LS 5663 Module 1 – Hopkins Collection: VALENTINE HEARTS

Hopkins, Lee Bennett. 2005.  Valentine Hearts: Holiday Poetry. Ill. by JoAnn Adinolfi.  New York: HarperCollins Publishers Inc.  ISBN: 9780060080594.

True to its title, these poems are as sweet and small as tiny candies.  An “I Can Read Book,” organized around the theme of Valentine’s Day, its entries are printed in large, bold fonts that make it easy for young children to read. Hopkins includes some of today’s most popular poets (Rebecca Kai Dotlich for example) in this book of playful poems.

There is valentine love for crushes, crossing guards, mothers, dogs and even birds.  All poems contain fun rhymes and simple vocabulary and are ideal for young children.

JoAnn Adinolfi’s illustrations make this book as attractive as valentine candy.  Bright colors, child-like illustrations and hearts everywhere, make this a treat for the eyes as well as the heart. This collection includes a table of contents and an index of authors and titles.

My favorite poem is the introductory poem by Rebecca Kai Dotich.  It is an example of the simple language and succinct format that makes this book so appealing:

O, it’s Valentine’s Day,

a surprise from the start –

my sandwich is cut

in the shape

of a heart.

This book is an inviting treat that children can engage with on their own.  It would also make a great book to share with kids around the holiday to get them in the mood.  The teacher could share this poem with students before they begin making their valentines for friends.  The simplicity of the poem is perfect for young students  — allowing them to engage with the text and use it as a model for some of their own simple poetry.  A little bit of structure (fill in the blank poems, bio poems, noun or adjective poems) would allow students to write their own valentine poems very easily.  This could turn into a collaboration with the art teacher and students could turn their poems into elaborate valentine art.

LS 5663 Module 1 – African American Poetry: KEEPING THE NIGHT WATCH

Smith, Hope Anita.  2008.  Keeping the Night Watch. Ill by: E. B. Lewis. New York: Henry Holt and Company. ISBN: 9780805072020.

Keeping the Night Watch recounts the struggle of a boy, “almost a man,” to let his father back into his life.  Continuing the story from her first book, “The Way a Door Closes,” Smith offers 35 poems in two sections (fall and spring) that reveal a family’s struggle to come back together after Dad returns home.

Smith uses various poem forms (free verse, sonnet, acrostic, shape, modified sestina), like personal reflections, revealing CJ’s complex emotions as he resists getting close to his father again.  CJ’s voice is authentic and engaging, showing all the pain and beauty of a boy not quite a man.  He vacillates between moments of leadership and maturity (when playing with his younger siblings) and moments of surly toddler-like defiance (when dealing with his dad).

Lewis’ watercolor illustrations add emotion and depth to the story.  The similarity of the figures of CJ and Dad are symbolic of their overlapping roles.  The drawings are rich with texture, and the blurred edges create the illusion of movement.  The illustrations add life to the already vibrant characters.

A  story ripe with hope, Smith creates a flawed but loving family –one that feels familiar and strange.

The family’s hope is revealed in Zuri’s (CJ’s little sister) letter to the family:

Now that Daddy’s back, let’s not be scared,

Okay?

Parents are good when there are two.

Quiet houses are

Really

Scary.

Time to love each other again.

Until forever.  And that means a

Very long time.

With

XXXs and OOOs

Yours,

Zuri

This particular poem could be used to introduce acrostic poetry.  It could be read aloud by the teacher along with other examples of acrostic poetry.  Students can try to write their own acrostic poem after reading excellent models.    While the poems in this book can stand alone, I suggest reading them as a whole.  This book would make a great one to motivate teen boys to read and write poetry.

This beautiful book will make you want to hold your loved ones close.

LS 5663 Module 1 – School Poetry: THE BRIMSTONE JOURNALS

Koertge, Ron. 2001.  The Brimstone Journals. Ill. by: Timothy Basil Ering.  Cambridge, Massachusetts: Candlewick Press. ISBN: 9780763613020.

Told from 15 unique perspectives, The Brimstone Journal is a peek into the angst-ridden lives of the Branston High School class of 2001.  A verse novel and a quick read, this book offers a teen’s eye view of the violent, harsh but ultimately redeeming world of modern day high school.

The diverse narrators include a neo-nazi, an outcast, a tree-hugger, a jesus-freak, a lesbian, an anorexic, an abusive jock, an addict and a musician.  There is violence in all forms – a young girl preyed upon by her step-father, a chauvinistic playboy who gives himself a score for each girl he sleeps with (double for virgins), an abusive boyfriend, bullying, video games, guns, guns and more guns, neglectful parents and even self-harm.

This book is divided into 6 parts. Using free verse style, Koertge captures the insecurity, bravado, pain and beauty of young adult life.  He uses slang, dialect and popular references to add authenticity to his characters – who are believable, funny and heartbreaking.

The collection as a whole reads like a meditation about violence – one particular poem encompasses this theme (directly and through inference).

Allison

A thirty-nine-year-old man in California

drives his Cadillac into a playground

and kills two kids because he wanted

to execute innocent children.

That isn’t a sign of social collapse?

Twenty-five million teenagers go to

twenty thousand schools in the U.S.

Ten kids, TEN KIDS, in seven schools

did all the shooting, ALL OF IT,

in 1998-99.

In the same two years, grownups

in southern California alone massacred

forty people.

I know what I’m talking about.  I did

research for this paper I had to write.

I got a B- because my report “wasn’t

focused.”

Really?  Could that be because when I

was typing it my stepfather kept trying

to massage my shoulders because I looked

“tense”?

I’ve told him I hate that.  I’ve told my mom.

She says he’s just being friendly.

Koertge does a masterful job of capturing Allison’s smoldering anger at the injustice of violence and scapegoating teens.  Koertge uses repetition, italics and capitalization to emphasize the anger and injustice:  “ten kids,  TEN KIDS”  “all the shooting, ALL OF IT.”  The reader understands –at the end of the poem– the source of her righteous anger and is able to infer the personal violence.

This book would be an excellent (and quick) read for young adults ages 14-18 (and up).  Teachers might use it as a springboard for class discussion / debate about violence.  It would be a good model for a writer’s workshop unit on free verse, and the students could create their own anthology of poems after studying this book closely.

A dark, engaging verse novel with just enough humor and hope.

A Semester of Poetry – LS 5663

Some of you may know — if you have read my About Me page — that I am finishing my Masters in Library Science at Texas Woman’s University.

This semester I am taking Poetry for Children and Young Adults. One of our assignments is to write and post poetry book reviews on a blog. I will be using this blog to post those reviews, and I will label them with course code and book title (for my professor and classmates).  I love Dr. Vardell’s classes (they are usually all full — but I got in on the waitlist).  Check out her popular poetry blog at http://poetryforchildren.blogspot.com/

This is going to be a fun semester.

Stay Tuned.

Vintage Review: THE MYSTERY OF THE MISSING RED MITTEN

Winter approaches.  The sky is grey and the wind biting.  I pulled thermals, warm socks, long pajamas, coats and hats out of the storage closet this weekend.

This weather makes me want to stay inside, to cuddle up in bed under my down comforter, but I am currently sitting in front of the fireplace with a cup of tea (almost as cozy as being in bed).

These cold winter days push us back inside, invite us to settle in with warm food and family.  Life slows down in the winter, our rhythms change, the longer nights beckon us to rest, to strengthen our bodies and minds with calm activities and nourishment.   Books are a perfect wintertime distraction.  Comforting  and warm on a cold Sunday afternoon.

When I put my son down for a nap this afternoon, I grabbed a large stack of books from one of the top shelves of our bookcase (where I keep the books we don’t read very often).  I was pleased to find this book among the stack, and I enjoyed sharing it with my son on this wintry day.  The version of this book that I have was published the year I was born (1974!) — but there is a new version that was published in 2000 (different illustrations, same story).  I prefer the old version.

Lovable Annie loses yet another mitten (five this winter).  She retraces her steps in order to find it, bringing the reader along to all the snowy places she played that morning.  Searching snow castles, sledding hills and snowmen, Annie imagines what might have happened to her mitten: a hat for a baby hawk, a sleeping bag for mice.  The story follows Annie throughout her search and into her imagination.  While searching in Mrs. Seltzer’s garden (where she made snow angels), Annie wonders aloud to Oscar, her dog: “I wonder what would happen if  I planted this other mitten.”  She envisions a tree full of red mittens to pick and gift on Christmas morning.

Through dialog and  illustration, Kellog captures the playful thoughts and imagination of childhood.  He creates the wintry mood with his black and white drawings, adding a splash of joyful color (mittens and cardinal).  Kellog’s drawings work together with his text to reveal the actual setting as well as the imaginings of little Annie.

A true classic, nostalgic and timely, this little book will have you longing for the lost mittens of  youth.

More Steven Kellog:

http://stevenkellogg.com/index.html#

Vintage Reading

I pulled out a stack of dusty old books recently — treasures I have either collected from garage sales, rescued from dumpsters or saved from my own childhood.

I’m feeling a bit nostalgic about books, remembering the characters that helped to shape my own childhood, Alice, the March sisters, Mary Lenox, Ramona Quimby, the Alden children.

My childhood best friend and I were avid readers, stuffing stacks of books into purses and hiding out in the seminary library lounge (our fathers went to school there) for hours, days it seemed, from daylight until dark, fantasizing about one day being brave enough to spend the night. We would share the chaise lounge and crimson pillows, reading our favorites over and over. In the summer we moved to our hideout by the railroad tracks, a make-shift cave carved out by weather and erosion.

When our parents were feeling generous, we were allowed to bring snacks, a piece of white bread spread with pizza sauce, a slice of cheese, if we got really lucky, a moon-pie.

We treasured these quiet hours, and when the seminary closed for the evening, or it was too cold to go outside, we retreated to her attic, sometimes with a flashlight and a brother or two.

These imaginative days were the best of (my) childhood. I hated school, hated the loud bullies who pulled at my hair and clothes. I hated the smells of the school, the sour-milk smell that permeated everything, the nauseous industrial cleaner they used in the bathroom. I hated the nervous stomach I got hours before I walked the few blocks to this “institution.”

The days I looked forward to were library days, days when I was allowed to disappear into the small stacks of books, pulling out Anastasia Krupnik, A Wrinkle in Time, Superfudge or Bridge to Terabithia.  I was overcome with excitement on RIF days when I was allowed to walk and browse the tables and choose a book of my very own (to keep!).  I remember a visit from Marc Brown, and I still have the copy of Arthur’s Halloween that he signed for me.

As an adult my tastes in literature have changed, but my fondest memories of literature, the literature that hooked me to reading for a lifetime, involved strong characters, mostly female, that used their imaginations to bring happiness and beauty to their lives.

Now my favorite time of day is when I climb into bed with my son, pull up the blankets to our chins, and turn the pages of an old favorite. The wonder and possibility return to me, are shared with a wide-eyed toddler, who wants me to read the book again and again.

Within this stack of dusty, yellowed oldies, my son has found a few treasures that he requests again and again.  Maybe they are worth revisiting.  My son’s new, old favorites are:

Inch by Inch by Leo Lionni, The Carrot Seed by Ruth Krauss, Freight Train by Donald Crews, There’s a Nightmare in My Closet by Mercer Mayer, Alexander and the Wind-Up Mouse by Leo Lionni, Deep in the Forest by  Brinton Turkle, Eating the Alphabet by Lois Ehlert and Snowballs by Lois Ehlert.  Vintage reviews to come.

What are some of your vintage favorites?

I am reading: WHAT HAPPENS ON WEDNESDAYS

I ordered this book today, and I can’t wait for it to come in.  I first read this book as an intern at an elementary library.  I brought it home to read to my toddler, and he loved it.  Very soon we will have our own copy to read over and over (and over and over) again.

This book takes the reader through a young girl’s Wednesday routine, waking before dawn to have special time with Mommy, breakfast at the local bagel shop with Dad.  Through this child’s eyes, we see the beauty in the small details of the day, the significance of a strawberry in the early morning kitchen, a soft, quiet nap with mother, the anticipation of a father arriving home.

My son is not the only one who loves this book.  It makes me want to slow down and enjoy the small things in each day, wake up earlier, plan special routines for the two of us. It is a welcome reminder that memories are made from the smallest everyday details, not always the big trips to theme parks or the huge presents on Christmas morning.  I hope to cultivate a simple existence for my family, full of precious things, small and meaningful to us only.

Every child should have such memories.  I am off to the library this afternoon to check out Emily Jenkins other books.  Enjoy!

Sonya Sones

Opportunities, unplanned and undeserved, present themselves to me occasionally.  Like a couple of weeks ago when a wonderful mentor allowed me to eavesdrop while Sonya Sones spoke to local middle school students and conducted a writer’s workshop.  I also got to have lunch with them (five of us at an Italian restaurant having an intimate lunch!).

Sonya entered twirling,  wearing a bright colored skirt, leggings and pink high-tops.  Her presentation was as fun to watch as her books are to read.    The kids loved her; she was genuine, and offered the only true thing one can, herself.  She was patient and funny while she helped teens find the poetry within.  As I mentioned to my generous friend, one can discover a great deal about a person by watching them interact with children.

I am so grateful I got to meet her and listen to her speak.  I did not say much; I tend to back off when there are lots of talkative people around, but I enjoyed listening (I have discovered I learn more when I keep my mouth shut).

Sonya has published four verse novels (so far).

They are all fun, quick reads and would make an excellent addition to a genre study on verse novels, offering students an excellent model of poetic technique.  My three teens read them all over one weekend and loved them.  Both boys and girls enjoy them, and I know quite a few adults who appreciate the opportunity to return to the drama and humor of the teen years.

I encourage you to check them out.  Be aware that they are written for teens, so younger children may find the subject matter uncomfortable.

Also check out Sonya’s great website, where she offers lots of information about her background, her books and ideas.   http://www.sonyasones.com/

If you are looking for an author to visit your school, she is worth the $$$. She is one of those great writers, who are not only talented and funny, but also able to share their craft, teaching difficult concepts to a difficult age group.

–kidlitlibrarian

Review of LOOKING FOR ALASKA

Green, John. 2005. Looking for Alaska. New York: Speak.  ISBN: 9780142402511

Looking for Alaska is the story of a teenage misfit who flees his boring, loner life in Florida to attend boarding school in Alabama in search of the “Great Perhaps.”

Miles is an ordinary boy with an extraordinary obsession for last words.  He reads biographies of presidents and famous authors, completely unfamiliar and uninterested in their works, but utterly fascinated by their parting words.  He is wiry and thin, inexperienced with girls and virtually friendless when he arrives at Culver Creek.  He quickly falls in with a crowd of similarly quirky characters (“regular boarders”) who hate the rich kids (“weekday warriors”) and consistently play pranks to get back at them.

Everybody has a “talent,” Chip (the Colonel) can memorize things, Miles (Pudge) knows last words and Alaska, the “hottest girl in all of human history,” (and possibly the quirkiest) supplies cigarettes and alcohol.

This group values loyalty above all else, and they enable each other’s addictions and obsessions.  Miles falls in love with Alaska immediately but keeps his distance as a friend, in spite of her constant flirting, out of respect for her relationship with her boyfriend.  Miles begins to notice Alaska’s constant mood swings and hidden darkness, but he is still drawn to her.  The narrative splits with a tragedy and forces the group into maturity.

The book is divided into two sections: Before and After, and subdivided into chapters by day (one-hundred-thirty-six days before).  Told in first person narrative, the reader is given access to Miles’ thoughts and interactions. Through snapshots, thoughtshots and dialogue, Green reveals the fascinating (if a little unreal) characters of this novel.
The adult reader will revisit the rebellious and carefree days of youth and come of age again with the main character.  The teen reader is offered the opportunity to experience rebellious mistakes without the real world consequences.

Full of drama, sex and cigarettes, this is a book teens will love to share and parents will love to censor.

A warning:
This book has scenes that involve sex, cigarettes and alcohol. That does not mean you shouldn’t read it; make your own decision.   I personally had a problem with the way young girls are portrayed in the story (supplemental devices, sexy, idealized, mother / moody characters).

Review Excerpts

Kirkus Review: “Girls will cry and boys will find love, lust, loss and longing in Alaska’s vanilla-and-cigarettes scent.”

The ALAN Review: “The book is filled with scenes that are both laugh-out-loud funny and bury-one’s-head-and-cry tragic.”

Horn Book Review: “These intelligent characters talk smart, yet don’t always behave that way, and are thus complex and realistically portrayed teenagers.”

Connections

The author’s website offers a blog, bio, humor, famous last words, anagrams, witty writing and an appealing design: http://www.sparksflyup.com/

Other books by John Green: An Abundance of Katherines and Paper Towns

Review of THE HIGHER POWER OF LUCKY

Patron, Susan. 2006. The higher power of lucky. Ill by: Matt Phelan. New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers. ISBN: 1416901949.

Searching for her own twelve steps, Lucky spends a great deal of time listening in on adult recovery meetings (alcoholics anonymous, smokers anonymous, gamblers anonymous, overeaters anonymous).  She relishes the “hitting rock bottom” stories, and wonders how she will find her “higher power,” hoping that when she does, she will be able to make sense of her own messed up life.

Lucky’s father abandoned her after her mother’s death, and she is currently living with her Guardian, Brigitte, in Hard Pan, California (population 43). The impermanence of Guardianship creates a great deal of anxiety for Lucky.  As a ward, Lucky must “stay alert, carry a well-equipped survival kit at all times, and watch out for danger signs.”  What Lucky wants more than anything is a mother, but Lucky is sure that she will end up in the orphanage if / when Brigitte flies back to the home she loves in France.

Told in third-person limited, this story offers the reader access to Lucky’s secret thoughts and actions.  Because of this access, the reader is able to see Lucky’s adolescent angst, insecurity, and the beginnings of identity. The narrative is revealed through short, vignette like chapters, each complete in its own way while adding significance to the novel as a whole.

Other significant characters in this book are Lincoln, the presidential friend of Lucky, Miles, the annoying five-year-old and Brigitte, the beautiful but impermanent guardian.  The setting of the novel is also like a character in this book, the dry desert, the big sky, the sandstorms, all help to create the unpredictable mood.

The black and white illustrations are placed sparingly throughout the text, like a comforting surprise to the reader, offering a cheery glimpse of the quirky town and its characters.  Reminiscent of Ramona Quimby, Phelan offers simple yet compelling drawings that add character to this novel.

It may take the reader a while to connect with the story, but dedication pays off.  The book rewards the persistent reader with a satisfying ending.

Personal note:

While I see the literary quality in this book, as a whole, it did not appeal to me.  I felt it was too much like another Newbery winner: Because of Winn Dixie. (only this book has less developed characters).  It took a lot of time for me to get interested in the story and by that time it was almost over.  Lucky did not seem real to me, and I felt little emotion toward her. In addition I felt annoyed by what seemed to be “trying too hard” on the part of the writer (for example trying too hard to be quirky: Hard Pan’s Found Object Wind Chime Museum and Visitor Center).

Review Excerpts:

Starred Kirkus Review: “A small gem.”

Booklist Review: “Patron’s plotting is as tight as her characters are endearing.”

Children’s Literature Review: “Many readers will identify with Lucky’s inchoate feeling that “sometimes [she] wanted to change everything, all the bad things that had happened, and some times she wanted everything to stay the same forever.”

Connections:
Illustrator website: http://www.mattphelan.com/

NY Times article about the controversy over the word “scrotum” on the book: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/18/books/18newb.html

Author interview with Susan Patron: http://cynthialeitichsmith.blogspot.com/2007/12/author-interview-susan-patron-on-higher.html