Thanks a Million

Grat­i­tude for sim­ple plea­sures and small kind­ness­es is the theme of Grimes’ newest col­lec­tion of poems. A child thanks his teacher for help­ing him “hate math 1/2 as much as he used to”; a new boy in school shares his pie with a class­mate who wel­comes him; a moth­er sends her daugh­ter an appre­cia­tive lunch­box love note; and a young girl writes to an author express­ing her appre­ci­a­tion for a book that touched her heart. Grimes employs quite a pot­pour­ri of forms and rhyme schemes, includ­ing a rebus, match­ing them care­ful­ly to the mood. The poems are pre­sent­ed on one or two-page spreads sur­round­ed by Cabr­era’s vibrant acrylic paint­ings that add pop and per­son­al­i­ty. One can envi­sion this col­lec­tion stim­u­lat­ing dis­cus­sions about the need to say “thank you,” as well as encour­ag­ing young writes to try their hand at express­ing their thoughts in poet­ry. Good job. (Kirkus Reviews)