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.

FLORIAN POETRY

Florian, Douglas. Dinothesaurus. La Jolla, CA: Beach Lane Books, 2009. ISBN:  978-1-416-97978-4.

Poetic Elements:   Florian uses an assortment of poetry elements and varies their use throughout the collection of poems in this book.  He has a knack for using clever wordplay.  Rhyme is probably the easiest element to recognize overall.  The phrases “tough as tanks and hard as nails,” “heavy clubs swing from our tails,” and “we have heavy-armored skin,” are all taken from the poem “Ankylosaurus.”  They exhibit the use of idioms.   Alliteration is heavily emphasized in the poem “Pterosaurs” almost making fun of the letter P that is kept silent when pronouncing the dinosaur’s name.  “With widespread wings and pteeth pto ptear,” is a key example where Florian created a line that entailed alliteration, but added his own touch of humor by placing the silent letter P in front of the “T” words.  In “Brachiosaurus” onomatopoeia is modeled in the written phrase, “It traveled very   s   l   o   w  .”  Both the literary elements of alliteration and onomatopoeia are exaggerated in a combined effort in the poem “The End of Dinosaurs” when the words stutter, “ ch-ch-choke” or “c-c-cold.”  Florian clearly has an impressive record for succinctly presenting ideas rich in poetry components.

Appeal:  This book is sure to be a “babe magnet” in being able to attract the interest of young people with no problems.  The touch of humor that trickles throughout the poems is quite amusing.  Florian’s artwork adds another layer of appeal mixed with funniness.  Although dinosaurs and humans did not live simultaneously, Florian constantly combines the two interacting with each other in his pictures in all sorts of ways. For instance, would a dinosaur really help scratch a boy’s back because he had an itch?  Of course not!  He cleverly plays real words off of words that don’t really even exist. The comical sensation keeps the poem in motion. 

Overall Quality:  The poems in this book are definitely fitting for young people to read and listen to.  They are all about dinosaurs and what they were like when they walked the Earth.  The arrangement of the poems are perfectly in balance with a beginning poem to get the reader ready to learn about the dinosaur ages and a concluding poem that mentions various possibilities for why dinosaurs became extinct.  The formatting of the poems is pretty similar in looks and size.  Assistance in helping pronounce the dinosaur names is included before the reading of the poem.   The design of the book resembles that of a picture book.  The illustrations are also created by Douglas Florian and were done with gouache, collage, colored pencils, stencils, dinosaur dust, and rubber stamp on primed brown paper bags.  They are abstract creations, but a perfect choice since dinosaurs and humans are mysteries to each other.  I would definitely recommend reading Florian poetry books to others.  He is doubly talented in being an artist and writer and is able to share nonfiction information in a tangible way by writing poetry books.

 The Poets:  Douglas Florian has written the collection of poems in this book.  It is an anthology that focuses on different kinds of dinosaurs that once lived.  Florian is a notable poet who has written many books that mostly pertain to animals and ideas of nature.  He has received the Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award and has received an ALA Notable Children’s Book Award.  He is also an accomplished artist who provides all of the artwork for his books.  He features his abstract art in solo and group exhibitions. Florian’s website can be viewed at http://www.douglasflorian.com

Layout:  This book is relatively new, but even if it was older, the poems in this book would still be current because they are about dinosaurs which are extinct.  The award winning Douglas Florian is the only poet represented in this book.  There are a total of 20 poems.  Besides a beginning poem to open up about dinosaurs and a closing poem to conclude about dinosaurs, Florian has squeezed 18 poems that each speak of a different named dinosaur in his book.  The first poem in the book is called “The Age of Dinosaurs” and introduces the time periods when the namely beasts were alive.   The last poem is called “The End of Dinosaurs” and relays possible theories of how dinosaurs became extinct.  Each poem features a two-page spread.  Florian’s paintings seem to take precedence and dominate the featured poem which is squeezed in somewhere.  The poems are written in the same font and size throughout, but are relocated to a different spot for each layout depending on the illustration.  Each poem written is plainly titled by the name of the particular dinosaur being recognized.  The spacing between the poem title and the poem provides room to share pronunciation help with how to correctly say the dinosaur’s name and then mentions in parenthesis a translation.  For example, Ankylosaurus which would be pronounced AN-kee-lo-SAW-rus (fused lizard).   Some of the poems are written in a first-person view where the featured dinosaur is the one speaking personally about itself.  The book includes a table of contents, “glossarysaurus”  for glossary, a page sharing information on different dinosaur museums and fossil sites, and a selected bibliography with further reading suggestions. 

Spotlight Poem:  Sharing the book Dinothesaurus in its entirety, would be my way of getting students excited about starting a thematic unit of study on dinosaurs.  Before beginning the book I would have pre-written all 18 dinosaur names on separate little papers.  If I happened to have had a class of 20 students, I would write “Free Pick” on two of the slips and mix them in with the others.  I would tell students that each of them will be getting to report more information than what is shared in Florian’s poem about the dinosaur they hand pick on their slip. Being good listeners as I read Dinothesaurus as they anxiously wait to draw a dinosaur name are my hopes.

I also like the idea of reading the poems through and then deciding what is fiction and what is fact for each poem.

An additional alphabetizing activity that I would want to include sometime during the dinosaur unit of study would be to print out each dinosaur name large enough for others to see.  Each student would hold the name of the dinosaur they were assigned. I would randomly pick 5 students to stand up with their card and ask if they could order themselves in ABC order.  I would have those 5 in order remain standing and pick 5 more friends and ask them to do whatever rearranging they needed to do to now get all 10 of them in alphabetical order.  Those still seated could help those that were standing.  I would then pick 5 more students to stand up and see if they could work together to figure out the order now.  One last round of students being added to the standing group would get everyone alphabetized and refreshed on how the rules for alphabetizing work.

“Seismosaurus” by Douglas Florian

SIZE-mo-SAW-rus (earthshaking lizard)

Seismosaurus:  tremendous in size.

Seismosaurus:  stupendous lengthwise.

Seismosaurus:  could make the earth shake.

Seismosaurus:  as large as a lake.

HOPKINS COLLECTION

Hopkins, Lee Bennett. City I Love. Marcellus Hall. New York: Abrams, 2009. ISBN:  978-0-810-98327-4

Poetic Elements:  Imagery, rhyme, onomatopoeia, metaphors, alliteration, and assonance are all strong components that can be found throughout this book. 

Appeal:  The appeal to young people is a definite.  It is an interesting topic that would enrich a child’s insight. For those that have had the opportunity to see some of the places that are mentioned in the poems, it will allow for a more concrete reading; for those lacking the in-person experience, they can still gain an awareness and knowledge that is gleaned from the poems.  The illustrations by Hall truly help to form a bridge for understanding with the words.

Overall Quality:  Each poem has been well executed by Bennett and is consistent in quality.  The collection stimulates the idea of what other cities are like to visit and highlights the more well-known landmarks of each.  The style of the hustle and bustle of each city is quite unique. This book is perfect in extracting the curiosity for unfamiliar spaces; and widening the horizons for those that have an itch to travel and see the world over.

The Poets: Lee Bennett Hopkins is a well-known writer of poetry and has written all of the poems in this book.  All of the poems in this anthology were written by Bennett between 1971 and 2009 and focuses more on the visual or physical aspects that come to mind when mentioning various well-known cities throughout the world.  Hopkins has his own website at http://www.leebennetthopkins.com/

Layout:  Each poem focuses on something unique about the city in which the poem is being written about.  The illustrations are perfectly tailored to match each poem and were made with brush and ink and watercolor on paper.  For example, the poem TAXI! is written in reference to London, England.  The illustrations include taxis, traditional double decker buses, the Tower Bridge, Thames River, Big Ben, and The Palace of Westminster Abbey.  The 32 page book does not have a table of contents or index, but duplicates a world map on the front inside cover and again on the back inside cover.  All of the cities that have a poem written about them have a dedicated dot for where they are on the map compared to the rest of the world.

Spotlight Poem:  Before sharing Bennett’s poem “Sing a Song of Cities,” I would ask students to help me recall the five senses.  I would ask them to think about them as I read the poem, and to figure out which of their senses is most strongly used in this poem.

As a follow up, a student would identify to the class the sense most strongly used- ears for hearing.  As a class, students would help brain-storm ideas out loud for various sounds that could be heard in a city.  This would allow the word urban to be taught.  Students would read out of their social studies books about urban areas to reinforce the word.  Students would then switch gears and think about how the sounds would be different in learning what a suburban area entails.  Again, students would read in their books that taught about suburbs and suggest sounds that would be familiar to that area.  And finally, students would learn about characteristics that make up rural lands by reading that portion from their social studies books.  Students could then think of what sounds would be identifiable in a rural area.

“Sing a Song of Cities” by Lee Bennett Hopkins

Sing a song of cities.

If you do,

Cities will sing back

                                       to you.

They’ll sing in subway roars and rumbles,

People-laughs, machine-loud grumbles.

Sing a song of cities.

If you do,

Cities will sing back.

Cities will sing back

                                       to you.