Looking back on the trade books I often use to bolster my ELA lessons I learned that of all the genres used in my classroom poetry had the least representation. This made me sad. I grew up with a healthy appreciation for poetry in all of it's many forms and am left wondering if my students will one day develop an appreciate for the genre as well. Instead of waiting for a future teacher to nurture a love for poetry I have determined that I need to be proactively plan to rectify this oversight by including high quality poetry read alouds sprinkled throughout the school year for academic enrichment as well as student enjoyment.
This poetry anthology by Paul B. Janeczko and illustrated by Chris Raschka won the NCTE Award in Excellence in Poetry for Children in 2019 and seems like a good place to begin when evaluating an often overlooked genre. To determine the quality of this particular work I will be looking for illustrations to match the tone of the poetry, effective use of language, and whether or not an emotion is evoked while reading. So let's find out if this is a good book.
While the collection of poetry is centered around various objects like, eagles, snowflakes, hats and cruise ships the watercolor illustrations provide commonality and nicely links the collection together. Did the illustrations match the tone of the poetry? Considering the poems were all about objects and the writers' creative ways to describe them I would say yes.
The language and vocabulary used of the early time periods may be better a better suited challenge for the upper elementary students who are reading to learn versus my first graders who are learning to read. Although it would be fun for students to learn colorful new vocabulary like cesspools, forsaken, and oblivion early emerging readers like my current students may delight more in Lord Byron's more direct A Riddle, On the Letter E.
While the watercolor illustrations adorning each page are beautiful and the language used mirrors that of the various time periods in which they were written, it often proved difficult to feel emotional connected to the poems just by reading the book to myself. I imagine more emotion would be felt when students are given the opportunity to discuss why they do or don't like a chosen poem. Using open-ended questions and critical thinking skills could very well help students thoroughly analyze and decide what makes a poem good or bad.
While my taste in literature makes me want to give this book a 3 out of a 5 star rating I do have to acknowledge that this is a good book. Janeczko successfully developed a collection of poems that span from the Early Middle Ages to present day, across continents and cultures, genders and ethnicities. It provides readers the opportunity to experience narratives, free verse, limericks. The poems are well written and encourage readers to contemplate the subjects. This book is indeed a window that gives its viewers a glimpse through time and space.
Janeczko, P. B., and Raschka, C. (2015). The Death of the Hat: A Brief History of Poetry in 50 Objects. Candlewick Press.
Comments