Performance Poetry: YOU READ TO ME, I'LL READ TO YOU VERY SHORT FABLES TO READ TOGETHER

BIBLIOGRAPHY: 

Hoberman, Mary Ann. 2010. YOU READ TO ME, I’LL READ TO YOU: VERY SHORT FABLES TO READ TOGETHER. Ill. by Michael Emberley. New York: Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 978-0-316-04117-1

REVIEW AND CRITICAL ANALYSIS:

In the fifth book of the Your Read to me series,  author Mary Ann Hoberman and illustrator Michael Emberley have teamed up to create Very Short Fables to Read Together.  You Read to Me, I'll Read to You: Very Short Fables to Read Together is a collection of 13 traditional Aesop’s fables told in rhyme and written for two voices.  The book begins with an introduction that explains how to read the poems in the book with a partner.  The orange text on the left is for one reader and the green text on the right is for another reader.  The pink text that is included is meant to be read chorally by both readers.

Most of the fables included in the book are well known, but some of them might be less familiar to readers.  Hoberman has taken traditional fables and included slight variations, while keeping the classic tale intact.  For example, in the fable The Hare and the Tortoise the race takes place on bicycles, but the storyline is the same.  Each fable concludes with a moral, which is meant to be read chorally.  The moral at the end of The Hare and the Tortoise is “Just keep up an even pace. / Slow and steady wins the race.”

Hoberman uses rhyme and rhythm to engage young and old readers alike.  The language used in the poems is simple enough for emerging readers, but the story and moral of the fable aren’t lost because of the simplicity.  The rhyming text along with the format of the poems adds an extra element of fun to these traditional fables. 

Each fable stretches across two, full pages and is supplemented by Michael Emberley’s watercolor spot illustrations.  There are multiple illustrations included with each fable which are relatively small, yet very detailed.  The illustrations are strategically placed on the page and do a great job of depicting what is happening at that point in the poem.  This allows the reader to check their comprehension as they read and also helps to keep young readers entertained. 

THE GRASSHOPPER AND THE ANT

It’s summertime and all day long

I dance my dance and sing my song.

It’s summertime and all the day

I work so hard and never play.

How foolish of these boring ants!

Why should I work when I can dance?

With all these oats and grain and wheat,

There’s lots of food for me to eat!

I’ve hidden every seed I got.

I’ve stored it in a secret spot.

When winter comes with snow and ice,

These seeds of mine will taste so nice.

Oh, dear, the year is growing old.

The days and nights are getting cold.

The grain is gone, the fields are bare.

I can’t find dinner anywhere.

Now that the summer days are past

And wintertime is here at last,

How smart I was to think ahead.

The winds may blow but I’ll be fed. 

Oh, Ant, I know that you’re my friend.

Do you have, please, some seeds to lend?

If you will let me eat my fill,

I’ll pay you back, I swear I will. 

While I worked hard all summer long,

What did you do?  You sang your song!

Well, now it’s winter, as you see,

So dance your dance!  Don’t bother me!

Moral:            Dance your dance, but not all day.

                        You must work as well as play.  

When learning about fables, these poems would be a perfect addition.  The teacher could split the kids up into pairs and assign them a poem.  The kids could create basic puppets that represent the characters in their poem out of popsicle sticks.  Each group could perform their fable for the class and lead a discussion on the moral or theme of their fable.  The puppets along with the poems could be kept out so that students have a chance to read and perform many different fables.  

Hopkins Award Poetry: BEHOLD THE BOLD UMBRELLAPHANT AND OTHER POEMS

BIBLIOGRAPHY: 

Prelutsky, Jack. 2006. BEHOLD THE BOLD UMBRELLAPHANT AND OTHER POEMS. New York, NY: Greenwillow Books. ISBN: 978-0-06-054317-4.

REVIEW AND CRITICAL ANALYSIS:  

Behold the Umbrellaphant is a collection of 17 poems written by Jack Prelutsky.  Each poem is about a creature that is part animal and part inanimate object.  For example, the Alarmadillos have alarm clocks for bodies, and the Ballpoint Penguins can write with their beaks.  The poems are fun and extremely witty.  Prelutzky has included clever wordplay with rhyme and meter that make them a great choice for read alouds.

A table of contents is included at the beginning of the book to help readers find their favorite poems quickly and easily.  Carin Berger has used unique collage illustrations to perfectly complement Prelutsky’s unconventional creatures he has created in his poems.  She has included many details and layers in her collages that make the creatures in the illustrations really come to life.  

THE CLOCKTOPUS

Emerging from the salty sea,

A wondrous beast appears.

It clearly is a CLOCKTOPUS,

We marvel as it nears.

It moves with slow precision

At a never-changing pace,

Its tentacles in tempo

With the clock upon its face.

While undulating east to west

Across the swirling sand,

It ticks away the minutes,

And it has a second hand.

We watch it for an hour

And it never goes astray-

There's nothing like a CLOCKTOPUS 

To tell the time of day. 

Berger's illustration is of an octopus with a clock for a face and a clock of some kind on each of his eight arms.  She has cleverly made parts of the clock that is the octopus face appear to look like eyes.  

Kids would have a great time creating their own illustrations for these poems.  The teacher or librarian could read the poems out loud without showing the illustrations.  To make sure they understand the animal and the object that are combined, the teacher/librarian could lead a class discussion.  The kids could then illustrate their mental images and compare illustrations with other students in the class to see each other's mental images.  

After studying animal adaptations, kids could create their own animal/object combinations and create a poem about it.  The object could serve as an adaptation for the animal that gives it an advantage in some way.  After they write their poem, they could illustrate their new creature they have created.  

Sidman Poetry: DARK EMPEROR

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Sidman, Joyce. 2010. Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night. Ill. by Rick Allen. New York: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children. ISBN 978-0-547-15228-8

REVIEW AND CRITICAL ANALYSIS:  

Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night, is a collection of poems by Joyce Sidman that celebrate the world that comes alive after dark.   Sidman has cleverly organized Dark Emperor.  The poem collection begins at dusk with “Welcome to the Night” and ends at dawn when the sun beings to rise with “Moon’s Lament.”  In between she features poems about 8 nocturnal creatures of the night and 2 plants that are found in the woods during the night. 

Included in the margin of each page is a short note on the creature or object of the night featured in the poem.  These notes give further information about the object’s behaviors and characteristics.  They are also carefully written and aren’t just full of dry facts.  Instead, Sidman has included factual information that not only adds to the beautiful poetry and illustrations, but is also interesting and entertaining for the reader. 

There are many poetic forms included in this book such as verse, lyrical, and concrete.  Some poems, like “Welcome to the Night,” have a clear rhyme pattern while others like “Love Poem of the Primrose Moth” do not contain any rhyme. Her use of rhythm makes the poems easy and fun to read and add to the imagery of the poems.  Sidman’s use of descriptive language makes the poems exciting and rich with sensory details.  She creates strong mental images with the use of similes, like “where the moss grows like candy.”  In “Oak After Dark” she uses personification “I stretch my roots into the hill/and slowly, slowly, drink my fill. /A thousand crickets scream my name, yet I remain the same, the same.” This book of poetry keeps the reader’s interest by featuring poems that have variations in content and style.  

Rick Allen’s illustrations are gorgeous linoleum cut prints covered with gouache.  Sidman’s poems are written from the perspective of each creature in the book and Allen’s illustrations perfectly add to their voice.  The block-prints, combined with dark colors, create a shadowy effect and the details of the illustrations complement the actions in Sidman’s poems perfectly.  The poetry, illustrations, and informational text in the margins combine to create a rich and informative experience for young and old readers alike.   

WELCOME TO THE NIGHT

To all of you who crawl and creep,
who buzz and chirp and hoot and peep,
who wake at dusk and throw off sleep:
Welcome to the night.

To you who make the forest sing,
who dip and dodge on silent wing,
who flutter, hover, clasp, and cling:
Welcome to the night!

Come feel the cool and shadowed breeze,
come smell your way among the trees,
come touch rough bark and leathered leaves:
Welcome to the night.  

The night's a sea of dappled dark,
the night's a feast of sound and spark,
the night's a wild, enchanted park.
Welcome to the night!

Welcome to the Night is the first poem in the book and it welcomes the reader to the nighttime adventure they are about to embark on.  Students could list the different animals that they see during the daytime and at nighttime.  They could continue to read the rest of the poems into the book and add to the list of animals that are found during the night.  After reading, the children could choose an animal that isn't mentioned in the book and research its habits and behaviors.  They could write a poem, illustrate it, and write a short informational paragraph like Sidman has done in her book.  The class could compile all the poems together to create a class book.  

Students could also create a movie of the poem they wrote about their animal or about a creature featured in Dark Emperor.  They could include pictures of the animal, its habitat, and even include sounds the animal makes.    

Biopgraphical Poetry: CORETTA SCOTT

 

 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

 

 

Shange, Ntozake, Ill. by Kadir Nelson. 2009. CORETTA SCOTT. New York: Katherine Tegen Books.  ISBN: 978-0-06-125364-5

 

REVIEW AND CRITICAL ANALYSIS 

 

 

This poetry picture book by Ntozake Shange is a moving story that is not only a biography on Coretta Scott, but also gives students a historical glimpse at life in the South during the 1960s.  Shange’s powerful free verse poetry beings with Coretta’s childhood when Coretta and her siblings “walked all/of five miles to/the nearest colored school/in the darkness/with the dew dampening/their feet.”  The very next page shows the young children with wounded looks on their faces because a "white school bus/ left a/ funnel of dust/on their faces."  The story continues to tell of her marriage to Martin Luther King Jr. and their leadership roles in the Civil Rights Movement.  The book ends with “ain't gonna let nobody turn me round/gonna keep on a-walkin'/keep on a-talkin'/walkin' up to freedom land/singin’ always singin’” and shows Coretta Scott and MLK Jr. leading a march with people following them and the last page shows a close up picture of Coretta Scott King and Martin Luther King Jr.’s faces as they sing a song.  These last few pages show that Mr. and Mrs. King were dedicated to fighting for freedom peacefully until the end. 

Shange has written this poetry picture book without any punctuation which allows the reader to focus on the simple, but powerful words.  She has filled the book with rich imagery that adds depth to the words in the poem.  The oil painted illustrations by Kadir Nelson truly bring out all the emotion that Shange has written about in the text.  Readers will want to savor the bold, often double page spread illustrations, looking for new details and emotions at each glance. 

 

The book ends with a note by author Ntozake Shange about the life of Coretta Scott King.  It is a thorough, but not long winded, biography of Coretta Scott King's life along with a photograph of her speaking to a large crowd.  This summary of her life, along with the photograph, help to fill in the factual holes left behind by the poetry format of the book.

  

This biographical poetry book on Coretta Scott King provides a unique opportunity for teachers to share about her life in poetry format.  During Black History Month, students are often exposed to famous African Americans and their contributions to society.  After reading this book and learning about Coretta Scott King, the teacher or librarian could introduce the Coretta Scott King Award to the students.  This award is given to "African American authors and illustrators of books for children and young adults that show an appreciation of African American culture and universal human values"(American Library Association).  The students could explore the authors' and illustrators' books that have won this award over the years.  What can they learn about the African American culture and what they endured in the past?  This activity will not only expose students to African American culture and history, but also different authors and illustrators and many different types of text. 

 

 

 

"The Coretta Scott King Book Awards", American Library Association, January 18, 2009.

http://www.ala.org/emiert/cskbookawards (Accessed April 4, 2013)

Social Studies Poetry: AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bates, Katharine Lee. 2004. AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL. New York: Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 978-0-316-08338-6.

REVIEW AND CRITICAL ANALYSIS

This is a beautifully illustrated poetry picture book version of Katharine Lee Bates' 1893 poem, "America the Beautiful." The poem was later turned into the famous American patriotic song that we are all so familiar with. Chris Gall created the illustrations by using hand engraving on clay-covered board, and then used a computer to adjust the colors and other elements. The result of this combination is pictures that are detailed and beautiful. These full page images perfectly correspond to the words that are listed on the adjacent page.

The page beside the refrain, "From sea to shining sea," Gall shows Sacajawea and her son traveling the Missouri River with Lewis and Clark. He also includes images from more recent events. The New York firemen of 9/11 are shown hoisting the flag at Ground Zero for "Who more than self their country loved/ And mercy more than life!" The wide range of images from different time periods in history that are included in the book show the timelessness of the poem and help to paint the full picture of what America embodies.

At the conclusion of the book there is an "About the Artwork" page which shows a small picture of each image included in the book. Next to each image is a description of what is seen in the artwork or an explanation of why it was used. These descriptions and explanations are helpful to the reader because they ensure that they fully understand the connection between the images and the words.

Teachers could use this book to teach the meaning of the words included in the poem. The teacher could display the words to the song on the board and have the students identify words in which they are unsure of the meaning. Then read the book America the Beautiful and show the students the pictures. Lead the class in a discussion about the pictures and how they relate to the words on the page. Discuss with them how the pictures in a book can help with comprehension of the story or poem. Next, look back at all the words and phrases that the class didn't understand and see if they now understand them after reading this poem picture book and having the class discussion.

This book is also great to use when learning about different areas of the United States. Many of the pictures feature a landmark or geographic feature from a specific place in the US. These places could be plotted on a map and students could be shown photographs of the actual landmark or geographic feature and learn about the area. Have any students visited these places or recognize them from a movie, book, or TV show? Does that background knowledge help them to understand the words in the poem?

Science Poetry: AND THEN THERE WERE EIGHT: POEMS ABOUT SPACE

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Salas, Laura Purdie. 2008. AND THEN THERE WERE EIGHT: POEMS ABOUT SPACE. Minnesota: Capstone. ISBN 978-1-4296-1207-4

REVIEW AND CRITICAL ANALYSIS

AND THEN THERE WERE EIGHT : POEMS ABOUT SPACE is a collection of 15 fun and educational poems that are all centered around the topic of space and space exploration. Laura Purdie Salas has included a full page photograph to complement each poem. These amazing photographs, along with the engaging poems, will help to spark even more interest about the topics written about in the book.

The poems are not written to strictly teach kids facts about space. Instead, some poems are written just for fun and some are filled with facts that are presented in a fun way. For example, in "Here Girl!" Salas uses personification to describe The Mars Lander as if it were a dog.

Here, Girl!
 

She rolls
and roams
and wags her tail
She never needs to see the vet

I love her
silver
shiny coat
She’s my planetary pet!

 

Although this poem is silly, the picture included is of a rover that resembles a dog on a surface that appears to be the surface of Mars. There is a caption on he photograph that says, "The Mars Lander explores Mars." The fun poem, combined with the picture and caption, might spark students' interest and encourage them to learn more about space exploration. Captions appear on many photographs in the book which help to explain what the reader is looking at in the picture.

Other poems, like "Then There Were Eight" are educational, but still appropriate for a young audience.

Then There Were Eight

 

Poor ball of ice, we know you exist; but you’re
Little and solid and we must insist on
Undoing the past, so though you’ll be missed, we’ve
Taken you
Off of the “real planet” list



Salas has included several different poetic forms throughout the book. At the conclusion of the poems, a poetic glossary is found. This includes definitions of some of the poetic elements found in the poems, as well as five poetic forms included in the book. Salas has listed the poem title and page number that the reader can find an example of that form in the book. This allows the reader to have quick access to an example poem that goes along with the definition. A glossary is also included at the back of the book that gives the pronunciation and definition for words that might be unknown to a young reader. Several books and Internet sites are listed for the reader should they want to learn more about space. 


This book is a perfect companion to a space unit. The poems could be used to engage the learner before they learn about each planet. After reading each poem, the students could write down any questions they have about space. The could then lead to an inquiry unit where the kids' questions guide their research on space.

The book could also be shared with students during or after they learn about the planets and space. Students could write a poem about a space topic that they have learned about in class. The teacher could compile all of the poems into a class book that would feature different forms of poetry about many different space topics. After each student shared their poem with the class, the book could go in the class library to be read over and over again.