A Face Is a Poem

Gr 1-3–“Have you ever stopped and looked,/ really looked…/ at a face?” Through vibrant multimedia illustrations, Morstad takes readers on a journey of faces, human and non-human. The human faces feature a diverse cast of many races, ages, and abilities. The non-human faces feature items that many people may miss, like the face of a potato or a flower. The words invite readers to see the similarities and differences and engage in provocative questions, such as “what if the parts of our faces were rearranged?/ would we still know each other?” At times, the concepts are a bit offbeat, which may be challenging for children without adult guidance, such as asking if eyelashes are really butterflylashes (the butterflies fly off of the eyes of the child pictured). Additionally, the book is tonally abrupt with the concept, with wording such as “sometimes I wish my face/ wouldn’t show all my secrets” next to an image of a single tear falling after asking children a nonsense question about what color freckles they ­sprinkle on their faces.