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.

Carver by Marilyn Nelson

Nelson, Marilyn. Carver: a Life in Poems. North Carolina: Front Street, 2001.

ISBN: 9781886910539

“Carver: a Life in Poems” serves as a biography of George Washington Carver entirely in poems.  These poems were written by Marilyn Nelson and thoroughly account Carver’s childhood, professional life, and accomplishments.

The poems are written from a variety of views all about Carver.  The book explores a variety of feelings toward Carver, both positive and negative.  This allows the book to have a non-bias feel which is important in a biography.

My People

Strutting around here acting all humble,

When everybody knows

He’s the only one here

Got a master’s degree

From a white man’s college.

Everybody knows his salary

Is double ours.  He’s got two singles

In Rockefeller Hall; the rest of us

Bachelors share doubles.  The extra room

Is for his “collections.”

A pile of you-know-what,

If you ask me.

All that fake politeness, that white accent.

He thinks he’s better than us.

Wears those mismatched suits every day, too:

White men’s castoffs with the sleeves too short,

The trousers all bagged out at the knees.

His ties look like something

He made himself.

Always some old weed in his lapel,

Like he’s trying to be dapper.

It makes you want to laugh.

Talking all those big words,

Quoting poems at you

In that womanish voice.

So high and mighty,

He must think he’s white.

Wandering around through the fields

Like a fool, holding classes in the dump.

Always on his high horse, as if his

Wasn’t the blackest face on the faculty,

As I he wasn’t a nigger.

This is a tough poem to digest, the negativity is strong.  However, it’s important to understand that people who are regarded as pioneers and ground breakers weren’t always regarded as such in their time or by their peers.  Telling Carver’s story through poems is an effective way to illustrate the harsh truths of the time and explore negative feelings in a non-threatening way.

As a response to the poem biography I’d ask the students to get into pairs.  I’d have them talk to each other, find out what each likes to do for fun, excels at in school or sports, etc.  After a little “get to know you session” I’d ask each student to write a short poem about their partner that might appear in a biography about them!

Wicked Girls by Stephanie Hemphill

Hemphill, Stephanie. Wicked Girls: A Novel of the Salem Witch Trials. New York: Balzer & Bray, 2010.

ISBN: 9780061853289

“Wicked Girls” by Stephanie Hemphill is a verse novel which fictionally accounts the Salem Witch Trials from the point of view of the girls who were “afflicted”.  Poems are told by three narrators: Mercy Lewis, Ann Putnam Jr., and Margaret Walcott.  The novel is intended for a teen audience and aims to give insight into the minds and motives of the girls who were accusing neighbors and strangers of being witches.  Hemphill carefully crafts the poems to demonstrate the group dynamics of the girls.  She incorporates typical teen emotions and experiences of jealousy, young love, and familial fondness.  Hemphill expertly writes the characters of the girls to retain a sense of humanity when it’d be easy to demonize these young women who were ultimately responsible for the deaths of dozens of innocent people. 

            The poems which comprise the novel are of varying length and free form.  The story is told in a linear format.  Rather than being broken up by chapters, the novel is broken up by a date and a narrator-less poem which seems to set the stage for the following set of poems. 

With Temperature

Margaret Walcott, 17

‘Tis late in the night

I wake in waters like a child.

Ann snores breezy

While I change my blankets.

In the morn I lie

Still in my bedclothes.

“I cannot go to meeting today,”

I say.

Aunt Ann touches my forehead.

“You feel not hot,” she says.

“I did vomit ‘pon myself

While I slept.”

Aunt backs away from the bed.

“Well, then you best remain here.”

“Ann.” I grab my cousin’s arm

After her mother leaves.

“Do tell Isaac to come and visit me.”

Ann nods and eyes me oddly.

“Do this.” My voice be stern.

She shakes loose of my grip. “Fine.”

I wait all afternoon pacing

The floor, peering out the window.

I listen for the pat of his boots,

But Isaac comes not.

I nearly scream at her,

“Did ye forget to tell Isaac

I was not well?”

Ann snipes back, “Aye, I told him.”

“And what did he say? Tell me all.”

I soften my sound and pat the bed.

I plead with Ann to sit down.

Ann crosses her arms,

But she lights on the edge of my bed.

“Isaac did nod and then talked to Mercy.”

First I got no voice to talk,

Then it comes out yelling at Ann,

“About what!?”

“I know not.”  Ann stands and nearly

Takes leave of the room.

I fall to my knees “Please, I am sorry.

Tell me what they did say?” I bite my lip.

“They spoke of riding and what a fine day

It be. I but stood there. It be rather dull.”

The tears river down my neck.

Ann says, “Margaret, you be flushed.

Shall I call mother?”

“No,” I say. I turn my head away.

“Leave me. Just leave me be alone.”

This poem exemplifies the emotions felt by the characters through the novel.  The girls felt things intensely which attempts to explain the unexplainable.  If I were to introduce “Wicked Girls” to a group, the group would need a solid historical understanding of the Salem Witch Trials.  The novel would serve as a way for the students to connect with the history on a deeper level.  Since the novel is chronological, we’d read sections as we study and take an opportunity to humanize historical figures.