Poetry Reviews

1. Bibliography

George, Kristine O'Connell. 2002. Swimming Upstream, Middle School Poems. Illustrated by Debbie Tilley. New York:Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 0618152504.

2. Plot Summary

This book, Swimming Uptream, is about a girl who is just beginning middle school. The reader is taken through the entire school year, from the first day to the last. The story of this middle school girl is told from her perspective about various occurrences such as, learning to play the flute, making friends, taking tests, and liking a boy.

3. Critical Analysis

George takes the reader through the life of an adolescent girl from the first day of middle school through the end. The author uses the perspective of the middle school girl to tell the story of her experiences. The effect this has is that the reader feels as though they are in the mind of the girl and are invited into her thoughts. The middle school girl makes observations about other students and describes what it feels like to go to a new school and feel insecure about herself. She states in the poem School I.D. Card, "Is my nose that big?" George really has a sense of what it is to be an adolescent in middle school and uses humor in the poems to create a light feeling about what these students are feeling as heavy. The author also makes use of different types of poetry, such as acrostic in "SNOB", and rhyme in "Is it Monday Again?".The only color to the illustrations by Debbie Tilley exist on the cover art. The rest of the book is illustrated with black white pictures of scenes of students in a school. They take up two pages at a time and the scenes depicted include kids opening lockers, eating in the cafeteria, playing in the band and gossiping in the classroom.

4. Review Excerpt

From Booklist Gr. 5-8. "These tiny poems--rhymed, free verse, haiku, even an acrostic--cover the first year of junior high--sixth, seventh, and eighth grade. The unnamed female narrator sees the first "jigsaw year" as refitting and recombining old friends and new, old ideas and new."

From School Library Journal Grade 4-7-"Middle school, with all its trials, tribulations, and triumphs, is portrayed humorously and poignantly through the eyes of one girl. Some of the more mundane topics include a locker that won't open, being late to homeroom, carrying around a large piece of wood as a hall pass, and deciding where to sit in the lunchroom. The book also delves into significant issues, from making new friends and a first crush to teasing, gossip, and a bully who may not be so tough after all."

5. Connections

-Teachers could use this book at the beginning of the school year, when students are feeling anxious about the new school year to lighten the mood.

-Students could create their own middle school experience poems after listening to Swimming Upstream.

1. Bibliography

Prelutsky, Jack. 1994. a PIZZA the size of the SUN. drawings by James Stevenson. New York: Greenwillow Books. ISBN 0688132359.

2. Plot Summary

In a Pizza the size of the sun, Jack Prelutsky has a collection of poems that span a wide range of topics. He writes about pizza, of course to begin but he also talks about animals and made up things like "doddies". Most of the poems are of a silly nature and geared toward a young audience. The purpose of the poems are strictly entertainment. The poems collected in the book are not linked to one another and they don't tell a complete story from beginning to end like some other poetry books.

3. Critical Analysis

Prelutsky's poems have many different styles, and they range from short to medium length to two pages long. Many of the poem's names are also included in the first line of the poem, like "I did a nutty somersault". When Prelutsky writes "I am your mirror image", he writes all it backwards so that when you hold it up to a mirror, you can read it the right way ( I tried it, it works). "A Triangular Tale" is written in the shape of a triangle with the words becoming increasingly larger at the bottom. "I'm All Mixed Up" is a poem written with mixed capital and lower case letters about not quite feeling like yourself.

On every page there is a corresponding illustration to the poem. The illustrations were drawn by James Stevenson, who draws the pictures to this book in black and white. The pictures are simplistic and humorous, they are very literal interpretations of the poems. The only poem without a picture is "I'm drifting through negative space", it is simply printed in white on two black pages, which is an artistic expression in itself. In the poem "The Improbable Emporium", Stevenson draws several of the animals mentioned in the lines, such as a centipede with sandals, a flossing hippo, and a frog working out with barbells. Aside from the lack of color, the pictures contribute much to the meanings of the poetry in Prelutsky's book.

4. Review Exerpt

From Publisher's Weekly, "Once again Prelutsky demonstrates a robust appreciation of the absurd?and an uncanny knack for turning every possible subject on its head. Here his verse ranges from the short and sweet ("My mother makes me chicken,/ her chicken makes me cough./ I wish that when she made it,/ she took the feathers off") to poems of Jabberwockian silliness (the entry that begins " 'I'm ceiling fad!' a money boned./ 'Alas!' a carrot pride" is just one example). The pages are peppered with kinetic black-and-white drawings; like Thurber, Stevenson wrings a wealth of humor and emotion out of a few dashes of ink. If a laugh is what's needed, just hand over the keys and let these two drive. "

From School Library Journal, Kindergarten-Grade 6 "Yet another masterful collection of poems by the prolific Prelutsky, filled with zany people, improbable creatures, and rhythm and rhyme galore, all combining to celebrate the unusual, the mundane, and the slightly gruesome."

5. Connections

-This book of poems can be used on an ongoing basis in the classroom. Teachers can read a couple of poems out loud everyday just for fun.

-These poems can also be used as good examples of rhyming poems and be modeled by the students in their own poems.

1. Bibliography

Hesse, Karen. 2001. Witness. New York: Scholastic. ISBN 0439271991.

2. Plot Summary

Leonora Sutter is an adolescent girl in a Vermont town, she is the main character in the story. However, there are ten other characters represented to tell the story from their own perspective. The story begins with poems that introduce the place and the characters in this town. The Ku Klux Klan is a new addition to the Vermont town and is met with mixed feelings. Leonora Sutter is an African-American in this town, and Esther Hirsh is six years old and she and her family are Jewish. Leonora Sutter is being harassed at school by her white peers but her father tells her, "no low down white boy's gonna stop Leonora Sutter from getting and education." The story takes place in the 1920's during a time when this Vermont town is figuring itself out after the invasion of the Klan.

3. Critical Analysis

Karen Hesse writes the poems in Witness in free verse, they are broken into stanzas. The structure of the poetry allows the reader to move quickly through the text. Each poem begins with the name of the character whose perspective will be represented. There are eleven total characters, Leonora Sutter, Esther Hirsh, Sara Chickering, Percelle Johnson, Fitzgerald Fitt, Harvey Pettibone, Merlin Von Tornhout, Johnny Reeves, Viola Pettibone, Iris Weaver, and Reynard Alexander. The book is split into five acts that take the reader through different stages of the story. The setting is Vermont in 1924.

The story is emotionally charged because it deals with race and bigotry. The main reason that it is so sensitive is because children are involved. This tends to bring about a protective feeling in whoever is reading the material because no one wants to see people hurting, especially children. Hesse uses Leonora and Esther as the main characters to evoke that sense in the reader. The author uses strong language in the poems for emphasis, such as when Merlin Von Tornhout says, "put a colored girl in the paper, call her a hero, just cause she saved a kid from being hit by a train. A jew kid." The perspective of each character is truly represented by having each poem written in the first person of that citizen. The last poem from Leonora Sutter lets the reader infer that Merlin gets what he deserves and some justice is served.

4. Reviews

From Publisher's Weekly

"Hesse offers glimpses of the world at large through references to Prohibition, the Leopold and Loeb case and a letter Leanora pens to Helen Keller. The author distinguishes the characters (whose pictures appear in the front of the book) not only by their varying opinions but also by their tone of speech. The simpler, candid language of the two youngest cast members, Leanora and Esther, effectively crystallizes their gradual loss of innocence. Easily read in one sitting, this lyrical novel powerfully records waves of change and offers insightful glimpses into the hearts of victims, their friends and their enemies."

5. Connections
-This is an excellent book to use for character education lessons on tolerance.

-Would go well with a unit for Black History month in February.

-Also could be used in connection with lessons on the Holocaust.

Traditional Literature Reviews

1. Bibliography
dePaola, Tomie. 1988. The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush. New York, NY: Putnam & Grosset Group. ISBN 0698113608.

2. Plot Summary

Little Gopher is a Native American boy who is not going to become a hunter and fighter like the other boys in his tribe. The Shaman tells him that his job in life will not be the same as the warriors. He has a dream on a mountaintop and becomes a painter, recording the lives of his people. He is fianlly granted the colors to paint the sunset and gives the paining as a gift to his people. After that, beautiful flowers grow all around in the same colors as the sunset painting.

3. Critical Analysis

Tomie dePaola writes "The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush" in a mannor that reflects the oral tradition. As you read this story, you really get an impression that he is wrting down what has been passed down to him through generations of story telling. It tells of a time in the distant past and follows Little Gopher fro boyhood to becoming a young man. dePaola is writing about a character struggling to find his place in his tribe and in the world in which he lives. He also uses dialogue in the story to convey what the Shaman, the Grandfather, and the Maiden have to say to Little Gopher.

dePaola is also the illustrator for "The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush". The pictures in the beginning of the book show Little Gopher making toys and painting, here dePaola uses many colors. However, when Little Gopher goes to the mountain to figure out his place in the world, the colors become very plain until there is mention of the sunset. The vibrant colors begin again when Little Gopher begins to paint the sotries of his people. The coloring becomes the most vibrant when he finally gets the colors he needs to paint the sunset.

4. Review Excerpts

Acoording to PublisherWeekly, this tlae of Little Gopher's artistic dream is "related with deceptive simplicity be dePaola; he enhances the plainess of the story with his primitive illustrations and...finds ispiration in the colors of the sunset." Ages 4-8. (June)

5. Connections

-This is a great multicultural book that could be read as part of a social sutdies lesson about Native Americans.

-"The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush" is also a great story to introduce folk tales.

1. Bibliography

Ketteman, Helen. 1997. Bubba the Cowboy Prince, A Fractured Texas Tale. Illustrated by James Warhola. New York, NY: Scholastic Press. ISBN 0590255061

2. Plot Summary

In this Texas Cinderfella story, Bubba jas a stepfather and two stepbrothers who are mean and lazy. They make Bubba do all of the work on the ranch, and he doesn't complain because he loves to ranch. A rich woman names Miz Lurleen decides to throw a ball to meet a man to marry. Bubba's brothers Dwayne and Milton make him do everything necessary to get ready for the ball and when he asks to go along, they all laugh at him. The fairy godcow swishes her tail to get Bubba clean and ready to go to the ball but she warns him not to stay until midnight becasue it will all turn back to normal then. When Bubba fianlly gets to dance with Miz Lurleen it is time for him to change back so everyone sees him dirty and smelly and he hurries out adn rides the cow home, but he drps his boot in the process. When Miz Lurleen comes to find out who the boot belongs to, neither of the step brothers can fit into the boot but when Bubba rides up, he is missing a boot and tries it on an everyone sees that it fits. Miz Lurleen and Bubba ride off into the sunset.

3. Critical Analysis

Bubba, the Cowboy Prince follows the traditional story of Cinderella fairly closely. Teh major changes are that it is set on a ranch with a man as the main character. There is also a stepfather and stepbrothers instead of a stepmother and stepsisters. Miz Lurleen is not toyalty but she is a wealthy woman who decides to throw a ball. Instead of a fairy godmother, there is a fairy godcow, chewing on cud who swishes her tail to make the magical changes. The lesson in the story reamins the same, not to make judgements about people based on what they look like becasue the least likely might actually be the better person.

Warhola, the illustrator, used vivid colors in the pictures that go with this book. He uses many iconic symbols of Texas in the book, such as the Alamo bench, Texas shaped clock, the armadillo, horshoe around the fireplace and the boot candlestick holders. The animal characters are even drawn to look either male or female, which adds humor to the pictures and the story. Miz Lurleen bears a striking resemblance to Dolly Parton and wears a skirt that has the longhorn symbol on the back. The illustrator even makes it seem like the clouds and teh moon are characters as well by puttting faces in them.

4. Reviews

“A Cinderella parody that features the off-the-wall whang-dang hyperbole of Ketteman and the insouciance of Warhola, who proves herself only too capable of creating a fairy Godcow… Bubba and Babe, hair as big as a Texas sun, ride off to a life of happy ranching, and readers will be proud to have been along for the courtship.” Kirkus, 11/97

"Rustler lingo and illustrations chock-a-block with Texas kitsch make this ranch spun Cinderfella a knee-slappin' tale. Ketteman and Warhola's well-matched flair for hyperbole gives both the narrative and illustrations a one-two punch. Just the ticket for buckaroos lookin' fer a good read." Publishers Weekly

5. Connections

-This is a great book to use for lessons involving fairy tales. I know that second graders work with fairy tales, but I think it can be a useful book for all ages.

-this would be useful for students learning about compare and contrast because a teacher can use a traditional Cinderella story to compare to this Texas version.

1. Bibliography

Schwartz, Alvin. 1992. And the Green Grass Grew All Around Folk Poetry from Everyone. Illustrated by Sue Truesdell. New York, NY: Haper Collins Publishers. ISBN 0060227575

2. Plot Summary

Alvin Schwartz put together a collection of folk poetry set to familiar tunes in this book. He researched the history and origins of many of the most popular in American culture, even though some originate from other countries. He sections these poems according to fifteen themes. Some of the themes are People, Food, School, Nonsense, Riddles and Stories, just to name some of them. At the end of the collection, Schwartz provides informational notes for the reader about each of the different types of poets, poetry and rhymes. He also provides the sources of his research and the poems themselves.

3. Critical Analysis

Alvin Schwartz classifies the poems by thems, which is very useful when reading this book because poems that are similar are grouped together. The fact that most of the poems are short and grouped into short stanzas, makes the book an easy, fast read. Another helpful tool in reading this book is that the author provides the tune that the poem should be read to so that it can have a specific cadence while being read. Schwartz also provides the musical lines with the notes for people who can read music, so that it can aid them in reading the poem to the tune, if they do not already know how it goes.

Sue Truesdell's illustrations are very comical in nature. She draws the people or animals with exageration so that they appear funny. Teh pictures are helpful to the poems because most of them are meant to be funny, so the drawings aid in that they create a visual of the humor. Truesdell's pictures are also very literal of the text at times. For example, "Heigh-ho, heigh-ho, I bit the teacher's toe, The dirty rat, she bit me back, Heigh-ho, heigh-ho" actually has a drawing of a teacher on all fours biting a young girl's foot. (p.92) There is a picture or a scene on alomost every page fo this book and they are all in black and white, which I think goes along well with the short black short black print that they accompany.

4. Review Excerpts

From School Library Journal

Grade 3 Up-- A marvelous book that is sure to become a classic if children have any say in the matter. Schwartz has gathered sassy, funny, scary, and slightly naughty children's folk poetry heard on schoolgrounds and wherever else kids are having fun. Adults who stew over the appropriateness of Roald Dahl's books or Shel Silverstein's poetry may have concerns here, but kids will love having all their underground playground rhymes in one volume. Scores are included for ``On Top of Spaghetti,'' ``Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory/ Of the Closing of the School,'' and other songs. It's hard to imagine illustrations better suited to the book's silly, energized tone than Truesdell's big-eyed, animated, and humorous characters. Given plenty of white space, they tumble, goof, and guffaw across the pages, in ideal tandem with the poetry. These drawings may be in black and white, but readers will never pick up a more colorful book. Of additional interest to many people, adults in particular, are the ``Notes'' in the back on folk poets and poetry; ``Sources'' that trace the selections' origins are also helpful. Read this outrageous volume before it is shelved; once the kids discover it, it will always be checked out. --Lee Bock, Brown County Pub . Lib .

5. Connections

-This book is a great way to introduce poetry to students, some may even be familiar with them.

-The students could spend time composing their own poems, the nonsense ones would be fun for them to write.

-This could also connect with middle and high schoolers who love rap music because it has words set to tunes. For example, the "Do your ears hang low?" poem on page 6 is sampled in a rap song entitled, "Does your chain hang low?", which the students would be familiar with and make a connection.

Picture Book Reviews

1. Bibliography
Marcus, Leonard S. 1988. A Caldecott Celebration, Six Artists and Their Paths to the Caldecott Medal. New York:Walker and Company. ISBN 0802786561

2. Plot Summary
A Caldecott Celebration is an expository piece from Leonard S. Marcus which gives the background of six illustrators over the past six decades who have won the prestigious award. The explanations not only give a biography of the illustrators but also how they came to draw the material that won the Caldecott medal. Marcus chose one artist per decade to write about in this book. The six artists are Robert McClosky, Marcia Brown, Maurice Sendak, William Steig, Chris Van Allsburg, and David Wiesner.


3. Critical Analysis
Leonard S. Marcus begins each author's section with a quote from their Caldecott acceptance speech. This is a very effective approach to opening the discussion on each artist because it allows the reader a look at what the illustrator was thinking or feeling at the time. Marcus then gices a background of how the illustrator became an artist in the first place. He explains how Robert McCloskey was creating many different types of art to make money during the depression.

Marcus also explains how the six artists came to create the now famous works that earned them the Caldecott award. He explains the process of editing and revision that goes into work like this until the final works that ended up being in the proze winning books. For example, in the Maurice Sendak section, Marcus states, "The story kept getting longer, slower paced. Sendak again put it away."(21) Leonard Marcus also makes use of the pictures in this book by providing photographs of the original sketches for the stories. He then shows the progression the artists make to the products that end up int he picture books. For example, Marcus shows the beginning scketches that Chris Van Allsburg makes for Jumanji and then provides the final art from the book.


4. Review Exerpt
Publishers Weekly - "Filled with witty anecdotes and pithy observations, Marcus's approach to examining the works of six Caldecott Medalists will be of as much interest to adults as to picture book readers."

School Library Journal - "Choosing a winner from each decade, Marcus has assembled an impressive lineup of talent-Robert McCloskey, Marcia Brown, Maurice Sendak, William Steig, Chris Van Allsburg, and David Wiesner."


5. Connection
- This book is a good read for teachers who use picture books as teaching tools, it gives a better understanding of the artists, the process and the significance of the Caldecott medal.


- Exerpts of this book can be used in a lesson prior to or after reading one of the selected winners to a class to give deeper understanding and appreciation.


1. Bibliography
St. George, Judith. So You Want to be President? Illustrated by David Small. New York: Philomel Books. ISBN 0399234071


2. Plot Summary
Judith St. George wrote a humorous story that explains some of the details about the former Presidents of the United States. She mentions many of the differneces and similarites among the forty-two presidents that are included. St. George describes the way some of them look, the foods they liked or did not enjoy, their pets, where they grew up and how long they were President. These are just some of the descriptions she includes throughout this brief explanation of who the Presidents have been and how they lived.


3. Critical Analysis
In the picture book So you Want to be President?, Judith St. George explains details about the different Presidents of the United States in a playful manner. St. George begins by talking about the White House and tells of what it has and what Presidents have there. For instance, "the President has a swimming pool. bowling alley, and movie theater." (9) She also explains that if your name is James, you might become the President because there has been six Presidents with that name. Another commonality St. George lists is that eight Presidents have lived in log-cabins. The differnet sizes of some Presidents are mentioned along with a picture of Taft being lowered into a specially made tub, by a crane. The illustrations by David Samll are humorous exagerations of the points that St. George makes throughout the book.

There is also a part about which Presidents have been good looking and which presidents have not been so good looking. For example, St. George states that Harding was a hansdsome man but that Lincoln was "homely", however, being hansome or not had nothing to do with how good of a President they were. She mentions how some presidents have been related, for instance the Adams, Roosevelts, and the Harrisons. To end the book, Judith St. George wrote the oath that every President has taken and explains that every President "in his own way" has tried to fulfill this promise, "I do solemly swear ( or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States."(46)


4. Review Exerpts
REVIEW BY JOHN L. SEIGENTHALER - "Here is a nifty little book -- deftly written and laced with light humor -- that introduces very young readers to the 42 politicians who have become president of the United States."

Publishers Weekly - "A clever and engrossing approach to the men who have led America."


5. Connections
-This would be useful to any classroom teacher who is focusing on United States History, it can be read as an introduction to a unit.


-Because middle schoolers enjoy and benefit from picture books as well, this would be a tool for an 8th grade US history teacher.






1. Bibliography

Grifalconi, Ann. the Village that Vanished. Illustrated by Kadir Nelson. 2002. New York: Dial Books for Young Readers. ISBN 0803726236


2. Plot Summary
This is the story of a tribe that is in trouble because slavers are coming to their village to enslave them. A young girl, Abikanile, and her mother, Njemile, are members of the Yao tribe. The story opens with the girl listening to her mother pray to the ancestors to protect them. They go back to the tribe where Njemile offers a suggestion that they should disappear deeper into the forest to escape being captivated. The tribe does not take to it at first but then they decide to go. All but one old woman named Chimwala, Abikanile's grandmother, decide to go, she stays behind and pretends to be a witch. The tribe disappear over the river when Abikanile discovers a path across and when the slaver come they determine there is no one to take and the tribe is saved.


3. Critical Analysis
For the most part the book has small writing on the bottom of the pages with very vivid pictures covering the majority of the pages. Nelson's illustrations are striking and follow the story quite literally. The clothing, hair and features of the people are very detailed. Nelson exagerates the pigment of the tribes' skin by drawing a criss-cross pattern over the figures. Kadir Nelson also includes subtleties throughout the pictues, for instance on pages four and five where Abikanile is holding her mother's hand, the clouds behind them are i the shape of the slavers riding on horses with their weapons.

The story is told by a memer of the Yao tribe, in the oral tradition, to some children of the tribe. Grifalconi offers a good deal of dialog to tell the story. The reader can follow the progression of the book simply from the pictures and the conversations between characters. The language she uses, aside from the names of the characters, can be read easily by children. With the picture fitting the story so well, even struggling readers could follow along adn comprehend the story. There is a wisdom in the tone of Chimwala as she addresses the tribe and convinces them that shis is better off staying behind, she states, "I will stay here with the ancestors and we will greet you togethe when you return."(Grifalconi 15) Naturally, the story ends with the Yao narrator explaining to the children how they are here today because of Chimwala and Abikanile.

4. Review Exerpt
Reviewed by: Ned Alpers, Department of History, UCLA
"Kadir Nelson's beautiful illustrations successfully capture the fabular aspects of the story while also revealing some detailed sense of what a small African village might well have looked like in the past."


5. Connections
-Great story time book for read alouds.
-The pictures could be shown on their own and the students could write the story.

Welcome!

Welcome to my blog for LS 5603, Literature for Children and Young Adults! Here you will find my reviews of various children's and young adult's literature.