The Mermaid's Purse by Ted Hughes

Ted hughes love for the natural world is echoed in these poems about the many creatures that live in the ocean and on the sand. The book is small in size, which is fitting since the poems are pretty short and the images are abstract and in black and white. I really like Ted Hughes voice in these poems and the practically perfect descriptions he uses. I like the poem about the seal. He describes the seal to have famine child eyes and to look like it just lost it's mother in the ocean. I saw a seal up close over thanksgiving and they look exactly like that, with big baby eyes. They are so stinking cute, next to kittens and baby puppies! The poem that the book is titled after is somewhat strange, and I don't particularly like it that much. A mermaid opened her purse to get out an aspirin and a shark came along as the "doctor" and ate her head off, I'm assuming. These poems are kind of fun, but I don't think I'd choose this book to read to my class, since I believe there are others that are better.