Albuquerque author Karin Stangl gears poetry books toward middle school readers

Albuquerque resident Karin Stangl said her two recent poetry books are aimed at middle school readers. But one could argue that the silliness of the stories and the art make them appropriate for elementary grade readers.

“Pickle’s Picnic Adventure” is about a pickle named Pickle who’s in a pickle, so to speak, from the get-go: “There once was a pickle/who lived in a jar./Squeezed in with 12 others,/he couldn’t move far.”

Naturally, Pickle wants out. His wish eventually comes true. Two others are also plucked from the brine. One of the other two is a gherkin, a small pickled cucumber. And gherkin also happens to be the name of the cute little cuke.

Along with some other veggies, Pickle and Gherkin move to a picnic table.

They think they’ll survive if they hide under a large spinach leaf. But along comes a line of dancing ants (in cowboy boots) toting food speared by toothpicks. Gherkin and Pickle join the ant parade at the rear.

They leave the parade, jump off the table, only to dodge water balloons and run past a pool and a grill.

Their next adventure is when they encounter a large bird that snatches up Pickle and flies him around until he falls onto a court with a ball and a net.

Tennis, anyone? No. Pickleball!

Pickle and Gherkin learn the sport and become prize-winning partners.

Each page of the book’s poems is four lines, with the end of the second and fourth lines rhyming.

The back of the book has a glossary with a list of 16 words from the book and their definitions.

Among the words on the list are brine, jostled and snatched.

Stangl’s other recently published poetry book for kids is “Buffy and the Giant Shoes.”

The poet describes the book as an adventure story in which there are three small stuffed animal friends — a buffalo named Buffy, a dog named Poodle Poo and a turtle by the name of, you guessed it, Turtle.

They happen upon a pair of huge blue slippers. The slippers belong to a giant (an adult male human). The animals convert the slippers into tanks for playtime until the giant reclaims the slippers. But Buffy doesn’t give up the fight for possession so easily.

This book has the same rhyming scheme and a glossary. The illustrator for both of the books is Denise Weaver Ross of Albuquerque.

Stangl previously published two poetry books for the general reader and another for members of her family.

“Poetry has been my avocation,” Stangl said.

She said that all of her books are available on Amazon.

Born in Montana, Stangl was raised in Silver City and in Albuquerque.

She graduated from Eldorado High School and holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of New Mexico.

Retired from state government, Stangl currently works as a public relations consultant.

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