The New York Times Book Review - Julie Fogliano
…a bursting, bubbling, brain-bending adventure into poetry by the former poet laureate Juan Felipe Herrera…Interspersed with fun but useful techniques to turn your "burbles" into "Jabber poems," Jabberwalking is a riotous explosion of a how-to book. Herrera flings open the door, inviting even the most reluctant poets to join him.
From the Publisher
JABBERWALKING (Candlewick, 144 pp., $22.99; ages 10 and up) is a bursting, bubbling, brain-bending adventure into poetry by the former poet laureate Juan Felipe Herrera…Interspersed with fun but useful techniques to turn your ‘burbles’ into ‘Jabber poems,’ ‘Jabberwalking’ is a riotous explosion of a how-to book. Herrera flings open the door, inviting even the most reluctant poets to join him.
—The New York Times Book Review
Using the made-up words of Carroll’s “Jabberwocky” as a jumping-off point, former U.S. poet laureate Herrera shows children how riotous verbal exuberance births poetry...Poetry manuals can make students roll their eyes, but this one may open their hearts.
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
Herrera provides space for budding poets to learn how to write and encourages them to practice using the first secret of this collection: “You do not have to know where you are going! Or what you are saying!” Deeply personal and profoundly unique, this is a highly recommended purchase for every young adult yearning to be heard.
—School Library Journal (starred review)
In the right hands, all the wacky assignments and Herrera's autobiographical "Jabber Notebook" entries will ultimately spawn incandescent thinkers who will leap to the "flamey / Stars!"—or so Herrera hopes. An uncommon DIY for exuberant rule breakers.
—Kirkus Reviews
Including several biographical vignettes (some recalling encouragement from his mother) and frequent black-line cartoons, this book may be the best opportunity most of us will ever have to experiencing a Herrera presentation. And although the casual preteen browser may be left confused, in the hands of a gifted educator, this book has the potential to inspire and encourage young writers.
—Booklist
In a loose and jazzy style (and with a nod to Lewis Carroll), the former U.S. Poet Laureate offers instructions for “Jabberwalking,” or writing poetry while in motion...An enticing explosion of paint colors on the book jacket and a lot of white space on the large square pages will help sell this to teens who might not think of themselves as poets.
—The Horn Book
The author provides oodles of inspiration for students to write their own nonsense word, free-verse poetry.
—Learning Magazine
Kirkus Review
2017-12-11
In the spirit of Alice's madcap adventure down the rabbit hole, this stream-of-consciousness, metafictive exploration of the poetic process dips in and out of imagined reality as easily as the Cheshire Cat winks in and out of sight. Herrera, a former United States Poet Laureate, launches with an exhortation to "Slide on your Jabber Booots!" Taking writing pad in hand, "You have to move fast!" if "Your burbles are going to become a / Seismic & Crazy Epic Poem!" Herrera's rules for Jabberwalking-poets-in-waiting are simple: 1) "You do not have to know where you are going! / Or what you are saying!" 2) "move!" 3) "SCRIBBLE your burbles, your words of things…Jabber!" In this topsy-turvy vision, the brain is really a burrito that spews cosmos-changing revelations to anyone paying attention. "After four hours of nonstop Jabberwriting… / YOU! In four hours—will have an… / ALMOST-BOOK!" The challenge is to interpret the resulting scribbled "burbles," but fear not, the challenge isn't really a challenge because no one is expected to "understand" or "decipher." A Jabberwalker's sole directive is to create something that's not a "typical poem!" Between looking for the narrator's dog, Lotus, flying to the Library of Congress, landing on the word planet Pluto, and meeting a couple of Jabberbloggers, Jabberwalkers everywhere will have hopped, flown, and leapt through shape-changing exultations that have freed their "Mind-Brains." In the right hands, all the wacky assignments and Herrera's autobiographical "Jabber Notebook" entries will ultimately spawn incandescent thinkers who will leap to the "flamey / Stars!"—or so Herrera hopes.An uncommon DIY for exuberant rule breakers. (Nonfiction. 12-16)
