Poetry Book Review: Douglas Florian

Bibliography:
Florian, D. 1996. ON THE WING. Ill. by Douglas Florian. New York, NY: Harcourt Brace & Company. ISBN 0152004971

Summary:
In On the Wing, Douglas Florian authors and illustrates a collection of 21 poems dedicated to birds. Among the birds he writes about are the egret, vulture, roadrunner, stork, and nightjar. Each poem explores the characteristics of the title bird while the authors’ illustrations complement the writing through whimsical watercolor paintings.

Critical Analysis:
This collection of poems focus on the variety of birds and the unique characteristics of each bird. Florian uses rhyme and rhythm to tell each part while giving personality to the birds. Most of the poems have a humorous twist such as the The Hawk where it ends saying that you are lucky not to be prey. Some of the poems have words that visually play with the reader. The poem The Quetzal curves in the same pattern as the bird’s tail which can be seen in the accompanying illustration.

Each poem is centered on a blank page in a large, clear font and on the opposing page Florian’s artwork fills the page. The illustrations are watercolors painted with loose, gestural strokes that feel casual as they visually convey the poems. In the painting for The Emperor Penguins, he fills two-thirds of the page with blue washes that become ice as as row of penguins follow the undulating curve across the page. The images become literal translations of the poems requiring very little imagination from the reader. Overall this book of poetry is an entertaining read that will help readers reconsider birds, but the greatest enjoyment may come from the illustrations.

Poem Excerpt:

The Nightjar
By day this bird
Will stay at rest,
For darkness seems
To suit it best,
To chase down insects
Near and far,
And capture night
Inside a jar.

Review Excerpts:
Booklist
“The imagery in these short poems finds visual expression in the full-page, watercolor paintings, illustrating verse with high spirits and ingenuous charm..., but the book's appeal lies in its fluent wordplay and generous use of humor in both the poetry and the paintings.”

Kirkus Reviews
“Nonfiction and humor don't always fit comfortably together, but in this book they become a delightful whole, a sturdy foundation from which to explore the playfulness of language.”

Connections:
Any of these poems are appropriate for a Poetry break or they can be integrated with science lessons about different types of birds. This book can also be a starting point for students to write poems about a favorite bird or begin a discussion on how the poems changed how the students look at birds. Students can also read more of Florian’s work such as Beast Feast or At the Zoo.

Poetry Book Review: Pat Mora

Bibliography:
Mora, P. 1998. THIS BIG SKY. Ill. by Steve Jenkins. New York, NY: Scholastic Press. ISBN 0590371207

Plot Summary:
Pat Mora’s book, This Big Sky, explores life in the American Southwest through poems about horned lizards, mountains, coyotes, snakes, and people. Through the fourteen poems, Mora connects personal experience to desert life while Steve Jenkins’ cut and torn paper images harmonize with the poetry to create a complete package. The book includes a glossary to define the Spanish words into English.

Critical Analysis:
Pat Mora presents a collection of poems that explore Southwestern life through its people, landscape, and creatures. The writing is strong and filled with details that leave a lasting impression on the reader. Mora uses a variety of writing devices such as alliteration, onomatopeaia, rhythm, and rhyme while also including Spanish words in the poems. Though the poetry is about the Southwest, the author relates the activities of the animals to human experience. In the poem, Old Snake, Mora describes the snake shedding her skin writing that “sometimes you feel/ you just can’t breath/ in your own tight skin.” With this description the author creates a connection to the snake and provides the reader with an opportunity to change. Each poem is layered with details and new connections making the writing relatable and relevant to all readers.

Steve Jenkins’ paper cut images fit seamlessly with the poetry. The illustrations fill each open two-page spread with vivid color and stark images that convey the layered emotion of the poetry. The poem Suspense is supported with an image of sprinting Roadrunner trying to escape the oncoming rain. Jenkins’ constructs a textured image full of contrast between prickly cactus, dry land, slashing rain, and billowing clouds. His artwork helps convey the emotional intensity of the poetry. This Big Sky is an exceptional book filled with affecting, powerful writing and expressive artwork that should be included in any poetry collection.

Poem Excerpt:
Twilight Choir

After the rain,
diamonds scattered
by some careless duende
glisten on willow leaves.

Butterflies and hummingbirds
flutter in the breeze,
Poppies fall in moist clusters
where they please,
and stars hum their poetry.

Kittens tease fat cats
dreaming tonguefuls of warm
honey. Trees, dark canopies,
sway melodies.

Their evening song
accompanies cicada whirs
and mockingbird’s sassy,
musical originality,
after the rain.

Review Excerpts:
Booklist
“A visually dynamic collection of distinctively regional verse.”

Publishers Weekly
"Mora celebrates America's vast, otherworldly Southwest in 14 poems that will delight readers with their playfully evocative images. Jenkins offers cut-paper art in tones that reflect the sun-baked region."

School Library Journal
“This gem is both a lovely poetry book and an evocative look at a magical place.”

Connections: Continue reading other books by Pat Mora or expand the reading to include other Latino authors.

Poetry Break! NCTE Award Poet - Lilian Moore

Introduction: Before reading the poem ask the students to call out what makes their neighborhood special. Read the poem.

Mural on Second Avenue
by Lilian Moore

Someone
stood here
tall on a ladder,
dreaming
to the slap of a
wet brush,

painting
on the blank
unwindowed wall of
this old house.

Now the wall is a
field of wild grass,
bending to a wind.

A unicorn's grazing there
beside a zebra.

A giraffe is nibbling a
tree top
and in a sky of
eye-blinking
blue

A horse is flying.
All
right at home in the
neighborhood.

Extension:
Continue talking with students about what makes their neighborhood memorable whether it be a park, a garden, or a house. Ask students to compose a poem about his or her favorite neighborhood feature. Another option would be a discussion about how an artwork or mural makes them feel and how it changes a neighborhood.

Reference:
Moore, L. 2004. MURAL ON SECOND AVENUE, AND OTHER CITY POEMS. Ill. by Roma Karas. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick Press. ISBN 0763619876

Poetry Break! African American Poetry

Introduction:
This poem is about how Langston Hughes wrote poetry, but also what it meant to him. Share a short anecdote about why you enjoy poetry.

Poetry Means the World to Me
by Tony Medina

Poetry means the world to me
it’s how I laugh and sing
how I cry and ask why

Poetry comforts me
when I use jazz or
the blues or the way
regular folks talk -
the language
they use

Word’s don’t always
have to be neat
and polished
like a statue

They should be
used used used
to say what you like
or don’t like
what you see think
or feel -

Words to fight against
hate and unnecessary
suffering

Poetry is what I use
to say
I love you

(from Love to Langston by Tony Medina)

Extension:
The book includes historical fact from Hughes’s life which can be used to lead a discussion on why a poet would decide to write about everyday people and the injustices that they face daily. Discuss how that affects the writing of the poem or how the reader understands the poem. Re-read the poem. Also you can ask the students to consider what means the world to them and if they would write about those topics.

Reference:
Medina, T. 2002. LOVE TO LANGSTON. Ill. by R. Gregory Christie. New York, NY: Lee & Low Books Inc. ISBN 1584300418.

Poetry Book Review: Lee Bennett Hopkins - Anthology

Bibliography:
Hopkins, L.B. (ed.) 2005. OH,NO! WHERE ARE MY PANTS? AND OTHER DISASTERS: POEMS. Ill. by Wolf Erlbruch. New York, NY: Harper Collins Publishers. ISBN 0688178618.

Plot Summary: Lee Bennett Hopkins has collected 14 poems from a range of poets that speak about the traumas that occur in a child’s life. Some of the selected poets are Susan Hart Lindquist, Rebecca Kai Dotlich, Madeleine Comora, and Hopkins himself. The issues that are addressed are both silly and serious ranging from forgetting one’s pants and regret about a bad haircut to the death of a pet and friend’s moving away. The anthology is illustrated by Wolf Erlbruch who uses simple drawings to convey the emotion of the poetry. This anthology contains a variety of issues that every reader can relate.

Critical Analysis:
The issues addressed in this anthology address the problems that children face. Hopkins collects a variety of poems that range in emotional intensity from light hearted to feelings of fear and loss. Readers will be able to relate to many of the poems. Though some of the poems are stronger than others each offering presents a unique viewpoint students can relate to. The writing on the poems are straightforward, literal offerings that approach the topics in a matter-of-fact way. Rhythm, rhyme, and onomatopoeia are some of the literary devices used in the poems. This anthology is best suited for young readers.

Each poem is presented on a its own page, either centered or in two columns, allowing plenty of space to surround the writing. Across from each poem is an illustration done by Erlbruch who uses simple line drawings filled with texture to visually create the poems. One of the strongest images depicts a young girl suspend from the outline of a ferris wheel with only the moon to cast any light. A line from the accompanying poem, At The State Fair by Rebecca Kai Dotlich, is "I'm trapped on top/of the world by mistake./Kidnapped by sky,/suspended in air,/I stay very still/in this chandelier chair." The imagery of the poems and the illustrations are complimentary. Overall this is a strong collection focused on the disasters that can and do occur which would benefit any reader.

Poem Excerpt:

First Day
by Susan Hart Lindquist

This isn't the way
it was supposed to be-
You
in
Room Two.

Me
in
Room Three.

Review Excerpts:

BOOKLIST
“In this anthology, selections by popular children's poets bring other people's dilemmas close to home, and full-page, uncluttered artwork, which appears to be in ink and chalk or pastels, shows preschoolers dealing with distress and annoyance, both sad and farcical. The scenarios in words and pictures show young children that books are about them.”


SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL
“These 14 short poems all depict little moments of being human. The disasters referred to in the subtitle range from big to small, from comic. Embarrassment, shame, fear, chagrin: all of these feelings are so common in childhood that a collection of poems about them seems natural.”

Connections:
Use these poems to begin a dialogue about issues that the students have faced. If they are not comfortable discussing them allow them an opportunity to write freely - either poem or prose to begin expressing those issues.

Poetry Break! A Poem about Reading

Introduction:
To introduce this poem ask the students start by asking if they have a favorite book. Re-read the poem and ask the students to consider their favorite books as they listen again.

Are You A Book Person?
by J. Patrick Lewis

A good book is a kind
Of person with a mind
Of her own,
Who lives alone,
Standing on a shelf
By herself.
She has a spine,
A heart, a soul,
And a goal -
To capture, to amuse,
To light a fire
(You’re the fuse),
Or else, joyfully,
Just to be.
From beginning
To end,
Need a friend?

Extension:
After listening to the poem, ask the students to consider the books that mean the most to them and to describe how it makes them feel. Maybe also discuss the use of personification - do books really have these characteristics? Discuss the answers.

Reference:
Lewis, J.P. 2005. PLEASE BURY ME IN THE LIBRARY. Ill. by Kyle M. Stone. New York, NY: Harcourt Inc. ISBN 0152163875.

Transition to Poetry

This site will continue to be used in conjunction with a graduate course at Texas Woman's University about Poetry for Children. The previous entries will continue to stay posted, but all new posts will relate to the current course.
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