Verse Novel: INSIDE OUT & BACK AGAIN

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Lai, Thanhha. 2011. INSIDE OUT AND BACK AGAIN. New York: HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-06-196278-3

REVIEW AND CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Kim Ha lives in Vietnam during the war with her mother and three older brothers.  Her father went on a Navy mission when Ha was just one and they haven't heard from him since.  The opportunity arises for the family to flee Saigon and make a new life in America.  Ha's mother decided this is the best plan for their family and they board a boat headed for a new life.  After departing the ship and staying in two temporary refugee camps, Ha and her family finally settle in Alabama with a sponsor family. There they must learn to find work, make friends, deal with bullies, a new language. and figure out how to become Americans. 

INSIDE OUT AND BACK AGAIN is told through three sections of free-verse poems and takes place over the course of one year, 1975.  The poetry format makes Ha's story easy to read and takes reader through a wide range of emotions without a lot of text to sift through.  Told in first person narrative, it often seems as if you are reading Ha's diary.  Each poem ends with the date, but some end with "every day" showing that she deals with those events and feelings every day.  Lai successfully uses imagery in her poems to allow the reader connect with the characters' situations and emotions during their difficult journey. 


"First Rule"

Brother Quang says
add an s to nouns
to mean more than one
even if there's
already an s
sitting there.

Glass
Glass-es

All day
I practice
squeezing hisses
through my teeth.

Whoever invented
English
must have loved
snakes.

~August 17

Thanhha Lai reveals in the author's note that Ha's story was inspired by her own memories of the Vietnam War and fleeing to Alabama with her family.  She mentions that she wanted to write this emotional story not only to tell the facts of the journey, but also to capture the feelings and challenges people go through during their lives.  Lai challenges the reader to "sit close to someone you love and implore that person to tell and tell and tell their story."

Ha experiences bullying as she adjusts to her new life in Alabama. This book could be used to lead students in a rich discussion of acceptance, tolerance, and ways we can help prevent bullying. 

This book would be a perfect addition to a unit of study on the Vietnam War and the Fall of Saigon which is studied in high school US history classes.  By reading the book, the students would get a feel for what life was like for the refugees who had to leave their homes because of the war.  Since the book is based on real life events, it would give a human story to the history they are learning about. 

Florian Poetry: INSECTLOPEDIA

BIBLIOGRAPHY


Florian, Douglas. 1998. INSECTLOPEDIA. Ill. by Douglas Florian. San Diego: Harcourt. ISBN 9780152013066.

REVIEW AND CRITICAL ANALYSIS

 

All 21 poems in INSECTLOPEDIA are written by Douglas Florian and are centered around an insect theme.  Florian has taken a topic that may make some readers squirm in their seats and has made it fun and educational.  Some of Douglas Florian's poems describe the insect’s physical features, while others discuss insect habitats or diet. Readers will learn many interesting facts about the insects while reading these enjoyable poems.  A table of contents is included at the beginning of the book for the readers convenience.

Many different types of poems are included in INSECTLOPEDIA.  Florian's uses the concrete poetry form to add to his poems about the inchworm, whirligig beetles, and termites.  He uses alliteration, rhythms, and rhyme throughout the book that keep the reader interested.  Florian often incorporates rhyme at the end of lines in his poems.  He also plays with sound and meter, and the placement of words on the page to create poems that are unique. 

Florian’s illustrations are as wonderful as the poems themselves. Watercolor on primed brown paper bags with collage is used in the illustrations to truly bring the insect poems to life.  Personification is used to give the insects human characteristics.  His illustrations incorporate the human qualities he gives his insects in the poems.  For example, the daddy longlegs is shown lifting weights, the inchworm is inching his way down a highway, and a waterbug is reading his Father's Day card.

“The Monarch Butterfly”

He is a monarch

He is a king.

He flies great migrations.

Past nations he wings.

He is a monarch.

He is a prince.

When blackbirds attack him,

From poison they wince.

He is a monarch.

He is a duke.

Swallows that swallow him

Frequently puke.

 

Students can use these poems as a spring board into research on a particular insect.  What questions do they have after reading this poem?  Are there parts they don't fully understand?  After researching the insect, can they better explain each part of the poem and how it relates to the insect. 

Many of the poems are written in first person, which could lead to a great lesson on point of view.  The students could write a poem about the same insect from a different point of view. 

NCTE Award Poetry: SWIRL BY SWIRL: SPIRALS IN NATURE

BIBLIOGRAPHY


Sidman, Joyce. 2011. SWIRL BY SWIRL: SPIRALS IN NATURE. Ill. by Beth Krommes. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN 978-0-547-31583-6

REVIEW AND CRITICAL ANALYSIS

SWIRL BY SWIRL is a poetry picture book all about the spiral shape and where it can be found in nature.   One poem is continued throughout the entire book.  Sidman describes the spirals with her words and Krommes' beautiful illustrations show the spirals found in nature.  Figurative language and sensory images are used to help spirals come to life.  Personification is used throughout the book.  For example, when describing the spirals found on the horns of a Mernio Sheep, Sidman says, "It knows how to defend itself."  Rhythm and repetition are used in SWIRL BY SWIRL.  “A spiral is a snuggling shape,” is an example of alliteration used in the poem.  

Each page describes a familiar object in nature that features a swirl.  These are all things that kids will have some background knowledge on, but might not have necessarily noticed they all have the swirl shape.  

The full, two page illustrations in this book are vibrant, colorful, and detailed.  The artwork illustrates what is being described on each page, and included in the illustrations are labels of the objects that include the spiral shape.  There is a page included at the back of the book that gives details about how the spiral shape is used in each of the objects mentioned in the book.  

A spiral reaches out, too,

exploring the world.

It winds

around

and around...

...and clings tight,

grasping what it needs.

It never has trouble holding on.

This part of the poem is describing an octopus, sea horse, spider monkey, and elephant.  The illustrations on these two pages clearly show the objects that the words are describing.  

Students could find objects in nature that include a shape and write poems about that shape.  They could either take pictures of the shape found in nature, if possible, or illustrate their findings.  At the end of their poem, they could explain in more detail how the shape is used in nature. 

Have students brainstorm other objects in nature that involve swirls.  Allow students to investigate several different shells and the animals that live inside.  They will be able to tell similarities and differences in the shells and animals.   

Students could learn more about Fibonacci numbers and create a Fibonacci Swirl.  

Multicultrual Poetry: YUM! MMMM! QUE RICO! : AMERICAS' SPROUTINGS

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Mora, Pat. 2007. YUM! MMMM! QUE RICO!. Ill. by Rafael Lopez. NY: Lee & Low Books. ISBN 978-1-58430-271-1


REVIEW AND CRITICAL ANALYSIS

YUM! MMMM! QUE RICO! is a collection of haiku poems by the award winning author and poet, Pat Mora.  From chocolate to corn, chile to blueberries, pecans to pumpkins, this book is filled with 14 haikus about foods of the Americas.  Included on each two page spread is also background information and interesting facts about the food focused on.  This information, along with the creatively written haikus and beautiful illustrations make each page both informative and entertaining.  The illustrations by Rafael Lopez are both bright and colorful and the food featured in the poem is clearly found in each picture.

Most of the foods featured in the book are recognizable for children, making the book appropriate for young and old readers alike.  Mora successfully uses descriptive language that appeals to the senses while sticking to the brief haiku format throughout the whole book.  These poems keep the reader engaged while teaching them about different foods found in the Americas   

CHOCOLATE

Fudge, cake, pies, cookies.

Brown, magic melts on your tongue.

Happy, your eyes dance.

Most students have a lot of background knowledge about chocolate and the descriptive language used in this poem will have their mouths watering.  The sensory images created will help the reader appreciate the art of poetry.

Teachers could set up stations around the room that have the food featured in each poem along with the poem itself.  This would help the poems come to life for students.  They could create their own poem about the food.

The poems could be used to teach about haiku poems.  Students could each write a haiku poem about an animal found in a certain region that they have just researched.  Each poem could be put together to create a poetry book about animals found in that particular region.

African American Poetry: HIP HOP SPEAKS TO CHILDREN

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Giovanni, Nikki. 2008. HIP HOP SPEAKS TO CHILDREN: A CELEBRATION OF POETRY WITH A BEAT. Naperville, IL: Sourcebooks. ISBN: 978-1-4022-1048-8

REVIEW AND CRITICAL ANALYSIS

HIP HOP SPEAKS TO CHILDREN is a poetry anthology that includes 51 poems written by a diverse group of people including Maya Angelou, Langston Hughes, Walter Dean Meyers, Queen Latifah, Lauryn Hill, and Sugarhill Gang, to name a few.  The poems include powerful words that are meant to be read with a beat.  Kids will find these poems engaging and will want to read them over and over again because of the rhythm found in each piece.

The book comes with a CD that includes 35 of the poems that are mostly read or performed by their authors.  The performances on the CD really bring the poems to life.  By mixing hip hop music with poetry, kids are able to see very clearly how the two are connected. Some background or historical commentary is also included on some of the tracks on the CD.  This, along with the introduction at the beginning of the book by Nikki Giovanni, add significance and meaning to the poems and their artists.  

Readers feel a wide range of emotions while reading and listening to the poems in this book.  Many poems are rich in culture and history, while some are more lighthearted and fun like "Funky Snowman." 

"Funky Snowman"

Funky Snowman loves to dance.

You'd think he wouldn't 

have much chance 

without two legs

or even pants.

Does that stop

Funky Snowman?

No!!

Turn up the music

with the disco beat,

when you're in the groove,

you don't need feet.

Crowds come out 

and fill the street.

Kick it,

Funky Snowman!!

A team of five artists contributed to the illustrations in this book.  Their illustrations are bold, colorful, and beautiful.  They add meaning to the stories told in the text and capture the cultural heritage of African Americans talked about in the poems.  Details about the illustrators, contributors, editor, and advisors are included at the back of the book.  

The students could write their own poems and perform them to a beat or they could take a poem from the book and record their own interpretation of it.  They could also take a hip hop song that they have knowledge of and read it as a poem with a beat.  The teacher or librarian could partner up with the music teacher to encourage the kids to find appropriate instruments for the beat and rhythm of their poems.  

After listening to the poem on the CD, the teacher could put up the words of the poems for the kids to read along with.  This will help build fluency and also help the kids appreciate the words, form, and rhythm of the poems.  

Hopkins Collection: CITY I LOVE

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Hopkins, Lee Bennett. 2009. CITY I LOVE. Ill. by Marcellus Hall. New York: Abrams Books for Young Readers. ISBN 978-0-8109-8327-4.

REVIEW AND CRITICAL ANALYSIS

CITY I LOVE by Lee Bennett Hopkins takes kids on a poetic adventure to several cities located in different parts of the world.  A well traveled dog and his bird companion are the guides throughout each of the 18 poems included in the book.  Hopkins uses sensory images in these short, but descriptive poems which allow the reader to easily escape to these urban centers.  CITY I LOVE includes poems with rhythm, repetition, and occasionally rhyme to engage the young audience it is intended for.

Marcellus Hall's illustrations are full of details which perfectly compliment the poems and add even more to the already wonderful text.  For example, in SUBWAYS ARE PEOPLE the illustration depicts a woman with a clothespin on her nose and a man playing an accordion among the people on the subway.  The fact that a subway might smell or there might be musical entertainment isn't mentioned in the text, but the details in the illustrations help readers to add to their understanding of a subway in Mexico City.  The accurate details about each city in both the illustrations and the text allow the reader to not only enjoy the poems, but learn from them too.

Taxi!

You stand
on a corner
shouting:

"Taxi!"

"Taxi!"

knowing
deep
inside
taxi cabs
never
stop
on
rainy
days.

In this succinct poem, Hopkins has captured a lot of emotion.  Without the illustrations, the reader would most likely be unable to determine what city the poem is about.  Included in the illustration of TAXI! are double decker buses with a Union Flag on the front, Big Ben, Tower Bridge, and the London Eye.  Knowing that London is known for its rain showers along with the clues in the illustrations will help kids understand the poem is about London.  Although none of the city names are explicitly written in the poems, a map is included in the front and back of the book that pinpoints each city that is written about in the book.

When studying about different types of communities (rural, suburban, and urban) these poems could be used to talk about the characteristics of urban communities they hear described in the poems and see in the illustrations.

The students could write their own poems about a place that they've been before without saying the name of the city or place.  They should start by brainstorming ways to describe the place using their five senses.  The illustration for their poem should add to the text and include details that would help the reader to imagine the place described. 

Students could research more about one of the cities in the book.  After learning more about the city, do they understand why Hopkins included different details in his poems?