Poetry

Title: More Pocket Poems

Author: Bobbi Katz

Illustrator: Deborah Zemke

Publisher: Dutton Children’s Books

Copyright date: 2004

Number of pages: 28

Awards: 2004 Parents’ Magazine’s Best Book Award,

Genre: Fiction

Author's website: http://www.bobbikatz.com/

Short Summary:

This book has a variety of short kid-friendly poems, all of which are 8 lines of less and featuring playful illustrations. The book’s poems includes a wide variety of great artists, all of whom do a spectacular job of creating engaging short poems!

More Pocket Poems is a wonderful collection of kid-friendly poems, all of which are 8 lines or less and by well-known poets. The poems are easy to read and memorize. The collection is a great read for teachers and children.

Cover:

·         Is the cover attractive? Yes. The cover is bright and inviting.

Story:

·         Are the stories interesting to children? Yes. The stories these poems tell are interesting and very easy to relate to for children.

Organization:

·         Do the spacing and placement of the words make the passages easy to read? Yes. This is an easy read. The passages are easy to memorize for children. They have rhythm and rhyme and give a fresh appearance to poetry for children.

Characters:

·         Do characters represent people from a variety of cultural groups? Yes. There is a variety of characters in the book from a wide range of cultural groups. The book does an excellent job of incorporating diverse illustrations throughout the book as well.

·         Are females as well as males depicted in leadership roles? Yes. Every culture and sex is treated and depicted equally in this book. There is no distinction of leaders and followers because they all seem to be equally involved and represented.

Themes:

·         Does the story offer children a variety of things to think about, to question, and to consider? Yes. Many of the poems have underlying stories and themes which can spark a lot of interest and make discussions and conversations go in a variety of directions.

·         Are there lessons to be learned? Many of these poems are light hearted and give children more variety in their reading. The book is made in such a simplistic matter so that children can understand and be exposed to another broader range of language and reading. There are certainly many opportunities to find connections and relationships among the poems and the world though. The poems are enjoyable and simple, which make the digestion of poetry much pleasurable.

Settings:

·         Do the stories reflect a variety of settings? Yes. The poems reflect a wide range of settings.

Illustrations:

·         Are diverse populations represented in the illustrations? Yes. There is an abundance of diversity in the illustrations.

·         Are the illustrations large, clear and bright? Yes. The illustrations are wonderful in this book. The organization makes for the illustrations and text to work as a unit and not be overwhelming or distracting. The illustrations do a great job of translating the poem into a picture.

·         Do the illustrations invite the reader to explore the text? Yes. These illustrations are spectacular and definatley should spark interest for the reader.

·         Do the illustrations explain and enhance the context? The illustrations do a fantastic job of translating the text. They have a strong relation to the text and surely enhance what is being discussed in the text.

Other Considerations:

·         Will the stories encourage discussions? Yes. The poems are easily relatable for children and could provoke an abundance of discussions that could go in a variety of directions. There is a wide array of topics discussed, which allows for more dialogue to happen.

·         Are the stories age appropriate to ensure children can understand what is presented? Yes. The poetry in this book could be used with a wide range of children for a wide range of reasons, including developing vocabulary and could supplement a content area easily.

Reading level scale

7	highly difficult
6	difficult
5	moderately difficult
4	challenging
3	above average
2	Average
1	highly readable

 

Classroom application:
It would be fun to create a classroom book of short poems, like the ones that are in pocket poem books. The great things about creating a classroom books is that its open ended, which encourages creativity. The students get the opportunity to share with their classmates, which acts like a celebration of poetry for the students. I remember doing this kind of activity when I was in school and, in fact, I still have it. These kinds of projects are something that children and parents cherish for a long time.

4: I love this book!

Title: Edgar Allan Poe’s Pie: Math Puzzlers in Classic Poems

Author: Patrick J. Lewis & Michael H. Slack

Publisher: Harcourt

Copyright date: 2012

Number of pages: 40

Awards: Mathical Award recipient

Genre: Children’s poetry, mathematical concepts, children’s literature

Author websites:

Patrick J. Lewis: http://www.jpatricklewis.com/

Michael Slack: http://www.slackart.com/about/

Short summary:

Patrick Lewis takes classic poems and adds a little mathematical twist to them. The poems include wonderful art and the kids have fun figuring out the puzzles! The book gives engaging information and presents it in a manner that allows the students to practice concepts in a clever way. It is a great book that has words and math all wrapped up into one!

Cover:

·         Is the cover attractive? Yes. The cover is very colorful and interesting.

Story:

·         Are the stories interesting to children? Yes. It is a fun spirited book.

Organization:

·         Do the spacing and placement of the words make the passages easy to read? Yes. The pages don’t have too many words and includes great illustrations, which makes reading the poems more engaging.

Characters:

·         Do characters represent people from a variety of cultural groups? n/a. The illustrations demonstrate a variety of different subject matters, many of which do not include people.

·         Are females as well as males depicted in leadership roles? n/a. The book consists of poems, so there is not much of plot development, which makes it difficult for a wide array of characters to be depicted in different kinds of roles.

Themes:

·         Does the story offer children a variety of things to think about, to question, and to consider? Yes. This is an incredibly engaging book that could take a variety of avenues for discussions.

·         Are there lessons to be learned? Yes, but most of the lessons to be learned are academic.

Settings:

·         Do the stories reflect a variety of settings? Yes. There is a wide range of settings depicted in the poems.

Illustrations:

·         Are diverse populations represented in the illustrations? n/a. There are many different things represented in these poems because they don’t necessarily focus solely on humans, but animals, food etc.

·         Are the illustrations large, clear and bright? Yes. The illustrations are spectacular!

·         Do the illustrations invite the reader to explore the text? Yes. The illustrations are very compelling.

·         Do the illustrations explain and enhance the context? Yes. The illustrations directly correspond to the poem.

Other Considerations:

·         Will the stories encourage discussions? Yes. The poem in addition to the wonderful illustrations will certainly spark student interest, which will promote engagement. Opening up the book or just simply looking at the cover will draw students in!

·         Are the stories age appropriate to ensure children can understand what is presented? Yes. This book would be a great read aloud book or undoubtedly a great addition to any elementary classroom library. The poems have good vocabulary with many opportunities for practicing high frequency words and will promote language and literacy in students.

 

Reading level scale

 

7	highly difficult
6	difficult
5	moderately difficult
4	challenging
3	above average
2	Average (for 10-16 year old readers)
1	highly readable

 

classroom application:
There are many cross curriculum activities that could derive from this book. Books that apply to a variety of content areas are like a gold mine! This book does a great job of integrating math in a meaningful yet playful way. I highly recommend this book for any elementary classroom!

4: I love this book!