SCHOOL POETRY

Salas, Laura Purdie. STAMPEDE!  Poems to Celebrate the WILD SIDE of School.  Steven Salerno. New York: Clarion Books, 2009. ISBN: 978-0-618-91488-3

Poetic Elements:  The use of figurative language in this book abounds with a special emphasis on personification.  Humor thrives in this subject about school.   Rhyme, onomatopoeia, assonance, similes, and metaphors are also other elements that are visible.  Much of the rhyme is found in ending words at the end of phrases.  The humor and familiarity with each poem presents imaginative ideas. 

Appeal:  Retaining the attention and appeal to young people is a “slam dunk!”  Kids will definitely be able to relate with the poetry because they will have personally experienced it or know of a classmate that has been in such a situation.  As each poem parallels some kind of living animal, students will either be more intrigued to learn more about that animal or will be able to confirm an animal fact or characteristic that they already knew.  The language is easy to understand and does a great job expanding the vocabulary for words that are similar in meaning to already familiar words.  The illustrations help to spur the reader’s imagination towards the animal each poem is spoken about in regard to school.  Salerno used brushes and gouache on hot press watercolor paper with digital enhancements to create the vibrant illustrations throughout this book.

Overall Quality:  The poems have definitely been written with kids in mind.  They are all connected to the experiences and memories that happen in a school environment.  Line breaks are apparent in every poem and various words are written in all capital letters or italics to bring forth emphasis.  Each poem has been strategically placed around the illustrations provided by Salerno and help to bring instant gratification and understanding to its interpretation.  Having personally enjoyed reading this book, I would be inclined to read more poems by Salas. 

The Poets:  Laura Purdie Salas is the only poet represented in this book.  She has written this recent anthology to celebrate some of the less serious instances that seem to repeatedly happen in a school.  She has written many books, and has been published in magazines, anthologies, testing materials, and at an art exhibit for a good cause.  She has her own website at : http://www.laurasalas.com/index.html

Layout:  The poems will strike a chord with anyone that has experienced being in an American school environment, whether young or just young at heart.  The poems celebrate the “wilder” side of school, which compares the students being spoken of in each poem to other living things such as bees, mice, hogs, cardinals, and skunks.  Background information for poems is not included nor is it necessary. There are a total of 18 poems included; some are one-page spreads and others are double-paged spreads making the book 32 pages in length.  There is not a table of contents, or index of any kind.  All of the poems are written in the same 18-point font, New Caledonia.

Spotlight Poem:  Before sharing “Tomorrow Is Picture Day?” I would ask students to think about how they have changed from the time they were born to being five years old?  I would then pose how they have changed from when they were five to now being 12?  Lastly, I would ask if we could look into the future and base how we think a twelve year old would look after 10 more years of life.

After reading the poem, the teacher could share a book or video on the life cycle of humans.  This would be a great way to introduce and teach the word, puberty, as a pre-teen health lesson.  Ultimately going back to the poem read earlier and seeing if students can find any correlation between a caterpillar and butterfly to themselves would help to wrap this uncomfortable topic for many into a more abstract and less embarrassing way.

“Tomorrow Is Picture Day?” by Laura Purdie Salas

I’m missing three teeth, there’s a scratch by my eye.

I trimmed my own bangs---and I cut way to high.

My dad says a butterfly’s blooming in me,

but a hideous caterpillar’s all that I see.