How to use this Page

all the small poems and fourteen more
by Valerie Worth
illustrated by Natalie Babbitt
Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1994

Are you ready for Poem in Your Pocket Day tomorrow? If not, grab this classic and open to any page to find a small poem just right for tucking in your pocket to share with anyone who will listen!

Here's a perfect one to celebrate those wildflowers which have been appearing in our lawn the last couple of weeks, and which so many of us have such a hard time loving:

dandelion

Out of
Green space,
A sun:
Bright for
A day, burning
Away to
A husk, a
Cratered moon:

Burst
In a week
To dust:
Seeding
The infinite
Lawn with
Its starry
Smithereens.

Hoop Kings
by Charles R. Smith
Candlewick Press, 2004








Hoop Queens
by Charles R. Smith
Candlewick Press, 2003








I don't know much about basketball, but I do know that these two books pass the test with the sports fans (mostly boys) in my classroom. They are pulled in by the famous players, the bold colors, and the action photography. Once they're hooked, they find poems of many forms, including rhyming, free verse, acrostic, and rap.

Here's part of Sheryl Swoopes' poem, "All That:"

The Point Leader
Stat Line Feeder,
last-second
shot-making
OT Buzzer-Beater.
The Board Snatcher
Bullet Pass Catcher,
charging hard
through-the-lane
coming-right-at-ya.
The Lane Spinner
championship Winner,
coast to coast
off-the-glass
finger-roll finisher.

Imaginary Menagerie: A Book of Curious Creatures
by Julie Larios
illustrated by Julie Paschkis
Harcourt, 2008

Sometimes you just have to be patient and know that the right books will find the right readers eventually. IMAGINARY MENAGERIE has been in my poetry collection the whole school year, but last Friday it was "discovered."

Two girls chose it for Poetry Friday and asked to read a poem without telling us the title to see if we could guess what it was about. Many of the students guessed. Can you?


How can a beast speak
with a stone tongue,
with a stone throat?
My mouth is a rainspout. I screech. I shout.
How can a beast fly
with stone wings?
I fly when the bells ring and the hunchback is home.
Does a stone beast sleep
in a stone nest?
I am on guard. I never rest.


Did you guess Gargoyle? If you did, you were right!

I think we'll come back to this poem next week. When we wrote acrostics, we made the rule that you couldn't use your "key word," your vertical word, anywhere in the poem. The poem had to be about that word without using it. That's exactly what Julie Larios does in each of these poems. That's exactly what we want our young writers to do when we ask them to, "Show; don't tell."

WHAT CAN YOU DO WITH AN OLD RED SHOE by Anna Alter is not a poetry book. But a poem introduces each page.  This book is "a green activity book about reuse".  Each 2 page spread starts out with a short poem--often a rhyming poem--one that tells the story of something that happened so that something can no longer be used for its original intent.  For example, one flip flop gets lost, a shirt gets tattered, and crayons get worn out from use.  

Omnibeasts: Animal Poems and Paintings
by Douglas Florian
Harcourt, 2004

A. It wouldn't be National Poetry Month without Douglas Florian.

B. It's time to get ready for Poem in Your Pocket Day.

C. OMNIBEASTS has 44 short animal poems, each one perfect for carrying in your pocket.

My classroom copy of this book has no less than 6 sticky notes flagging student favorites. Here's one of my favorites, which, coincidentally, features a pocket:

The Kangaroo

The kangaroo loves to leap,
Into the air it zooms,
While baby's fast asleep
Inside its kangaroom.

I don't spend a lot of money on poetry books for myself. I enjoy poetry but I am not one to sit down with an entire book of poems. I have a few but I am picky about the ones I choose to own. One of my very favorites is TEN POEMS TO LAST A LIFETIME by Roger Housden. I picked this up years ago when I was at a conference and I have gone back to it several times since. I love the whole concept of the books and the ways that the poems were chosen.

Good Books, Good Times!
selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins
illustrated by Harvey Stevenson
Harper Collins Publishers, 1990

While Inner Chimes (my recent review here) is my favorite children's book of poetry about poetry and writing poetry, GOOD BOOKS, GOOD TIMES! is my favorite children's book of poetry about books and reading.

On Poetry Friday, early in the year, this is the book I can hand to a reluctant and/or struggling reader, who is guaranteed to find at least one poem (and usually more) that s/he can read. It's quite subversive (pardon the pun) to give such a reader a book about the joys of reading, to trick them into reciting words they don't believe yet, but probably will by the end of fourth grade with me and my room full of books.

Here's one that's often recited on Poetry Friday:

I MET A DRAGON FACE TO FACE
by Jack Prelutsky

I met a dragon face to face
the year when I was ten,
I took a trip to outer space,
I braved a pirates' den,
I wrestled with a wicked troll,
and fought a great white shark,
I trailed a rabbit down a hole,
I hunted for a snark.

I stowed aboard a submarine,
I opened magic doors,
I traveled in a time machine,
and searched for dinosaurs,
I climbed atop a giant's head,
I found a pot of gold,
I did all this in books I read
when I was ten years old.

There has not been much talk of songs during National Poetry Month. I have found that so many of my students buy into poetry when they realize that songs are often a form of poetry.  So today, to celebrate National Poetry Month I wanted to share some great song videos I have found online.  These are great fun for children to listen to and to watch. But I am also thinking that with programs like Animationish and others that are available, I can see kids creating animated videos and art like this to go with favorite songs.  Can you imagine how this can tie into Garageband?  I think the possibilities are endless.  But, just as importantly, these songs are FUN! A great joyful way to celebrate words with our students. Enjoy!  

Spring: An Alphabet Acrostic
by Stephen Schnur
illustrated by Leslie Evans
Clarion Books, 1999

I've written before about my pet peeve with acrostics: most teachers allow children to write a word vertically down their page, write a word that starts with each of the letters, and call it a poem. In my mind, a poem needs to say something, not just be a list of words. That's why Stephen Schnur's Alphabet Acrostic books have been key mentor texts in my classroom for modeling acrostics that say something.

Interestingly, Stephen Schnur does not think of himself as a poet. I learned this when he was featured at Miss Rumphius' Poetry Makers series this month.

"Though some have called my acrostic books poetry, I think of them as word play, as solutions to problems of verbal geometry."

Inner Chimes: Poems on Poetry
selected by Bobbye S. Goldstein
illustrations by Jane Breskin Zalben
Boyds Mills Press, 1992

I shared a poem from this book with my class yesterday -- "Take a Word Like Cat" by Karla Kuskin. We've been exploring the truth that one often must read a poem more than once for it to make sense. Here is the beginning and ending of Kuskin's poem:

Take a word like cat
And build around it;
A fur room over here
A long meow
Floating from the chimney like a smoke tail.
Draw with words.
Balance them like blocks.
.
.
.
When everything is perfect in its place
Step back to view the home
That you have built of words around your word.
It is a poem.


Most of the students got lost on the second line in the first reading. Not a single child knew what to do with the ending. So we decided to read it again! We had some questions about building with words and we were trying to visualize all the cat-related imagery that Kuskin includes in the middle of the poem.

When we got to the end the second time, K just about exploded with excitement. "I get it! I get it! It's a poem about writing a poem about a cat! When the poem says balance words like blocks, that's what you do in a poem when you make short lines!"

With this new-found power to crack open a poem and understand it, K read poetry for the entire SSR time.

INNER CHIMES is one of my all-time favorite books of poetry. Poems that think about themselves, poems that explore the writing of poetry, poems that give the reader a glimpse into the poet's process...what could be better?!

TREE
by Jane Hirschfield


It is foolish
to let a young redwood
grow next to a house.



(the rest of the poem is here and the round up this week is at Becky's Book Reviews) 

A Kick in the Head: An Everyday Guide to Poetic Forms
selected by Paul Janeczko
illustrated by Chris Raschka
Scholastic, 2005

Okay, I'll freely admit it: sometimes I don't read the introductions of books when I'm supposed to -- before I read the book. Sometimes I get around to reading the introduction a lamentable four years after the book is published and discover new ways to help kids get excited about it. Yes, I'm talking about the introduction to A KICK IN THE HEAD. Here's a little piece of what I found this morning:

"Why, you may ask, do poems have rules? Why 17 syllables in a haiku? Why 14 lines in a sonnet? The answer is: rules make the writing of a poem more challenging, more exciting. Think of a game you enjoy, like baseball. Imagine how much less intriguing the game would be if there were no foul lines or no limit to the number of outs in an inning. The rules often ask, "Can you do a good job within these limits?" Knowing the rules makes poetry -- like sports -- more fun, for players and spectators alike. Robert Frost once remarked that poetry without rules would be like a tennis match without a net."

The fun about shopping for books at a conference, is that I often find a book because some other teacher is buying it or reading it. That is what happened last weekend. I thought I was finished shopping for books. But then I noticed RED SINGS FROM THE TREETOPS in another shopper's hands. We chatted a bit about it, she told me why she loved it and had to have it, and then pointed me in the direction of the book.

This new book is by Joyce Sidman, one of my favorites since I read THIS IS JUST TO SAY. RED SINGS FROM THE TREETOPS: A YEAR IN COLORS is a totally different kind of a book. The book takes us through the colors of the seasons. The book is divided into 4 sections--one for each season. Each page focuses on a color of that season. For example:

Mama Says: A Book of Love for Mothers and Sons
by Rob D. Walker
illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon
The Blue Sky Press (Scholastic)
April, 2009
review copy provided by the publisher

This is a book for every mother of sons and for all sons. It is perfect for Mother's Day, baby showers, graduations, birthdays, and just because it's so beautiful.

Each double page spread in the book features wisdom from a mother written in English and another language (12 in all) with a gorgeous painting by the Dillons of a mother and son in the culture that speaks that language. On the cover you see the painting of the Cherokee mother. Her wisdom is:

Mama says
Be good
Mama says
Be kind
Mama says
The rain will come
But still the sun will shine

The mothers in this book (who speak Cherokee, Russian, Amharic, Japanese, Hindi, Inuktitut, Hebrew, Korean, Arabic, Quechua, Danish and English) teach the importance of kindness, sharing, diligence, faith, courage and a willingness to always try your best -- and the paintings and translations show us that these are universal traits that all mothers teach to their sons.

This is a perfect choice for the Diversity Rocks challenge.

We are so lucky in Columbus. Each year, The Thurber House host a children's author for a month in its Writer in Residence program. This year, we are excited that Hope Anita Smith will be in Columbus at The Thurber House. This is the first time that the Thurber House has chosen a poet and we are thrilled.

I didn't know that Smith's newest book MOTHER POEMS was available and was happy to see it at the workshop yesterday. I picked it up and had to share. It is one of those books that I have been carrying around the house with me.

The book is filled with poems that explore the close relationship between a young girl and her mother. Each poem shares a moment or experience that shows the love the mother and daughter have for each other. But, in the middle of the book, the little girl's mother dies and the rest of the book is her about her grief and healing process. Somehow the books are powerful and also have the voice of a young child.

You don't realize right off that this book is a story. The poems stand alone as amazing poems that explore the mother/daughter relationship. I can't begin to choose my favorite poem because they are all amazing. The tone of the book changes when the mother dies but the memories help. I had seen this book advertised earlier with the title "Instructions on How to Lose a Mother and Other Poems". This is the title of one of the last poems in the book. I am glad that they chose the new title for the book because this book is about more than How to Lose A Mother. It is about mothers and daughters so I think this new title fits perfectly.

I can see this book being read by older elementary and middle school students. So many of the poems can be used alone--to read for pleasure, as mentor poems for writing. The book as a whole--a type of novel in verse--can be read several times since there is such depth to the story and the relationship. It is amazing how well the reader comes to know the little girl in just 70 pages.

I think that this is the first book that Hope Anita Smith did her own artwork. Her artwork is STUNNING. I can't even begin to explain it or do it justice on this blog but it is gorgeous and powerful. I spent a great deal of time just looking at the art. Her art makes a statement of its own. Combined with her poetry, it makes an even bigger impact.

Anita Hope Smith is a poet I am so happy to have gotten to know. I can't tell you how happy I am that she'll be spending time as the Writer-in-Residence at the Thurber House this summer. I am hoping I get a chance to hear her speak while she is here. If not, I can't wait to see whatever she decides to write next.

On the Farm
by David Elliott
illustrated by Holly Meade
Candlewick Press, 2008

This is a great book of poetry for the youngest readers. The short poems and bold pictures make it inviting. Likewise, the familiarity of the farm is a perfect fit.

The poems take the reader on a tour around the whole farm -- up by the house, through the barn, into the meadow and pasture, and out to the corn field. The collection ends with a couple of non-farm animals -- the turtles at the pond and the rabbits in the tall, unmowed grass. Perhaps the subtle message is that the farm is good for both domesticated and wild animals; for both cultivated and wild plants.

Here are a couple of my favorites from this collection:

THE BARN CAT

Mice
had better
think twice.


THE BULL

Knows what he likes --
cows and corn.
Knows what he is --
muscle and horn.

If you know and love the book POCKET POEMS, you will be thrilled to know that now there are more! In MORE POCKET POEMS, Bobbi Katz pulls together lots of our favorite poets--X.J. Kennedy, Paul Janeczko, Myra Cohn Livingston and many others. The book is filled with pocket poems. In the author's note, Bobby Katz says,

"More Pocket Poems comes in response to widespread applause, especially by teachers, for the earlier anthology, Pocket Poems. Teachers find it's just right for celebrating "Poem in Your Pocket Day." For the uninitiated, children celebrate this special day by keeping a poem in their pockets, ready to read aloud or silently, at a moment's notice. Kids usually memorize their poems, and often poems their classmates read. The jury is in about the value of poetry: it's a catalyst for reading skills."

This book is a great one for a day like Katz describes. It is also good for every day of the year. I love that the poems are short. They are a perfect length for young children. They work for read aloud, memorizing, shared reading and more. The illustrations are inviting and fun--they draw children in. I love a whole book filled with great short poems--poems that you can fit in your pocket if you want to!

Butterfly Eyes and Other Secrets of the Meadow
by Joyce Sidman
illustrated by Beth Krommes
Houghton Mifflin, 2006

Yesterday's poetry book could fit in with the ABC books. Today's multi-genre pick could be shelved in poetry or nonfiction or riddles!

Pairs of poems in double page spreads describe plants or animals of the meadow with the question at the end of each poem, "What am I?" and enough clues in the gorgeous scratchboard illustrations to guess most of the time.

Sometimes predator and prey are paired (Rabbit and Fox), while other times the poems deal with some quality the two subjects have in common (for example, the skin of snakes and of toads).

After each pair of poems comes a double page spread with the answers to the two riddle poems and the scientific information to tell why they were paired or what characteristic is being featured, as well as another gorgeous illustration.

By the end of the book, the reader will have gained in knowledge about the meadow ecosystem, and also an understanding of the interconnectedness of all of the plants, animals and systems that make up a meadow.

One of my favorite poems is a mask poem, told in the voice of a red-tailed hawk. Here is the first stanza:


An Apology to My Prey

I am deeply sorry for my huge orbs
of eyes, keen and hooded,
that pierce your lush
tapestry of meadow.

Avalanche
by Michael J. Rosen
illustrated by David Butler
Candlewick Press, 1998

I love it when books do more than one job! Here's one that fits into your ABC tub and onto your poetry shelf.

AVALANCHE tells the alphabetic rhyming story of a snowball that gets waaayyy out of hand. So to speak. As it were. (he-he)

Science Verse
by Jon Scieszka
illustrated by Lane Smith
Viking, 2004

"On Wednesday in science class, Mr. Newton says, "You know, if you listen closely enough, you can hear the poetry of science in everything." I listen closely. On Thursday, I start hearing the poetry. In fact, I start hearing everything as a science poem. Mr. Newton has zapped me with a curse of SCIENCE VERSE."

So begins one of the most brilliant poetry collections ever. Besides giving a nod to almost every scientific concept...or at least a lot of them...Scieszka tips his hat to poets, poetry forms, songs, and nursery rhymes.

Here's one of my favorite short ones:

CHANGES

I'm a little mealworm,
Short and wiggly.
Here's my antenna,
Cute and jiggly.

Now I am a pupa,
Squat and white.
How did this happen?
I'm a sight.

Now I am a beetle.
What is this?
I really hate
Metamorphosis.



If its been awhile since you read this book, go back and remember what an amazing masterpiece it is. If you somehow missed it, go find it. (And make sure you listen to the cd it comes with!)

The kids in the library spent lots of time on Giggle Poetry this week. It is a great site and I hadn't realized how much was there until kids discovered new things. This site is Bruce Lansky's site and is a pretty fun place to visit--a very appropriate name. I love the sound of laughing children, especially when they are laughing while playing with poetry.

The site includes many poems in categories that kids love--Teacher and Principal Poems, Homework Poems, Potty Poems and more.

There are also lots of fun things to do on the site. One favorite is the Poetry Race--How fast can you read a tongue twister? There is also a section of "Fill in the blank" poetry as well as Rhyming Riddles. The Poetry Theater section is filled with great poems to perform as well as tips for performance reading.

The teacher link--Poetry Teachers--has great tips for teaching poetry. There are also several great interviews with poets.

This is a great site for lots of reasons--great poems and great fun is the key. But it is one that is easy for kids to navigate. It is PACKED with resources and links. It will take me a while to find all that is available on the site and you could spend hours just having fun with poems.

There Once Was a Very Odd School and other lunchbox limericks
by Stephen Krensky
illustrated by Tamara Petrosino
Dutton Children's Books, 2004

Sometimes it's fun to play around with a poetry form. Lots of folks do this every week when Tricia puts out a Monday Poetry Stretch invitation.

Limericks are a fun form to try with kids, but the challenge is sometimes finding examples that are appropriate for children. This collection by Stephen Krensky fits that bill.

Here's one of my class' favorites (they are just finishing up dragon sculptures in art):

Nicole drew a dragon in art,
Which breathed fire right from the start.
Then she drew a brave knight,
Which it wanted to fight,
So she had to keep them apart.