POETRY TAG TIME by Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong

Bibliography

Vardell, Sylvia and Janet Wong. 2011. Peotry Tag Time. Princeton: Poetry Tag Time.

Critical Analysis

I really enjoyed how this collection of poems felt like a conversation. As a reader, I felt invited into an informal gathering of friends who just enjoyed sharing whatever came to mind as their neighbor spoke. The full circle that the poems create also give a satisfying feeling of completeness when finishing the collection.

This collection of poems includes a wide variety of poetic styles from concrete poems to acrostics and cinquains. This collection was obviously created for young readers and listeners in mind, but is something that every reader can enjoy. The size of the collection makes it perfect for sharing one poem a day for a whole month. 

Example

Since we are currently working on different poetry formats in my classroom, I decided to highlight the acrostic poem in this collection. This would be a great example of the fun you can have with acrostic poetry and how it doesn't have to just be one word on each line. I'm hoping to use this poem with my students to help open the door of possibilities for what an acrostic poem can look like.

After the Storm by Laura Purdie Salas

Ribbons of color
Arch
In a
Neverending
Backbend
Over the
World

FALLING HARD: 100 LOVE POEMS BY TEENAGERS by Betsy Franco

Bibliography

Franco, Betsy. 2008. Falling Hard: 100 Love Poems by Teenagers. Cambridge: Candlewick Press. ISBN 9780763634377

Critical Analysis

The poetry in this collection covers a wide spectrum of styles and rhythms. Some poems are just a few lines, some cover a few pages. Most are free verse. There are a few poems that rhyme or have a noticeable pattern and structure. Being a collection of poetry written by teenagers, it is easy to tell the difference in maturity and life experience from poem to poem, but that in no way takes away from the level of poetry contained in the collection. Each author has a clear voice and different interpretation of what falling in love is like.

I will say that some of the poems in this collection were very surprising. This is definitely a collection for older children. 

Example

While the poem is short, it is rich with imagery and emotion. The author does a great job of capturing the differing emotions love can bring out in just a few well chosen words. What I enjoyed about the collection as a whole is how different poems will resonate with different readers depending on where they are personally and what speaks to me may even be different from reading to reading.

Love is Like

the sweetness of honey
falling from a bee hive.

You have to be careful
not to get stung.

~Hector Jasso

FIREFLY JULY by Paul Janeczko

Bibliography

Janeczko, Paul B. 2014. Firefly July: A Year of Very Short Poems. Ill. by Melissa Sweet. Somerville: Candlewick Press. ISBN 9780763648428

Critical Analysis

The first think that struck me about this book was the organization. The table of contents clearly separates the poems by the seasons of the year, beginning with spring. However, once you delve into the book, the poems just fade into each other and the separation of seasons is not quite so apparent. The first time I read through the book, I missed the names of the seasons because they were such a part of the illustrations that they did not stand out. They create a subtle shift just as each season quietly fades into the next.

The poems is this book come from a variety of authors, therefore the style of each is different. The commonality among them all is that, as the subtitle foretells, each poem is very short. Some poems use rhyme while others are set apart by the way the words are placed on the page. I noticed the use of the cinquain format in several of the poems. The illustrations area a great compliment to the poems. They reflect the meaning and emotion of each poem without closing the door on the imagination and further exploration of the poetry. Each poem helps to bring the seasons to life.

Example

This would be a collection to use at a variety of levels. I think it could be taught and enjoyed in a kindergarten classroom as easily as in a high school class. The language is clear enough for a young child to understand and explore, but the deeper messages and imagery could be fun to study for older students. This would be a great book to use in a science classroom to illustrate the changing of the seasons, moon phases and a variety of other concepts about the natural world.
Emily Dickinson's poem The Moon was but a Chin of Gold would be great to study the moon and its phases. It could also lead into a great lesson about what the moon looks like in its different phases.

The Moon was but a Chin of Gold
A Night or two ago -
And now she turns Her perfect Face
Upon the World below - 

WATER SINGS BLUE by Kate Coombs

Bibliography

Coombs, Kate. 2012. Water Sings Blue. Ill. Meilo So. San Francisco: Chronicle Books.

Critical Analysis

Coombs uses a variety of poetic forms in her poems about the ocean. While all of them have some kind of rhyming pattern to them, they each have their own rhythm. She even includes a haiku. While I wouldn't consider any of the poems to be a concrete poem, Coombs definitely uses the layout of her poetry to help convey the message of the poem. The poem "What the Waves Say" uses punctuation and line breaks to create a rhythm that mimics the pulsating nature of waves that help the reader to not only see the waves being described, but to feel them.

So's illustrations add an almost ethereal quality to the poems that help add to the poetry without overtaking the poems. The use of pen, ink and watercolors reflect the watery setting of this book.

Example

This book is full of poems that are fun to read. I would use this in my classroom when we are studying about different habitats to showcase ocean life and the way even the non-living objects in the ocean seem to come to life because of the movement of the water. These poems would also be great to use to show the variety of life found in the ocean. The poem "Tide Pool Shopping" is a great example of how many different forms of life can be found under water.

Tide Pool Shopping

I'm going shopping at the tide pool.
They carry everything there -
mussels by the bushel
and three kinds of barnacle,
starfish and gobies to spare.

My mama gave me a shopping list.
I know I can find what she likes -
blennies for pennies,
beadlet anemones,
and urchins with lavender spikes.

I'll bring it all home in a basket.
Then mama can fix us a feast -
prawns by the dozens
and octopus cousins,
plus some kind of lobstery beast.

Today I'm shopping at the tide pool.
Maybe I'll see you there, too,
with your kittiwake pals
and the oystercatcher gals -
I'll save some limpets for you!

DARK EMPEROR & OTHER POEMS OF THE NIGHT by Joyce Sidman

Bibliography

Sidman, Joyce. 2010. Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night. Ill. Rick Allen. New York: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children.

Critical Analysis

Sidman uses a variety of forms, rhythms, and rhyming patterns for each poem in this book. Some have a very strict rhythm and rhyme to them, while others encapsulate the true meaning of what free verse it. Each combination of form, rhythm, and rhyme reflects the subject matter and the mood that is being created within that poem. Some poems are organized into couplets or quatrains. The title poem is a form poem that takes the shape of the "Dark Emperor" and his prey.

While this book of poems would be perfect to use with just the poems, Sidman also includes a non-fiction element that would be great to integrate into a science lesson about nocturnal animals.

Allen's illustrations are detailed in a way that clearly shows what these creatures and their surroundings look like, but also includes a bit of whimsy and fantasy that leaves some room for the reader's own knowledge and imagination.

Example

The book would integrate well into any science classroom that discusses animal characteristics and relationships, but could stand up as a poetry book in any language arts class as well. I love the introduction poem because it invites the reader to prepare all of her senses before diving into the rest of the book. The language used is powerful and makes the subject matter come to life right before the reader.

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!

YOU READ TO ME, I'LL READ TO YOU: VERY SHORT STORIES TO READ TOGETHER by Mary Ann Hoberman

Bibliography

Hoberman, Mary Ann. 2001. You Read to Me, I'll Read to You: Very Short Stories to Read Together. Ill. Michael Emberley. New York: Little, Brown and Company.

Critical Analysis

Hoberman's poems in this collection are a great way to have fun with poetry. The poems are silly and playful. They have a simple rhythm that is easy to keep going. This is especially important when two readers are working together to make a piece sound cohesive. Because these poems were written to be ready by two people, they have a conversational feel. This makes the poems feel very relaxed and easy to understand. They subject matter ranges from animals to friends to talking on the phone - ordinary subject matters that children can relate to.

The illustrations are well done and keep with the playful mood set by the tone of the poems. They tend to highlight some of the more far-fetched ideas in the poems.

Example

This book of poems is perfect for early readers, but could be used with any age depending on the purpose. With older students, it would make a great example for a different type of poetry that they could then work on to create their own. For the younger readers, I think this is a great way to incorporate buddy reading in the classroom. Pairing students with one being a stronger reader and the other who struggles gives a simple and effective way to have the stronger reader help and guide the straggler.

The poem that I picked to share would be a great way to partner up students to read and share their poem, but then add their own section by talking about what they like that is different and finding something they have in common. It would be a great activity to use at the beginning of the year.

I Like

I like soda.

                I like milk.

I like satin.

                I like silk.

I like puppies.

                I like kittens.

I like gloves.

                And I like mittens.

I like apples.

                I like pears.

I like tigers.

                I like bears.

I like to slide.

                I like to swing.

        We don't agree

        On anything!

I like butter.

                I like jam.

I like turkey.

                I like ham.

I like rivers.

                I like lakes.

I like cookies.

                And I like cakes.

I like yellow.

                I like blue.

I like pizza.

                I like stew.

I like summer.

                I like spring.

        We don't agree

        On anything!

There's something else

I like a lot.

But if I like it,

You will not.

                There's something else

                That I like, too.

                But you won't like it

                If I do.

Tell me yours

And I'll tell mine.

                I like reading.

                Reading's fine!

You like reading?

                Yes, I do.

Why, reading was

What I picked, too!

        Well, then, at last

        We both agree!

        I'll read to you!

        You'll read to me!

OUT OF THE DUST by Karen Hesse

Bibliography

Hesse, Karen. 1997. Out of the Dust. New York: Scholastic Press. ISBN 9780590371254

Critical Analysis

Out of the Dust brings to life the story of a family suffering through the worst drought in our country’s history. Hesse uses free form poetry to tell the story of a young teenage girl going through the process of forgiving her father and herself for an accident that ended up taking her mother’s life. The poems vary in structure, some being short and straight to the point, others longer and more descriptive, both matching the mood and emotions of Billie Jo, the narrator. Hesse mixes together simple, clear language with figurative language to add to the emotional shifts in the story. Hesse uses to the variance in structure and language to help the reader connect Billie Jo as she struggles to make sense of the grief and guilt she is feeling as well as the frustration and despair all of those who live in the Oklahoma panhandle felt during the Dust Bowl.

Example

This verse novel would be an excellent way to show how hard the Dust Bowl was on families and put it in a perspective students could relate to. This would be good novel choice for middle school children who are studying American history at this time. While Hesse does explain the reasons for the Dust Bowl as her main character Billie Jo is learning about its cause, she is able to capture the emotional impact that it had on families who suffered through it. There are several poem throughout the novel that describe what it was like to have a blizzard of dust come blowing through, not only the towns, but the houses and buildings as well. Her descriptions of how the dust was everywhere, including in the food they had to eat, would help bring this era to life for students who might struggle to understand how bad it was.

Here is a portion of a poem titled “Dust Storm” (p. 143).

Brown earth rained down
from sky.
I could not catch my breath
the way the dust pressed on my chest
and wouldn’t stop.
The dirt blew down so thick
it scratched my eyes
and stung my tender skin,
it plugged my nose and filled inside my mouth.
No matter how I pressed my lips together,
the dust made muddy tracks
across my tongue.