Poetry Book Review - Lee Bennett Hopkins Anthology

Hamsters, Shells, and Spelling Bees: School Poems

by Lee Bennett Hopkins

This small collection of school-related poems is a beginning reader book, a level 2 I Can Read! selection, appropriate for children ages 6-8 years old. It contains poems by J. Patrick Lewis, Rebecca Kai Dotlich, Jane Yolen, Bruce Lansky, and Alice Schertle among others.

Introduce this selection by having children tell some of the things they do in school each day – wear a backpack, do spelling, eat lunch, ask questions, take a quiz, go to the library, etc. Ask children if they were going to tell a penpal about their school, what would they talk about? What is their favorite thing about school? Their least favorite?
Remind them many poets have experienced the same things they do, and they have written poems sharing their feelings about school. A good choice for reading aloud:

Art Class
by Leslie Danforth Perkins

Dream catchers hanging
with feathers and beads.
Pictures from popping corn,
lentils and seeds.
Egg carton centipedes,
paintings with sand.
Art is a feast for
my eyes and my hands.

The poems are arranged chronologically, beginning with waking up in the morning and ending with arriving home after school in the afternoon. Many of the anthologies edited by Hopkins seem to follow this particular arrangement: Blast Off!: Poems About Space, Halloween Howls: Holiday Poetry, and Hand in Hand: an American History Through Poetry to mention a few. This format gives a particularly enticing feel to the beginning of the book and a satisfying wrap-up to the finish.

Hopkins’ poem selections are age-appropriate both in subject and structure. The brightly colored illustrations by Yoshikawa are appealing and express the cheerful enthusiasm about school which children in early elementary grades feel so spontaneously.

For an extension, children could draw a picture illustrating one of the poems in the book or depicting their favorite school-related activity.

Hopkins, Lee Bennett, ed. Yoshikawa, Sachiko, ill. 2008. Hamsters, Shells, and Spelling Bees: School Poems. New York: HarperCollins.

Poetry Book Review - African American Poetry

I SAW YOUR FACE by Kwame Dawes

 Illustrated by Tom Feeling

This single poem book is a collaboration between award-winning author and poet Kwame Dawes and Coretta Scott King medal winner Tom Feelings. Both men had been struck by the similarities of the faces of children they had seen in their travels, evidence of the underlying bond linking the young people together. This book celebrates the shared beauty and heritage of people of African descent living all over the world, both past and present.

The poem is a lyrical musing, a quiet journey through the history of the African Diaspora. Dawes’ words tie closely with the illustrations. The poet’s vision focuses the reader’s attention on the eyes “full of ancient stories and dreams”. The poem urges us to look closely, to view beneath the surface, to see the common roots of a people. The cities named in the poem recall past struggles, while the overall feeling is one of achievement, encouraging African-Americans to take pride in having “survived the journeys well.”

Feeling’s lovely line drawings are as distinctive as photographs, giving the reader a detailed contemporary picture, yet evoking a sense of timelessness. The expressive eyes of his portraits show the emotions of his subjects: anger, shyness, hope, kindness, wariness, and calm determination. The illustrations give the reader a glimpse into the culture and daily life of the children portrayed and into their dreams, as well.

A map of the places mention in the book is included, as well as an afterword by Jerry Pinkney.

One could share this book with children in February for Black History Month or as a lead-in to an art or writing activity. Remind students that artists look closely at the world around them. They notice patterns, lines, and colors. Ask students to draw an object of their choosing in close-up, showing fine details or ask them to write a paragraph describing the object using their sense of sight, feel, smell, etc.

Dawes, Kwame. 2005. I Saw Your Face. New York: Dial Books.

Poetry Break - Book Poem

BOOK! by Kristine O’Connell George

Introduction

Show children a favorite book from your own childhood. Tell why you found it so enjoyable and if you had a particular reading place or special person you shared it with.

My gift is flat and square –

Rip that paper! What’s in there?

Book!

I like the way you open.

I can turn your pages by myself.

I like the way you close.

I can put you on my shelf.

I can read you to the cat,

Or upside down, or maybe…

Wear you like a hat!

I’ll show you to the baby,

I’ll take you on a wagon ride

To my secret place,

Where both of us can hide.

After that, we’ll find an empty lap

Before I take my nap.

We’ll read you warm and snug, Book!

I’ll give you a hug, Book!

Open wide. Look inside.

Book!

George, Kristine O'Connell. 2001. Book!. New York: Clarion Books.

Extension
Bring out a selection of board books from the library. Let children choose one and describe the type of child they believe might enjoy it or why they think a young child would find that book appealing. Follow up by having children bring a favorite book of their own and a photo of themselves when they were younger for a library or classroom display. Be sure to bring a photo of yourself, too!

Another poem about the thrill books can give early readers or pre-readers…

A Classic

By J. Patrick Lewis

A children’s book is a classic

If at six, excitedly

You read it to another kid

Who just turned sixty-three.

Lewis, J. Patrick. 2005. Please Bury Me in the Library. New York: Harcourt.