“All poetry begins with Geography.” This idea from Robert Frost which appears on the first page of a new collectioAmerica the (Poetically) Beautiful
“All poetry begins with Geography.” This idea from Robert Frost which appears on the first page of a new collection of poetry illustrates best the idea of synthesis between verse and visual. The sun presents just over the ridge of a quiet meadow of tall grasses reminding older readers of “Nothing Gold Can Stay.” That the editor, J. Patrick Lewis leads with a quote from one of America’s most beloved poet laureates is not an accidental inclusion or placement. The newest collection of poetry from the series of anthologies presented by National Geographic is a trip into and through what Lewis identifies as “the breadth and depth, the head and heart of America” (5). Invoking the idea of Frost and an inability to stay, this collection becomes a type of travelogue in verse for the reader. It is with this perspective that Lewis presents this new collection of poems for young readers. J. Patrick Lewis is no stranger to working with National Geographic Partners, LLC having edited 2012’s Book of Animal Poetry and 2015’s Book of Nature Poetry collections. In what seems to be a three-year cycle for these collections, it is timely that the new collection would focus upon America, her places and her people. What is suggested by the new collection is that while there a number of entities which may set to divide America, one has served the country well by way of its ability to unify the people: poetry. Poetry about America and her people. In the fall of 2018, in cooperation with National Geographic, former Children’s Poet Laureate and National Council of Teachers of English award winning poet, J. Patrick Lewis realized a personal dream of putting together a collection of poetry that would be representative of the United States as a whole (including its territories). Citing First Nations author, William Least Half Moon’s Blue Highways as an inspiration, in particular, for this collection, Lewis promises to bring the reader “the underside, backside, inside, and other side of America, the undiluted richness of our national diversity” (5). A quick glance at the newest collection provides the reader a sense of a journey to come. Anyone familiar with National Geographic’s trade and periodical publications will come into the text with expectations for its outward presentation and packaging. Those familiar with the aforementioned poetry collections for children will see something by way of a formula that seems to work by way of vision and verse within these collections created for children but celebrated by the adults within the poetry and education communities. A striking dust jacket adorns each of the three collections and offers more than two-hundred poems that celebrate the subject of the collection. Underneath the dust jacket is a case which incorporates to appropriate images from the National Geographic archives. The front cover of the book presents a full-cover image of a person wearing a foam headdress designed to make them look like the Statue of Liberty looking through a viewer as one might if he, she, or they were looking at a tourist attraction. The suggestion here is not lost on the reviewer that The Poetry of Us is a collection designed so that the reader can look into and through the poetry and see America through a poetic lens. The introduction to the collection spans thirteen pages and offers an introduction to the mix of poets and approaches to poetry to come. Here, Robert Frost is juxtaposed within the spread with award-winning poet Carole Boston Weatherford. Walt Whitman “hears” and Langston Hughes in the next spread. What follows the introduction to the collection is a dive into New England’s rich traditions and celebrations. And, then, the collection proceeds to take the reader through six more regions each presenting its best self as a part of the composite nation sharing verse and vision. Some pieces capture an event like Kate Coombs’ Boston Marathon (which is coupled with David Elliott’s “Boston Baked Beans: A Recipe” which is more of an exploration of the Boston vernacular than a recipe one might follow). Rebecca Kai Dotlich’s “The Place of 500 Miles” celebrates the Indianapolis 500, an event with which she would be familiar as one who lives near the city. As a matter of reverent introspection, the collection also features poems about subjects the present the work of our country that has been ongoing for some time. In the “Southeast” section of The Poetry of US, J. Patrick Lewis takes his turn as poet to return to the story of Emmett Till which appears in the spread with a poem by Reuben Jackson, a tribute to Trayvon Martin. In the “Great Plains,” readers are invited to read and to take in the rich and diverse languages of America. Dr. Gabriela Baeza Ventura presents a translation of La Luz de El Paso for which author/poet Pat Mora offers an English translation which celebrates what the people of this region experience through each of the senses including what they hear each day in English and Spanish. Traveling through the collection to the “Rocky Mountain West,” readers encounter a classic poem, “The Bean Eaters” by Gwendolyn Brooks coupled with Susan Blackaby’s “Backyard Barbecue.” Fly fisherman presented by Ralph Fletcher meet Steven Withrow’s white rapid navigators as Michelle Heidenrich Barnes helps the reader to lift off with hot air balloon pilots in a concrete piece, “Mass Ascension.” There is so much to celebrate in this new poetry collection. Each of the regions of the book would easily compliment a unit of study on a region or a particular city. The collection becomes an introduction to the contemporary poets while giving a nod to the poets who have come before. The mix of poets, subjects, forms, and styles represents nicely the diversity of our country and this is where The Poetry of US could receive its highest praise in the thoughtful presentation of the whole of the country. “Last Thoughts” invite the reader to consider the words to George M. Cohen’s “You’re a Grand Old Flag” as a sun sets now on a golden coastline. Langston Hughes invites and challenges the reader to “Let America Be America Again.” Leigh Lewis closes the collection with “I Am More” which serves as a summary statement for the collection and for the country it was designed to present and to celebrate. It would be just as easy to climb into this collection and pick the poems from the index that are familiar or part of a reading curriculum. In his “Final Note” for the collection, J. Patrick Lewis challenges and reminds the reader when he writes, “we have stopped to admire beauty and oddity in equal measure. Though our poets have painted a nation of rainbows, they have not ignored the darker weather of poverty and discrimination. . .each page here reveals a powerful poetry of place from mountains to plains and rivers from out-of-the-way America to the explosion of its great cities. Nor have we left behind some of our memorable citizens whose lives have enriched us all” (184). As a classroom teacher, I cannot think of a more necessary for the room collection than The Poetry of US. Whether this book would land in the hands of a teacher who would use the book to compliment a unit of study or in the hands of a young reader who would consider the book region by region, the whole of the text provides the inroads to many more lessons in poetry as the book presents a country by way of its “underside, backside, inside, and other side.” ...more
Recommended by literacy leader and teacher friend, Carol Jago.
Here, Kevin Coval (of Louder Than A Bomb and many other poetry initiatives and affiliatiRecommended by literacy leader and teacher friend, Carol Jago.
Here, Kevin Coval (of Louder Than A Bomb and many other poetry initiatives and affiliations you need to know about) begins with what seems like an allusion to the Howard Zinn history series. Then, in the opening poems, Coval turns all of this celebration on its head to shake out Chicago from a historical perspective, bringing the reader through and up to the Chicago of today (2017).
In powerful, sometimes outside the lines and form, verse, Coval takes the reader back to 1687 to suggest lasalle "wrote it down wrong." For classroom teachers a discussion of why Coval chooses NOT to capitalize Lasalle but every other word in the title is worthy one given the purposeful titling.
While tourists marvel at the engineering feat of reversing the flow of the Chicago River, Coval presents a flow that suggests something other than the intent for such turning of the water.
Here, Coval presents The Eastland Disaster of 1915 wherein an allusion to Carl Sanburg and the event open gates to further exploration of the poem's subject:
". . .in the middle of the Chicago river, the boat turned, a whale of metal flipping on its belly. . ."
Coval brings us the first American Gay Right Organization (Chicago 1924):
". . .the first organization in the dumb country, in the young city 45 years before stonewall. Black & White Chicago men mustered a congregation. . ."
In "Thomas Dorsey, Gospel's Daddy", Coval brings in the music born in a city, eventually moving a nation:
"grief is an unshakable shelter like Coltrane composing Love Supreme in his child's afterglow
Dorsey took to song to mourn channeled the spirit of rhythm & blues in juke and segregated joints.
he harnessed the secular for the sanctified. Take My Hand, Precious Lord, the genesis, the gospel. . ."
Muddy Waters gets a nod inviting classroom teachers to pull the Evan Turk picture book from the shelve and a CD from the stacks to build the music into the share.
A nod to Gwendolyn Brooks builds in natural gateways to other poets to be brought back and into connections and conversations when reading A PEOPLE'S HISTORY OF CHICAGO.
"The Division Street Riots" invites another opportunity to connect poetry to a historical event:
". . .the fight, the stand the stake in the land
from here, a people will not move."
"The Chicago 21 Plan: September 1973" invites an interesting connection to THE CRUCIBLE in its suggestion of what happens when a loop (or a noose) tightens. In a recent chat with #DisruptTexts, I make suggestion that teachers and students work together to create A PEOPLE'S HISTORY OF SALEM to break out of the play the individual players and their distinct voice.
1984 brings us to the origins of slam poetry in "Marc Smith Invents the Poetry Slam." How much of today's popular poetry--the kind that brings all of the folks to Soul Pancake and Button Poetry and YouTube--is owed to this moment in time lost to the release of Van Halen's JUMP and Bruce Springsteen's BORN IN THE USA?:
"the city's a racket so loud you can't hear yourself shit. space for quiet some yuppie luxury."
and
"america loves sport but needs story."
"How to Teach Poetry in Chicago Public Schools" is one that I want to share in entirety here, but I am afraid that it will lead to mass copying and sharing and implementation into poetry workshops without attribution to the poet (Hello, "What Teachers Make" and "Where I'm From). This poem. This one is the one you want for your students and for your poetry practice.
In "I Wasn't in Grant Park When obama Was Elected" is Coval's reflective invitation to poets and classroom teachers to think about where we were when. . .here, Coval relates that he was where the true democracy was. . .and is. . .the open mic.
One of the concluding poems of note here is Coval's commentary on the night the Cubs won the World Series. Here, the poet invites us to think about the Who, What, When, Where, and Why of celebration of winning. . .of conquest. . .of victory.
As a classroom teacher, I am excited to take Coval's collection into the classroom this year. I anticipate that I will lose copies of this book as I create connections to Dunbar and Hughes and Angelou and Tupac and the Break Beat poets like Nate Marshall.
I was just born into a world that might offer me a musical soundtrack in the same year that Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel would part ways.
And if it haI was just born into a world that might offer me a musical soundtrack in the same year that Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel would part ways.
And if it hadn't been for the music of that time and the way it came to us, through the circle speakers flush with the dash of the car my parents could afford or through the singular earbud that came with my Donald Duck-shaped transistor radio I might have missed them altogether.
I read WHEN PAUL MET ARTIE the way that I thought it should be read and the way that I hope the teachers with whom I have some audience or influence might: with the 1981 Central Park Concert playing in the background.
The 1970s were a time when we listened to music as a person and as a culture. We attended to Top 40 lists and we knew what the number one song was for the past few weeks because we mentally recorded these lists while we waited patiently to hear if our favorite song was able to hold that number one slot.
I encountered the music of Simon & Garfunkel through a variety of speakers. This was an age before the soundtracks of our lives became the limewire that would spark for a brief moment only to be replaced by another kind of energy. Or i-Tunes so perfectly-branded so as to capture the way we me-me-me ourselves into the personalizing (or self-curating) of our playlists.
We shared this music. This is the music I go back to when I think of a friend's older father who knew the opening notes of "Sounds of Silence" even if he tapped his foot which, in turn, would speed up the tempo. The music of Simon and Garfunkel tap into deeper memories for me.
While in Navy bootcamp, I remember being driven to tears by the company commanders making us listen as a group to "I am a Rock" after "cycling" us both physically and emotionally. These were the words that might have led me back to a shag carpet in a mobile home now bringing me to feel a shame while standing at attention on a hard tile deck of a barracks so far from home.
The music brings us home.
This book feels good in the hands. It's got a certain heft, a heaviness that makes the history of the music feel solid. Good music never loses its toe-hold in the history of a culture just because it has slipped so many slots to the nostalgic countdowns that play in our hearts and minds.
The case when folded flat depict a young Paul walking to the spine where he will meet Art. The artwork is absolutely striking and we have only peeled back the dust jacket the way we might slip a record out of its sleeve. Genius packaging by the creative team and Candelwick here. The book begs to be picked up much the same way as we were drawn to ODETTA or MUDDY. There is a want to return to the history and to the music just in the arrival of the book.
In a book, there is no breakup unless we need to mention it for historical context. As I write this review, "Bridge Over Troubled Water" is playing and I am thinking, "WHEN PAUL MET ARTIE needs to be in every classroom library as a means of "laddering" (Teri Lesesne) the music to the story of how artists meet as children, bond over the simple stuff of childhood, and move together in creative process to eventually share their gift with the world.
The titles of Neri's pieces which chronicle the meeting and the early work of the duo derive from the familiar song titles that might take the reader back before entering into Neri's free-flowing, free form, free verse draws the reader into the culture, the music of the 50s and the 60s and how two boys from NYC find themselves inadvertently work against the sounds and the fads of the the time to give all of us what we need even now. . .soft, gentle voice with a discernible message of reflection and hope.
If there is a perfect synthesis of subject, writing, and illustration, WHEN PAUL MET ARTIE is it and there are opportunities here to bring readers back by way of the music to a time that they rarely get to in their studies of American History for the bulk of what might be covered in the span of one-hundred and eighty days. Here, Neri and Litchfield are able to capture two decades, a ten-year absence, and a return that secures a ticket for every reader who couldn't be there in that September of 1981.
This is a book not to be missed. I know I can hand-sell this to my friends of my generation, but what is in the gift of the music and Neri's mentor text in how to render a non-fiction subject in verse that is inviting and informative all at the same time?
In 1981, I did not have to deal with the enormity of what I saw on HBO as an eleven-year-old. I had not been aware of the ramifications or the celebration of these two artists on the stage together after so many years. They were performing the music that had been a part of my life bridging some troubled water of which I was not aware.
Greg Neri and David Litchfield will be responsible this year for all of going back to dust off the records that made us to sing along, to dream, to come together in our sense of shared anthem. And we'll be listening together from the speakers of our time. The music knows what to do. Play. Do we?...more
Have some fun with this 1970 classic by pairing it up with Hemingway's THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA. Better yet, use this one as an anchor text to introducHave some fun with this 1970 classic by pairing it up with Hemingway's THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA. Better yet, use this one as an anchor text to introduce THE HERO'S JOURNEY (this one even has a Belly of the Whale instance within). ...more
I found this 1941 Alphabet title in the West Clark Community Schools warehouse. The text is a bit dated in its presentation of all things Americana, aI found this 1941 Alphabet title in the West Clark Community Schools warehouse. The text is a bit dated in its presentation of all things Americana, and much of what is presented may not be entirely politically correct. But what is here is a good example of how alphabet books have been used historically. ...more
A beautiful scrapbook feel brings together a classic poem with a classic feel for contemporary readers. I found this one in the bins at the West ClarkA beautiful scrapbook feel brings together a classic poem with a classic feel for contemporary readers. I found this one in the bins at the West Clark Community Schools warehouse....more
This 2006 title is a good example of a non-fiction picture book that stretches the genre out a little bit. A good reason not to write-off this approacThis 2006 title is a good example of a non-fiction picture book that stretches the genre out a little bit. A good reason not to write-off this approach is that this one comes with a nice story about the creation of a piece of highly-recognizable music written by an American musician that is all true. . .a wonderful account that comes with the CD to listen to the piece of music being celebrated. The text is peppered with chronological events, locations, dialogue and the creative process. Give this one a look.
Another title salvaged from the West Clark Community Schools warehouse. ...more
Mr. McBroom spins a tale quicker than the twister he claims took the best topsoil, tomatoes, onions, and vinegar from his farm leaving behind a red-trMr. McBroom spins a tale quicker than the twister he claims took the best topsoil, tomatoes, onions, and vinegar from his farm leaving behind a red-trail across the American plain dropping off exotic animals in its path.
A little longer than a traditional picture book which invites a longer read aloud.
Fleischman's tale here reads like Dr. Seuss meets Pecos Bill. This one could make for an interesting companion to OUT OF THE DUST or CHILDREN OF THE DUST BOWL, or as a stand-alone title which would serve nicely as an example of the extended tall tale. ...more
"Anyone can count the seeds in a apple, but no one knows how many apples in a seed."
A crisp read with a cinnamon-spice feel throughout.
Seed by Seed i"Anyone can count the seeds in a apple, but no one knows how many apples in a seed."
A crisp read with a cinnamon-spice feel throughout.
Seed by Seed is a beautifully-illustrated book about John Chapman's five "footsteps" within which readers a challenged to walk.
Esme's text reads like gentle verse working into the non-fiction aspects that draw out the five tenets of Chapman's work.
Perkins's illustrations fill the pages with color and multimedia approaches that reminded me of walking through a favorite antique store or flea market.
Here is the "ladder" to Whitman using Anno's U. S. A. Have students take a moment to look at the two-page spreads. What is being communicated or celebHere is the "ladder" to Whitman using Anno's U. S. A. Have students take a moment to look at the two-page spreads. What is being communicated or celebrated in each of the illustrations. There's a lot to see and a lot to capture within the larger images....more
Philip Sendak's story/account as shared with his son, Maurice, who illustrates the story. A beautiful example of capturing the oral tradition for futuPhilip Sendak's story/account as shared with his son, Maurice, who illustrates the story. A beautiful example of capturing the oral tradition for future generations. The length of the story makes for a potentially wonderful read aloud with a real payoff at the end. ...more
Super example of what memoir might look like in the secondary classroom with some reader advisory. Comic and graphic novel readers would line up arounSuper example of what memoir might look like in the secondary classroom with some reader advisory. Comic and graphic novel readers would line up around the door to see a book like this one. I have a colleague that is just waiting for the first day of school to grab this one up!...more
I got to read this one at the Children's Literature Assembly while waiting for David Shannon to speak. What a neat memory and a neat way to get ready I got to read this one at the Children's Literature Assembly while waiting for David Shannon to speak. What a neat memory and a neat way to get ready to close out the 2012 reading year. Just as the title suggests, this is a whopper of a fish story, but Jangles not only becomes the stuff of legend, he becomes the stuff of imagination and possibility. ...more
This is the Yolen title I have been waiting for all year (despite my many desperate inquiries and begging).
And, now, on a Saturday afternoon, I finallThis is the Yolen title I have been waiting for all year (despite my many desperate inquiries and begging).
And, now, on a Saturday afternoon, I finally get to sit down and read Jane's touching tribute to Emily Dickinson. What I liked most about the book was discovering that there were, in fact, notes at the end of the book. If you are fan of Dickinson's work, read through the sonnets first and then go through the notes. You'll see that Jane has lovingly woven allusions back to Dickinson's words in each of the sonnets, sometimes so skillfully, you forget who is writing about whom in the verses.
Jane assumes the voices of Emily, Emily's dog, Vinnie, and Thomas much the way that we have come to know Jane as she puts on a voice. While others refer to Jane as a modern day Hans Christian Anderson, I liken her more here to the Heath Ledger of Children's Poetry with her ability to adopt a voice and then weave that voice into a glimpse. . .a glimpse inside the private world of Emily Dickinson.
There are many picture books that we could ladder to THE EMILY SONNETS, but what I like most about what Jane has created here is that this book would work so well--seamlessly--even in the secondary classroom as a companion piece to a study of Emily Dickinson's poetry. ...more
How do I know "Jimmy Crack Corn" or "Blue Tail Fly?"
Bugs Bunny used to sing the song in those classic Warner Bros shorts. I knew all of the words, orHow do I know "Jimmy Crack Corn" or "Blue Tail Fly?"
Bugs Bunny used to sing the song in those classic Warner Bros shorts. I knew all of the words, or at least Bugs's version of the song, as a child.
Here, O'Malley sends up the song as a chicken senses there must be better corn at the beautiful barn of the big pink pig. And for this venturing forth, O'Malley's book gets the designation of a Hero's Journey Possibility Book.
Plenty of riddles, one-liners, and groaners in this text (as with Animal Crackers Fly the Coop).
The best part of this book happens in response to a dream sequence in which a pig flies.
You have readers who will get this book. It will be right up their alley. These are the kids who grow up and watch/read Colbert and Sedaris. These are the kids who write parodies. These are the kids who know the puns that make audiences a little squirmy.
Let's not rob them of these early mentor texts. ...more
Kevin O'Malley creates here a picture book that I would have loved as a kid.
Donalyn Miller found the connection to The Bremen Town Musicians as did IKevin O'Malley creates here a picture book that I would have loved as a kid.
Donalyn Miller found the connection to The Bremen Town Musicians as did I while reading this wonderfully imaginative work by O'Malley that provides a "ladder" as well as a send-up of the Grimm Brother's original. This natural ladder invites a side-by-side read that would bring the Grimm Brothers to younger readers. Extending the ladder would bring us right to A TALE DARK AND GRIMM.
The reason I would have loved this as a kid is because I grew up on a steady diet of MAD magazine and CRACKED (I'd find my uncle's copies and devour them when I visited my grandfather's house).
O'Malley's is full of jokes and one-liners that may not be in the wheel house of every reader in the room, but there are one or two readers in any given classroom that are ready for these references. Think about that joke-teller on the playground. O'Malley's book offers new material.
The illustrations make this title a marvel as well. During the climax, the animals fill the page with their response to the robbers they happen upon. O'Malley really gets the interplay of text and image in this one and Gimme Cracked Corn and I Will Share (another review to come here at Goodreads).
What's more, when someone asks for chicken puns at Twitter, Animal Crackers Fly the Coop becomes a mentor text. ...more
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