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.