Poetry Book Review: "2011 Poetry Book"

Citation:

Golio, Gary, and Marc Burckhardt. 2011. When Bob met Woody: the story of the young Bob Dylan. New York: Little, Brown. ISBN#: 9780316112994.

Review:

In this new 2011 release, When Bob Met Woody, poetry is changed in the form of lyrical words. While there not be much recognizable poetry, this book illustrates how to create poetry in the form of music. With its beautiful illustrations it will captivate students into following their dreams.

This book shows the story of young Bob Dylan (Bob Zimmerman) as a small kid growing up in Minnesota. He eventually goes to the New York City where he follows Woody Guthrie as his mentor.

When Bob Met Woody shows the hardships involved with being a kid, being Jewish, wanting to be a musician and following your dreams. This is a great story to share with kids because these messages are what they can relate to. It is also a beneficial story to read because it is based off true life and children can relate to it.

There isn't much poetry that is obvious, but there is some within the story. Several lines of lyrics and quotes are within the story. In addition, the character Bob is inspired by the poet Dylan Thomas. Because of this, he changes his name to Bob Dylan.

With all the influences in his life (Elvis Presley, Woody Guthrie, John Steinbeck, Dylan Thomas) he was able to shape his.

Poem:

Songs about real life,

Hard times, and hope.

Songs that moved people to

Speak out and stand up.

Songs abotut he struggle

For peace and justice.

Songs in a new voice,

For a new time.

Introducing the Poem:

Even the poetry brings messages about change that Bob Dylan experienced. This book as a whole shows struggles that appear in Bob Dylan music.

I would introduce this book before showing music from Bob Dylan. This would show the children background of the musicians. Once they hear the lyrics they will be able to relate. This will teach them how to learn the lyrical meaning of songs. In doing so, they will be learning poetry.

Another way to introduce this poem is to show the difficulties that Bob Dylan experienced. Then, try to involve the students in figuring out their mentors and who inspires them. From that, they have creative influences that can help them with writing poetry, music, art, etc.

Poetry Book Review: "Poetic Form"

Citation:

Janeczko, Paul B., and Henri Silberman. 2000. Stone bench in an empty park. New York: Orchard Books. ISBN# 0531332594.

Review:

An introduction to this book describes a brief history and guidelines for writing haiku written by Paul Janeczko. I particularly find this helpful because it shows the reader exactly what the poetic form of the book is. Haiku qualities are outlined for the reader to understand in the introduction.

The themes of Stone Bench in an Empty Park take place in major cities and show certain aspects from various writers. These aspects include, tollbooths, newspaper stands, rain, parks, buses, trees, carnivals, baseball, jumping rope, music, pigeons, sidewalks, construction, skyscrapers, and many seasonal themes (summer, spring, snow, rain, icicles, etc).

Different writers have come together to publish this book; each poem illustrates a theme from a particular writer. Many well known poets include Myra Cohn Livingston, Nikki Grimes, Paul Janeczko and Alan Pizzarelli.

The audience for this book is slightly higher being ages 10+. The themes are more mature and the individual poems do not have titles.

This poetry book collects the guidelines for haiku (syllable count, nature themes, etc) and channels it into the the surroundings of a city atmosphere. Each poet write about nature as it applies to the city. While haiku have strict guidelines, some of the poets go outside the standards so that their message can be heard.

By showing themes of the city with haiku the poets are trying to reach out to the reader in noticing that your surroundings can be part of nature. Instead of traditional themes such as hills, trees, and mountains, the poets use themes that the reader can relate to. In doing so, their haiku standards are slightly altered.

Poem: by Anita Wintz

full moon shining

squeezes between skyscrapers

f

l

u

o

r

e

s

c

e

n

t

Introducing the Poem:

You can see by this haiku that the writer chose to go outside the guidelines for haiku. She did this because she wanted to illustrate a quality of skyscrapers to the reader through "fluorescent". She also wanted to add something extra to the poem.

I would introduce this poem before a field trip somewhere. Many children are drawn to the themes of the city and any poem from this book would be great.

Particularly, this poem shows the poet breaking away from the standards of haiku. I think another way of introducing this poem would be before poetry studies. You could teach the students about haiku, and they could learn the guidelines. Since most children don't get excited about haiku, you could show examples from this book to inspire them. They would enjoy "breaking the rules" like the other poets have.

Many poems in this book could be illustrated through out the school year because they mention spring, summer, and winter. This would be a great poetry book to have because it mixes the seasons with aspects of the community.

Poetry Book Review: "Hopkins Collection"

Citation:

Hopkins, Lee Bennett, and Marcellus Hall. 2009. City I love. New York: Abrams Books for Young Readers in association with the Field Museum. ISBN: 9780810983774.

Review:

Hopkins uses many techniques with her poetry. In City I Love, Hopkins uses different aspects of cities from all around the word to display various exciting themes. With her descriptive words she expresses city features such as skyscrapers, taxis, subways, etc. This poetry book shows different elements from famous cities that children will be able to identify with. Hopkins shows these big city elements with simple one-word poem lines. This poetry book helps students to connect with different environments, people and places.

Excerpt: "City Lights"

Blazing lights

flicker
flash
glitter
gleam
twinkle
sparkle
bedazzle
beam

so

brilliantly
bright.

Reasons
why
city
stays
awake
all
night.

Introducing the Poem:

With the illustrations behind this poem, children will be able to easily connect and imagine what the poetry is trying to read to them. The child's imagination will definitely open up. This would be a great poem to show to the students while they are learning about different cultures or places around the world. Children will be excited about different people and the different places they come from. Many of these poems can illustrate happiness within something mysterious.