Monday tidbits

Janet Maslin reviews The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak, for The New York Times.

It is an ambiguous review, one that can be summed up by this paragraph:

• "To be sure, The Book Thief attempts and achieves great final moments of tear-jerking sentiment. And Liesel is a fine heroine, a memorably strong and dauntless girl. But for every startlingly rebellious episode — Rudy's Führer-baiting impersonation of the black American athlete Jesse Owens, the building of an indoor snowman for a Jew in hiding, the creation of books and drawings that frame Liesel and Max's experiences as life-affirming fairy tales — there are moments that are slack."

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The Washington Post is gearing up for Poetry Month (April) with a "KidsPost" entry, "It Could be Verse."

"KidsPost" invites young poets to submit their poetry to their second annual poetry contest. Winners will receive copies of Poetry Speaks to Children. To get kids started, the column includes five of their favorite poems from Poetry Speaks to Children.

• Why?, by James Stevenson
• Eagle Poem, by Joy Harjo
• On a Flimmering Floom You Shall Ride, by Carl Sandburg
• Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening, by Robert Frost
• The Unwritten, by W. S. Merwin