Poetry Book Review: "African American Poetry"

Citation:
Giovanni, Nikki, and Ashley Bryan. 1996. The sun is so quiet. New York: Henry Holt. ISBN: 0805041192.

Review:
The Sun is So Quiet shows a group of simple individual poems illustrating themes of seasons and parts of the day. Some include the winter, summer, and other show themes about daytime and night time. This poem shows metaphors and similes that children will be able to grasp. The poet, Giovanni, uses descriptive words that illuminate her poetry into everyday themes. Children will be able to identify with her poetry because it is so simple yet connective.

Excerpt: "The Stars"

Across the dark and quiet sky
When sunbeams have to go to bed
The stars peep out and sparkle up
Occasionally they fall

They dance the ballet of the night
They pirouette and and boogiedown
In the blue and red and blue-white dress
They hustle through the night

The fairies play among the stars
They ride on carpets of gold dust
And dawn's gray fingers shake them off
Occasionally they fall

Introducing the Poem:

I think this poem shows illustrates stars in a beautiful and magical way. Children will be able to relate to this poem because it shows a great deal of description. I would introduce this poem before nap time because it would give that dream-like feel to children. It could also be introduced to create imagination for the children. Many poems in this book can be introduced at different times during the year. Some deal with snowflakes and others about rainbows. Giovanni has a great skill of taking an intense theme (rainbows) and explaining it into a simple, creative poem. Many of these poems can be introduced to children to help there understanding of seasons.