Dirty Laundry Pile: Poems in Different Voices

Citation

Janeczko, Paul B., and Melissa Sweet. Dirty Laundry Pile: Poems in Different Voices. [New York]: Harper Collins, 2001. ISBN 0688162517

Poetic Elements

The very nature of this entire collection is based upon the poetic element of personification, in that each of the poems is written from the perspective of an inanimate object. This compilation is meaningful in that the poems selected, though all from different poets and written in different years, all seem to fit together so well. The personification of the winter wind “...shaking the door with both my fists...” and the washing machine that will “...change my song as the cycle moves along...” will animate the reader while rhyming lines such as “...sounds wound round...” will delight the ears. There are numerous similes throughout the collection, among them “...for like puppies who warm each other all night you will warm us and we will warm your hands...” and “...a tangled weave, rough and aged like wooden lace...” Young readers will enjoy the imagery created with the words and will be able to appreciate the emotions of these inanimate objects as they become relatable in their different voices.

Appeal and Overall Quality

This collection of poems is interesting for many reasons, one of which is the variety of stanza patterns and rhythm contained within. Here readers can visit with poetry in the form of couplets, quatrains, and even dabble with some concrete poetry. It's a nice mix of several styles. Given that this is a collection of previously published poetry written from the perspective of various inanimate objects, Janeczko offers an introduction that explains his motivations for putting together this collection of poetry. He also uses this intro to encourage kids to use their own imaginations and to “Let that new voice sing.” The illustrations are eye catching in their sweet, whimsical way and children are as likely to pick up the poetry because the pictures look friendly and comfortable as they are for the words inside.

Spotlight Poem

The Vacuum Cleaner's Revenge

I munch. I crunch.

I zoom. I roar.

I clatter-clack

Across the floor.

I swallow twigs.

I slurp dead bugs.

I suck the cat hair

From the rugs.

My stomach full

Of dirt and dust

I gulp another

Pizza crust.

A tiresome life-

All work, no play-

I think I'll swallow you today!

Follow-Up Activity

This would be a fun poem to use when working on personification and the poetic element of onomatopoeia. It's also handy for looking at form, with its couplet stanza pattern. I would have the students read through it with each student taking a different couplet and reading round robin. I would then have the students work in pairs, picking an inanimate object that they'd like to write about. I would suggest that they brainstorm all of the sounds they could imagine this item making, and what kinds of things it might do. From there they could work to combine the action ideas with the onomatopoeia to create a poem in a similar style.

Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

These well-chosen verses represent what Janeczko (Very Best [Almost] Friends) calls "persona or mask poems" each written in the voice of an object or animal. Bobbi Katz's washing machine sings its washing songs "Blub-blub-a-dubba" while Patricia Hubbell's vacuum cleaner complains, "I swallow twigs./ I slurp dead bugs," and finally threatens, "I think I'll swallow you today!" Informally organized around various topics, the volume begins with poems about wind and weather and ends with works about insects and animals. For the most part, the poems, including selections by Douglas Florian, Jane Yolen and Karla Kuskin, are effectively matched by Sweet's (Bat Jamboree) playful and cartoony watercolors. The light mood of the illustrations, however, jars with slightly darker poems. In Nina Nyhart's "Scarecrow Dreams," for example, five crows perch on a wary scarecrow's shoulder as he describes convincing the farmer to put away his gun and then feels "a step on my shoulder,/ the first peck in my eye." Nonetheless, this collection contains well-crafted poetry that surprises with its deft wordplay and original points of view. All ages.

From School Library Journal

Grade 3-6-Janeczko's collection of "persona" or "mask" poems-poems written in voices of nonhuman things-is varied in topic, mood, and quality. The selector has included many crackerjack poets, such as Karla Kuskin, Bobbi Katz, Lillian Moore, and Douglas Florian, and a few whose names are not as familiar. Most of the selections have been taken from other anthologies. Whether thoughtful or humorous in nature, many of them are on-target descriptions of a variety of unrelated objects-a kite, roots, a sky-blue crayon, a vacuum cleaner, a pair of red gloves, the winter wind. The cleverness of the best of these descriptions voiced by inanimate narrators might entice young people to try to create some similar verses of their own. Sweet's bright, colorful watercolors in a flat cartoon style depict full- and double-page scenes and borders that feature critters and objects from the poems. Consider this one for classroom read-alouds.

From Booklist

Gr. 3-6. As Janeczko explains in his introduction, this collection of 27 poems is "something like wearing a Halloween costume or playing a part in a school play," because the poems have all been written in the voice of an object or an animal--a seashell, a cat, a tree. The imaginative language is simple yet rich in image and metaphor. Madeleine Comora's "Roots" speaks volumes: "Roots like ours, course and strong / as a grandmother's fingers." Sometimes the poetry sparkles, sweeps us along, or makes us laugh, as in the title poem about dirty clothes by Marcy Barack Black: "Ignore me now / on the floor / By the door. / But you'll notice / when I swell / By my smell." There's great variety in poetic mood and form--brisk couplets, thoughtful haiku, funny concrete poems. In Peggy B. Levitt's "Mosquito's Song" the word puncture is spelled out vertically, letter by letter, ending, appropriately, in an exclamation point. Melissa Sweet's watercolors are light and airy, but never too slight. Some are full-page, some thumbnail size; and all are hugely appealing, whether dancing comically across the page or bordering the text. They'll draw children into words that resonate with joy and, sometimes, deeper meaning, words that will remind them that there's more than one way to experience the world. 

The Palm of my Heart: Poetry by African American Children

Citation

Adedjouma, Davida, and R. Christie Gregory. The Palm of My Heart: Poetry by African American Children. New York: Lee & Low Books, 1996. ISBN 1880000768

Poetic Elements

Given that this collection of poetry was written during a series of workshops, there are ready examples of many poetic elements for discussion and emulation. Some of the poems feature use of repetition, either of a word or of an entire phrase. In one poem it reads that “...Black is beautiful...as beautiful as white people...beautiful as April...” In another we find “...Black is a heart...the heart is an African symbol of life...and life is good...life is good...” There are also numerous examples of personification, like when black spirit is compared to something that “...turns and churns...it is energetic and eternal...” and black culture is described as a “...secret shared in the night...” The auditory and visual imagery is nicely brought to life through use of similes and metaphors and, while none of the poems are actually titled, they are all tied together by the fact that they each have the word 'black' in them somewhere.

Appeal and Overall Quality

This is a unique collection of poetry that tells about different aspects of life through the eyes of African-American children. The editor's note at the beginning of the book gives the reader background on how these 20 poems came to be. It helps prepare the reader for what they are about to take part in. Following that, the introduction by Lucille Clifton is particularly meaningful. Lucille Clifton was an African-American poet and the poet laureate of Maryland from 1979-1985. Her words of encouragement on how meaningful the word 'black' has become adds even more importance to the words the students wrote. The end of the book contains a page with information about the poets. It is nice to be able to get a little snapshot of each of these children, and it helps the reader be able to picture who it was writing each of the poems. The broad strokes of the illustrations add a beautiful dimension to the poems, and the rich, vibrant texture of the acrylics and colored pencils join together with the words to create an easy to read collection. It is one that can be revisited and have more meaning found with each reading.

Spotlight Poem

I would choose to use the following poem...

Black is the color of some people

but people are different

differences are good because

no one else says the

same things as you.

Follow-Up Activity

I would use this poem in a discussion of diversity. After reading this poem together we would talk about ways that people can be different and why being different is a good thing. I would then invite the students to write a poem about something that makes them different and either read it to the class or put it together in a class book.

Reviews

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 4. A collection of poems by 20 children between the ages of 6 and 14, with introductory notes by Lucille Clifton. Christie interprets the selections with passionate (though somewhat scary in their expressive distortion) acrylic-and-pencil illustrations that could stand alone as a lively introduction to modern art. The poems were created during a community workshop designed to "introduce children to the techniques of image and metaphor, narrative and dialogue, and then set them free to explore their own lives, feelings and imaginations." Occasionally these goals are reached, as when Thelma Louise Lee writes of "my brother?trying to wash dishes/and me?talking too much, me hitting/my cousin (not meaning to, really),/me playing basketball and/calling all the shots." However most of the short poems, printed with boldface emphasizing certain words (Black, family, freedom) lack original imagery and come across as slogans rather than as personal voices. Facilitators of "everybody's an author" writing classes seeking a range of examples may be interested in purchasing The Palm of My Heart. Stronger writing and a broader range of topics can be found in June Jordan and Terri Bush's Voice of the Children (Holt, 1970; o.p.)?Karen MacDonald, Teaticket Elementary School, MA

From Booklist

Ages 6^-10. These 20 poems, the product of a writing workshop for children, express pride and joy in the black experience. Most of the pieces are very short, but their brevity does not dilute the potency of the heartfelt messages delivered in that direct way children have. Christie's long, angular images are reminiscent of Masai warriors with long graceful necks, wearing pride in their postures. The acrylic-and-pen renderings never outpace the simple, humble passages that reflect children who have discovered the power of the written word and their own inner strength.

From Kirkus Reviews

A collection of works, subtitled ``Poetry by African American Children,'' that showcases an exciting new artist whose style is unique and fully realized. The 20 pieces that Adedjouma gathered from writing workshops are not poems but thoughts, musings, and statements occasionally infused by a poetical phrase or notion. The themes are arranged seamlessly, and the selections are life-affirming, brimming with self-awareness, and written in a celebration of African American culture. The real story here is the glorious art by picture-book newcomer Christie, who displays a fine-arts sensibility that is incorporated into his illustrations, looking as if the influence of African art has been distilled through Klee and Picasso in the 1920s, with a touch of Jean-Michel Basquiat. Yet Christie's art remains all his own. Elongated limbs and abstract backgrounds emphasize the skill of his portraiture, drawing viewers to the astoundingly accomplished painting of individual faces. His interpretations of the text elevate its feeble nature and allow every page and double-spread to convey a distinct story, mood, or tribute to the culture. With an introduction by Lucille Clifton. (Picture book. 4-8) --

Mirror Mirror

Citation

Singer, Marilyn, and Josee Masse. Mirror Mirror. Penguin Group (USA) Incorporated, 2010. ISBN 0525479015

Poetic Elements

The form of the poetry, in all of its innovation is amazing. To be able to write a poem that reads one way through the first stanza and then reverses itself in the next and actually makes sense is quite an accomplishment. Yet, within this new form, the poet is able to portray different perspectives from the fairy tale motif while lavishing the reader with imagery and rhyme. Descriptions of berries that are “...juicy and sweet...” and Rapunzel's hair as “...all that pale, tangled, dangling hair...” create rich pictures in the mind and a scent of “...fragrant green air...” is brought to mind when you read of Jack and the Beanstalk. The personification is vividly portrayed in Longing for Beauty when we read that “...a moist muzzle can welcome a rose...” and “...a hairy ear can prize a nightingale, singing...” The beauty of this is the personification stays true when you read the reverso of it and it's suddenly “...a rose can welcome a moist muzzle...” and “...a nightingale singing, can prize a hairy ear...” The reader gets to enjoy the poetic elements the first time through and see it present, again, in the reverso. That's part of what makes the poetry so exciting to read.

Appeal and Overall Quality

There really isn't much that wouldn't draw in a reader to this form of poetry. She's written a great collection of perspective poetry, even if it weren't in reverso form. The fact that it is in reverso form is pretty amazing. The illustrations are just as important to this collection as the words, and without Josee Masse's illustrations I really don't know that it would have the same effect. The pages are split in half, both the pages with the words and the pages with the illustrations. The color scheme stays the same for the words of the poems, with one perspective consistently in blue, and the other in red. The illustrations are richly colored, and one half depicts what is happening in the first poem, while the other shows the reverso. The beautiful seamlessness of these split illustrations is, well, lovely. The words and the illustrations are appealing to children of all ages. The younger set will love the different perspectives, while the older students will attempt to emulate the style in their own poetry. To this end, the poet has an explanation of the reverso at the end of the book and encourages readers to try their own. I don't think it will take much prodding to get students to try!

Spotlight Poem

In the Hood

In my hood,                                          After all, Grandma's waiting,

skipping through the wood,                 mustn't dawdle...

carrying a basket,                                 But a girl!

picking berries to eat-                          What a treat-

juicy and sweet                                    juicy and sweet,

what a treat!                                         picking berries to eat,

But a girl                                              carrying a basket,

mustn't dawdle.                                    skipping through the wood

After all, Grandma's waiting.               In my 'hood.

Follow-Up Activity

I really think that any of these reverso poems would be fabulous as a spotlight poem, but I just picked the one that I liked best! I think this lends itself to a duet interpretation, with one person reading it as Little Red Riding Hood and the other as The Big Bad Wolf. I would also lead the group in attempting to write a reverso poem as a class. Depending on the success we had as a class, I would invite the students to attempt one with a partner and, finally, on their own. What a unique concept to bring to writing poetry! It really makes one consider word choice and meaning.

Reviews

From School Library Journal

Starred Review. Grade 3–6—This appealing collection based on fairy tales is a marvel to read. It is particularly noteworthy because the poems are read in two ways: up and down. They are reverse images of themselves and work equally well in both directions. "Mirror Mirror" is chilling in that Snow White, who is looking after the Seven Dwarves, narrates the first poem of the pair. Read in reverse, it is the wicked queen who is enticing Snow White to eat the apple that will put her to sleep forever. "In the Hood" is as crafty as the wolf who tells of his delightful anticipation of eating Red Riding Hood. The mirrored poem is Red Riding Hood reminding herself not to dally since Grandma awaits. The vibrant artwork is painterly yet unfussy and offers hints to the characters who are narrating the poems. An endnote shows children how to create a "reverse" poem. This is a remarkably clever and versatile book that would work in any poetry or fairy-tale unit. A must-have for any library.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* This ingenious book of reversos, or poems which have one meaning when read down the page and perhaps an altogether different meaning when read up the page, toys with and reinvents oh-so-familiar stories and characters, from Cinderella to the Ugly Duckling. The five opening lines of the Goldilocks reverso read: “Asleep in cub’s bed / Blonde / startled by / Bears, / the headline read.” Running down the page side-by-side with this poem is a second, which ends with: “Next day / the headline read: / Bears startled / by blonde / asleep in cub’s bed.” The 14 pairs of poems—easily distinguished by different fonts and background colors—allow changes only in punctuation, capitalization, and line breaks, as Singer explains in an author’s note about her invented poetic form. “It is a form that is both challenging and fun—rather like creating and solving a puzzle.” Singer also issues an invitation for readers to try to write their own reversos on any topic. Matching the cleverness of the text, Masse’s deep-hued paintings create split images that reflect the twisted meaning of the irreverently witty poems and brilliantly employ artistic elements of form and shape—Cinderella’s clock on one side morphs to the moon on the other. A must-purchase that will have readers marveling over a visual and verbal feast. Grades 2-5.

Awards for Mirror Mirror:

ALA Notable Book

New York Public Library's Best 100 Children's Books of 2010

Chicago Public Library Best of the Best Books 2010

Booklist Editors Choice

Bank Street College of Education Best Books of the Year

Washington Post Top 15 Children’s Books of 2010

Horn Book Fanfare Book

Publishers Weekly Best Children’s Books of 2010

Time Out New York Kids's 50 Best Books for Kids