Food Fight: Poets Join the Fight Against Hunger with Poems about Their Favorite Foods

the poetry shelf A new crop of poetry books takes on a wild range of subjects, from pizza to the rain-making gods to the pleasures of milking a cow; they demonstrate how poetry can lend itself to joking, praying, yearning and simply experiencing the textures of life. A feast of odes to food, Food Fight: Poets Join the Fight Against Hunger with Poems to Favorite Foods, edited and illus. by Michael J. Rosen, benefits the anti-hunger organization Share Our Strength. The collection serves up a witty menu of verses, the light outnumbering the substantial: they include Jane Yolen's tribute to chocolate, Paul B. Janeczko's two-word ""August Ice-Cream Cone Poem"" (""Lick/ quick""), ""Artijoke"" by William Cole and W. Nicola-Lisa's ""Salad Haiku."" The art is rendered in a drab palette of unappetizing and unlifelike colors, however, undercutting the otherwise deft book design.