I Can Be Anything! by Jerry Spinelli, Jimmy Liao

Review of I Can Be Anything! by Jerry Spinelli, Jimmy Liao From School Library Journal

The imaginative young boy in this marvelous story has some unusual answers to a frequently asked question. The youngster, clad in overalls and a cap, dreams of being "a pumpkin grower," "puddle stomper," or "silly-joke teller." Both the lilting text and amusing watercolor and acrylic illustrations are full of energy. The boy runs and skips from one adventurous goal to the next, accompanied by rabbits, frogs, and other little creatures. His animal friends gaze at him through the window of a homey kitchen in his future role as a "mixing-bowl licker." When he imagines being a "baby-sis soother," the smiling child is dressed in an elephant costume, and his sister laughs. In the end, on a four-page foldout, the boy decides, "So many jobs!/They're all such fun—/I'm going to choose…/EVERY ONE!" This outstanding book pairs well with Leonid Gore's When I Grow Up (Scholastic, 2009) or Jeanie Franz Ransom's What Do Parents Do? (…When You're Not Home) (Peachtree, 2007).—Linda L. Walkins, Mount Saint Joseph Academy, Brighton, MA Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc.

Though this was a cute book, I am not sure why it was classified as poetry when I was researching books for this reading project. It does rhyme and could be considered a poem, but it is not a book of poetry. That being said, I do like the illustrations and it is great for practicing rhyme in your preschool- first grade crowd. My 3 and four year old loved it and my special needs first and second grade group enjoyed reading it when doing rhyme.