One Minute till Bedtime: 60-Second Poems to Send You Off to Sleep by Kenn Nesbitt (review)

The former children’s poet laureate gathers nearly 150 new short poems from contemporary poets for youth in this treasury of verse. Title notwithstanding, many of the poems are about non-bedtime subjects, such as Nikki Grimes’ pithy “Backyard Circus” (about juggling apples) or Linda Ashman’s whimsical “On Adopting a Pet Elephant”; plenty, though, further the theme, such as Ralph Fletcher’s neat “Good-Night Poem” or John Rice’s musical “Starry.” A fair number of the entries are cheerful if unremarkable doggerel, but there are plenty of entries, both rhymed and free verse, that have real craft and zip, from Lemony Snicket’s quippy “Count Your Blessing” to Juanita Havill’s luminous “Canoe.” The illustrations, monochromatic, thickly lined ink drawings, shift their primary color from section to section, moving through brown, purple, blue; conceptually, they’re supporting players rather than partners, but they’re fluid and light-hearted. This is a treasury to be dipped into as needed, and therefore it’s suitable to a wide age range of listeners (as well as newly independent readers, who will appreciate the brevity and context cues). There is neither index nor poet bios, but a table of contents precedes the collection.