This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Free Book Program, which is open to all readers and is completely free. The author will provide you with a free copy of their book in exchange for an honest review. You and the author will discuss what sites you will post your review to and what kind of copy of the book you would like to receive (eBook, PDF, Word, paperback, etc.). To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email.
This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Review Exchange Program, which is open to all authors and is completely free. Simply put, you agree to provide an honest review an author's book in exchange for the author doing the same for you. What sites your reviews are posted on (B&N, Amazon, etc.) and whether you send digital (eBook, PDF, Word, etc.) or hard copies of your books to each other for review is up to you. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email, and be sure to describe your book or include a link to your Readers' Favorite review page or Amazon page.
This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Donation Program, which was created to help nonprofit and charitable organizations (schools, libraries, convalescent homes, soldier donation programs, etc.) by providing them with free books and to help authors garner more exposure for their work. This author is willing to donate free copies of their book in exchange for reviews (if circumstances allow) and the knowledge that their book is being read and enjoyed. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email. Be sure to tell the author who you are, what organization you are with, how many books you need, how they will be used, and the number of reviews, if any, you would be able to provide.
Diane Belinfanti draws inspiration for her writing from her many years of experience working with children. One of her greatest joys is introducing young people to new worlds and adventures through the magic of words. During her long career as a classroom teacher, Diane gained considerable insight into the lives of students. Her publications include three picture books, a middle grade novel, and a poetry book for middle school students. Now retired from teaching, Diane lives in Montclair, NJ, where she continues to write children’s stories and poetry.
Reviewed by Golder Hazelton for Readers' Favorite
Don’t Drink from the Water Fountain by Diane Belinfanti is a witty, insightful, and delightfully humorous collection of rhyming poems in which the poet thoroughly inhabits the daily routine, mindset, and tribulations of typical middle school students. Belinfanti leads the reader on a lighthearted tour through school hallways, social dynamics, embarrassing bodily functions, emotional highs and lows, the perils of romance, academic woes, unfair teachers, and much more. The verses are so much on target that the entire collection seems like a middle school student’s survival kit. There’s even an offering entirely in the text speak that tween-agers feel so much at home using! The “About the Author” section at the end reveals that Diane Belinfanti is both a mother and a teacher – only someone uniquely skilled at both could have written poems like these with such laser precision.
The humor in Don’t Drink from the Water Fountain is so perfectly targeted that this collection might afford that rarest of pleasures, a bonding moment between middle schoolers and caring adults! It might even serve as (gasp!) fodder for an actual student/adult conversation! The overall tone of the collection could be described as Shel Silverstein meets Ogden Nash – rarely do we find such a deliciously witty or wise collection of verse for young people. As students peruse these marvelous verses, they will learn many important lessons; for example: a) you are not the only one facing these challenges; b) a bit of humor helps a great deal; c) things are not as tragic as they seem; and d) it is possible for adults to understand, among other important messages. Brian Hardison puts the cherry on top with his beguiling pencil illustrations, which complement the text beautifully and aptly convey Diane Belinfanti’s richly layered sense of humor.
