National Poetry Month

In Celebration of National Poetry Month

Douglas Florian is a prolific writer of children’s poetry, particularly with animal themes.

I have a problem with his book insectlopedia, albeit it is a good problem. I don’t know whether to put it on the poetry shelf or stash it with my insect books. With twenty-one poems, it definitely qualifies as a top-notch poetry book. The quality of the information and the freshness of the observations provided, however, suggests it should be on the shelf with some of my better entomology books for children. Maybe I just need to get another copy. Or maybe I should buy two copies, because it should be on the humor shelf as well. I have read that Douglas Florian was formerly a cartoonist, and his fun, silly side comes through in his poetry books.

The illustrations that accompany the poems are quirky. Florian painted them with watercolors on brown paper bags. It gives them an informal look that makes them appealing and kid-friendly. Some of the poems don’t even need illustrations, like the inchworm for example, because the words form a shape. These could be used in lessons on concrete poetry.

Douglas Florian’s in the swim has playful poems about numerous animals found in the sea, from blennies, to sea horses and whales. Although they are fun, once again Florian fills the poems with accurate information and even trained scientists will find them intriguing. They are guaranteed to make you smile and probably even laugh out loud.

As with insectlopedia, Florian slips in some concrete poems to add visual interest. The illustrations are done on watercolor paper this time, but still have a fanciful appeal. The watercolor adds to the feeling of being down in the water with the creatures. His imagination is wonderful, like having the sea horses wear saddles.

Florian’s newest book about dinosaurs has gotten some great reviews. Catch a peek at his blog.

Nonfiction Monday is a blogging celebration of nonfiction books for kids. For more information, stop by Picture Book of the Day. This week the celebration is at Mommy’s Favorite Children’s Books.

In Celebration of National Poetry Month

Poetry Matters is a “how to” book that is a joy to read, particularly if you like poetry. The author says, “Maybe you’ve heard before that poetry is magic, and it made you roll your eyes, but I believe it is true. Poetry matters.” He goes on to explain how important poetry is because it allows us to communicate during difficult times when no other form of expression will work. You can tell he truly feels the power of poetry.

This book is written for preteens, and Ralph Fletcher has obviously spent a lot of time working with young people. He knows what beginning poets need to learn and how to keep their attention. His recommendations are to the point and he’s included a lot of concrete, practical advice on how to get that poem onto paper and then polish it until it is the best it can be. He’s provided the inspiration needed to “light the spark,” and then sprinkled the text with examples of poetry from real kids.

When I picked this book to review I didn’t remember it, but one of the chapters is an interview with Kristine O’Connell George who wrote the wonderful Fold Me a Poem book that I reviewed in the previous post. Here she has a number of useful tips, including the suggestion to tape record yourself reading you poems and then listen carefully when you have time to concentrate. As she says, you can even hear where the commas need to go.

This book is a great resource for older children (and even beginning adults) who are interested in writing poetry. If every school used this book to teach poetry, I am positive that poetry would be everyone’s favorite subject.

Reading level: Ages 9-12
Paperback: 160 pages
Publisher: HarperCollins (February 19, 2002)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0380797038
ISBN-13: 978-0380797035

Nonfiction Monday is a blogging celebration of nonfiction books for kids. For more information, stop by Picture Book of the Day. This week the celebration is at Abby (the) Librarian blogspot.