Forgive Me, I Meant to Do It Book Review

Forgive Me, I Meant to Do It: False Apology Poems by Gail Carson Levine

 William Carlos William's is famous for his "This is Just to Say" poems, the most famous being:

This Is Just to Say

I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox

and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast

Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold


The poems are simple and cranky, a form that is easy to reproduce and I would venture to say children would greatly enjoy creating their own.

Gail Carson Levine takes Williams' poetry style and gives them a fairy tale spin. The intro poems is as follows:

This is Just to Say

My bulldozer
has flattened
the thorny hedge

which
you mistakenly
expected to sleep behind
until the prince came

Forgive me
I'm charging tourists
ten dollars
to visit the castle




The book is cute and witty and would be a simple and fun introduction to poetry for all ages. There are some really great moments like the "introduction" poem being a couple pages in as well as information regarding the history and form of these particular kinds of poems. The illustrations by Matthew Cordell blend well with the poems, often adding an added humorous dimension to the already hysterical poetry.