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. :)
Tuesday, May 6, 2014
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!
"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.
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.
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