IN THE SEA- David Elliott, illustrated by Holly Meade

For those, like me, who like a little science with their poetry, and gorgeous language besides, here is a  perfect new poetry book for you. IN THE SEA, by David Elliott and Holly Meade, is a collection of  25 poems about sea creatures- seahorses, coral, blue whales, octopus, sharks, puffer fish, moray eel, mackerel, starfish, herring, sea turtles and more. The poems are short- most are between four and ten lines, but they are filled with terrific information.

"The Sea Turtle"
Swims the seven seas
for thirty years
then finds the beach
where she was born--
by magic it appears.

How can she know to come upon
that far and sandy place?
Rare instrument of nature,
fair compass in a carapace?

 And in case you didn't notice, Elliott also fills his poems with gorgeous, gorgeous words for kids to wrap their mouths and brains around. Take a look at this poem…

"The Moray Eel"
Ferocious. Cunning.
Belligerent. Brave.
A sword without its sheath
a dragon in its cave.

Other words you will find in these poems include apparition, briny, jester, cunning, and belligerent. 

And Holly Meade's woodcut print/watercolor (I think?) illustrations are absolutely gorgeous-- beautiful combinations of tans and aquas and blues and greens and golds, and sweeping lines that capture the movement of the sea perfectly.  I want to share this book with the art teacher at my school, because I think she would love using it with kids.

I could see lots of uses for this book. I might just put it in a poetry basket, or an ocean basket, for kids to enjoy. I might use the poems as mentor texts in a multi-genre unit- I could see studying Elliott's work, then writing our own poems embedding facts about animals we were studying (for people who are interested in doing that, Elliott has also written two companion volumes- ON THE FARM and IN THE WILD). I might have kids study Meade's illustrations, then try something similar. I might also use this book when I was talking with writers about word choice.

For teachers who like a little science with their poetry, this book is a perfect choice!

I'VE LOST MY HIPPOPOTAMUS- Jack Prelutsky

There are some authors that kids are always just plain glad to see. And Jack Prelutsky is definitely  one of those authors. The newest (or at least I think it's newest) book from this very prolific poet, is classic Prelutsky. There is a lot of silliness…

 "THANKSGIVING MATH"
I swallowed a third of the turkey,
A tenth of the carrots and peas,
A quarter of half the potatoes
A fifth of a ninth of the cheese,
A sixth of an eighth of the pudding
A seventh of all of the cake,
And so I am now doubled over,
With triple a whole bellyache. 

 There is a lot of word play…

"MY SNAKE CAN DO ARITHMETIC"
My snake can do arithmetic
My snake is far from dumb
My snake can take two numbers,
And come up with a sum. 

She can't subtract, which makes her sad,
And two things make her sadder…
She can't divide or multiply--
My snake is just an adder. 

Prelutsky employs a variety of formats- everything from free verse to haiku to limericks, to concrete poetry. And, as always, he's a master at tools like repetition and alliteration. I taught both of those in intermediate grades this week, and am wishing now that I had started each day with humorous poem, then gone on to more serious examples.

I was also struck, in reading I'VE LOST MY HIPPOPOTAMUS,  by Prelutsky's use of  rich and interesting vocabulary-- talk about text complexity! Here's a sample from a random two-page spread--fortunate, discern, gem, pity, commonplace, hard-pressed, strain, manufactured, insufferable, detect, odor, sniff. And in case you think I'm making it up, here's another randomly selected two page spread--crochety, miffed, appearance, cosmetics, strategically, perfumed, festooned, bangles, inexpressible.  I'm not big on "vocabulary" lessons where teachers find the interesting/difficult words and have kids look them up in dictionaries, but I do think this book would lend itself to lots of interesting discussions about how carefully poets/authors choose words.

Prelutsky is a hall-of-famer when it comes to poetry for kids. And this is another classic!

I like a few facts with my poetry…

I love it when poetry and science collide. You know, those books that include not only poetry, but also have a few facts thrown. One of my favorite 2011 CYBILS Poetry nominees was COUSINS OF CLOUDS, a book of poems and facts about elephants. This year's CYBILS nominees also include a couple of poem/fact books.

unBEElievables, one of Douglas Florian's newest books, is classic Florian- interesting information, clever word play, and gorgeous illustrations. Each two-page spread includes a poem, a paragraph of factual information, and then a gorgeous collage-type illustration. Here's a sample:

"Bees Buzz"
All day we bees
Just buzz and buzz
That's what we duzz
And duzz and duzz.
Why are we full
Of fuzz and fuzz?
Bee-cuzz bee-cuzz
The fuzz the fuzz
Helps pollen stick
To uzz to uzz.

Then the accompanying factual paragraph:

Bees beat their wings rapidly when they fly. This causes the air around them to vibrate, and the vibration causes bees' signature buzzing sound. The fuzzy hairs on bees' bodies have an electrostatic charge, which helps attract a flower's pollen grains.

Thirteen additional poems teach readers about bees' body parts, jobs (queen, worker, drone), dances, pollination and Colony Collapse Disorder. A BEEbliography includes books and websites where readers can find additional information.

TAKE TWO: A CELEBRATION OF TWINS is another poem/fact book. Two literary powerhouses, J. Patrick Lewis (a twin) and Jane Yolen (the niece, sister-in-law and grandmother of twins), have joined forces to write 45 poems about twins. There are sections  about "Twins in the Waiting Womb," "Twinfants," "How to be One," and "Famous Twins." And each two page spread includes at least one twin fact. Did you know that the study of twins is called gemellology? Or that identical twins have the same brain wave patterns? That there were 2,038 sets of twins at the Twins' Day Festival in Twinsburg, Ohio?

"Pairs"

We are not 

The only twos:

Socks come in pairs

As well as shoes.

Eyes are double

Hands and feet

Legs are twosome,

Ears repeat

All the best things

Come in two"

You with me

And me with you.

Don Graves used to always say that poets were a lot like scientists. Both have to observe the world very, very closely. Generally, I agree with just about anything Don Graves said, but I especially agree with that. It's great to find a few other authors that agree.

JULIE ANDREWS' TREASURY FOR ALL SEASONS

To be honest, I'm generally not a big fan of celebrity authors. When I saw Julie Andrews' TREASURY FOR ALL SEASONS: POEMS AND SONGS TO CELEBRATE THE YEAR on the CYBILS list, then,  I was not expecting much. I was very pleasantly surprised. The anthology, consisting of approximately 150 poems collected by Andrews and her daughter, Emma Walton Hamilton (they even wrote a few) is terrific, one I would definitely love to own or give as a gift.

TREASURY FOR ALL SEASONS  contains a variety of poems to read throughout the year. First, there are 8-10 poems for each month of the year. Many are traditional, ranging from Longfellow and Coleridge to e.e. cummings and Robert Frost, but there are also many contemporary poets (e.g. Sandra Cisneros, Barbara Juster Esbenson, Bobbi Katz, Myra Cohn Livinston, Valerie Worth). November, for example, includes:

•  "November" by John Updike
•  "Autumn Fires" by Robert Louis Stevenson
• "The First Thanksgiving"  and "I Ate Too Much" by Jack Prelutsky
• "Father, We Thank Thee" by Ralph Waldo Emerson
• "Rhapsody" by William Stanley Braithwaite
• "Jack Frost" by Helen Bayley Davis.  

Within each month, there are poems for pretty much every holiday, all the ones you'd expect, but also others--  Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Chinese New Year,  and Grandparents Day. There are also poems for religious holidays such as  Ramadan, Purim, Rosh Hashanah, Hannukah, and Kwanzaa.

Andrews and Hamilton also include  ections for other holidays or occasions, including The Sabbath/Shabbat,  Birthdays, New Babies,  and Coming of Age/Rites of Passage. Many of the sections begin with a letter from Julie Andrews, explaining why they chose certain poems, or making personal connections. These letters would be good mentor texts if kids were trying to assemble their own poetry anthologies

I also love the layout of this book. Most poems have their own page or two-page spread, so there is plenty of "breathing room" on each page. Marjorie Priceman's illustrations are gorgeous- vibrant, joyful, bright and flowing.

Adding this to my repertoire of gift books- it would be perfect for a baby shower, or family Christmas/Hanukkah gift, or for a student teacher or mentee, who was just starting a collection of poetry books.

POETRY FRIDAY

FREEDOM'S A CALLIN' ME is a series of poems, narrated by a runaway slave, chronicling his attempts to escape his life on a plantation in the south and travel north to freedom. Here area few samples:

FREEDOM’S A CALLING ME

the overseer’s got his hands busy

but I hear that whip bouncing off somebody’s back

bouncing like thousands of toddlers yelping

but it aint but one or two slaves aint picking quick enough

but he aint looking over here           

this here is my chance to get

right out of here…

NEVER AGAIN

he got us hanging like hogs or fresh beef

with us wiggling under

under a rawhide whip

like that going to scare us…

But they are also hopeful.

THE NORTH STAR

…this is a time to follow the north star

‘cause that’ll lead them to freedom somewhere ‘way from here

they sang about it/how the north star was goin to save them

they dreamed about it huddled in caves and under huge trees

& every night they were on their way north

closer to freedom

always followin the north star

This is not a poetry book for young children.The poems are vivid and graphic and strong, perfect for a middle or high school history class. I could also see myself using them in a writing lesson on voice or as an example for multigenre research reports. Or just simply reading the book aloud, because words this strong deserve to be/must be read aloud.

Ntozake Shanghe's words are accompanied by Rod Brown's gorgeous oil paintings.  You can see a few of those illustrations and poems, here,  at the publisher's website. (I believe I read somewhere that Shange wrote the poems after Brown did the paintings, but I could not find that to verify it this morning).  Shange and Brown have evidently paired up at least once before, in WE TROUBLED THE WATERS. I don't know that book, but I will definitely  be looking for it when I head to the library today.

This is a book I need to own. This is a book people need to know.

BOOK DRAGON  also reviewed FREEDOM'S A-CALLIN ME.

POETRY FRIDAY is at TEACHER DANCE. Head over to Linda's blog and enjoy some great poetry.