Poetry

• Blue Ribbons Award Winner for Nonfiction 2002 by Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (BCCB)

Outside the Lines written by Brad Burg and Rebecca Gibbon is a collection of concrete poems that incorporates the element of shape to reinforce the activities and movements depicted by the text.  Outside the Lines illustrates common children's activities such as playing catch, flying a kite, and playing baseball.  The poems in the collection vary in length and are written in many different formats. Reading these poems were fun and exciting.  With the turn of each page a new activity was being depicted and I had to figure out how the poem was to be read.  Students will enjoy reading this collection of poems as they read about the activities they love in a nonconventional way.
 As a future teacher, I would use Outside the Lines as a way to introduce poetry to students due to the engaging topics of children's play.  The book is an example of the element of shape that is easy to follow along and shows students that the length of their poem is not the focus but rather the emotion behind the poem.  Using Outside the Lines in an elementary classroom may promote reading in students that do not necessarily enjoy reading lengthy books. 

Haiku Picturebook for Children written by Keisuke Nishimoto and illustrated by Kozo Shimizu introduces children to the world of the Japanese poem known as haiku.  The illustrations show common Japanese activities, animals, as well as traditional food and dress, giving the reader a brief insight into the Japanese culture. The illustrations also convey the mood of the poem on the page.   The collection, written in Japanese symbols with the pronunciation printed below as well as the English translation, follows the traditional 5-7-5 pattern.  As a note, the English translation does not follow the traditional 5-7-5 pattern which should be discussed with students.  Reading haiku is an enjoyable experience due to the expression of feelings and sense of the season that is being described.  Haiku pushes students to think outside the realm of rhyming and use symbolism and nature to depict a particular mood. 
As a teacher, haiku is an important form of poetry that can bring the Japanese culture into the classroom, urge students to think creatively, and allows students to create images with the written word.

 Dinothesaurus written and illustrated by Douglas Florian is somewhat of a dictionary for dinosaurs.  Engaging, colorful, and catchy! This book will be a student favorite and should be available for every dinosaur lover! The illustrations pull the reader in by giving the dinosaurs human attributes such as listening to an iPod and wearing a sweater. The illustrations also draw parallels between the dinosaurs' attributes and twenty-first century luxuries including the fighter jet emblems on the pterosaurs wings, and the "giga-bites" eaten by the giganotosaurus. 

Dinothesaurus is an example of a subject specific collection of poetry that uses rhyming to engage the reader. This book of poems filled with information on the many types of dinosaurs that lived before our time.  Dinothesaurus could be used as a resource during a unit on dinosaurs, to engage students in science topics, or to spark a student's curiosity! 

Roald Dahl's Revolting Rhymes written by Roald Dahl and illustrated by Quentin Blake is Dahl's intrepretation of the true story of six well-known fairy tales including: Cinderella, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Jack and the Beanstalk, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf, and The Three Little Pigs.  Roald Dahl's use of humor and crude comments keeps readers laughing through the book while still conveying the basics of traditional rhymes.  Some adults may protest the use of Roald Dahl's Revolting Rhymes due to the inappropriate and possibly scary interpretations of chidlren's fairy tales.  An interview at the end of the book allows the reader to gain insight into the processes of writing stories and creating interesting characters through Roald Dahl's perspective.  During this interview, Roald Dahl explains that he portrays horror without scaring children because he "never describes any horrors happening, you just say that they do happen".  As a teacher I would offer this book to students that enjoy fairy tales with a twist or to students that enjoy the type of humor that Roald Dahl uses to entertain his readers.  This is a book that I would recommend limiting to the upper elementary grades due to the more advanced content and use of crude humor.

 Colors written by Ken Nordine and illustrated by Henrik Drescher
Ken Nordine originally wrote radio ads for paint, giving colors personalities.  The public enjoyed his radio ads so much that Ken Nordine began recording his ads into what he called "word jazz".  Colors is a compilation of Ken Nordine's word jazz recordings into a book with the illustrations being known as a type of "image jazz".  Upon first glance through the book I was intrigued and yet confused by the randomness of the book.  After having researched Ken Nordine and finished reading Colors I have completely fallen in love with the energy and vivid descriptions of the personality of colors! 
Honestly, this is a book that would not be widely used in my classroom because I feel that many students would not understand the point of the book.  I would, however, have this book available for students during a poetry unit or have on the shelf for students that are looking for a different style of poetry.

Witch Poems edited by Daisy Wallace and illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman is a collection of poems from a variety of well-known authors including: Jack Prelutsky, e.e. cummings, and James Reeves.  This book of poems vividly describes the sensation of riding a broom and brewing potions while using language that conveys an eerie mood allowing the reader to become involved in the witches activities.  The illustrations by Trina Schart Hyman aid in setting the mood with black and white sketches that show every detail. 

Witch Poems is a book that uses repetition through each poem that may be helpful for younger students that are beginning to read.  Witch Poems also gives details of witch activities that may strike a chord with students and encourage them to read more advanced books on the same topic.  Witch Poems is a book that I would have available during Halloween, a unit on poetry, or when a student expresses interest in witches.