Wise Up! Wise Down!: A Poetic Conversation

Wise Up! Wise Down! Is a conversation between John Agard and JonArno all done in poetry. The poets take turns asking questions throughout the book and then attempt to answer the question posed by the other. As the book continues on they come to realize that life is always an adventure and will continue to be so.

What I liked: This book opens with the two poets, John Agard (JA) and JonArno (JL), introducing themselves to the reader before it goes into them asking various questions of each other and attempting to provide each other with answers. Each question takes you on various adventures with each of the poets and makes you feel as if you are in the room beside the poet who wrote the poem.

This book lends itself well to being read aloud as you take turns reading the poems and feel that you are in conversation the way that JA and JL are throughout the book. The poems are various in length and include moments of pause in spaces where they have included a thought-provoking statement or something so ridiculous you just have to stop to laugh.

Along with each of the poems are fun illustrations that bring each page to life. These illustrations make you question what is happening and the meaning of the poems, and others just bring a laugh. There’s a fun image of an ostrich combined with another animal and you can’t help but pause and laugh trying to make sense of what you are seeing. There’s a poem regarding an animal giving advice to her children that will have you laughing out loud as you question what these poets are thinking while writing these.

Final Verdict: Wise Up! Wise Down! is a short and intriguing collection of poems that attempt to answer various questions, some of them thought-provoking while some of them silly. Children ages 8 and up will enjoy the silly questions that appear in this book and the serious responses to some of life’s pondering questions.