The Great Migration: Journey to the North

Author: Eloise Greenfield
Illustrator: Jan Spivey Gilchrist 
Publisher:  Amistad
Publication Year:   2011
Location: Knox County Public Library- Lawson McGhee

Awards:   Coretta Scott King Award honor, Booklist Editor's Choice, ALSC Notable

Summary:  These poems are a person account of Eloise Greenfield's family as they migrated north from North Carolina to Washington DC in the early 1900s. The poems are poignant, telling the story of saying goodbye to everything they knew and then trying to have a fresh start in a new place.  The illustrations are a beautiful collage of oil paintings and actual photographs.

Classroom Ideas: A welcome addition to any classroom study of Jim Crow laws and the civil rights movement.

Extras: An author's introduction that explains her family's story and a collected bibliography of other resources on the time period.

Won Ton: A Cat Tale Told in Haiku

Author: Lee Wardlaw
Illustrator:   Eugene Yelchin
Publisher:  Henry Holt
Publication Year:   2011
Location: Knox County Public Library- Powell

Awards:   NCTE Notable, Myra Cohn Livingston Poetry Award, Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award, CCBC Best Book, ALSC Notable, School Library Journal Best Book,

Summary:  This is the story of a cat rescued from a shelter, told entirely in haiku. The people name him Won Ton and then he gradually becomes part of the family. He claims the house and explores the yard and ultimately claims the boy as his own. At the end, he announces that his real name is Haiku. The illustrations perfectly capture the realities of being a cat.

Classroom Ideas: Great example of senryu (like haiku only not about nature) that never panders. The story is perfectly told.

follow follow

Author: Marilyn Singer
Illustrator:   Josee Masse
Publisher:  Dial Books for Young Readers
Publication Year:   2013
Location: Knox County Public Library- Halls

Awards:   Publisher's Weekly starred review

Summary:  This unique poetry form (first introduced in mirror mirror) is called a "reverso" poem (per Singer.) The poems are presented in pairs, with the second being the exact opposite of the first with the exception of punctuation and capitalization. The clever word play changes the meanings completely. Each pair is based on a famous fairy tale or fable. An example from the pair entitled "Birthday Suit" (based on the story The Emperor's New Clothes):
Who dares to say he drained the treasury
on
nothing?
Ha!
This emperor has

AND

This emperor has--
ha!--
nothing
on!
Who dares to say her drained the treasury?





Classroom Ideas: Kids will love reading and identifying the stories here which would fit perfectly with a unit on fairy tales or fables. The word choice is excellent and copying these poems would be extremely difficult!

Extras: Author's note explaining the reverso form and how she came up with them. A list of the tales that each poem is based on.

bow wow meow meow: it's rhyming cats and dogs

Author & Illustrator:   Douglas Florian
Publisher:  harcourt, inc.
Publication Year:  
Location: Knox County Public Library- Halls

Awards:   Gryphon Award, Parent Magazine Best Book of the Year, Kirkus starred review

Summary:  This is a collection of twenty-one poems about dogs and cats, illustrated with the author's charming and highly accessible watercolors. My daughter loved the concrete poem "The Poodles" where the words are written in curls on the page ("The curls may have whirls, while the whirls may have swirls...")

Classroom Ideas: There are a lot of easily mimicked poetry forms here (like list poetry). The vocabulary is good without being intimidating for younger readers (stride, prey, jowls). There a few really good puns here to ("Few dogs can whippet in a race")

Extras: table of contents

A Stick Is an Excellent Thing: Poems Celebrating Outdoor Play

Author: Marilyn Singer
Illustrator:   LeUyen Pham
Publisher:  Clarion Books
Publication Year:   2012
Location: Knox County Public Library- Lawson McGhee

Awards:   Kirkus Best Books

Summary:  These poems are all written to encourage and celebrate playing outside. (A bit ironic to write a book encouraging outside, but ....) The things that are lauded here will appeal to any kid, from playing with your dog to jumping rope to hide-and-seek to stargazing. My favorite is called "Making Soup" because I can totally remember doing just that with friends in my neighborhood ("Soup, soup, we're making soup with grass and stones and mud (one scoop), a hunk of cheese, a celery stalk, an old cigar, a piece of chalk.") The pictures are rich and detailed, with children of all nationalities playing together.

Classroom Ideas: This book could be a great mentor text for kids to write poetry about whatever it is that they like to do.

Spinster Goose: Twisted Rhymes for Naughty Children

Author: Lisa Wheeler
Illustrator:   Sophie Blackall
Publisher:  Antheneum
Publication Year:   2011
Location: Knox County Public Library- Lawson McGhee

Awards:   Bank Street Best Books of the Year, Kirkus Best Books

Bank Street Best Books of the Year
Great Lakes Great Books Master List (MI)
Kirkus Best Children's Book
- See more at: http://books.simonandschuster.net/Spinster-Goose/Lisa-Wheeler/9781416925415#sthash.cbfb5gmj.dpuf

Summary:  The conceit behind this collection of poetry is that Mother Goose sends bad children to the reform school run by Spinster Goose.  ("Bean after bean, the kids turn green. They sweat, and shake, and drool. As stomachs turn, the kiddies learn the motto: Life is Gruel.")

Classroom Ideas: There is, of course, rhyme and rhythm in these poems. The vocabulary is quite rich and sophisticated for the intended audience (mottled, abhor, sordid, bleak). The theme will absolutely appeal to children who completely agree that misbehaving children should get what's coming to them!  ("The pinchers get pinched, and the pokers get poked...") There are also some fun puns included.

Extras: table of contents

This Is Just to Say

Author:Joyce Sidman
Illustrator:   Pamela Zagarenski
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Publication Year:  2007
Location: Knox County Public Library- Lawson McGhee

Awards:   Claudia Lewis Poetry Award, Cybils Poetry, Lee Bennett Hopkins Award Honor, School Library Journal Best Book, IRA Teacher's Choice

Summary:  This story told in verse was inspired by W.C. William's famous poem of the same title. In poems, Mrs. Merz' sixth grade class write poems of apology that they bind into a book. They also include poems written by the people to whom they apologized. The poems are in all sorts of forms and cover many topics, but the pairs show a fascinating glance into the relationship between the authors. The illustrations are perfect- combining computer graphic backgrounds with adorable sketches.

Classroom Ideas: The poems could be used to teach poetry forms and types of figurative language. "The River of Forgiveness" - what a wonderful metaphor! But, of course, they are mostly perfect for kids to try and write their own apology poems and maybe even imagine what the reply would be.

Extras: table of contents

Hey, You!

Editor: Paul B. Janeczko
Illustrator:   Robert Rayevsky
Publisher:  Harper Collins Publishers
Publication Year:   2007
Location: Knox County Public Library- Lawson McGhee

Awards:   Horn Book starred review

Summary:  A collection of poems written to address objects. The poets included range from Emily Dickinson to Ogden Nash to J. Patrick Lewis; and the objects that are addressed range from a mote of dust to the Vietnam War Memorial. The illustrations have muted watercolor backgrounds with sketched in characters that give a very modern vibe to the book.

Classroom Ideas: The central conceit of this collection would be an easy one to introduce to kids and have them to attempt their own poems of address. The poems all have rhythm and many have rhyme. There are forms and figures here to appeal to any reader.

Extras: table of contents

A Curious Collection of Cats

Author: Betsy Franco
Illustrator:   Michael Wetz
Publisher:  Tricycle Press
Publication Year:   2009
Location: Knox County Public Library- Lawson McGhee

Awards:   Lee Bennett Hopkins Award Honor book, ABC Best Book for Children, Horn Book starred review

Summary:  Thirty concrete poems about cats perfectly illustrated. While the poems are beautiful, the subjects are not romanticized, but described in a way that would be recognized by anyone who's lucky enough to be owned by a cat. ("A big, brown empty grocery bag is Sweetie's favorite thing. When he lunges out to grab our toes, Our Sweetie's menacing!") A must have for any animal lover!

Classroom Ideas: The poems contain rhyme, rhythm, and figurative language. They would be highly motivating for kids to write their own cat poetry (or any other animal for that matter). It would also be a fun cross-curricular activity for an art teacher & a writing teacher.

A Dazzling Display of Dogs

Author: Betsy Franco
Illustrator:   Michael Wertz
Publisher:  Tricycle Press
Publication Year:   2011
Location: Knox County Public Library- Halls

Awards:   School Library Journal starred review, Green Earth Book Award Winner, Indie Kids’ Next List, Printz Honor Title, Edgar Award Nominee

Summary:  A collection of concrete poetry about dogs. The illustrations and the poems are tightly connected and the dogs in the poems are perfectly described. ("Found at the Pound: She didn't bark or make a fuss. She wagged her tail and smiled at us. She trotted out, came straight to me, became a part of my family!") There are different forms, such as a cinquain, but the topic is always the focus. I can think of so many people that I want to run out and buy a copy for!

Classroom Ideas: The poems in the book have rhyme, rhythm, and figurative language in them. There are also examples of types of poetry as well. Concrete poems are such fun for kids to read and to write.

Red Sings from Treetops: a year in colors

Author: Joyce Sidman
Illustrator:   Pamela Zagarenski
Publisher:  Houghton Mifflin
Publication Year:   2009
Location: Knox County Public Library- Lawson McGhee

Awards:   Caldecott Honor, Claudia Lewis Poetry Award, Cybils Poetry Award, Horn Book Fanfare, Booklist Editor's Choice, CCBC Choices, Junior Library Guild

Summary:  A collection of poems that describes the seasons of the year using colors. The colors sing, dance, squirm, and create pictures in the readers' minds. Each color has its own personality as they go through the year. (I love that Yellow and Purple are friends. :))  The watercolors are gorgeous, each one having the perfect palette for the season it portrays.

Classroom Ideas: Besides being based on personification of the colors, these poems use many examples of figurative language. There is onomatopoeia (cheer-cheer-cheer) and simile (each note dropping like a cherry). Like most well-written poetry, the words are perfectly chosen and incredibly descriptive.

Extras: