Thursday, July 17, 2014
Poetry
Prelutsky, Jack. 1996. A Pizza the size of the Sun. Ill. James Stevenson. NewYork: Greenwillow Books.
ISBN 0-688-13235-9
ANNOTATION
Jack Prelutsky is the nation's first Children's Poet Laureate.
SUMMARY
Prelutsky in his book a PIZZA the size of the SUN captures poetry in a creative, humorous, often weird, and witty way. A great example of a poem combining weird and gross humor is Eyeballs for Sale! ("Eyeballs for sale! / Fresh Eyeballs for sale! / Delicious, nutritious, / not moldy or stale"). The collection consisting of 105 poems are quick and easy to read and guaranteed to catch the attention of any age group. There are clever twists, quirky characters, and funny stories about family, friends and animals. Prelutsky uses quick rhyming, alliteration, puns, and nonsense to keep us entertained and laughing. James Stevenson with his black and white drawings illustrates each poem with subtle, comical creativity which enrich the poems in an unobtrusive way.
CRITICAL ANALYSIS
According to Tunnell and Jacobs, "children most enjoy poetry that contains humor, familiar experiences, and animals." (p. 81) The collection includes poems that Tunnell and Jacobs would agree beg to be read aloud and contain all of the elements children enjoy. Also included in the collection are concrete poems which can often be challenging, but a terrific way to engage readers' thinking skills while still having fun. Concrete (or shape) poetry is an inventive form in which the poetry takes on the shape of its subject. For example, A Triangular Tale cleverly takes the shape of a triangle, while the poem I Was Walking in a Circle takes the shape of a circle. Prelutsky cleverly plays with words, "purely pachydermal plight," "unbriddled agitation," "monotonous enclosure," and "unmitigated rancor." After reading the poems some readers may have to dust off their dictionaries to find meaning to their new found vocabularies. Throughout the book whimsical, exaggerated drawings are outlined in black and white. Although the book jacket is adorned with watercolors images of children pointing to a cheesy pizza the size of the sun.
Many of the poems in this collection may be used across the curriculum. Poems such as Penguins would be perfect for a science class:
Penguins cautiously reside
on our planet's underside,
where they're careful not to cough
lest they trip and tumble off.
Most importantly children and adults will find enjoyment in reading these poems out loud both for the laughter they bring and for the satisfaction of savoring the rhymes, language, and stories. I would highly recommend this book to parents, teachers, librarians, and children.
EDITORIAL REVIEWS
Publishers Weekly
In an inimitable troubadour tour-de-force, poet and performer Prelutsky (The Dragons Are Singing Tonight) serves up toe-tapping renditions of verses from his popular 1996 collection. Prelutsky's pleasantly warbling folksy singing voice nimbly leaps over tongue twisters and all sorts of playful rhymes in ditties like "Dixxer's Excellent Elixir," "Frenetica Fluntz" and "The Fummawummalummazumms." And he's sure to elicit still more giggles when he occasionally raises his voice to a humorously affected falsetto on "Gloppe's Soup Shoppe" and a few other tunes. In between guffaws, young listeners will find lots of topics with surefire appeal: "Bugs! Bugs!" "I Made Something Strange with My Chemistry Set" and "Eyeballs for Sale!" Backed by a strong children's chorus and talented musicians on fiddle, banjo, mandolin and more, Prelutsky seems right at home. (He's the one playing the kazoo.) This often boisterous mix of silliness and song should prove entertaining for the whole family. All ages.
Horn Book
The duo responsible for The New Kid on the Block and Something Big Has Been Here has again combined talents to create an appealing collection of short poetry. Stevenson's spirited line and wash drawings effectively convey the tone of the jaunty, usually funny, often silly, sometimes gross, and always childlike poems.... A fast-paced and accessible collection that's loads of fun.
Kirkus
A collection of well over 100 poems that pop and sparkle like firecrackers, well up to the standard set by this team's Something BIG Has Been Here (1990) and The New Kid on the Block (1984). The poems vary--some are little packets of energy (``Sardines'': ``Their daily lives are bland, /and if they land- -/they're canned'') while others allow readers to take a stroll through their treasure-filled lines. Prelutsky puts his obvious delight in words to work, employing backwards writing and mirror writing, different typefaces and font sizes, unconventional typesetting, and unfamiliar words--children will scramble to find out what a manticore is and why its eyeballs might be nutritious. The poems' subjects range from spaghetti seeds, to a flock of defiant pigeons, to more philosophical musings: ``I'm drifting through negative space,/a frown on my lack of a face,/attempting to hear/with a tenuous ear/what nobody says in this place.'' Prelutsky loosens his agile imagination in words; while around the pages cavort Stevenson's interpretive line drawings, shimmy-shimmying to the beat. Terrific. (Poetry. 5+)
CONNECTION
Art--Give each child a large circle of tan or brown construction paper. Let them glue on small red paper circles (pepperoni) scraps of yellow (cheese) green (bell peppers) white (mushrooms) and black (olives). If the circles are large enough, suggest that the children use them as placemats the next time they eat real pizza!
Math--Handout a form you create with the words pepperoni, cheese, bell peppers, mushroom, and olives. Next, have students count how many of each item they placed on the pizza and enter on the form. They can also draw and color a pattern they make using the items listed on the pizza.
BOOK NO. 2
Sidman, Joyce. 2005. Song of the Water Boatman. Ill. by Beckie Prange. Mass: Houghton Mifflin.
ISBN: 0618135472
ANNOTATIONS
2006 Caldecott Honor Book
BCCB Blue Ribbon
Nonfiction Book Award
SUMMARY
Song of the Water Boatman is a beautiful introduction to all aspects of pond life, from tiny micro-organisms including the tardigrada, to the cattails surrounding the pond all part of the food chain. Joyce Sidman’s whimsical little collection of eleven poems about pond life is not only beautiful, but informational as well. Each poem is accompanied by a factual paragraph on each subject. A unique blend of concrete, chant, haiku, free verse, rhymed, unrhymed, and narrative can be found in this collection.
Readers will become enthralled with the magnificent woodcut illustrations depicting the ongoing adventures of the creatures in a pond. Watercolor pastels compliment every detail of the beautiful woodcuts.
CRITICAL ANALYSIS
In this book, Sidman successfully recreates the life and survival of each creature and explores how each one’s life impacts the other. Readers are immediately drawn to the natural world at the very instant you begin reading this collection of poems. As you read each poem you feel as though you become part of this wonderful life cycle. In “A Small Green Riddle,” the duckweed laments, / Eaten by all / named for one /, as the duck prepares for his meal signifying the end for the other. While reading, “In the Depths of the Summer Pond,” children are invited to respond to the repetitious chant while learning about the food chain, Here lurks the fish, wide of jaw, / that swallows the frog / that gulps the bug / that nabs the nymph….
The woodcut illustrations by Beckie Prange are outlined in black enhancing the rich water color pastels that compliment each poem. A clever detail Prange incorporated is the use of brighter hues at the beginning of the book which change to a more muted color representing the change of seasons. The book is captivating and worthy of a Caldecott Award, and should be included in school and home library.
EDITORIAL REVIEWS
School Library Journal
*Starred Review* Kindergarten-Grade 5-Seasons set the stage for this celebration of the diverse life of ponds. The book begins with the poem, "Listen for Me," in which spring peepers wake from their winter hibernation and sing out, "Listen for me on a spring night,/on a wet night,/on a rainy night./…Listen for me tonight, tonight,/and I'll sing you to sleep." The melodic verse continues through summer with a cumulative poem that highlights the food chain of a pond, cattails in all seasons, and late fall when a painted turtle settles into the mud…
Booklist
*Starred Review* Gr. 3-5. In this strikingly illustrated collection, science facts combine with vivid poems about pond life through the seasons. Focusing on one pond creature or plant per spread, Sidman employs many poetic forms, including austere haikus and rollicking sea shanties, and her fine selections are both accessible and sophisticated. Younger children may need help with the science allusions, although accompanying prose paragraphs will give some background; many poems integrate the science beautifully, particularly a marching, cumulative selection about the pond web of life.. .
CONNECTIONS
Have students write poems on a piece of construction paper cutting them out to look like a leaf. Next, make a tree from brown butcher paper to hang on a wall. Have students hang their poem leaves on the tree. Title the art project “Poetry Tree.”
BOOK NO. 3
Hesse, Karen. 2001. Witness. Cover Art by Kim McGillvary. New York: Scholastic.
ANNOTATIONS
2002 The Christopher Award
ALA Notable Children's Book
2001 School Library Journal Best Book of the Year
2001 Publisher's Weekly Best Book of the Year
SUMMARY
Witness is free-verse poetry, with a journal format that is divided into five acts. Written as a lyrical novel the story almost reads like a play. The story is told from the perspectives of 11 different voices that bring it to life. Of interest is the lack of capital letters, perhaps it is to illustrate the innocence and ignorance of those times. Although the book is written for grades 5-9, it may be more appropriate for middle and high school due to its format and content. The novel may be used to teach history, past and present, and to generate discussions about tolerance of indifference. Readers experience the events of terror and peace; witness the characters capacity for love, hate, kindness and change.
CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Hesse, in her novel tells the story of what happens to a small town when it is suddenly torn apart by the Ku Klux Klan. By using multiple perspectives of the same events she allows each character to tell their version. By doing this, personal biases are made known, and judgments about the temperament of the characters can be made. Witness as it is written helps the reader hear the voices and feel their emotions as you are drawn into the story. Although there are many voices being heard the story revolves around two children who are new to town Leonora Sutter, 12, who is black, and Esther Hirsch, 6, who is Jewish. The dialect of the two girls comes through vividly and contrasts both. Nonetheless, the story as it comes to life through the poems, is compelling and holds the reader's attention.
I have included excerpts from the novel to invite you in.
leanora sutter
separated on the stage from all those limb-tight white girls.
The ones who wouldn’t dane with a negro.
they went home in a huff that first day,
but some came back.
they told miss harvey they’d dance,
but they wouldn’t
touch any brown skin girl.
So I made a long walk by myself.
I did follow the train tracks and
pretty quick daddy did have comings after me.
BOOK REVIEWS
Booklist
*Starred Review* Gr. 5-9. Using real events, Hesse tells a story of the Ku Klux Klan in a small town in Vermont in 1924 in the same clear free-verse as her Newbery winner, Out of the Dust (1997…Add this to the Holocaust curriculum, not because every racial incident means genocide, but because the book will spark discussion about how such a thing can happen even now.
Kirkus
What Copeland created with music, and Hopper created with paint, Hesse deftly and unerringly creates with words...
Fiction
Kirkus Reviews - February 1, 2014"After establishing that jerks existed in prehistory using cave paintings and throughout history using folk tales and children’s literature, eighth-grader J.J. Murphy explains the need for a scientific study of jerk-ishness...His voice rings true...[An] amusing collection of anecdotes."
CM Magazine - January 24, 2014
"Hughes has crafted an authentic and endearing narrator–J.J. Murphy is the kind of boy most readers would like to be friends with...Hughes is a skilled writer, words roll off the page, and most readers will keep turning the pages. The “case studies” of various jerks–young jerks, old jerks, sports jerks, etc–are illustrated with amusing stories and observations...A witty and skillful account of those ‘idiots’ and ‘jerks’ that populate the lives of children."
Resource Links - February 1, 2014
"Contains numerous anecdotes that will amuse...As a read-aloud in preparation for a Science Fair I think this would be highly successful."
Quill & Quire - March 1, 2014
"A quirky, funny glimpse into the life and mind of a 13-year-old boy. Structured as a science report written by J.J., On a Scale from Idiot to Complete Jerk presents a narrative about human nature that middle-grade kids will find relatable, humorous, and genuine. Let’s face it, what kid wouldn’t love a book in which every other sentence bears the word “jerk”?...In addition to the unorthodox format, what makes this book work is its universal appeal. Young readers will enjoy J.J.’s stream-of-consciousness narration, his cheeky tone, and his efforts to convince his teacher that this is actually a science report when it’s anything but...Edmonton author Alison Hughes deserves an A+ for her smart, engaging middle-grade read."
National Reading Campaign blog - May 13, 2014
"The format of a science report with lots of case studies to dip into makes this an engaging read for kids who prefer non-fiction, as well as a lively read for those who like fiction. The material is lots of fun and often thought-provoking, J.J.’s voice is strong and the various observed behaviours are familiar to any one who has encountered an idiot or jerk or acted like one (i.e. all of us). Bravo, Alison Hughes! Bonus marks awarded."
Canadian Family Magazine - April 1, 2014
"A wonderfully cheeky and smart read." 
by R.J. Palacio
"My name is August. I won't describe what I look like. Whatever you're thinking, its probably worse."
Things are tough for August and his family too. His protective big sister, Via feels angry when people stare and his parents love him yet cannot help but argue about whether August should go to school.
What were the chances that Auggie's face turned out the way that it did? The face of a boy who was unlucky enough to get a double dose of a mutant gene that makes him and his family not so ordinary after all.
When August begins at middle school, he is nervous. Not only is he nervous for the same reasons as every other child in his new class but because August cannot walk down the corridor without being the subject of stares and cruelty.
August lives in a brutal world. So surely, middle school is the last place he could ever hope to be normal … right?
This book gives a realistic look at the frankly brutal reality that is a hugely hushed topic in childrens books. Wonder is about something that we don't like to talk about because it is so rare and so sad. But August is a boy who can't be hushed into silence or invisibility in his world, simply because of the way he looks.
This book is bold, funny and engaging. If someone had told me about the topic of this book before I read it, I think I would have mostly chosen to read it because I did not want to walk away from the sad truths and I owed it to people who have similar problems to August. However I found instead that I enjoyed it because it is written with such charm and heart, even in the sad parts. It manages to be about a person with an unlucky and rare syndrome, who we love not out of sympathy (although this book oozes reality and raw emotion) but out of love for him. No one could say that Wonder creates a nice world for the unfortunate protagonist, but something even more deeply rooted than the sadness in the book definitely prevails and that is the sense of love and goodness that leaves you infused with inspiration and appreciation for the good things.
I would give this book five stars and consider it to be equally as good for boys and girls. I think that Wonder deserves to be an international bestseller as it will hook everyone who reads it. It is a bold, brilliant book that is well worth reading by anyone who is prepared to be amazed and can appreciate a good book!
The Dormouse
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