SIDMAN POETRY

Sidman, Joyce. This Is Just to Say: Poems of Apology and Forgiveness. Ill. Pamela Zagarenski. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2007.  ISBN:  978-0-618-61680-0

Poetic Elements:  Sidman uses a unique mixture of poetic elements throughout this book.  The imagery she creates in the first poem This is Just to Say capitalizes on what a mess powdered sugar is to eat: “Too bad, the powdered sugar, spilled all over my shirt, and gave me, away.”  Personification is used in the poem Lucky Nose when the subject at hand is a statue that is being treated as a real person:  “I am very sorry for assaulting your nose before every spelling test.”   I Got Carried Away also uses personification when describing the red balls used in the game of dodgeball, “All those red rubber balls thumping like heartbeats against the walls and ceiling.” A simile is tossed into the mix as the poem continues, “blinking back and forth like stop lights.”  The poem Fashion Sense uses an idiom when it says, “The classroom was so dead.”  In the poem Brownies – Oops! Sidman uses hyperbole when she writes, “I smelled them from my room: a wafting wave of chocolate-ness.”  Onomatopoeia can be heard as well as felt in Dodge Ball Kings when it says, “We mark each other out – zing, bam, sting!  The clever play with words and humor that Sidman uses in creating her apologies and forgiveness requests, concisely presents situations that almost any reader will be able to relate to.

Appeal:  The topic at hand for each poem’s apology or poem response to the apology will keep kids glued to reading this book in its entirety.  The book seeks the same charm that a kid gets when watching someone else get into trouble.  The view point being written and told by various Sixth Grade students will allow the poem’s language to be easily understood by its intended audience of other kids.  After reading each apology, students have time to think about how they would respond before reading how the recipient actually responded in the book.  Imaginations will soar as readers take time to sort through the facts and simulate their own emotions of response before reading how the actual response is claimed.

Overall Quality:  The poems are very consistent in quality and resemble words spoken by various kids that Sidman has creatively imagined.  The first half of the book contains poems that explain admissions of guilt and the second half of poems are conclusions or responses given by the offended.  The balance between all of the imaginative things written about by way of apology and how the recipient reacts is quite comical in some instances.  Each poem is uniquely spaced and written.  Various fonts are used throughout the book providing a lot of variety.  Some poems require a two-page spread, while shorter poems are on single-page spreads.  Pamela Zagarenski, the illustrator, used mixed media on paper, canvas, and wood with collage and computer graphics.  Each poem’s illustrations are very entertaining and playful to look at and are visually appropriate for this book.  Reading anything by Joyce Sidman is always a pleasant delight. 

The Poets:  Joyce Sidman is the single poet that wrote this anthology of poems about apologies and forgiveness.  She is an accomplished writer of poetry, fiction, journalism, and essays, but is currently well known for writing children’s poetry.  She is the winner of the 2013 NCTE Award for Excellence in Children's Poetry, a Newbery Honor winner, a two-time Caldecott honor winner, and has won the Claudia Lewis Poetry Award. This Is Just to Say: Poems of Apology and Forgiveness has received multiple honors and awards including:  Claudia Lewis Poetry Award, Cybils Poetry Award, Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award Honor Book, School Library Journal Best Book of the Year, IRA Teacher's Choice Book, New York Public Library's "100 Titles for Reading and Sharing," and Book Links Lasting Connection Book. 

Layout:  Readers will definitely recognize Sidman’s style of writing that is quite witty when reading this book.  Sidman, has written the entire collection of poems for this book.  The book contains a table of contents, an introduction, and the poem This Is Just to Say by W.C. Williams before ever getting to Sidman’s poems.  The poems are arranged in two parts.  The first 18 poems are related to apologies and the last 17 poems are responses of forgiveness in relation to the apologies.  Sidman’s introduction is hypothetically written by a Sixth Grade boy and is meant to get the reader ready for her book. 

Spotlight Poem:  Remembering the golden rule to treat others as you would want to be treated is the overarching theme in this book of poetry.  For many people, those young and old, it is hard to offer an apology because we allow our pride to get in the way.  The same can happen in acting cattily in response when someone tries to offer a sincere apology.  For a school counselor, I think this would be an incredible book to share with 2^nd, 3^rd, and 4^th graders and discuss what seems to get us into “pickles” that cause us to need to offer up an apology.  Walking students through the correct way of asking for forgiveness from someone and the correct way to respond are all situations that students will benefit by seeing modeled by a professional.  Creating various scenarios to roll-play and asking individual students how they would respond would allow a chance to practice a social skill that is often overlooked.

Part of the poem Not Really by Joyce Sidman

I’m sorry I bumped your books that day

And scattered them all over the floor

(but not really).

I’m sorry your locker mirror disappeared

And mysteriously ended up in my desk

(but not really).

PERFORMANCE POETRY

Greenfield, Eloise. The Friendly Four. ILL. Jan Spivey Gilchrist. New York: Harper Collins Pub., 2006. ISBN: 978-0-06-000760-7.

Poetic Elements: Writing free-verse poetry allows Greenfield the freedom to mix up her style with various poetic elements.   Onomatopoeia is exhibited in The Race where Drum and Dorene say, “Huffing, puffing! Whew!”   In the same poem, “Leaning around the turns, churning our legs like bicycle wheels,” reveals the usage of simile.  The poem Tall Tale abounds with hyperboles.  “And in the winter, all the people would drag their sleds to the bottom of the hill, and then they would ride up.”  Just the opposite of what you would sensibly think is told to exaggerate and create wacky images.  Rhyme and assonance are mixed together in the poem Bummer Summer when the poem reads, “Summer’s a bummer,” or in the poem Party that says, “Let’s just be willy-nilly silly.” The element of simile is used in the poem Someone when the character, Louis, says, “My new mama really looks at me, not at all like the other two.”  Many fresh, yet familiar images are created by reading this anthology.

Appeal:  Greenfield notoriously emphasizes the things that kids love to do throughout this book, so it will definitely appeal to young people and retain their attention.  The sense of familiarity with what each poem shares is what makes the poems so much fun to read.  The poems also create moments in which to ponder because life is full of circumstances and situations: some we create ourselves and others attach themselves to us because of our associations.  The language is easy to understand and will readily stimulate the emotions and imagination of young readers.

Overall Quality:  The poems are perfectly suited for young readers to read and synthesize.  There are 34 poems that are arranged over six specific friendship groups.  Some of the poems in each grouping are poems written about individuals and others are written with multiple voices as the friendships bloom.  Each character in the book has an assigned text color that their voice is written in.  For example, the poem Who I Am is an individual poem about a boy named Drummond.  It is completely written with red text.  If you flipped through the book, your eyes could find random red text in other poems featuring multiple voices, but the red text would be reserved for the voice of Drummond.  Distinctive line breaks are utilized throughout the book to allow the reader time to ponder the characters words and actions.  The illustrations are created by Jan Spivey Gilchrist who has illustrated several award winning books.  Her illustrations in this book help deepen a greater understanding and appreciation for each poem and help bring the imaginations’ of the kids to life.  This book was easy to read and offered me a moment to step back in time and think about what my imagination was like when I was a kid as well as the varied dynamics that different friendships take on. Greenfield is a thoughtful writer to admire and appreciate.

The Poets:  Eloise Greenfield is the single poet who has written this anthology of poems regarding friendship.  She has authored over 30 children’s books and was the 11th

winner of the NCTE Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children.  She has published three other collections of poetry for children and has published three single poem picture books, too. Greenfield’s poems have been anthologized many times with other poets.

Layout:  Greenfield is the featured poet in this book and could very easily be familiar to young readers that like to read.  Many of her poems have become “classroom staples” that teachers tend to gravitate in using for their classrooms.  Although the book is seven years old, its relevancy is ageless.  There are a total of 34 poems in this book.  The table of contents has divided the poems into six main groupings.  The first group shares poems of one child’s experiences.  The second group shares poems of two kids building a friendship.  The third group shares poems of three kids building a friendship together.  The fourth group shares poems of four kids building a friendship together.  The fifth grouping shares poems of the four kids having fun and using their imaginations.  The last set relays the feelings and emotions that come when a good friend moves away.  The time span of the book is from the beginning of summer to its end.  Greenfield writes her poems using free-verse.  There is a nice mix of individual poems and poems that use several voices.  Different text colors are used in poems featuring more than one voice to make it defining for whose voice is speaking.  Although background information is not provided for each poem, the poems (when read in order) share the strong bonds that form in friendship over time.

Spotlight Poem:  This would be a nice book to share during the first week of school with a Fourth grade class.  Taking time to focus on the first poem in the book called Who I Am could model to students how they could write a poem about themselves to reveal who they are as an activity in getting to know their classmates.  For even more fun, students could write their poems and the teacher could read them aloud and have classmates try and guess which friend in the class wrote the poem.

Who I Am by Eloise Greenfield

Drum:  I’m Drummond Anthony Liggins,

            mostly known as Drum,

            who likes to wrestle,

            likes to run,

            likes to count

            things.

            I count my footsteps

            from the porch to the gate,

            and I wait.

            Wait for fun to find me

            in my big back yard.

HOPKINS AWARD POETRY

Wardlaw, Lee. Won Ton: A Cat Tale Told in Haiku. Ill. Eugene Yelchin. New York: Henry Holt and Co., 2011. ISBN: 978-0-329-94635-7.

Poetic Elements: Wardlaw abounds in her uses of poetic elements in this book.  “Your tummy, soft as warm dough,” is an example of how simile is used.  Metaphors are also used when dogs and cats are compared to each other.  “Dogs have hair, Cats, fur.  Dogs whine, yip, howl, bark.  Cats purr.”  Won Ton, the cat, is personified with being able to think, reason, and justify like a human.  My favorite example is when Wardlaw squishes the words “let me in” to look like “letmeinletmeinlet” and resemble the elongated sound of a cat’s meow.   Rhyme is not prominently featured in this book, but is found coupled with assonance in the line, “me to muzzle his buzzle.”  “Prickle-puffed, I hiss,” mixes the elements of alliteration and hyperbole as an illustration of a cat’s appearance when scared, and it arches its back and back hairs stand straight up.  Onomatopoeia is an easily featured element:  squeaks, whine, yip, howl, bark, purr, sniff, crunch, snap, hiss, meow, whisper.      

Appeal:  Although usually unappealing to children, the senryu written to relay the story will probably go unnoticed unless specifically highlighted.  Family pets typically make for familiar experiences that children can relate with and hold their interest, too.  Unknowingly, children will be able to synthesize over the various situations that the cat is faced with.  The choices of words used are understandable and feature many sight words that young readers will find familiar to read.  This is a book to be enjoyed by reading again and again. 

Overall Quality:  This book, written with children in mind, can also be enjoyed by cat lovers of any age.  The poems share a story of how a cat is adopted from a shelter and how it goes to live with a family. Written in senryu, similar to haiku, the humor and plot will diminish any negative and preexisting feelings towards this style of poetry. I personally forgot that I was even reading a poetry book.  The feelings and actions portrayed by the cat kept me in stitches! The two-page spreads typically feature three senryu poems that are carefully placed among the illustrations.  They are the perfect complement to each other.  After thoroughly enjoying this book, I will definitely seek out more of Wardlaw’s books to read and would personally consider her to be a visiting author in my school library.   

The Poets:  Lee Wardlaw is the single poet that has written this story in verse.  She is an accomplished writer who has written over 30 award-winning children’s books.  Senryu poetry is what is featured in Won Ton, but she has also written picture books, easy-readers, chapter books, non-fiction, middle grade novels, and young adult novels.  Several of her poems are featured in the book The Poetry Friday Anthology compiled by Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong.  Won Ton has been a recognized winner for the 2012 Lee Bennett Hopkins Children’s Poetry Award, the ALSC Notable Children’s Poetry Award, and the CCBC Best Children’s Book of the year to name just a few.   More information about Wardlaw can be found at her website www.leewardlaw.com

Layout:  This 32-page picture book is written in senryu.  It is similar to haiku writing with a seventeen syllable pattern written over three lines in a 5-7-5 syllable pattern.  Its content is humanistic in nature and is expressed through a narrative style, intended to be humorous, playful, or ironic. For this particular writing at hand, Won Ton is spoken from a cat’s perspective.  The illustrations by Yelchin use graphite and gouache on watercolor paper. They are playfully mocking the cat’s sentiments in the story.   

Spotlight Poem:  Reading the book in its entirety would be a great way to explain a character’s point of view.  I would extend this concept by showing various pictures with different characters that are human or animal and ask the class to synthesize with the picture and imagine if they were the character in the picture, and what they might be saying.  Ultimately, I would like to flip this activity into a writing assignment and have additional pictures for the students to choose from individually and take ownership by writing a short story and embellishing the character’s point of view.

A short portion of Won Ton by Lee Wardlaw is included below

The Adjustment

Scrat-ching-post?  Haven’t
heard of it.  Besides, the couch
is so much closer.

Pesky fly! Allow

me to muzzle his buzzle.
Never mind the lamp.

Naptime!  Begone, oh

fancy pad.  I prefer these
socks. They smell of you.

Help! I’ve been catnapped,

dressed in frillies, forced to lap
tea with your sister.

Letmeoutletme

outletmeoutletmeout.
Wait—let me back in!

SCIENCE POETRY

Yolen, Jane. BUG OFF! Creepy, Crawly Poems.  Honesdale, PN: Word Song, 2012. ISBN: 978-1-59078-862-2

Poetic Elements:  A distinctive rhyme can be found in most of Yolen’s poetry written in free verse.  For example in the poem “Honey Bee Mine” she writes, “I’ll turn you into something runny, coagulating into honey.” She shows humor in her poem “Oh, Fly” when she writes, “Oh fly, you flew onto my leaf and not my food.  What a relief!”  In “Butterfly to a Flower” Yolen metaphorically speaks of a butterfly’s movement as “A tutu-clad dancer.”  Ants are blissfully personified in “An Army of Ants” saying “An all-female work force, their food stores enhance, Toiling too hard to consider romance.”  Using clever wordplay, alliteration is achieved in “Lovebug Alone” at the end of the poem when it reads, “Are you a solo so low bug?” Yolen attains this same feature in “Spider to the Poet” in the last line that reads, “Then put it on the World Wide Web.”  Onomatopoeia is used in “POP! Goes the Tick” when Yolen writes “He’ll pop! and leave some ick.”  Yolen definitely uses fresh and abstract ideas to help readers connect the dots in her poems and describes easy to understand images.

Appeal:  Although Yolen writes with an appealing poetic form, retaining the attention of young people will be bolstered with the help of Jason Stemple’s unique photographs.  Bugs are very appealing to kids and something they can easily relate to from seeing them in natural settings from everyday life.  The poems are enriching, but are further supplemented by way of a non-fiction paragraph about the creature at hand that Yolen has obviously researched in being able to share concise and accurate information.  Yolen’s use of language in her poems will deepen the linguistics of a young person allowing them to make connections with less familiar words. Imaginations will “swarm” when reading this book!  

Overall Quality:  The book is nicely designed in content and appeal and focuses on some of the tiniest creepy and crawly creatures alive.  The up close photograph shots allow the viewer to see much more than would usually be noticed with the naked eye.  Children will enjoy looking at the book and will ask for the poems to be read to them if they are not yet readers.  The poems are short enough to keep almost any attention span.  The same black font, size and spacing are used throughout.  The only real change is how the poems’ titles are presented on each page.  All poem titles are written in a bright, primary color and are placed in various ways on the page: straight, crooked, wavy, ascending, and descending.  The use of one poem with one photograph, and squeezing in an additional non-fiction blurb about the creature creates a sense of balance for each layout.  It would be a welcome to read more books published by Yolen.

The Poets: Jane Yolen is the single poet that has composed this anthology on insects and spiders.  She is a notable author that writes in various styles and has written over three hundred books for children and adults.  She has received many awards which include:  the Golden Kite Award, Christopher Medals, the Regina Medal, and the Kerlan Award. Some of her poems are included in other poetry collections as well.

Layout:  Yolen’s book was published in 2012 and includes the freshest knowledge about spiders and insects available.  The book is a 32-page style picture book composed of photographs taken by Jason Stemple.  It is organized with a table of contents, a note from the author, and followed up with thirteen double-page layouts.  Each layout has a detailed photograph of the bug being poetically spoken of and the opposite page features the poem and an information paragraph giving specific details and facts about the creature.  The mode of written expression is similar in nature with all of the poems in the book.

Spotlight Poem:  Using this book to spotlight a poem a day during a second grade science unit of study on insects and spiders would allow time to ponder and think on each poem.  Yolen has some higher ordered thoughts scattered in her poetry and it would be a great way for students to take time to synthesize and discuss aloud the creature, its habits, and what the poet is trying to convey in her poem.

“Pop! Goes the Tick” by Jane Yolen

The tick is mostly mouth,

and if he lands on you

he’ll try to suck your blood,

‘cause that’s what all ticks do.

But never try to squeeze him.

He’ll pop! And leave some ick.

Bacteria comes sliding out,

Which makes a person sick.

SOCIAL STUDIES POETRY

Lewis, J. Patrick.  When THUNDER Comes:   Poems for Civil Rights Leaders.  San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2013.
ISBN: 978-1-4521-0119-4

Poetic Elements:  Lewis succinctly equips his poems with an array of poetic elements scattered throughout.   In the poem “The Activist” which refers to Coretta Scott King, the poem reads “Night birds fell dumb in the tree” which is an example of using hyperbole.  Personification and onomatopoeia are also used in the same poem, “Her silent shadow roared.”  The poem “The Captive” written in regards to Mitsuye Endo, shares the use of metaphor, “They put me in a hateful house—Internment camp—and I, a mouse.”  Ellison Onizuka, a Japanese American astronaut, was written about in the poem “The Astronaut” which models the use of simile, “He soared around the Earth as in his dreams.”  The poem “The Statesman” modeled after Nelson Mandela demonstrates the use of rhyme, “Five years before the actual event. At Robben Island Prison, his descent.”  Imagery abounds in “The Journalist” written in regards to Helen Zia, when the poem begins, “I am a woman with a foreign face—Apple-pie American (born Chinese).”  Sensory images and personification are also strong in the poem “Freedom Summer” written about James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner when it mentions “With the odor of pee running down my pant leg.”  Assonance is unintentionally used with the phrase, “When she lost the man to the Ku Klux Klan,” in the poem “The Activist” referring to Martin Luther King, Jr.  With such a collective use of poetic language, Lewis has used fresh and imaginative ideas and allowed us to feel each poem.

Appeal:  The poems are like miniature narrative stories that are capable of provoking deep thoughts.  The format of using short stanzas makes them easy to read.  Kids having an interest in history would be drawn to reading this book.  Those less serious about life and what they read might shy away instinctually, but with the encouragement to read it, one could be swayed.  Many of the people written about in this book have helped in the efforts of making America such a great place to live and as U.S. Citizens we should be cognizant of what’s happened in the past.  These poems will definitely enrich a child’s insight, knowledge, and vocabulary.  Presenting these “old wounds” in poetry format will presumably stimulate all audiences.      

Overall Quality:  Written in picture book format, these poems can be read by elementary students.  However, a basis for understanding the information at hand would be better understood by a minimum age of middle school students.  All of the poems highlight Civil Rights Leaders from around the world: six poems with women and the other 9 with men.  The spacing and font used are similar with each poem which sits across from the accompanying illustration on the 2-page layouts.  A few poem illustrations do surround the poem.  This picture poem book is well organized.  The illustrations are rendered in oil, acrylic, and watercolor and were created by five artists:  Jim Burke, R. Gregory Christie, Tonya Engel, John Parra, and Meil So. Although created by various hands, the illustrations blend nicely from one poem to the next and there is no disconnect of feeling in the transfer from one illustrator to the next.  Lewis has done an outstanding job writing the poems in this book.  He is capable of writing poetry in various styles and tones and I would have to say that I enjoy reading his “serious” toned books of poetry a lot more than his “humorous” books. Now, if you asked a kid their opinion, they would probably say just the opposite!   

The Poets:  J. Patrick Lewis, Children’s Poet Laureate for 2011-2013, is the sole writer for this collection of poems.  It is an anthology written about various civil rights leaders. Lewis is a notable poet who has received many awards including The National Council of Teachers of English Excellence in Poetry Award. He has authored more than 75 books and some of his poetry is included in other collective poetry books.

Layout:  This book was just published in 2013 by Lewis.  His poems tell about various Civil Rights Leaders and include some that have passed away and some that are still alive.  Currency of time is important to note with Civil Rights Leaders still living and how they continue to lead their lives.  The book is compiled with 15 poems highlighting a total of 17 people that are considered to be Civil Rights Leaders all around the world.  It is a 32-page picture book that does not have a table of contents or any kind of index.  Lewis includes a preface he has written to get the reader ready for the poems.  Each of the poems stands alone on a single page and consists of several stanzas, with most similar in length. They are expressed in an expository way.  In the back of the book, back ground information is included about each poem and Lewis includes his resources for where he obtained his knowledge and information.  A concise biography of J. Patrick Lewis is written on the inside of the back cover.

Spotlight Poem:  Sharing this book with a US History class when they are studying about the Civil Rights Movement would be very impacting.  Although not all of the poems tell of an American, it would be perfectly fine to share about civil struggles that have occurred outside of the United States, too.  I would share this book in eBook format so that I could display the poem and its illustration on a big screen for all of the students to see.  Depending on the number of days dedicated to teaching this part of the US History curriculum, I would share 1-2 poems a day and include the follow up paragraphs that pertain to the poems to explain the scenario at hand more succinctly.

“The First” by J. Patrick Lewis

I run down

the line, eight feet,

nine…and feint to feel

the rush between the third

baseman’s brush back and home.

Whitey Ford stares through me, a sneak thief

playing on his disbelief, a phantom blackbird hopping

on and off

the dare, flinching,

inching along the ledge

to legend.  I time the windup,

my pistons primed to shovel under

Yogi’s glove.  Yankee Stadium is stunned!

But you can hear the cheering all the way from Harlem.

Written about:

Jackie Robinson, First African American baseball player in the modern era 1919-1972

BIOGRAPHICAL POETRY

Troupe, Quincy. Little Stevie Wonder.  Ill. Lisa Cohen. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2005.  ISBN: 978-0-618-34060-2 

Poetic Elements:  This biography book is written in free verse and tells the story of Stevland Judkins Morris Hardaway, better known as Stevie Wonder.  The author takes a familiar song written by Wonder and manipulates the lyrics in his poem to reflect a telling of Wonder’s life in a repetitive format.  For readers that are familiar with the original song, they can easily sing parts of the poem naturally while they read.  To those unfamiliar, they will catch on as this part of the poem repeats itself throughout.  Similes are used in the poem.  “Little Stevland grows up like a vibrating root listening to blues music on the radio,” is an example. The interpretive imagery used here is exaggerated through Cohen’s illustrations.   The above simile features Wonder as an infant in a stroller with a boom box nestled next to him.  Metaphors are also used, “He is a curious boy, who imitates all the black singers he hears over the airwaves.”  “And through his ears he sees more clearly than most people do with their eyes,” is an example of how hyperboles are used, admonishing keener senses when one is missing.  The cadence of the poem is exonerated with how the text is written in curvy lines and arches, and has singled out words and phrases that are bolded letters and/or changed text colors. Although Wonder was blind, his life was consumed in a rainbow of colors which helps reiterate the many happy times he has had in his life.  An association of imagery abounds as the reader connects the words with the illustrations.  Because sounds abound in Wonder’s life, the use of onomatopoeia is almost an understatement in this book, “He starts banging on bongo drums when he is seven.”  Truly feeling the world through Wonder’s experiences is expressed by Troupe in this imaginative biographical poem with fresh ideas and feelings.

Appeal:  This poem being written in picture book format is a win-win style.  The book is full of color and interesting illustrations that accompany the text, which is easy to read.  One might “wonder” just glancing through the book looking at the illustrations why the boy keeps wearing sunglasses on his face.  The insight gained from reading the words in the poem will help readers to “see” from a different perspective.  The poem doesn’t weigh on Wonder’s disability, but praises his achievements to overcome life’s struggles in making lemonade out of sour lemons. Further, his scope of compassion towards all of humanity is pleasingly encountered when synthesizing the lyrics he uses in writing his songs.  To get the most from this biographical poem, readers will want to read the author’s follow-up about Wonder and scan through the chronology about his life up to this point.

Overall Quality:  The poem is definitely appropriate for elementary students to read, but would probably earn more appreciation from second grade and up.  Most people are more compassionate towards another when they learn of a person’s disabilities.  In a sense they are probably more thankful to be a person without having physical disabilities.  However, this poem and book did a really nice job explaining the extenuating circumstances that caused Wonder’s blindness and how he capitalized upon his strengths of hearing and touch to create music with poignant lyrics that have made an impact all over the world.  I personally really enjoyed the ease in reading this book.  Because I have listened to Wonder’s music on the radio and already had that knowledge, I gained a better perspective for the person that he is. The book shared information that was new to me, yet interesting. Readers who are unaware of Wonder before reading this book will also find interest in this book, too.  The illustrations are perfect in their style and usage amount. I could very easily read another book written by Quincy Troupe.  Dwelling on the good is what this poem did.
The Poets:  A single poet, Quincy Troupe, wrote this free verse poem.  It is a 32-page biographical poem picture book that tells the amazing life highlights of Stevland Judkins Morris Hardaway, better known as Stevie Wonder.  Troupe was the first official poet laureate of the state of California.  He has published various poetry books.  His book Little Stevie Wonder has received high reviews from Kirkus Reviews, Horn Book, and Booklist.  It has also earned a starred review from School Library Journal.

Layout:  Little Stevie Wonder is a 32 page biography picture book that shares how Stevland Judkins Morris Hardaway took delight in music and overcame his disability of blindness, delighting the world with the music and songs he wrote and sang. This book includes a CD that features two songs by Stevie: Fingertips (Part 2) and Uptight (Everythings Alright).  It helps the reader to get a taste of what Wonder’s music sounds like. The actual 32 page poem features illustrations on every page done in acrylic on paper.  The poem is written in various sized words and colors that bring emphasis to the story and the text is placed differently on each page.  The author, Troupe, shares his notes about Stevland Judkins Morris Hardaway after the poem and also gives the main chronological highlights of his subject.  A “Select Discography” follows, sharing the years that various Motown labels for Wonder’s music were recorded.  Information on the author and illustrator are shared on the inside of the back cover.

Spotlight Poem:  By way of introducing this poem, I think that I would find a video-taped recording on uTube of Stevie Wonder performing “Isn’t She Lovely.”  I would follow by sharing the book Little Stevie Wonder.  After discussing the book and emphasizing the concise highlights of Wonder’s life and achievements, I would explain to students that they are going to select a biography from our library to read.  They are responsible for pulling out the top 3 to 5 most important things that they learned in the book about that person.

Taken from Little Stevie Wonder by Quincy Troup

Isn’t he lovely,
this blind black boy
born to love everyone?

Oh yeah, isn’t he lovely,
 this small blind boy, thinking of his fingertips?
  Snapping those fingers before unseeing eyes,
   he starts humming.
    Then he turns that humming into a song.
     Shake it, shake, shake a tail feather, baby.
      He shakes his head in time with the music,
       shakes it from side to side—
        makes up a beat and keeps the beat going
         inside his mind, where he sees everything in          pictures. 

NEW POETRY BOOK

Lewis, J. Patrick. National Geographic Book of Animal Poetry: 200 Poems That Squeak, Soar, and Roar! Washington, D.C.: National Geographic, 2012.  ISBN 978-1-4263-1009-6

Poetic Elements:  Rhyme abounds throughout this book. Onomatopoeia is highlighted in the poem "Luna Moth" that reads, “Tick-tick-ticking-all silver-green.”  The anonymous poem "Bull and Ox" models the use of simile, “A bull acts like a bully.” Personification is prototyped in Marilyn Singer’s poem "Beavers in November" where the beaver speaks in first person, “You pat, I gnaw, I pile, You store.”  "The Walrus" by Jack Prelutsky combines alliteration and assonance: “The widdly, waddly walrus has flippery, floppery feet” and “The thundery, blunder walrus has rubbery, blubbery hide.”  Janet Wong uses imagery in her poem "Blue Jay" when the interpretation of an alert sound the Blue Jay makes is code for “Hawk incoming! Fight!” These are only a few examples of the many, many poetic elements that can be found in this anthology about animals.

Appeal:  Providing an assortment of poets and poetry styles will beg those short in attention to stay tuned.  The quantity of poems and photographs that are included are a distraction (in a good way) to keep the reader responsive. Observing how God has uniquely designed and equipped each animal to live will leave readers in awe of HIS awesomeness.  New insights about these creatures will be learned by all who interact with this book and will peak curiosities to want to learn more. 

Overall Quality:  The design and organization of this book have been well conceived.  The book is oversized for visual purposes.  The poems are appropriately written for both young and old people alike to enjoy.  To fully appreciate the book, one must look at the photographs, too.  Most are from photographers that were at the right place, at the right time to be able to capture such unusual shots.  A variety of poetry styles are used and mixed throughout.  Depending on the photograph, depends on the number of poems that are featured on the page as well as its location.  All of the poems are written in the same size font.  Poem spacing depends upon the type of poem that has been written.  The poem "The Anteater" written by Douglas Florian is included in this anthology and it takes up more room than usual because it is a shape poem.  On the contrary, J.W. Hackett shares a haiku poem about sparrows which is a concise 3-line poem. This book does not necessarily make me want to read more poems by J. Patrick Lewis who put the compilation together, but after reading various poems within the book, I would consider seeking out other featured poets that are published within the book.   

The Poets:  The US Children’s Poet Laureate, J. Patrick Lewis, has compiled this book to feature many outstanding poets.  Some of the notable poets include:  Robert Frost, Jack Prelutsky, Emily Dickinson, Janet Wong, and Jane Yolen.  Those poets less known include:  Edward Lear, Kay Ryan, Charles Simic, and Norma Farber.  Some of the poems in this book are included in other books.  For example, "Mother’s Plea" by Lee Bennett Hopkins is also featured in his book City I Love which was written solely by Hopkins.  This book is an anthology that teaches from various sources about animals.

Layout:  The book is very nicely organized.  It is 183 pages in length and has 200 poems about animals and includes many photographs.  It is not intended to be read all at once cover to cover, but to pick and choose randomly in no specific order.  An introduction is written by J. Patrick Lewis who hand selected the poems for this book, which is followed by the Table of Contents.  The animal poems in the Table of Contents have been grouped together in various related animal characteristics:  The Big Ones, The Little Ones, The Winged Ones, and The Water Ones, etc. After all of the poems have been shared, there is a section called “Writing Poems About Animals.”  It segments about various styles of poetry writing and then gives an example for each of the following types:  couplet, shape poem, haiku, limerick, free verse, and cinquain.  A “Resources” page follows allocating a selected bibliography of children’s books on wordplay.  Some of those include:  acrostics, anagrams, epitaphs, lipograms, parodies, rebuses, and reversos.  Thus it is probably quite obvious that there is a variety of poetry styles used throughout the book, but all pertain to animals in some way.  The Index is organized four different ways:  Title, Poet, First Line, and Subject.  Text credits and photo credits help to conclude the book.  Background information is not included about the poets or their poems.  However, the more notable poets have several poems published in this book compared to those less known only having single poems featured. 

Spotlight Poem:  The poem "Zebra" (shared below) would be a great anticipatory set to use with teaching critical thinking skills on multiple perspectives.  I would follow by reading several of Doreen Cronin’s books Diary of a Spider, Diary of a Worm, and Diary of a Fly.  By discussing the point of view that each book is written from, students would learn to analyze and think more critically. Students could then pick their own animal and apply this lesson by creating several diary entries told from the perspective of that animal.  Without divulging the animal, students who wanted could volunteer to read an entry or two aloud and see if classmates could guess which animal the point of view is coming from.

“Zebra” written by Gavin Ewart

White men in Africa,

Puffing at their pipes,

Think the zebra’s a white horse

With black stripes.

Black men in Africa,

With pipes of different types,

Know the zebra’s a black horse

With white stripes.

VERSE NOVEL

Lai, Thanhha.  Inside Out & Back Again.  New York: Harper Collins Children’s Books, 2011. ISBN: 978-0-06-196278-3

Poetic Elements:  This book is written in free verse and tells the story of a young girl and her family who leave Vietnam and start a new life in America.  Although the experiences spoken of in this book are unfamiliar to me, I was able to visualize myself in the vulnerable and unknown difficulties that the little girl, Kim Ha, personally experienced.  Sensory images were used throughout this story to allow readers like myself, to see even greater detail into what life in Vietnam was like, what it felt like leaving Vietnam and traveling on a boat, and then arriving to America and not knowing or understanding anything.  The distinctive language that Kim Ha uses to explain how other kids interacted with cruelty in America made me feel her pain and reminded me that I would never want to re-live those years of my life.   The language barriers that Kim Ha had were succinctly noticed as she 

spoke her thoughts in the English language.  Bits of humor trickle throughout the book when interpretations of the English language are not interpreted correctly by Kim Ha and her family, which reemphasizes to the reader how difficult it would be to leave your native country and put down roots in another country.   

Appeal:  This book would be perfect for a reader around the age of ten, which is how old Kim Ha was in the book.  Reader’s will not necessarily be able to relate to Kim Ha’s story as a familiar experience, but will find the story interesting being able to relate because of the similarity in age.   Readers will gain insight into the history of Vietnam, a greater understanding for people that look different from them, and hopefully have a greater compassion for others that relocate from near and afar. It’s never fun being the new kid on the block

Overall Quality:  The poems are definitely appropriate for late elementary students and on up to read.  The poems are capable of standing alone by themselves, but when read in order they tell the story of Kim Ha and her family coming to America.  Different character views are shared through the voice of Kim Ha who is telling this story first hand.  Each Free Verse poem is dated at the bottom and similarly resembles posts written in a journal.  The only illustration present in this book is on the cover.   After reading the book, you will realize that the cover is supposed to be a picture of the main character, Kim Ha, in Saigon underneath her beloved papaya tree that she had to leave behind to come to America.  I personally really enjoyed the ease in reading this book and gained a better perspective for people that are different from me.   

The Poets:  A single poet, Thanhha Lai, wrote this free verse book of poetry.  It is an anthology that tells the story of leaving the dangerous country of Vietnam and re-locating and finding safety in America.  Inside Out & Back Again is Lai’s first book to write and she won the 2011 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature for this book.  It is also a Newbery Honor Book.  Arriving in America on a boat in 1975 not knowing English and writing a book in English using Free Verse 38 years later that wins several national awards is quite an accomplishment!

Layout:  Inside Out & Back Again is a 260 page book told in four parts:  Saigon, At Sea, Alabama, and From Now On.  Saigon shares what life was like living in the southern half of the country during strife.  At Sea describes the time of when Kim Ha and her family board a navy boat and travel for endless days wondering if they will actually make it to America.  Alabama shares of the family’s initial arrival and beginnings in America.  From Now On focuses on the realization that Kim Ha and her family know to be true, that father is missing in action from the war and will never be with them again.  The whole story occurs around 1975 and is historical fiction that relays much of what really happened to the author, Thanhha Lai, as she made the journey to leave Vietnam with her family and settle in America.  The book shares a note at the end written by the author revealing her intentions for writing this book of free Verse.

Spotlight Poem:  I would share the poem “Rainbow” as a way to introduce students to a lesson on racial tolerance.  I would also share more parts of the book Inside Out & Back Again so students would be able to place themselves in someone else’s shoes as they listened along.  Although not necessarily the most comfortable topic for teachers to discuss, acting “colorblind” around people that are created different and not acknowledging differences discounts their individuality.

“Rainbow” by Thanhha Lai

I face the class.

MiSSS SScott speaks.

Each classmate says something.

I don’t understand,

but I see.

Fire hair on skin dotted with spots.

Fuzzy dark hair on skin shiny as lacquer.

Hair the color of root on milky skin.

Lots of braids on milk chocolate.

White hair on a pink boy.

Honey hair with orange ribbons on see-through skin.

Hair with barrettes in all colors on bronze bread.

I’m the only

straight black hair

on olive skin.

POETIC FORM

Mecum, Ryan. Zombie Haiku.  Cincinnati:  How Books, 2008. ISBN  978-1-60061-070-7

Poetic Elements:  The topic at hand, Zombies, is what will keep the reader hooked over the use of any poetic elements used in this book.  Written concisely in the haiku format, each poem spits out a rhythmic image that builds upon the story one haiku at a time.  Zombie addicts will devour the implied humor.  The sense of taste is repeatedly emphasized as the characters in the book keep consuming their cravings of eating other humans.  Seeing, hearing, and feeling each description helps to draw the reader in further. The poet’s imaginative side is proven in his design and layout of the book. 

Appeal:  Typically the Japanese form of poetry known as haiku is not a popular pick with kids.  However this short, three lined poem with syllable necessities commands attention when the intriguing topic of Zombies is added.  Using inference skills to study the photos and pictures on each page should provide enough support in depicting the word choice meanings used in the poems.  The imagination of readers will run wild while reading this book. 

Overall Quality:  I believe the writing of this book is intended to entertain middle and high school aged students.  The targeted group will definitely embrace the book solely because of its topic, regardless of whether they are interested in poetry or specifically haiku.  The illustrations and visuals definitely compliment the story in this book.  As an adult with no interest in the subject, I would be concerned that the images and words written in the book might encourage an emotionally unstable person to act in an unlawful manner by doing something horrific. And then when the press releases a horrible story, society questions, “What would cause someone to do something like this?”  The book is well organized in that it tells a complete story.  The poems are all written in the same font and type size, but are randomly pasted on the pages.  The illustrations and photographs help add extra gore to the already written “gorey” text.  Reading about Zombies doesn’t interest me.  I do know for certain that I will never read another book by this author again because of the evil and atrocious ideas he is modeling to today’s youth. 

The Poets:  Ryan Mecum is the single poet that wrote this anthology collection about Zombies in haiku.  Mecum’s name would be more familiar to Zombie followers than it would be to the poetry world.   Zombie Haiku is his first book to be published.  He has written and published several other haiku books since on vampires, werewolves, and more about zombies. His official website for the book Zombie Haiku can be found at http://www.zombiehaiku.com/

Layout: Ryan Mecum, the author, begins with an introduction at the beginning of the book that explains the poetry form known as haiku.  He then shares that what is written inside, is his poetry journal which is what he has been writing while locked in the bathroom to keep from getting eaten from another Zombie.  The book is approximately 140 pages in length.  Two to four haiku poems are featured on each page, minus the random black and white Polaroid pictures featured on pages throughout.  Smeared and splattered blood and strands of human hair seem to adorn most pages.  The black and white Polaroid photos are of body parts that have been mutilated by a Zombie or of an actual Zombie photo.  Hand drawn pictures are also scattered throughout the book next to various haiku poems. The compilations of haiku are supposed to tell the story of how the main character became a Zombie, lived the Zombie experience, and was finished off as a Zombie.  The author mentions in the book’s conclusion that he would like the reader to pass a message onto his wife.  “Tell her I loved her and that I want to eat her and swallow her brains!”  The book really, really concludes with a picture of the author dressed and acting like a Zombie on the last page with a short biography.  The thoughts and emotions that can be construed from reading this book can go two ways; either you love the gore and delight with Zombies or you are terribly offended and disappointed in the filth that has been published.

Spotlight Poem:  I would use the two haiku poems written below as a story starter for a writing assignment in the month of October.  Students could practice using voice and descriptive writing.

Taken from Zombie Haiku, page 100

Two motionless boys

Stare as I try to stand up

In the dark hallway

The kids run from me

And dart outside through the door.

Not a good idea.

MULTICULTURAL POETRY

Mora, Pat. Yum! ¡MmMm! ¡Qué Rico! America’s Sproutings. Rafael Lόpez. New York: Lee & Low Books, 2007. ISBN 978-1-58430-271-1.

Poetic Elements:  Sensory images abound in this book allowing the reader to see, smell, hear, taste and feel throughout.  The deliberate shortness of the poems is modeled after the Japanese origin of poetry called haiku, where syllables of words are counted, making three concise lines of poetry which resemble a 5-7-5 syllable pattern.  Onomatopoeia begins with the book’s title and continues inside.  Unique adjective choices persist, while metaphors are also present.   For example, in the poem “Potato” the last line reads “Salt and pepper clouds,” which compares mashed potatoes to the appearance and look of clouds in the sky.  Assonance is mimicked in the second line of the poem “Pineapple” as it reads, “on thick prickly skin, inside.”  Imagery appears in the poem “Cranberry” when it describes “Scarlet fireworks” to the look of when a cranberry has simmered and the heat finally bursts the berry open.  The assortment of poetic elements used throughout the book in various ways is sure to keep the reader addicted.

Appeal:  The short and concise poems in this book will appeal to young people, especially reluctant readers who are time conscious of how long a book will take to read.  The distraction of looking at the multiple effects offered for each selection (poem, information block, and illustrations), will draw the attention of students.  The familiarities involved with recognizing the foods mentioned with the extra added nonfiction feature about the food, will enrich one’s knowledge and stimulate inquisitiveness.  Lingual enthusiasts are sure to sharpen some vocabulary and will most likely find themselves counting out the syllables per line to make sure each poem is only 17 syllables long.  Recognizing a few Spanish words, particularly in the title and scattered throughout various poems, along with seeing the cultural people in the pictures should convey the diversity among people and the variety of foods we are blessed to encounter living in America.

Overall Quality:  The poems in this book are definitely suitable for young people to read and listen to.  Because of the style in which they are presented, haiku, they are short and to the point!  Each poem describes a different food with distinguished tastes. They are eaten in America and have been nourished by the Mother Earth.  The balance for each spread offers a poem written in haiku, includes a small passage of explanation about the food’s origin, and is accompanied by very cheerful pictures of that food being eaten.  Mora has consulted various books, dictionaries, and Internet sources for the foods she has written about and admits that some foods chosen have multiple ideas of origin and history, but has condensed the information to the best of her ability.  The formatting of each poem is unified throughout.  The design and organization of the book is short and compact.  The illustrations created by Rafael Lόpez are rendered in acrylic on wood panels and give life and humor to each poem.  I would definitely read more books by Mora because of her talent in writing poetry and ability to weave a multicultural facet.  Using occasional words written in Spanish like la cocina, los dulces, and qué rico help flavor the bilingual perspective that her life has been immersed in which allows the reader to indirectly catch that spirit of pride.  Mora also has a flair for creating original poetry and imparting nonfiction information into her arrangements.

The Poets:  Pat Mora has written the collection of haiku poems in this book.  This is her very first book of haiku to write.  It is an anthology that focuses on the indigenous foods of the Americas and their origin.   Mora is an award winning author for writing children’s picture books, nonfiction, and poetry and is characteristically known for mingling Spanish words into mostly English written poems which emphasize many of her cultural life experiences.  In 1996, Mora founded Día which is a daily commitment to unite children to books, languages, and cultures. It is celebrated annually across the country around April 30.   Mora’s website can be viewed at http://www.patmora.com

Layout:  This book was released in print 5 years ago, and I would consider it to be current in content because it discusses foods that are eaten in America.  The award winning Pat Mora is the only poet represented in the book.  She has included 14 poems that each represents a typical food eaten in America.  The double page spreads also contain nonfiction paragraphs which explain the food’s origin.  The poems are appropriately placed around the bright and vibrant illustrations, and are written in haiku, a three line syllable pattern of 5-7-5.   Neither a table of contents nor an index exists for this book.  Mora has written a note on the last page to her readers explaining why she decided to write this book.

Spotlight Poem:  This book would be a fun way for students to practice using prior knowledge, making connections, and drawing conclusions.  As the teacher, I would orient students by telling them that we will be playing a game where they have to listen to a poem and connect the words they hear to possible prior knowledge they may have about the particular food being written about and make a prediction on what food is being described.  I would give them a hint that they are all foods that we eat in America, but most likely originated elsewhere.  Depending on the group of kids, would depend on if I split the class up in teams, in half or as individuals to play this guessing game.  After subtly reading each of the 14 poems and allowing the students’ time to guess, I would then gather the students together to share the book Yum! ¡MmMm! ¡Qué Rico! America’s Sproutings and reveal the various foods that went with each poem.  This could ultimately be a round-a-bout way for introducing students to the poetry form called Haiku.

“Blueberry” by Pat Mora

Fill your mouth with blue.

Share a bowl heaped with summer.

Chew indigo O.

NCTE AWARD POETRY

Sidman, Joyce. Dark Emperor & Other Poems of the Night. Rick Allen. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, 2010. ISBN: 978-0-547-15228-8

Poetic Elements:  The deliberate style of language used throughout this book clearly helps the reader to imagine and feel as if they are the very animal being highlighted in the poem, if not almost personified, so the reader can understand their cause for survival.  Speaking in first person and second person points of view extend the use of personification.  Relating to various poem phrases, gives familiarity in a fresh way.  The use of sensory images, gives the reader a sense of understanding in being able to picture exactly what is spoken and relate to the specific traits that characterize the outdoors.  When the poem “Welcome to the Night” says, “Come feel the cool and shadowed breeze,” I can imagine the way the air in the evening feels against my skin.  “Smell your way among the trees” reminds me of the outdoor fragrance I encountered playing outside as a kid.  “Who buzz and chirp and hoot and peep” demonstrates the powerful use of onomatopoeia. 

Appeal:  This book abounds with the use of high-frequency words throughout making the appeal to younger readers who struggle to read even more charming.  The illustrations are alluring to look at and help extend the meaning for each poem.  Learning about the aspects of how Mother Nature interacts with living things in the life cycle will intrigue any reader young or old and allow for a greater understanding.  Expanding linguistic abilities happens when the poem itself can meet the reader at their level of reading and advance in content across the page by sharing an informational nonfiction highlight that deepens more complexly with the language.   

Overall Quality:  The poems in this book are definitely fitting for young people to read and listen to.  They are all about animals and how they interact in the night when they are awake.  The arrangement of the poems are perfectly in balance with a beginning poem to get the reader ready to learn about various nocturnal animals and a concluding poem that wraps up the nighttime hours.  The line breaks and format are all similarly written in a traditional way with stanzas and space breaks between, but there is one poem that has been spaced specifically to resemble the shape of an owl.  The design and organization of the book is short and compact.  The illustrations created by Rick Allen were made through a process called relief printing.  A block is carved out in places to make the design, dipped in black ink, and stamped onto the paper.  The process continues with hand-coloring using gouache.  The process is time consuming over other methods, but the results are stunning and mysterious to look at.  The textures and details revealed in each illustration allow the reader or listener time to ponder the picture as the poem settles into the mind.  I would definitely read more books by Sidman because of her talent with writing poetry and her simultaneous ability to present nonfiction information  in a concrete way that makes learning pleasurable.

The Poets:  Joyce Sidman has written the collection of poems in this book.  It is an anthology that focuses on different nocturnal animals in each poem.  Sidman is a notable poet who has just been awarded the 2013 NCTE Award for Excellence in Poetry.  Her other poetry books are mostly anthologies written about different things in nature, shapes, colors, and living things.  Sidman’s website can be viewed at http://www.joycesidman.com/

Layout:  This book is relatively new, but even if it was older, the poems in it would still be current because it discusses nocturnal animals and their habits at night.  The award winning Joyce Sidman is the only poet represented in this book.  She has included 12 poems that take place in the evening hours.  The first poem in the book is called “Welcome to the Night” and introduces the book’s concept: nocturnal animals and their habits.  Ten poems follow with a different animal highlighted in each.  The last poem is called “Moon’s Lament” and it refers to the nighttime hours ending as the sun begins to show its face.  Each poem features a two-page spread.  The first page features the written poem and on the second page of the spread is the illustration and where a non-fiction paragraph explains specific details about the animal in view.  The poems are appropriately placed, and written in a uniformed style throughout, except for the “Dark Emperor.”  The majority of the poems are written in a first-person view where the featured animal in the poem is the one speaking personally about itself.  The poems very clearly forecast there being “two sides to every story.”  The featured animal is the victorious one that will conquer and eat, while the other onlooker animal will end up as its prey.  The reader can sense both fates.  The book includes a table of contents and a glossary.

Spotlight Poem:  Sharing the poem “Dark Emperor” as an anticipatory to teaching a science lesson on owl pellets would be perfect!  Reading the non-fiction excerpt to get everyone’s attention gathered towards discussing owls is how I would begin.  Following up with a reading of the poem where the poem could be seen by student eyes as it is read aloud would be crucial. The illustration for this poem is lovely to look at and a bit foreshadowing.  It’s even more foreshadowing when you compare it to the shape that the poem has been written.  It clearly communicates an owl with its soon to be prey to the side.  The gateway to teaching about how owls interact, live, and eat is wide open.  Students will be even more fascinated with this lesson when they learn what an owl pellet really is. 

“Dark Emperor” by Joyce Sidman

Perched                         missile,

almost invisible, you

preen silent feathers,

swivel your sleek satellite

dish of head.  What fills the

cool moons of your mesmerizing

eyes? What waves of sound

funnel toward those waiting

ears? What symphonies of

squeaks and skitters, darts

and rustles, swell the vast,

breathing darkness of your

realm? O Dark Emperor

of hooked face and

hungry eye: turn that

awful beak away

from me;

disregard

                                                                           the tiny hiccup

                                                                                              of my heart

                                                                                                    as I flee.