Big Talk: Poems for Four Voices, by Paul Fleischman & illustrated by Beppe Giacobbe

Neato! This is a book of three unique poems for four voices. I've seen poetry books for two voices, but not FOUR!! Wouldn't it be great to see four students sitting down together practicing this poem... perhaps after reading they could write their own poem for four voices. What would each voice say? And, How does it interact with the other voices? What a fun project this could be for students who enjoy this kind of poetry! Or maybe you could project the poem onto the projector screen, and dividing the class into sections, read the poem as a whole. Or maybe you would have the kids decide how to divide the speaking roles. SO MANY classroom applications...

Fleischman's book is really confusing for one individual. The poetry only works properly when there are four people working together. I had to get some help reading this book. I took it with me to my mom and dad's house over the weekend. My mom, dad, sister, and I read the book together. It was hilarious. The poems are really chaotic and this is accentuated when there are four individuals trying to coordinate their rhythms and tempos. Good Times!

I guess it takes practice to read something like this. There are hints for reading it in the beginning of the book, however I still struggled at first. When we finally got it right, it sounded so cool. The words were all of a sudden filled with power and emotions.

My favorite of the three poems in this book was called, "Seventh Grade Soap Opera." It was like taking a step into the past. The poem captures the drama of the seventh grade that was so familiar. I'm not sure though, I really liked the one called, "One Quiet Evening Here" too. It was funny because, the evening was not really all that quiet with my entire family trying to get the hang of the four-voices thing. In this poem Fleischman uses really interesting choices in words to describe the "QUIET" evening. The final poem is about ghosts, we read it in "scary" voices, but laughed the whole time.

Love That Dog, by Sharon Creech

What a cool idea for a book! So often we (as educators) want to know about the teachers perspective... How did they teach to get the "desired result?" But this book brought up a whole new realm of questions for me... How do children think and learn? How do they interact with what they are taught? I would be interested in hearing more about the child's perspective - not just in writing, but in many other academic situations. For instance, what is going on inside the child's minds who have to go to school in temporary trailers that are decrepit and disintegrating around them? What is going on in the minds of children who attend schools thatdon't have enough funding to buy adequate materials? How does their vision of school and learning compare to the vision of the children who attend state-of-the-art facilities with every amenity and resource at their finger tips? Just one of many thoughts that arose in my own mind as I read about Jack and how he learned to open up to the world of poetry in his own school experience. I wish more authors would attempt to write through the child. I think that we have a lot to learn about how children FEEL in their learning environments.

Jack warms up to the ideas that are mingling in his mind, we see him transform into a more confident writer and reader of poetry. At first he is unable to claim his work, he is self-conscious about what others may say or how his work may be judged by his peers. I like Mrs. Stretchberry's approach to this ownership dilemma. She gives Jack time to develop his confidence and eventually he begins to own his work, he even likes to see it displayed on the board.

It's neat how Creech addresses the "loss of the dog" - in fact this, along with the inspiration from Walter Dean Myers, is what initially sparked Jack's interest in poetry. This shows us how poetry can potentially be a valuable tool for getting kids to start expressing themselves with words. The BIGGEST thing that I learned from reading this story, is that teachers need to dig deeper into the thoughts of their learners to help them through their process of thinking.

On last note: I read the excerpt from Creech's sequel Hate That Cat that was in the back of the book. We see how outside influences can diminish and support a child's writing at the same time. His uncle tells him that his writing is not actually poetry, that it needs these other fancy elements... this works as a segue into many other learning agendas.

Into the Woods, by Anthony Browne

Oh! Another treasure. This book is so cool, everyone needs to read it. Actually I'm sending an alert to all teachers who may happen to read this: READ THIS BOOK ALOUD TO YOUR CLASS! SEE WHAT THEY NOTICE! What do you notice? I noticed that the book had an almost, not almost, just plain depressing undertone... until the end. Don't worry, it's a very unexpectedly happy ending.

The cover may remind you of a well-known fairy tale, actually many of the themes throughout the book are taken from various fairy tales. The boy's imagination seems to be filled with them. The story begins with a thunderstorm, a very depressed mother, a missing dad, and a worried boy. All very dramatic! Then the boy is somehow carrying a basket through the woods to Grandma's house (she's sick, sound familiar?).

You know how, when you are a child, even the smallest task can seem like a dangerous adventure? I remember being scared to death of taking anything down to "the cellar" when I was a kid. It's not that it was scary. It wasn't even really a cellar - it was a completely finished and furnished downstairs level. That didn't matter, what mattered was that my imagination was running wild - I visualized giant, drooling, warty, frog-like demons lurking in the darkness at the bottom of the stairs. It terrified me! I always had to run back up the stairs as fast as possible and push the "monster button" (the knob on the handrail) so I would be safe and the monsters would remain down in the darkness where they belonged.

Anyway, this book explores a child's fear of venturing outside of their comfort zone, and how the imagination can take over the entire experience.

Once again, the illustrations are so awesome! I love the way Browne exemplifies his gift of creating irony and symbolism not only in the text, but ESPECIALLY in the illustrations. There are hidden messages, hidden pictures, and just strange stuff going on in the forest. If you don't see it at first, look harder... and it only gets stranger and stranger as the story progresses.

Twilight Comes Twice, by Ralph Fletcher & illustrated by Kate Kiesler

I am not certain what the target age group for this picture book, but I feel that it could be appreciated by ALL ages - I definitely appreciate it! What an intimate vision this book creates! Twilight Comes Twice. I'm never up early enough in the morning to experience the morning twilight, but this book makes me feel that I know exactly what it's like. The five senses are utilized to their fullest in this poem, even "Sounds ring out more clearly" in the morning twilight. Fletcher's use of the senses creates strong images and puts the reader at the forefront of the twilight experience.

Something that I found interesting as I read the poem is this: Fletcher skipped the entire day. The activities of the day were of no importance in creating a strong representation of Dusk and Dawn. Often we get so caught up in all of our actions, that we don't remember to stop and consider the very obvious occurrences of everyday life (especially in nature - it seems monotonous or unimportant somehow, and perhaps is overlooked) and the beauty, emotions, an feelings that these everyday occurrences can create. For instance, I can tell you all about the episode I watched on TV last night, but for me to attempt to explain the sunset or sunrise - this is an entirely different thing. I would need to really "think" about it - and that is why SOME poetry is SOOOO valuable (perhaps even more so than other forms of writing, not to be biased or anything) - because the writers of poetry must "think" - and thought is what produces the strongest writing.

To explain these more abstract ideas, one must use their personal experience and all of their senses. This is the case in Fletcher's book. He really captures mood of twilight. The illustrations add a literal interpretation to the poem. They attach a person and a place and a mood and a setting to the words in a way that deepens the poem and add a real-life context! The illustrations are impressionistic, using muted, earthy colors that blur into one another on the pages.

Bella and Bean, by Rebecca Kai Dotlich & illustrated by Aileen Leijten

What a different way to approach poetry in children's literature! This may not be considered a traditional "poetry picture book," nevertheless Dotlich writes a beautiful poetic story that has short poems embedded within. The story is about two friends who have very different agendas. Bean does not understand what is so great about poetry... Bella shows her. Bella is constantly contemplating, visualizing, and writing poetry - she demonstrates to the reader how single words can represent a much bigger idea.

The illustrations are what initially drew me to the book. They are so beautiful! They are filled with lovely pastels and muted shades that create a dream-like fantastical visual of the story, the poems, and the characters. Oh, did I mention that Bella and Bean are mice? They are. They wear little shoes, hats, bows, sweaters, and scarves - such sweet representations of the two unique characters.

Throughout the story, which is itself written in poetic language, there are short poems that are developed by the characters. Bean is reluctant to accept Bella's devotion to poetry, but by the end she identifies with the linguistic and emotional power that can be represented by written words. I can imagine reading this book to young children who are just being introduced to the ideas of poetry - after reading you could pair students and they could write a poem together, much like was done in the book by the characters Bella and Bean. This would be a great resource for students who may be reluctant to try using poetry.

This reminds us, as teachers, that children love to play around with words. I remember when I was a kid I thought the word "pants" was hilarious, for whatever reason I don't really know why... It just sounds funny - "Paaaannnts" (you have to really accentuate the "aaaa" sound!) Anyway, we can use the alphabetic and phonetic infatuations of children to get them thinking about poetry as a means for communicating.

Oh, Brother! by Nikki Grimes & illustrated by Mike Benny

This is an interesting book. It begins with a poem about a wedding. Two families join, and through poetry, this book tells the feelings of a young boy when he acquires a "new brother." He shares feelings of jealousy and anger in the beginning of the book. The boy feels that his new brother is taking his place. Eventually, he warms up to his new family. The poetry really captures the emotions and feelings of the boy. This is a really relatable, sweet story about mixed family. It represents the fear and feelings of abandonment that can be felt by children who have lost a parent. I was really touched by the words, it seemed as if they came from .

The poems are written with "natural rhymes" and the twenty individual poems seem to flow with one another, and build upon the previous poem. There are poems of many different lengths - some are only three lines (haiku), others have several stanzas and span two pages of the book. The author uses the senses to create strong feelings in a reader.

The large scale illustrations are well done, and one can see that the illustrator and the author worked in close collaboration in their creation of the illustrations. Each illustration represents the poem on its corresponding page/s. They create really neat visual representations of the author's words. For instance, in the poem titled "Mouse" the boy feels so small in his home with two new family members. The illustrator shows the tiny boy at the ankles of the four new feet.

This is a book of poems that could be VERY useful in a classroom setting!