Button Up!: Wrinkled Rhymes

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Schertle, Alice. 2009. BUTTON UP!:WRINKLED RHYMES. Ill. By Petra Mathers. New York: Harcourt Children's Books. ISBN 9780152050504

PLOT SUMMARY
In Button UP!: Wrinkled Rhymes, Alice Schertle brings to life various article of clothing. On each page the the reader is presented with a different types of garment such as “Violet's Hiking Hat” to “Emily's Undies” who have distinctive personalities just like the various animal characters that choose to wear them. Alice Schertle's poems not only describe the physical qualities of the garments, but allows the articles of clothing to narrate and detail their unique qualities, special history, and duties to the colorful characters to which they belong.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Alice Schertle's Button Up! are filled with humor and playfulness. For adults, each poem the reader delves into is a new experience full of meaning and nostalgia. In “Hand-me-down sweatshirt” lines such as, “I started out Wendell's,/was passed down to May,/she passed me to Karly,/I'm Andrew's Today. So zip up my zipper/and pull up my hood. I'm a friend of the family/ and still looking good.” Adult readers will remember their favorite old t-shirt handed down from an older brother or sister.In “Violet's Hiking Hat”, the hat says, “I'm taking a hike with Violet./Violet's showing me things./ “Hat,” says Violet, “there's a caboose./These are butterfly wings.” With these playful lines children will draw comparisons with Violet's hat and their own favorite tennis shoes, t-shirt, or that ratty old blanket they can't go anywhere without.
Petra Mathers' illustrations for Button Up! were done in bright and vivid watercolors. The main characters in the book are the articles of clothing, but Mathers brings special attention to the wearers of the clothing by choosing to make them not humans but beautiful and quirky animals. Mathers' illustrations complete Schertle's poems by evoking a sense of nostalgia. While Schertle's poems compel children and adults to remember their favorite toy or hand-me-down item, Mathers' illustrations evoke nostalgia by illustrating fantastical and beautiful animals similar to the classic child-hood favorite The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter.

REVIEW EXCERPTS
CHILDREN'S LITERATURE review: “Rollicking poems told in the "voices" of articles of clothing make up this fun collection. Rhymes are in couplets or quatrains, with some internal rhyming, and there is a well-defined rhythm that will appeal to children. The silliness of talking clothes adds to the overall appeal.”
KIRKUS REVIEWS “Mathers's whimsy-filled watercolors place each article of clothing on an animal, and not just cats and dogs. There are otters and pigs, alligators and rabbits, emus and moles. And these creatures have personality, exuberance and high style that perfectly match the verses. Loads of fun.”

CONNECTIONS
This would be a great read for children and parents together. Also, this would make an excellent project for an elementary class. After reading the story children could share with the class what their favorite garment was. Students could also write their own poems and illustrate their own favorite article of clothing for the class to see.
*Other books of poetry like Alice Schertle's Button Up!:
Schertle, Alice. VERY HAIRY BEAR Ill. by Mat Phelan. ISBN 0152165681
Mathers, Petra. LOTTIE'S NEW BEACH TOWEL. ISBN 0689844417