Lee Bennett Hopkins Award - Button Up!

Schertle, A.  (2009).  Button up! Wrinkled rhymes..  Ill. P. Mathers.  New York, NY:  Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.  ISBN 978-0-15-205050-4.

What would your clothes say if they could talk?  In Alice Schertle’s Button Up: Wrinkled Rhymes, we find out what the clothes of young children would say.  Winner of the Lee Bennett Hopkins Award for Poetry in 2010, Button Up personifies pieces of clothing from hats and shoes and bicycle helmets to swimsuits, jammies, and costumes.  Perfect for preschoolers and early elementary children, the sentiments of these pieces of clothing will be understandable and meaningful.  And don’t be surprised if after reading these poems, the young ones ask you what their undies are saying.

            Emily’s Undies

            We’re Emily’s undies

            with laces and bows.

Emily shows us

wherever she goes.

She doesn’t wear diapers,

not even to bed.

Now she wears undies

with ruffles instead.

We’re Emily’s undies,

fit for a queen,

the prettiest undies

that anyone’s seen,

and everyone’s seen

our laces and bows

because Emily shows us

wherever she goes.

The poems in this volume made me think about my own little girls – who are 28 and 29 now – and how excited and proud of their ruffly undies they were to the point of needing to show them to everyone.  So while the little ones will enjoy the rhyming, rhythmic poems, so will the moms and grandmothers who might read the poems to their children and grandchildren. 

Vocabulary in the poems will also provide some new experiences for young children.  Joshua’s jammies don’t fit penguins, bears, or tigers, but neither do they fit iguanas, gnus, or llamas.  The rhymes and rhythms are exceptionally pleasing to the ear, and the repetition of words and phrases provide predictable patterns for young readers.  Many of the poems, as illustrated above in Emily’s Undies begin and end with the same phrases.  After reviewing this book, I’m anxious to read it with Corbyn who is beginning to read fairly well now.  I believe he will find some success in decoding and comprehending the words on these pages by using the word patterns and the context of familiar objects and situations. 

The cover of this book also caught my attention.  From the cutest buttoned-up ostrich on the front to the butterflies that flitter from the front to the back cover, Petra Mathers’s illustrations complete the poems to perfection.  Button Up!  is a wonderful addition to any young children’s class or the collection of books parents have at home.  

Joyce Sidman - NCTE Award for Poetry for Children

Sidman, J.  (2007).  This is just to say:  Poems of apology and forgiveness.  Ill. P. Zagarensky.  New York, NY:  Houghton Mifflin.  ISBN 0-618-61680-2.

One of my favorite books of poetry this semester, This is Just to Say: Poems of Apology and Forgiveness is so realistic in its fictional setting and characters that I almost needed to reread the introduction to make sure that it is the work of one author.  Sidman is the newest recipient of the National Council of Teachers of English Award for Poetry for Children.  This book demonstrates her creativity and a writing style that is engaging and entertaining while still using poetic language and introducing different poetic styles. 

Broken into two parts, the fictional students from Mrs. Merz’s sixth grade class write poems apologizing and asking for forgiveness in “Part 1 Apologies.”  Then as an afterthought, the students decided to seek responses to the original poems, and “Part 2 Responses” was created.  The poems in both parts pair with each other.  Students reading the book will find themselves flipping back to Part 1 while they read Part 2 in order to remind themselves of the content of the first poems as they read the responses.  The poems cover a variety of topics from apologizing to classmates, siblings, and parents; to feeling sad over the loss of pets and parents; to confessions of stealing the class lizard (which died) and rubbing the school’s namesake statue’s nose. 

Supposedly inspired by William Carlos Williams’s poem “This is Just to Say,” the students in Mrs. Merz’s class bare all, sometimes in a serious way, sometimes silly.  Sometimes sincere in their apologies, sometimes not so much.

Take the first and last stanzas of Thomas’s poem of apology to Mrs. Garcia in the office:

            This is Just to Say

            I have stolen

the jelly doughnuts

            that were in

            the teachers’ lounge

            . . . .

            too bad

            the powdered sugar

            spilled all over my shirt

            and gave me

            away

and Mrs. Garcia’s response back which ends:

            Dear Thomas

            Of course I forgive you.

            But I still have to call your mother.

The format of this book offers students who read it some great inspiration of their own in writing poetry.  Some different types of poems, such as haiku and pantoum are defined and demonstrated.  Students who owe someone an apology might be inspired to write that person a poem while being relieved to find in the book that the transgressions were long ago forgiven and forgotten by parents and teachers. 

Although this book of poetry is by a group of fictional sixth graders, the poems are fun, funny, serious, and sensitive, and students of all ages will be able to relate to the topics of the poems.  Who among us has not needed to apologize or respond to an apology?  This book is on my recommended list for my high school students who want to read poetry that is easily accessible, relevant, and enjoyable. 

Performance Poetry - Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices

Fleischman, P.  (1988).  Joyful noise:  Poems for two voices.  Ill. E. Beddows.  New York, NY:  Harper Trophy.  ISBN 0-06-021852-5.

This is the perfect volume of poetry for children who like to perform.  Filled with poems meant to be read aloud by two readers, Joyful Noise:  Poems for Two Voices offers a format that makes reading by two readers, or two groups of readers, easy and fun.  In a Note at the beginning of the book, Fleischman explains, “The following poems were written to be read aloud by two readers at once, one taking the left-hand part, the other taking the right-hand part.  The poems should be read from top to bottom, the two parts meshing as in a musical duet.  When both readers have lines at the same horizontal level, those lines are to be spoken simultaneously.” 

Some practice might be needed by the readers to get used to doing solo reading as well as simultaneous reading on the various lines.  These poems were definitely meant to be heard.  They have various rhyme schemes and rhythm patterns, and they have a delightful flow to them that makes them amazing to hear.  Students’ oral reading will benefit through the practice necessary to read them aloud so that those rhythm and rhyme patterns are evident.  But once they have it, they should feel a great sense of accomplishment in a performance well done.

The poems are told in first person by insect narrators.  Grasshoppers, Mayflies, Cicadas, Honeybees and others tell their stories through poetry that highlights a characteristic they are known for.  My favorite is “Book Lice” which starts like this:

            I was born in a

            fine old edition of Schiller

                                                            While I started life

                                                            In a private eye thriller

            We’re book lice                         We’re book lice

            who dwell                                  who dwell

in these dusty bookshelves.       In these dusty bookshelves.

Later I lodged in

Scott’s works – volume 50

                                                 While I passed my youth

                                                 in an Agatha Christie

We’re book lice                          We’re book lice

attached                                    attached

despite contrasting pasts.           despite contrasting pasts.

This pair continues to explain how they met and came to be mates – Mr. Book Lice on the left and Mrs. Book Lice on the right. 

Students might enjoy writing their own poems for two voices after reading these.  Along with being perfect for use in the English classroom, this volume of poetry would be a great addition to a speech or drama class for elementary students.  Costumes would enhance the fun.  Be sure to give students plenty of time to rehearse their lines separately and then together with their partners before performing the poems, then let the performances begin!  Science classes would also benefit from a creative presentation of information from the insect world.  Fleischman’s observations of the various characteristics of the insects in his poems create a great springboard for observing small creatures in the world around us. 

Although Joyful Noise:  Poems for Two Voices has been around for a while, the poems are not dated.  It won the 1989 Newbery Award for best children’s book and rightly so.  The writing is creative and truly poetic (not just rhyming word play), and the reading and performing is a good experience for upper elementary readers.

Poetry Across the Curriculum - Biographical

Bernier-Grand, C. T. (2007).  Frida:  Viva la vida!  Long live life!  Tarrytown, NY:  Marshall Cavendish.  ISBN 978-0-7614-5336-9.

I love art museums.  One of my ideas of a perfect day off is to head to any one of a dozen art museums in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area and roam the rooms and rooms of paintings.  While not my favorite artist, one of the painters that fascinates me is Frida Kahlo.   Her work is known to almost everyone due to her numerous self-portraits.  However, I realized that I didn't know anything about her when I picked up this volume of poetry about her life and her work.  The book is a goldmine of information about Frida.  The poems, many accompanied by photos of her paintings, reflect the pain and turbulence Frida experienced throughout her life. 

Bernier-Grand writes the narrative poems describing Frida’s life from birth to death with such vividness in Frida’s first person voice that I had to double-check to make sure these poems were not written by Frida herself. 

            Hummingbird Wings

            I am a wounded hummingbird

            caged in my room for nine months

            with polio, crippling polio.

Her entire life was a tug-of-war between the pain and health issues she felt following polio and a crippling bus accident, and the joy she felt in life when married to her love, Diego Rivera.  Even when her marriage disintegrated after Diego’s affair with Frida’s younger sister, and through the 31 surgeries she endured due to her accident, Frida continued believing that life was worth living.  These poems and the accompanying paintings demonstrate the sadness and joys of her forty-seven years of life. 

The book also includes two photographs of Frida, a brief prose biography; a chronological list of events from her birth to her death, Diego’s death, and the opening of her Blue House as a museum; a glossary of the Spanish words used throughout the poetry; sources of information including books, movies, and web sites; notes; and acknowledgements.  Readers who already know something about the life of Frida Kahlo, as well as those who do not, will come away from reading this biographical book of poetry with rich insight into Frida’s life. 

A Pura Belpre Honor Book and an ALA Notable book, this volume would be an excellent addition to an art class, a history class, or an English class.  

Poetry Across the Curriculum - Science

Yolen, J. (2010).  An Egret’s Day.  Ill. J. Stemple.  Honesdale, PA:  Wordsong.  ISBN 978-1-59078-650-5.

I chose this book of poetry when I found it on our public library shelf because our community has an interesting history with egrets.  Some of it not very nice – roosting areas wiped out and then ordered to be restored, neighborhoods unhappy with egrets roosting near their houses and the city taking steps to run them out.  But my family enjoys watching one Great Egret that stands in a small neighborhood lake just up our street.  Beautiful and majestic, he stands to the side of the pond, seeming to survey the ducks and turtles and fish before him.  I thought my six-year-old grandson Corbyn would enjoy reading poetry about a bird we see regularly.  And this book of poetry provided exactly what we needed to learn about this stately inhabitant. 

Each two-page spread includes a poem, a paragraph that gives facts and information, and one or more photos demonstrating a particular characteristic of egrets .  The rhythm and rhyme of Yolen’s poems are great for younger students (like Corbyn), but are varied.  She includes a haiku, a limerick, and poems with multiple formats of stanzas and rhyme schemes.  The prose is informative and interesting and paired with the poetry covers topics such as hunting, preening, plumes, legs and feet, size, nesting, and roosting.  The vocabulary is easy to understand in context, but introduces many words specific to the egret such as “preening” and “roost” (different from “nests”) and “splayed feet.” 

Since my high school students also live in this same community where there has been some angst with the Great Egret, this book could help some of these Young Adult community members understand egrets better, perhaps helping them be part of a solution to the problem as they become part of the decision-making process in the near future.  Poems such as “Plumes” can help illustrate some of the problems egrets have sustained.

            Plumes

            Its plumes resemble Belgian lace

            That ladies wear most any place.

            However, plumes like these should stay –

            No matter what hat makers pay –

            Upon the shoulders of the egret.

            My take on this is hardly secret.

Yolen’s son, Jason Stemple, has captured the Great Egret in fascinating photographs showing the egret in many settings and poses.  Close-ups of tracks and feathers and beaks allow the reader to get a good look at this beauty who is usually only seen from a distance.

While I’ll be introducing this volume to high school students and talking about the current events surrounding the Great Egret in our community, this book would be a wonderful addition to elementary and middle school science libraries.  

Poetry Across the Curriculum - Social Studies

Myers, W. D. (2011).  We are America:  A tribute from the heart.  Ill. C. Myers.  New York, NY:  HarperCollins.  ISBN 978-0-06-052308-4.

"We Are America is one way I have of answering [my grandparents’] questions, my dreams of what this rich country is, was, and will continue to be . . . . in some way the beauty of this country is its open-endedness, the question mark of it.  Where other places in the world end in periods, neat packets of sealed identities, we end in possibilities. "

Thus begins the book We Are America: A Tribute from the Heart in the “Artist’s Note” on the front pages of the book.

Walter Dean Myers and his son Christopher have crafted a book of poetry and illustrations that reflects the story of America – its bright hope for freedom, and a place where some dreams are realized while some are not.  In his “Author’s Note,” Walter Dean Myers states that after 9/11, his thoughts went to how he had taken his liberties and opportunities for granted.  “It was no longer enough just to exercise my right to criticize both our history and our present state.  I needed to take responsibility for that history, our present, and our future.”   The poems in this volume are his tribute to America.

This is a wonderful book of poetry by an African American author who is already well known by so many young adult readers.  Walter Dean Myers is perhaps most often known for his gritty young adult novels such as Monster and Slam.  But this volume of poetry, with illustrations by his son Christopher, is a beautiful book that reflects the history of America and the dreams that so many have had before and/or after coming to this country.  Africans and Native Americans are given voice in some of the poems as are immigrants who came to this land looking for the opportunities they had heard were abundant, and looking for a fulfillment of dreams that often were not realized.  However, all poems are respectful in their portrayal of America’s strengths and shortcomings. 

Myers’s poems are summarized in this poem found near the end of the book:

           

            We are America

            The land of the free

            Wealthy beyond belief

                        and not wealthy

            The land of equal opportunity

                        and not equal

            The land of justice

                        and injustice

Social Studies teachers from middle grades through high school could use the simple yet eloquent poems penned by the elder Myers in this book to explore how America has been seen as the land of opportunity, and how those dreams have come true for some, and not for others.  The diversity of the people who have called America home is beautifully illustrated in the younger Myers’s rich, colorful paintings that span America’s history from “Before there was America” to the present sky scrapers of our modern cities. 

Other features of this book of poetry include quotations from sources such as the Constitution of the United States and the Declaration of Independence as well as historical figures from King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain to Barbara Jordan at the Democratic National Convention in 1976.  Those quotes are elaborated upon at the end of the book.  “Art Notes” explain the illustrations and name the famous figures included in them such as Amelia Earhart, the John Hancock Building, and Greg Louganis.  The only criticism I have of the book would be that the “Art Notes” reference page numbers, but the pages aren’t actually  numbered.  So matching up the notes to the correct pages is a little frustrating. 

This book would be an excellent addition to any Social Studies class and is a great resource for taking a look at the history of America.  The poems would be a wonderful jumping-off place for looking at “The American Dream” and how it has been realized or fallen short.  Most students, especially minority students, will find themselves in these poems and the art that accompanies them.  This volume was not in my personal collection until I found it in my public library; however, Amazon has one on the way to me as I type.  I’m anxious to add it to my classroom library where my high school English students will have access to it, and where I can use it for writing prompts that are meaningful, personal, and relevant.