LEE BENNETT HOPKINS

Hopkins, L. B.  (2003).  Alphathoughts:  Alphabet poems.  Ill. M. Baggetta.  Honesdale, PA:  Wordsong.  ISBN 1-56397-979-9

Lee Bennett Hopkins is an award-winning poet known not only for the poetry he writes, but for the anthologies of poetry he has edited.  In fact, he has been so prolific in publishing anthologies of poetry for children and young adults that he was recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records in 2011 as being the most prolific anthologist with 113 titles to his credit.  The National Council of Teachers of English has also created two awards named after Hopkins.  One is for the best book of poetry for children and Young Adults published the previous year, and one is given every three years to the most promising new poet for children and young adults.

I chose this book of alphabet poems written by Hopkins with the thought that my kindergartner would probably like it, and was I right!   Corbyn’s first reaction to the book was to grab it from my hands and sit on the little loveseat in his room and begin reading the words out loud.  (You can see him doing just that in my January 21, 2013 post).  He’s just learning to read, and the individual words of an alphabet book paired with the illustrations provide the perfect amount of support for his efforts. 

Each word is accompanied by a poetic definition, often one that includes some alliteration – a figure of speech where multiple words start with the same sound – which happens to be one of my favorite figurative language devices.   For example, notice all the “p” sounds in the description of library:

               L

               

               LIBRARY

               A

               pleasure place

               to

               ponder

               lifelong

               dreams

So while none of the poems rhyme, all of them roll pleasingly off the tongue.  And the definitions give young readers something new to ponder.  “B / BOOKS / Pages / and / pages / of / bound / forevers” – what does he mean?  Corbyn thought about it for a minute, and then made the connection that he has books that have other children’s names in them (we shop at Half-Price Books on a regular basis!) and books last forever; everyone can read them.  Lots to think about in the simple words of the poems on each page.

Corbyn spent one trip through the book just reading the word for each letter, seeking help when he got to some that were new to him (“ORNITHOLOGIST” for example).  However, then he made the comment that there were other words on the page and wanted me to read those as well, so we started back at the beginning and read the descriptions, some of which he wanted to repeat himself.  He reread the words to “J / JELLY / A / jolly / peanut-butter / playmate” twice, feeling it in his mouth and hearing it with his ears.  The sounds in this alphabet book are wonderful.

Additionally, Marla Baggetta’s illustrations are beautiful, brightly-colored creations that catch the eye and invite the readers into the words on the page.  My favorites were “BOOKS,”  “IGLOO,”  “LIBRARY,”  and  “JELLY,” while Corbyn’s were “DOGS,”  “GYMNASIUM” and  “PENCIL.” 

A good way to introduce this book is to ask students to think about what some of their favorite words are.  List them on the board.  Point out the letter that each words starts with and write the letter separately beside it.   Then read the book to the students.  Read it first from start to finish without interruption.  Then reread several pages and note places where the alliteration occurs.  Read other pages that have particularly good descriptions of visual images such as the D page:

               D

               DOGS

               With

               wagging tails

               they

               breed

               a more

               delightful

               world

Challenge young students to mentally picture the wagging tails dogs often have, and how sometimes they wag their tails so hard that their whole body wags.  Talk about the words “breed,” and “delightful.”  Then ask students to pick one of the words from the board, or choose another favorite word they can think of, and write a description of it. Remind them to think about visual images and the sounds of the words. Even kindergartners who have just begun to explore spelling and phonics can use invented spellings to write their descriptions.  Have them illustrate their word and share with the class.  Create a class alphabet book with each student taking a letter to define through poetry and illustrations.

I have collected alphabet books through the years, but I do not have this one.  I can guarantee I will have my own personal copy in my home library soon.  How long I can claim it as mine remains to be seen.  Many of my books have now ended up on Corbyn’s shelf.  I’m sure this will be one that lands there as well.