Messing Around on The Monkey Bars

Bibliography

Franco, Betsy, and Hartland Jessie. Messing Around on the Monkey Bars and Other School Poems for Two Voices. Somerville, Mass: Candlewick, 2009. Print

 

Language and Emotion

This collection of 18 poems are meant to be read by two voices although it can be read by one person. I found myself changing my voice to read the other verse.  The poems are really fun to read. I think my class would love to read these poems and act some of them out. The subject matter is something they can relate to. Every kids loves recess or have been to the park or have tried to make a new friend. Read aloud these lighthearted poems for multiple voices as they try to capture the silliness of the playground and other things like writing a report on an animal. Some children are on a school bus, heading to the lost and found making a new friend out on the playground, kids are skipping rope and making trades. In the library, they’re whispering, and talking. In the classroom  they come up with excuses why they didn’t have their homework  and have to stay afterschool at the teachers request.                                          

Analysis

The rhyme and humor the incorporation onomatopoeia and the personification of objects make it really engaging. Did you ever think your class was alive? I didn’t until I thought about the poem referring to the arms and legs on the chair and the face on the clock and of course the spine on the book. The children would able to find the humor in that and begin to find various traits in other objects at home and at school. In the book the author   encourages the teacher or reader to divide the group in two. One group can read Voice1 and the other Voice 2 in unison. This would be a great book to use at the beginning of school at an elementary level. The illustrations are colorful and add to the adventures of children at school.

Reviews

A cheeky romp elementary school children’s academic and social lives. –  Kirkus Review

The clear and interactive presentation elevates the solid content, and Hartlands whimsical paintings afdd to a playful tone-   The Horn Book

Connections

1.Spend a week focusing on sounds with your class can create a list of sound words with your students and post it in the classroom.

2. Ask kids to listen to the natural world and then write about what they have heard.

3. Encourage your students too consciously add sound words to stories and poems they write.

Then invite your class to write three-line “Sound poems.” This is a form Betsy Franco made up; it’s similar to a haiku but focuses specifically on sounds and doesn’t involve any syllable counting

4. Invite students to write acrostic poems about objects at school.

5. Read the book Big talk” Poems for Four Voices by Paul Fleishchman

 

 

 

I Am the Book

 Bibliography:

Hopkins, Lee Bennett., and Yayo. I Am the Book: Poems. New York: Holiday House, 2011. Print.

 Language and Emotion:

Lee Bennett Hopkins collection of thirteen poems from  various authors commemorate the love of  reading books. The poems summarize the excitement of engaging and escaping into a good book through the vision of poets. The poems arrangement  is perfect for  reading orally.All of of the poems make you think and reflect about why you love books and the beauty of the words painting an image on the page. The poem “ I Am the Book” by Tom Robert Shields compares a book to a best friend. All of the poems that were selected for this compilation pays homage to books and those of us who love them. The poem “What was That” by Rebecca Kai Dotlich is another example of that beautifully conveys the images of words.

Critical Analysis

According to an online interview with Hopkins he stated ” Poetry is magical, mystical. I maintain that more can be said or felt in 8 or 10 or 12 lines than sometimes” http://www.harpercollins.com/author/authorExtra.aspx?authorID=12232&displayType=interviewan entire novel can convey”

“I Am the Book” has wonderful illustrations by Yayo to enrich the anthology of poems selected by Hopkins . I think this is a good book to read aloud to get your children or students to appreciate books from a different perspective. This book will be appreciate by younger readers because the language is easy to understand and because of the rhyming words that the younger students will love.

Reviews

It closes with five landlocked tributes to bookishness and shoehorns in between one off-topic contribution by Hopkins and another by Jane Yolen. Eight of the 13 poems are new, and all (of the relevant ones) share a sense of excitement- Kirkus Review

Connections:

One can engage or brainstorm with students about what they love about their favorite books. They can tell what elements of the story they make personal connections and how it relates to them and to the world.

Students can use a wordless picture book and come up with their own story using the illustrations.

Students can compare several of the poems in the books and contrast how the authors convey their love of books.

The Surrender Tree

Bibliography

Engle, Margarita. 2008 THE SURRENDER TREE: POEMS OF CUBA’S STRUGGLE FOR FREEDOM. New York: Henry Holt and Company, LLC. ISBN: 9780805086744.

Plot Summary

This is the story of  a girl named Rosa and her plight  during the three wars that Cuba fought to get  their freedom Many of Rosa’s people have been put in camps where there is not enough food and many people are sick However, Rosa is a nurse who is called a witch because she uses medicinal plants to heal. Rosa, her husband, Josa, and her others have to hide in caves and hospitals that they find or build in the jungle. Some people want to capture Rosa because she heals the rebels. A man that she knew as a boy and calls Lieutenant Death is looking for her to capture her. Rosa is nice and will use her medicines and skill for anyone that needs it, including her enemies.

Critical Analysis

In this verse novel, Engle tells a wonderful story using little words but the reader is still drawn into the character’s lives. Engle explains how the three wars effect Rosa, her family and friends.)

This book is very moving and It was written similarly to a chapter book and told from the different perspective of the characters so as a reader one had a personal connection with the reasons why every character behaved the way they did whether you agreed with them or not.

At the end of the book there is a  chronology of the early independence movement in Cuba with selected references, author notes, and historical notes.

 Review Excerpts

“An absolutely lovely book… that should be read by young and old, black and white, Anglo and Latino.” –School Library Journal, starred review

“The moving poetry and finely crafted story will draw readers in and leave them in tears and awe” – The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, starred review

“A work of literary imagination. Engle’s skillful portrait will spark readers’ interest in Manzano’s poetry"

 

Awards

Jane Addams Children’s Book Award, 2009

Americas Award for Children’s and Young Adult Literature, 2009

American Library Association Notable Books for Children, 2009

Pura Blepre Award, 2009

Connections

1.Combine this book with Engle’s THE POET SLAVE OF CUBA: A BIOGRAPHY OF JUAN FRANCISCO MANZANO and use it to discuss poetry, slavery, medicinal plants and other topics.