17th Annual Youth Poetry Competition Finalist's Anthology

17th Annual Youth Poetry Competition Finalist's Anthology. Dallas, Texas: Alphagraphics Dallas, 2013.
ISBN: none

Each year, the Dallas Public Library hosts a youth poetry competition and the winning poems are compiled into an anthology which is then published and circulated by the Dallas Public Library.  This is a unique example of poetry for kids, by kids!  The poetry contest is called "Express Yourself!" and has been going on since 1995.  The book includes a Dedication, written by Joe M. Dealey Jr., a table of contents, a Foreword, written by the Dallas Public Library director, and an About the Competition.  This final section elaborates and explains how the poems are selected and by whom.  The poems are chosen by judges based upon rhythm/structure, style/tone, originality, and spelling/diction.  The winning poems which are featured in the anthology were published exactly as they were submitted.  The Dallas Public Library does not edit or censor the students' work.  The book is broken up into grade levels (which is how the poems are also judged): 2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9, and 10-12.  The poems included are in English or Spanish. 

Kiera Daniel
Peak Preparatory
5th Grade

Autism
I think of Autism as an umbrella.
Autism is the umbrella
and under it are tiny little disorders
like A.D.D. and asperger's anxiety.
I'm a little different because I have
AUTISM.

Sometimes having Austism make me feel lonely
and left out, but I know I'm
smart
and have
Bright ideas!

But sometimes PEOPLE think
I am WEIRD.
I keep reminding myself that
I'm special and neat.

If I had to learn one thing from having Autism,
it would be that I'm special,
but in a different way.
Being DIFFERENT is fine
in fact, it's great!

I would love to introduce this anthology to a class!  I'd like to let each student reflect on the poems personally and individually.  I'd collect as many of these as a I could from the libraries so that each student could have one.  I'd ask them to spend some time in class reading and reflecting. Then we'd each write a poem which I'd mercilessly encourage them to submit to the contest. :)

A Kick in the Head by Paul B. Janeczko

Janeczko, Paul B. A Kick in the Head. Cambridge, Massachussetts: Candlewick Press, 2005.

"A Kick in the Head: An Everyday Guide to Poetic Forms" is a collections of poem form definitions and examples.  The book includes an introduction and table of contents.  A reader could look for a type of poem that they are interested in or confused about and turn directly to the page on which the form is featured.   Each form type is described and a poem which is written in that form is featured. The accompanying illustrations are abstract and eye catching.  The topic of this book could make a boring read for young people-- the illustrations serve to make it more fun and interesting.  The poems which serve as the form example are written by authors other than Janeczko, some anonymous.  If the poem is titled, the title is listed at the bottom, next to the author's name.  This emphasizes the focus on the poems form above all else.

The beginning of eternity
The end of time and space,
The beginning of every end,
The end of every place.

Anonymous

A riddle poem indirectly
describes a person, place, thing, or idea.
The reader must try to
figure out the subject of the
riddle.  A riddle poem can be any
length and usually has a rhyme
scheme of abcd or aabb.

I think that this collection would best be used as a teaching tool.  I would not attempt to introduce this book as a whole at one time, rather, I'd focus on a couple different forms each day.  This way, the students would get to spend more time figuring out each type and absorbing the subtle differences.  In order to facilitate the learning, I'd break the students into groups and ask them to pick a poetic form of the day and write a poem in that form.  The groups would share their poems!

Cat Talk by Patricia MacLachlan

MacLachlan, Patricia. Cat Talk. New York, New York: Katherine Tegen Books, 2013.
ISBN: 9780060279783

"Cat Talk" is a new poetry book, published in 2013.  The book is a collection of poems about fictional cats and their personalities.  The poem is accompanied by an artist's rendering of the featured cat.  The illustrations, by Barry Moser, are beautiful watercolors.  The book has no table of contents and jumps directly into introducing the cats.  There are 13 poems in the book and 13 different cats each with their own unique personalities.  The titles of the poems are simply the cat's names or the cat's name with some additional descriptors.  The poems read from the point of view of the cat itself.  All of the poems are of various lengths and form.

Henry

She got married
In the garden
In a long white dress
With flowers in her hair.

Cats don't get married, you know.
But I watched
Hidden
Next to a wild aster.

I don't care for weddings,
But I like her.
And I love that long white dress.
I slept on it
All night long
I slept as the white silk gathered like a cloud
Around me.

I love the girl.
I love that long white dress.

If I were to introduce this book a class, I'd read the collection in it's entirety.  Then I'd ask each student to share about their pets at home.  If a student doesn't have a pet, I'd ask them to think about the pet of a family member, neighbor, or friend.  I'd ask each student to write a poem about the pet they are thinking about.  The students would need to describe a characteristic of the pet in their poem or something the pet likes to do.  I'd ask them to imagine themselves as the pet and tell us a little story with the poem.

Poems to Learn by Heart by Caroline Kennedy

Kennedy, Caroline. Poems to Learn by Heart. New York: Disney Hyperion Books, 2013.

ISBN: 9781423108054

I was drawn to “Poems to Learn by Heart” by the title and the author.  I was not disappointed!  This collection of poetry includes a huge variety of poets and topics.  In addition, the artwork which accompanies the poems is absolutely beautiful.  Sometimes the illustrations are full page and sometimes the illustrations are small and understated.  The poems truly dictate the accompanying art and the illustrations simply enhance the beauty of the poems.  The collection has a table of contents which explain the different section’s contents.  The sections are cutely named, for example: the family section is titled “I Dreamed I Had to Pick a Mother Out and other poems about family”.  The poems are all varying lengths and styles.

Invitation to Love

Paul Laurence Dunbar

Come when the nights are bright with stars

Or come when the moon is mellow;

Come when the sun his golden bars

Drops on the hay-field yellow.

Come in the twilight soft and gray,

Come in the night or come in the day,

Come, O love, whene’er you may,

And you are welcome, welcome.

You are sweet, O Love, dear Love,

You are soft as the nesting dove.

Come to my heart and bring it to rest

As the bird flies home to its welcome nest.

Come when my heart is full of grief

Or when my heart is merry;

Come with the falling of the leaf

Or with the redd’ning cherry.

Come when the year’s first blossom blows,

Sme when the summer gleams and glows,

Come with the winter’s drifting snows,

And you are welcome, welcome.

I would absolutely share this collection with a classroom.  It is such a beautiful work; I would choose to use it for Poetry Breaks.  Each day I’d read a poem aloud and ask the students to quietly reflect upon it.  I’d encourage students to volunteer to read aloud!

Red Sings from the Treetops: a Year in Colors by Joyce Sidman

Sidman, Joyce. Red Sings from the Treetops: a Year in Colors. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2009.

ISBN: 9780547014944

“Red Sings from the Treetops” is a poetry book which focuses on the colors of the different seasons of the year.  Sidman cycles through the seasons: “Spring”, “Summer”, “Fall”, and “Winter”.  Each section is comprised of several poems which are brought to life with imagery.  The poems describe the different colors which each season bring.  Each poem is devoted to one color and is untitled.  The poems describe particular things without explicitly naming them.  The illustrations are fanciful, colorful, and elaborate. 

Red splashes fall trees,

Seeps into

Every vein

Of every five-fingered leaf.

Red swells

On branches bent low.

Red: crisp, juicy

Crunch!

This particular poem is about apple trees and the individual apples which weigh trees down in the Fall.  If I were to introduce this poetry book to a class, I’d do it by way of a game.  I’d print off each poem without the illustration and I’d ask volunteers to read them aloud to the class.  The class should try and guess what is the topic of the poem.  

Won Ton: a Cat Tale Told in Haiku by Lee Wardlaw

Wardlaw, Lee. Won Ton: A Cat Tale Told in Haiku. New York: Henry, Holt, and Company, 2011.

ISBN: 9780805089950

“Won Ton: a Cat Tale Told in Haiku” is a great story about a shelter cat who finds a new home.  The book has no table of contents, however, the book is broken up into sections: “The Shelter”, “The Choosing”, “The Car Ride”, “The Naming”, “The New Place”, “The Feeding”, “The Adjustment”, “The Yard”, and “Home”.  Within each section, there are several haikus which expand upon the theme of the section and tell the story.  The book is told from the cat’s point of view.  The only acknowledged humans in the story are the young boy and his sister.

The Feeding

Sniff. Snub. What is this

Stuff? True, I liked it once. That

Was then, this is now.

Fine. If you insist.

I’ll try Just. One. Nibble. But—

I won’t enjoy it.

What do you mean “Ewww”?

How is my tuna breath worse

Than peanut butter?

Sorry about the

Squishy in your shoe. Must’ve

Been something I ate.

If I were to introduce “Won Ton” to a class, I’d first introduce the poetic form of haiku.  I’d explain that the haiku poem is comprised of 17 syllables.  The poems are typically three lines with a pattern of syllables 5-7-5.  We’d analyze the poems in “Won Ton” for this format.  The students should get into groups and pick one of the sections to write another haiku which could be added to the topic of the section.  Each group should write as many as they can; we’d share as a class.

National Geographic Book of Animal Poetry edited by J. Patrick Lewis

Lewis, Patrick J. National Geographic Book of Animal Poetry. Washington D. C.: National Geographic, 2012.

ISBN: 9781426310096

The “National Geographic Book of Animal Poetry” is, as expected, filled with breathtaking photographs.  This anthology would easily capture the attention of young readers and adults alike.  The selections are broken into sections: “the big ones, the little ones, the winged ones, the water ones, the strange ones, the noisy ones, and the quiet ones”.  These non-scientific animal classifications are a non-intimidating way to teach children about the animal kingdom.

The poems are written by a variety of authors including: Robert Frost, Jack Prelutsky, Emily Dickinson.  The forms and lengths of the poems are varying.  If this book were to be shared with the class, the variety of poems in the anthology is such that a poem could be selected to meet any classroom needs!

Moray EEL

Nighttime’s my bright time.

It’s head-out-and-bite time.

Give-shellfish-a-fright time.

Swim-quick-as-a-kite time.

Stay-out-of-my-sight time.

Or fins-up-and-fight time.

When I am the blight of the sea.

It’s switch-on-the-light time.

Height-of-my-might time.

Turn-mollusks-all-white time.

And wrap-them-up-tight time.

No-care-for-their-plight time.

Yes, nighttime’s my bright time.

Oh, nighttime’s the right time for me.

This particular poem has a distinctive rhythm and would be a fun read-aloud.  The pictures truly make this book.  An activity I’d like to do to accompany this book would also be focused on pictures.  I’d place the students into groups of three or four and head outside!  The students should find and take a picture of things that they find in nature.  After everyone has found a picture to inspire them, I’d ask the group to write a poem about the nature they encountered.  The groups would share their picture and poem with the class.