign culture for an adolescent American audience. This collection would be great as a mentor text in working with geography and world cultures.

[Bethann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Poems are important in children's lives. I believe if you do not introduce it to our children, they may not like it in the future. This book, gives kids a fun way to read poetry. Also, in this book they get images of different places around the world, which is always a good thing!

[Jock Zollinger]

This poetry book is with to guys who travel around the world and right new poems. If you like poetry and want to find a book then I would recommend it. I would rate this four stars because I like poems, but these poems didn't ryme.

[Carissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

this is a short book of poems about a boy and his cousin “traveling” the world, only… it’s not really clear whether they’re actually traveling or just imagining it… they were sometimes funny.

[Catherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fun poetry book for children. One poem really struck me: The Road not taken . . . in Peru. It is a play on the famous poem by Robert Frost. I love this poem.