Samantha Song

I see this book as a very practical guide to a poetry unit for teachers and students. A teacher can very easily pull some great poetry exemplars from this single text to share and instruct on its multiple forms. The illustrations are lively and reflective of the text and the little illustrated reminders in the top left and right hand corner are also fun. Teachers and students can use this book as a great reference for straightforward definitions and examples.

Posted : Mar 31, 2015 05:20

Annie Thomas

This book is digestible in small chunks and would be perfect for a fun read or to teach a specific type of poetry. I can imagine students getting very excited as their skills and knowledge grow to continue reading down the page to get to the rules or to learn more about a specific type of poetry. I love this style of art for the illustrations. This book is truly art. The pictures that depict each poem are very memorable and children can tie them to what they have just read and learned. I love the basketball image and how it ties together the concept of working up to being able to dunk. A older child might identify with this as one player jumping to score the basket, while a younger child might see this as the player getting bigger.

Posted : Mar 31, 2015 12:40

Zohal Atif

A kick in the head- does feel like a kick in the head. With its illustrations that look like a cross between water color and origami paper it awakens the senses. The bright and colorful illustrations brought poetry which normally perceived as adult sphere to children's world and made it more interesting. And also the illustrations had a touch of mystery to them. Even though they depicted the subject of the poem but just like a poem that depends on the reader to take away things that touches them, the illustrations felt that more than one form could be seen. All the forms of poetry were very interesting to read. But since poetry is challenging as it is, wish the poems chosen followed the rules of that specific form rather than venture out. Its tough to wrap your head around a poem and its form and when the poem does not follow the form described its even more challanging. Also, some poems were little dark for children’s book. On page 24 “History Lesson” by Allan Wolf says “Cut off their heads and displayed them on sticks.” It may be historically true but didn't belong on this colorful, full of life book of poems.

Posted : Mar 28, 2015 10:35

Lindsey Bailey

I used this book with my 3rd graders to introduce poetry week last April, and they LOVED it. We would read a poem or two a day, and talk about the forms and what we like about them. They especially loved the found poems , and the concrete poems - it was amazing to see how inspired they were.

Posted : Mar 27, 2015 01:38