Pieces: A Year in Poems & Quilts

Citation

Hines, Anna Grossnickle. Pieces: A Year in Poems & Quilts. New York: Greenwillow Books, 2001. ISBN 0060559608

Poetic Elements

This poet has richly combined and reflected the imagery of her words with the quilted illustrations in the book. The poems themselves cover the seasons of the year and are dripping with figurative language, alliteration, and imagery. Lines such as “...bursting out on bare, brown branches...” and “...bright, bold, biting, busy green...” are indicative of the alliteration that is present throughout many of the poems. Personification is beautifully described as “...the creek bubbles in celebration...”, “...green sleeps in winter...”, and “...trees are wearing scarlet gowns and golden crowns...” The poet doesn't follow specific rhyme patterns in her poetry, but there is rhyme present in some of them. She uses the placement of the words themselves on the page to convey more meaning to the words. In To Each His Own she has the words scattered over the page to look like leaves falling through the air, which is a thoughtful display that adds visual meaning to the words.

Appeal and Overall Quality

One of the neatest aspects to this book of poetry is that the poet, clearly a creative person by nature, also made a quilt square to go with each poem. She chose the colors and the layout for each illustrative quilt piece, and the thought that went into the color scheme, the picture, and the design is evident. The colors in the illustrations change from whites, to greens, to browns and reds, back to whites as the poems themselves move through the season and through the year. An added bonus to this book is an explanation at the end of how the poet was led to participate in such a project. It also has a selected biography that points towards more information on quilting. Many of the illustrations show the material laid out and displayed, but not sewn, on one side of the page while the opposite page shows the final result all sewn together. Readers will appreciate the beauty of the words and the poetry, but there is ample room for discussion and conversation regarding the accompanying illustrations.

Spotlight Poem

Do You Know Green?

Green sleeps in winter

waiting

quiet

still

beneath the snow

and last year's stems

and old dead leaves

resting up for spring

and then...

Green comes...

tickling the tips

of twiggy tree fingers

Psst!

Psst! Psst!

poking up as tiny

slips of baby grass

Ping!

Ping! Ping!

springing up as coiled

skunk cabbage leaves

Pop!

Pop! Pop!

bursting out on bare

brown branches

Pow!

Pow! Pow!

Brand new baby yellow green

bright bold biting busy green

until it seems

everywhere one goes

green grows.

Follow Up Activity

The book lends itself to a discussion on the seasons and the changes that accompany each season...the colors, the physical changes, etc. I would present this poem to the class and read it out loud first. Then I would have them read it with me in a choral setting. Finally, I would have them read it in small groups, with some reading the sound effects (Pop! Ping! Psst!) while others read the other lines. We would focus on the rich and energetic verbs, onomatopoeia, and personification before asking them to write one in a similar fashion about their own favorite color.

Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In a series of quilted designs worthy of exhibition, Hines (My Own Big Bed) illustrates the theme of this deceptively simple, unique collection of poems: "Pieces of the seasons/ appear and disappear/ in a patchwork pattern/ making up a year." Her language, both playful and adroit, allows readers to see familiar seasonal changes anew. "Good Heavens," for instance, depicts a spring lawn as "astronomical/ with dandelion blooms" that fill the green sky with "a thousand suns/ and then/ a thousand moons." Hines varies her quilt designs as often as she varies her poems' rhythm and rhyme schemes. In one of the longer poems, "Do You Know Green?," the words trickle down the page, much like the light that filters through the trees in the accompanying quilt; both the poem's construction and the long vertical tree trunks emphasize the forest's height and grandeur. Meanwhile, abstract quilts like the one featuring hundreds of flowered squares in "Misplaced?" stress frivolity--in this case, a joke involving a flowerbed where "bloomers are not sleepyheads." An appendix explains Hines's meticulous quilting process. Wearing two hats, Hines takes her quilter's stash of fabric swatches and her wordsmith's metaphors for memories of the seasons, and pieces together a unified, artistic whole. An outstanding book for aspiring quilters or anyone at all. Ages 5-up.

From School Library Journal

Gr 1-4-Hines has illustrated her mostly free-verse poems about the seasons with quilts. The selections, which describe weather, gardens, and animals, are set against her patchwork designs. The fabric art, done in a broad range of colors, are mostly representational, picturing animals and landscapes. While a few are striking, those that depend on a fabric's print or the quilting pattern come across flatly in reproduction. The poems are nicely descriptive, but not distinguished. The most interesting part for readers may be the two pages at the end that describe the quilting process, with a short bibliography. The quilts in the book are Hines's first, and took her several years to complete. They will certainly inspire young quilters or artists to try something similar, but as a collection of illustrated poems, Pieces fails to stand out.-Nina Lindsay, Oakland Public Library, CA

From Booklist

Ages 5-9. This lovely book combines the intricacies of quilting with the wonders of the changing seasons. Though it is older readers and adults who will appreciate the skill that has gone into the artwork, children will simply revel in the colorful pictures that make up Hines' quilted squares. For the spring, a rippled quilt in melting-snow shades of white and blue captures the watery beauty of the season. In autumn, reds, golds, and browns show leaves "as pretty as snowflakes." Perhaps the most powerful spread is a winter scene in which naked limbs of trees and dark, flowered underbrush are set against a background of white. With such impressive pictures, its easy to lose sight of the poems, but they are quite nice in their simplicity: "Sometimes in winter / while I'm sleeping / through the night / inside the house / all snug and tight, / outside / the world is turning white." A two-page spread at the book's conclusion tells "the story behind the quilts," detailing in words and photos how they were made. A bibliography is appended. A thoughtful, lovely offering. Ilene Cooper

Meow Ruff

Citation

Sidman, Joyce, and Michelle Berg. Meow Ruff. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2006. ISBN 0618448942

Poetic Elements

Concrete poetry or shape poetry is defined as “...poetry in which the typographical arrangement of words is as important in conveying the intended effect as the conventional elements of the poem, such as meaning of words, rhythm, rhyme and so on...” Joyce Sidman does a convincing job with this book. Her spacing of words and size of font throughout this story does, indeed, affect the emotional impact and visually convey the meaning of the words in this story about a friendship between a dog and a cat. It is an impressive work of art to see the tree written in the shape of a tree and composed of poetry describing the same tree. Potentially overwhelming to younger readers with the crush of words on a page, this can be a fantastic shared experience for a parent or teacher to guide them through the story and point out pieces of poetry along the way.

Appeal and Overall Quality

This book is visually stunning, and to read how the poet herself laid out what she wanted on the page before turning it over to the illustrator makes it even more impressive. The developing storm is shown in the color and consistency of the clouds, at first a “...plump bright dome of sugary white sky-muffin...” floating off in one corner of the page to “...Cloudburst...” and “...Kaboom...” each colored darkly and stretched as a single word across a two-page spread. Children will appreciate the pleasing and simple color scheme of blues, greens, and browns while adults and older students will be able to discern the thoughtful correlation between the arrangement and layout of the words. One of my favorite pieces to follow throughout the book was the picnic table and how it changed purpose as the storm moved in, going from a “...platform for picnics and crumbs and ants...” to a “...platform that's splotting and splatting and dripping...”

As a side note, I will freely admit to the fact that I instantly disliked this story beginning on page 4, when the cat is dumped on the street. As a “mom” to two rescued dogs I had a reaction to an animal being dumped. I kept reading, though, and could appreciate that the cat had found a friend and a new home by the end of the story. Finding that Joyce Sidman had previously won the ASPCA Henry Bergh Children's Book Award which is given “honoring books that promote humane and compassionate respect for all creatures” made me a little more surprised to find an animal being abandoned in her book of concrete poetry.

Spotlight Poem

The book, in its entirety, would be used to teach concrete poetry, or really any two page spread from the book could be used to narrow focus down to certain aspects.

Follow Up Activity

I found a great website, called poetry4kids.com, that guides children through the experience of writing concrete poetry. Poet Kenn Nesbitt owns the website, and his is a great resource for any type of poetry. His explanation of concrete poetry, however, is geared for kids and easy to understand for someone just learning about the concept. We would study the book Meow Ruff, look to Kenn's website for further explanation, and then attempt to write our own concrete poetry, either as individuals or in groups.

Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 2-4–Using concrete poetry as the vehicle, Sidman relates a simple story. A small dog escapes from its house and a little cat is abandoned at curbside. These natural enemies meet at a neighborhood park where, forced to wait out a thunderstorm under a picnic table, they take comfort in huddling together and later emerge as buddies. The adjective-loaded unrhymed verse is actually a series of descriptive phrases that have been compressed and arranged to create elements of the artwork. For example, the words large/white steamy/bread loaves rising/in the sun's bright heat/a billowing batch/of cumulus are printed in white and presented in the shape of a cloud, while patchwork, rabbit-nibbled, mower-cropped, wind-whispered grass fills a green border along the bottom of the page. Computer-generated cartoon graphics of the cat, dog, three crows, and other animals are set against a sky-blue background. Some details (the dog's tail and ears; a bird's wings) have gray-toned shadows that indicate movement. Some of the language is creative, and the beat is catchy, but occasionally the crowded monochromatic text is difficult to read, and many of the pages are cluttered with words and graphics. Joan Bransfield Graham's Flicker Flash (1999) and Splish Splash (1994, both Houghton) and J. Patrick Lewis's Doodle Dandies (S & S, 1998) are better examples of concrete poetry for the same age group.–Susan Scheps, Shaker Heights Public Library, OH

From Booklist

*Starred Review* Gr. 1-3. It's typically said of picture books that art and text are inseparable, but the truth of that has rarely been more evident than it is in this introduction to concrete poetry--which, unlike most books about the form, doesn't just collect unrelated poems, but tells a story through them. With the same creativity of expression that marked Song of the Waterboatman (2005), a 2006 Caldecott Honor Book, Sidman develops a simple tale about a cat and dog trapped in a rainstorm, coding much of the substance right into the physical landscape. Indicating the coming downpour, for instance, cloud-poems build from a single word (wisp) to free verse dense with ominous imagery ("Thunder-plumped seething mass of gloomy fuming"); raindrop-poems, descending vertically from the clouds, intensifying from the merest "drips" to "monster splats" to "stinging ropes of water." Berg, who created the pictures digitally and is also the book's graphic designer, intelligently showcases the concept of words as building blocks in a stylized landscape of flat colors, two-dimensional forms, and wildly mutating typefaces. A novel entree to concrete poetry for children not ready for Paul Janeczko's fine A Poke in the I (2001), offering a glimpse of the world as a poet sees it: in images cloaked in words. Jennifer Mattson

Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices

Citation

Fleischman, Paul, and Eric Beddows. Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices. New York: Harper & Row, 1988. ISBN 0064460932

Poetic Elements

This Newbery Award winner is an exciting anthology that invites the readers to act out the words they are reading. A collection of poetry built around insects, Fleischman takes the reader on a tour of the insect world, utilizing alliteration, rhythm, and imagery along the way. Lines such as “...fireflies flickering, flitting, flashing...”, “...glimmering, gleaming, glowing...”, and “...tortuous, twisty, and turny...” are just a taste of the fun he has with words in this book of poetry. The rich language of “...Insect calligraphers practicing penmanship...” are pleasing to the reader and evoke an image in the mind. The poems tend to follow a pattern of shared refrains and individual lines that rhyme. The poetry is easy to read and full of information on each of the types of insects contained within. The fact that it is meant to be read in two voices and shared with someone else to gain the full meaning of the poem makes it stand out from other anthologies of its kind.

Appeal and Overall Quality

The poet wisely explains his motive at the beginning of the book with this note located on the page following the Table of Contents...

“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.”

What forethought to explain how best to appreciate his poetry! I'm not surprised that he took the time to explain this to the reader since it is so clear that he took careful though to both of the voices in each of the poems. Constructing these poems, deciding the wording and placement, and when to have lines as solos or duets demonstrates a precise nature. The black and white pencil drawings are a fabulous addition to the poems but definitely secondary to the poems themselves. The simple nature of the drawings do not take away from or overshadow the poet's words. Readers will find themselves going back to read each voice on its own and then reading the poem again with the voices interacting. The possibilities are endless for how to read this exciting collection!

Spotlight Poem

Honeybees

Being a bee                                                           Being a bee

                                                                              is a joy.

is a pain.

                                                                              I'm a queen

I'm a worker

I'll gladly explain.                                                  I'll gladly explain.

                                                                              Upon rising, I'm fed

                                                                              by my royal attendants,

I'm up at dawn, guarding

the hive's narrow entrance

                                                                              I'm bathed

then I take out

the hive's morning trash

                                                                              then I'm groomed.

then I put in an hour

making wax,

without two minutes' time

to sit still and relax.

                                                                             The rest of my day

                                                                             is quite simply set forth:

Then I might collect nectar

from the field

three miles north

                                                                             I lay eggs,

or perhaps I'm on

larva detail

                                                                             by the hundred.

feeding the grubs

in their cells,

wishing that I were still

helpless and pale.

                                                                              I'm loved and I'm lauded,

                                                                              I'm outranked by none.

Then I pack combs with

pollen—not my idea of fun.

                                                                             When I've done

                                                                              enough laying  

Then, weary, I strive

                                                                              I retire

to patch up any cracks

in the hive.

                                                                              for the rest of the day.

The I build some new cells,

slaving away at

enlarging this Hell,

dreading the sight

of another sunrise,

wondering why we don't

all unionize.

Truly, a bee's is the                                               Truly, a bee's is the

worst                                                                     best

of all lives.                                                            of all lives.

Follow Up Activity

This poem just cries out to be reenacted by students. There is great potential for an animated portrayal of the queen bee's experience versus that of a worker bee. Students could perform this either in groups or even one person could perform both parts, changing between voices and demeanor as they read. There are so many possibilities, and I think that even young students will enjoy performing this for friends and family.

Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Winner of the 1989 Newbery Award, Joyful Noise is a children's book of poetry about insects that was designed for two readers to enjoy together. On each page are two columns of verse for children to alternate reading aloud about the lives of six-legged creatures ranging from fireflies writing in the sky to a love affair between two lice, crickets eating pie crumbs and the single day in the life of a mayfly. Charming large scale soft-pencil illustrations enhance the comical, easy-to-read text. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From School Library Journal

Grade 3 Up In this collection of 14 ``Poems for Two Voices'' about insects, Fleisch man surpasses its companion volume, I Am Phoenix (Harper, 1985). He has combined the elements of sound and meaning to create clear, lively images of a variety of insects. Elements of repetition, onomatopoeia, and alliteration are effectively used to create a character for each of these creatures, with fireflies ``Flickering, flitting, flashing'' and mayflies ``lying, dy ing,'' which make these poems a joy for reading aloud. In addition, elements of personality, both fictional and real, are presented with charming effect. The love lorn moth who yearns for the lightbulb and the book lice who overcome their differing ``tastes'' represent the lighter side, while the digger wasp's reflection on the home it digs for children it will never see and ``Requiem,'' written for the victims of ``Fall's first killing frost,'' represent real behaviors. Beddows uses personified black- and-white drawings to capture the feeling of the poems, including a sultry queen honeybee reclining on her couch. This book can join Bugs (Viking, 1976) by Mary Ann Hoberman and Never Say Ugh! to a Bug (Greenwillow, 1979) by Norma Farber as proof that insects are indeed the stuff of poetry.

George Washington's Teeth

Citation

Chandra, Deborah, Madeleine Comora, and Brock Cole. George Washington's Teeth. New York: Farrar Straus Giroux, 2003. ISBN 0312376049

Poetic Elements

The adorable rhyming verse picture book pays homage to our first president and tells of his struggles with dental hygiene in a way that children young and old will appreciate. The words are organized into four line stanzas and follow an ABCB pattern that is consistent throughout. There is alliteration littered throughout with phrases such as “...springs snapped...”, “...desk drawers...”, and “...pantry, parlors, halls...” but the focus lays squarely on the form.

Appeal and Overall Quality

This book is interesting in many ways. It gives a fascinating overview of the dental struggles faced by our first president, and it does so by referencing events from history that we would most certainly be familiar with already. The authors placed a timeline at the end of the book that list important events in George Washington's life, such as crossing the Delaware, the Revolutionary War, and becoming the nation's first president. However, this timeline provides status and updates to what was going on in his mouth at that moment in history. This provides a unique “dental” perspective on important historical events from our history. All of these revelations are drawn from his own letters, diaries, and accounts. The fun, slightly cartoonish illustrations follow the layout of the stanzas, with perhaps one illustration for the page or separate illustrations for each line of the stanza spread out over the two page canvas. Children will enjoy the lyrical quality with which the story is told, and they will most definitely appreciate this new information on our first president while underlining the importance of excellent dental hygiene!

Spotlight Poem

There is no single portion of this poem that I would use in isolation...I would use the entire book. It's an easy enough read

Follow-Up Activity

This book could be read just for fun, but it most certainly lends itself to a unit on presidents, dental hygiene, or even math as you could have the students count backwards as George Washington continues to lose teeth. The imagery and force of the words used to tell the story lend themselves to allowing the students to act out this book. I could see this up on stage with a narrator reading while other students act out the parts of George, Martha, the soldiers, his dentist, etc...what fun they would have!

Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In a clever approach to history, Chandra and Comora string together spry stanzas describing the dental difficulties that plagued George Washington. Rhyming verse explains how the general's rotten teeth gradually fall out during the Revolutionary War: "George crossed the icy Delaware/ With nine teeth in his mouth./ In that cold and pitchy dark,/ Two more teeth came out!" Cole complements this verse by rendering a sly watercolor twist on Emanuel Leutze's famous painting George Washington Crossing the Delaware, in a full-spread treatment: Washington still stands in quiet dignity, but the boatmen are grinning. By the time Washington is elected president, just two teeth remain in his mouth. Kids will love the details, such as the way Washington uses a pair of his molars to fashion a mold from which the dentist makes a set of dentures (these are carved from hippopotamus ivory, and even shown, in a photograph in the afterword). Infusing his bustling watercolor vignettes with comic hyperbole, Cole easily keeps pace with the lighthearted narrative. One especially funny image shows the president sprawled on the floor, legs in the air, after viewing a newly painted portrait ("George stood up to have a look-/ He fell back on his fanny./ `It doesn't look like me!' he roared./ `It looks like Martha's granny!' "). An annotated timeline at the end includes quotes from the leader's letters and diaries chronicling his relentless efforts to hide his dental problems and the extent to which they caused him chronic pain and embarrassment. A highly palatable historical morsel. All ages.

Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* K-Gr. 3. Second only to kids' curiosity about George Washington and the cherry tree may be their interest in his teeth. Did the prez wear wooden dentures? Chandra and Comora set the record straight with wit, verve, and a generous amount of sympathy for poor Washington and his dental woes. Unfurling smoothly against a backdrop of Washington's career as soldier and president, the tale goes forward in sprightly, read-aloud rhyme that never falters: "Poor George has two teeth in his mouth / The day the votes came in. / The people had a President /But one afraid to grin." And illustrator Cole is at his absolute best here, totally at ease with human gesture and expression. Each spread is a tableau-like scene (or scenes) filled with costumed characters busily engaged in humorously visualizing the actual history. The color palette and energy of the art harks back to Cole's Buttons (1999), but there's much more detail and movement in these pictures, which work well as amusing preparation for the more sedately illustrated, annotated time line of George's dental decay that precedes a full roundup of historical sources the authors used in telling the tale. This is history for youngsters that will stick; it's wild and fun and factual, without a trace of mockery.

“A highly palatable historical morsel.”—Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

“This accurate and intriguing slice of history should find a place in any elementary school library.”—School Library Journal, Starred Review

“. . . breezy, sympathetic, carefully researched vignette . . . [one] that will have readers feeling the great man’s pain—and never looking at his painted visage the same way again.”—Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review

“Illustrator Cole is at his absolute best here, totally at ease with the human gesture and expression. . . . This is history for youngsters that will stick; it’s wild and fun and factual, without a trace of mockery.”—Booklist, Starred Review

“[A] carefully researched, very funny, charmingly illustrated picture book that works to humanize a larger-than-life historical figure and in turn, history itself. Brilliant!”—Amazon.com

Miss Crandall's School for Young Ladies & Little Misses of Color

Citation

Alexander, Elizabeth, Marilyn Nelson, and Floyd Cooper. Miss Crandall's School for Young Ladies and Little Misses of Color: Poems. Honesdale, PA: Wordsong, 2007. ISBN 1590784561

Poetic Elements

This collection of sonnets, written through the combined talents of poets Elizabeth Alexander and Marilyn Nelson, tells the moving story of Prudence Crandall. She was a brave woman who dared to educate black students during the pre-Civil War era. The poets have taken the lyrical format of the 14 lined sonnet, with spare rhyme thrown in, and have created imagery rich entries that detail the struggles faced by this woman and the students she taught. Phrases such as “...beckoning finger of destiny...” describe the emotions students feel as they enter into their education, along with my personal favorite, “...an uneducated mind is a clenched fist that can open, like a bud, into a flower.” The figurative language is heavy when it is described how “...The filth hissed at us when we venture out...” and “...some of the girls believe a spirit lurks, waiting among the ghostly pantaloons and petticoats...” since they were forced to wash and dry their undergarments indoors because it was not safe to go outside.

Appeal and Overall Quality

This is a highly appealing collection, and part of what makes it such an enjoyable read is the middle length of the sonnet. The 14 lines format of the sonnet is just the right length, in these talented poet's hands, to convey different elements of the struggles faced by Prudence Crandall and her students. The poems are consistent in portraying the themes of loss and hope for a better future. The illustrator, who himself has won awards, provides gently washed out illustrations in muted colors that add emphasis to the words but don't overpower them. The book is set up well for those looking to read more of the historical information behind the poems. A large introduction at the front of the book tells the true story of Prudence Crandall and how she accepted black students into her school beginning in 1832. The introduction gives great information and gives the reader some basic knowledge before they jump into the poems. The Table of Contents are broken down into sections, based on the timeline of the history. They range from the very beginning, as students are packing up to travel to the school, through their learning, to the harassment from the townsfolk, to the ultimate closing of the school. This gesture provides some separation to the poems and helps organize them by topic. Certain poems are written in honor of, or in reference to, real people who attended or were involved with the school. I like this facet of the book because it invites further research into those individuals. Finally, the author's notes at the end describe in greater detail the process of how these two poets came together and wrote such a cohesive book of poetry based on a dark event in our nation's history. This book is a great addition throughout multiple units, and older students will appreciate history presented in 14 line sonnets!

Spotlight Poem

Good-bye

The mother who packs her daughter's valise,

tucks a Bible between muslin layers.

The father who shoes horses and fixes

clocks and other intricate things that break

saves coins in their largest preserving jar

'til the day for which they have waited comes.

See Mother wash and oil and comb and braid

Daughter's thick brown hair for the very last time.

Does “good-bye” mean we hope or mean we weep?

Does it remember all you know, or

come back as soon as you can, or do not?

Does it mean go now, or I do not know?

Good-bye, Daughter, says Mother. She watches

the horse and buggy 'til it fades from view.

Follow-Up Activity

I love this poem for the emotion it conveys. Two parents sending their child off into the unknown to seek greater fortune would be meaningful whether we were discussing skin color or not. I think this poem lends itself well to a discussion of black history. How many parents sent their children off to an unknown future, whether by choice or by force? I think after a unit on black history, and seeing the many different scenarios where children were separated from their parents, I would have students act out this poem in groups. I would leave it up to them whether they would do a choral reading, or interpretive play, or something else of the sort. I think this poem lends itself to students emoting and acting out the weight of the words and the images conveyed.

Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 7 Up—Twenty-four sonnets tell the story of Prudence Crandall and her efforts to educate young African-American women in Canterbury, CT, 1833-1834. The school began as a boarding school for white girls; when two black women inquired about taking classes and Crandall agreed, the townspeople withdrew their daughters. As she accepted more black students, the town became more vocal in its resistance, poisoning the school water supply, refusing to sell it supplies, and charging Miss Crandall and others with a variety of "crimes." The sonnet format is challenging but compelling. Each poem addresses an individual aspect of the story; therefore, the tone and cadence change depending upon the person speaking or the event being depicted. The introduction gives essential information, but readers with no background will still need help understanding the political, social, and historical context. Cooper's pastel mixed-media illustrations sometimes illuminate the poems, but at other times seem solely decorative. His portraits for "Tao of the Trial" and "Miss Ann Eliza Hammond" are powerfully rendered, while the nature scenes add little to the poetic experience. The art's sketchiness, however, does suit the poetic form. There are empty spaces in the pictures just as the language of the poetry leaves openness for readers' interpretation. A heartfelt, unusual presentation, this book rewards patient readers.—Lucinda Snyder Whitehurst, St. Christopher's School, Richmond, VA

"... The images in their poems and in Cooper's quiet, dramatic pastel illustrations compellingly capture the haunting history..." --Booklist, Starred Review

"... [A] glorious poetic celebration of the teacher and students at a Connecticut school that defied mid-19th-century convention to educate African-American girls...Cooper's soft pastel illustrations provide a muted counterpoint to the text, mixing depictions of school and students with images of the natural world in a lovely rhythm. A foreword provides a brief prose history of the school; a concluding authors' note explains their collaborative process." --Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review

"... The words are powerful as they celebrate the importance of education and hardships that the students endured to achieve it. The reader appreciates the courage of these women, facing the hostilities of the townsfolk. Floyd Cooper's illustrations capture the moods of the poems and help tell the story of persecution and adversity that eventually forced the school's closure. This book celebrates the women who risked everything to improve their lives. It can serve as an example for today's youth for appreciating the opportunities for education that they have today regardless of race." --Library Media Connection

Science Verse

Citation

Scieszka, Jon, and Lane Smith. Science Verse. New York: Viking, 2004. ISBN 0670910570

Poetic Elements

Given that this is a book composed almost entirely of science poems based on previously existing works of poetry, the author has done a fabulous job of staying true to the form of each original poem. This includes the structural form and the rhyming. For example, the poem Food Chain, which is based on the tune “I've Been Working On the Railroad” is poetry that can be sung! The elements have stayed true, and the reader can learn some science while singing it to a familiar tune. The same can be said for every other piece of poetry in the book. They have done a masterful job of teaching real material in a fun and relatable format while maintaining the authenticity of the original poetic elements.

Appeal and Overall Quality

This is a highly appealing book from a well known author/illustrator team Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith. Their creativity has reached a new high with how they have taken familiar poems, songs, and nursery rhymes and given them a scientific twist. The students will enjoy reading through the book and figuring out what song or poem it reminds them of, but what I absolutely love is at the end. They have listed their “Observations and Conclusions” on the last page that draws the parallel between the poem they wrote for their book and the one it was based on. From “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” to “The Raven” to “Paul Revere's Ride” it is amazing what classics they have drawn from. The illustrations are a whole other adventure by themselves. Lane Smith uses a diverse color palette and collage format to create vivid This is a great way to introduce some of those lesser known works to students while their ears are perked up.

Spotlight Poem

I would present each of the following Nursery Rhymes...

Mary Had a...

Mary had a little worm.

She thought it was a chigger.

But everything that Mary ate,

Only made it bigger.

It came with her to school one day,

And gave the kids a fright,

Especially when the teacher said,

“Now that's a parasite.”

Hey Diddle Diddle

Hey diddle diddle, what kind of riddle

Is this nature of light?

Sometimes it's a wave,

Other times particle...

But which answer will be marked right?

Jack Be Nimble

Jack, be nimble, Jack be quick.

Jack jump over the combustion reaction of O2 + heat + fuel to form CO2 + light + heat + exhaust.

Good Night

Good night, sleep tight,

Don't let the bedbug

tick, or louse

suck blood from you,

hatch its eggs,

and then develop the larvae on you

...all right?

Follow-Up Activity

What a fabulous opportunity with older students! I would present them with these nursery rhymes written by scientists and we would begin by comparing the traditional version to what we have here. Then we would study the scientific references made within each of the nursery rhymes before allowing them to take a nursery rhyme of their own and try to re-write it from a scientific perspective! I think there would be a diverse representation and boundless creativity!

Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 2-5–In Math Curse (Viking, 1995), a teacher's chance comment causes a girl to see every aspect of her life as a math problem. This time around, the fun starts when a boy hears this remark: "…if you listen closely enough, you can hear the poetry of science in everything." What follows is a series of poems that parody the styles of Joyce Kilmer, Edgar Allan Poe, Lewis Carroll, Robert Frost, and many others, as well as familiar songs and nursery rhymes. "Once in first grade I was napping/When I heard a scary yapping" begins a lament about studying dinosaurs year after year. In "Astronaut Stopping by a Planet on a Snowy Evening," the narrator bemoans the fact that he can't figure out what planet he's on because "In science class I was asleep…." Children need not be familiar with the works upon which the spoofs are based to enjoy the humor, but this is a perfect opportunity to introduce the originals and to discuss parody as a poetic form. The dynamic cartoons are an absolute delight. The expressions on the face of the beleaguered boy keep readers smiling and the pages are chock-full of funny details that are in perfect sync with the poems. Printed in a cream-colored, readable font and set against solid backgrounds, the text is never overwhelmed by the frenetic illustrations. Fans of Scieszka and Smith will be in heaven, but the book will appeal to one and all.–Grace Oliff, Ann Blanche Smith School, Hillsdale, NJ

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From Booklist

*Starred Review* Gr. 3-5. In this worthy companion to Math Curse (1995), a boy sits in science class listening to his teacher drone on about "the poetry of science," when he is stricken with a "curse of science verse." Every thought comes to him in rhyme, and not just any rhyme, but parodies of famous poems and songs. Not just any parodies, but hilarious ones, particularly for those familiar with the originals, from Kilmer's "Trees" and Poe's "The Raven" to "I'm a Little Teapot" and "Eenie, meanie, mynie, mo." Clever and often droll, the verse ably juggles facts, meter, and rhyme schemes and usually reflects a student's point of view: grossed out by the human body, bored by yet another year of dinosaur study, more concerned about writing down the right answer than getting at the truth. Smith's multimedia collage artwork, incorporating drawings, paintings, and printed materials, is sophisticated yet accessible... A beautifully designed book--intelligent, irreverent, inviting, and downright irresistible.