Tropical Secrets by Margarita Engle

Engle, Margartita. Tropical Secrets. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 2009.

ISBN: 9780805089363

“Tropical Secrets” by Margarita Engle is a verse novel that covers historically accurate information through fictional characters.  The novel follows Daniel, a Jewish refugee, and Paloma, a Cuban native, through the events of the Holocaust and its aftermath.  The novel is a series of poems, each titled by the narrator’s name.  The table of contents contains 4 dates: June 1939, July 1939, December 1941, and April 1942.  The book spans these 3 years.  The poems do not have any specific format and are all varying lengths.  Each serves to give a personal account of the historical events and an understanding of the tension between different cultures and religions.

Daniel

When I realize that Summer Carnival

Is a religious festival,

I almost change my mind

About dancing.

My parents would not approve

Of celebrating a Catholic saint’s birthday.

But David explains that Carnival

Also marks the end of a year’s

Long, exhausting sugar harvest,

And seasons, he assures me,

Are a miracle even city people

Can understand

All over the world.

I think this novel would be a great read aloud to a class over a period of time.  I wouldn't spend as much time focusing on the style or the format of the poems.  I’d explain the purpose of the verse novel.  The poems are the vehicle for telling an entire story.  I’d have each student read a poem aloud a day until we completed the novel.

Follow Follow by Marilyn Singer

Singer, Marilyn. Illustrated by Josee Masse. Follow Follow. New York: Penguin, 2013.

ISBN: 9780803737693

“Follow Follow” is a collection of poems which are written as pairs based on classic folktales including: Aladdin, The Emperor’s New Clothes, The Golden Goose, The Tortoise and the Hair, and more.  The poetry form is called reverso and is created by Marilyn Singer.  Singer explains that the reverso is “made up of two poems”.  When you “read the first down it says one thing…read it back up with changes only in punctuation and capitalization and it means something completely different.”  Sometimes the second poem has an implied different narrator, which also affects the meaning.

The Little Mermaid’s Choice

For love,

Give up your voice.

Don’t

Think twice.

On the shore,

Be his shadow.

Don’t

Keep your home

In the unruly sea.

Be docile.

You can’t

Catch him

Playing

“You’ll never catch me!”

You’ll never catch me

Playing

“Catch him.”

You can’t

Be docile

In the unruly sea.

Keep your home.

Don’t be his shadow

On the shore.

Think twice!

Don’t

Give up your voice

For love.

The two poems are identical in words.  The differences between the two poems are the phrasing and the punctuation.  However, the same words manage to convey a completely different meaning.

If I were to introduce this collection to a class, I would explain the concept of the reverso form first.  Singer combines the new poetic form with well-known folktales which helps the reader to more easily embrace the new style.  Before introducing “The Little Mermaid’s Choice” I’d make sure that the class was all familiar with the fairy tale.  Next, I’d ask the students to explain the two different viewpoints expressed in the poems for comprehension purposes.  Next I’d ask the students to think about a folktale not mentioned in the book.  After selecting a folktale, I’d ask the class to come up with two possible viewpoints within the story.  Finally, we’d take a stab at writing a reverso of our own as a class!  It’s not the perfect product that matters, it’s the effort!

Guyku: A Year of Haiku for Boys by Bob Raczka

Raczka, Bob. Illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds. Guyku: A Year of Haiku for Boys. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing, 2010.

ISBN: 9780547240039

“Guyku: a Year of Haikus for Boys” is a collection of haikus written by Bob Raczka.  The book is broken up into 4 sections: spring, summer, fall, and winter.  The poems have various topics including bugs, fishing, icicle sword fighting, and school.  In the author’s note, Raczka contends that haiku is a “wonderful form of poetry for guys” because they are short, have a predictable format, and are written in present tense.  “Guyku” serves to create an interest for young boys in a notably unpopular form of poetry.  Poetry is typically deemed to be feminine and sometimes difficult to peddle to boys.  Although I believe that many of the poems in this book are applicable to all young kids, not just boys, I respect the aim of the book.

For example:

Winter must be here.

Every time I open my

Mouth, a cloud comes out.

This haiku is selected from the winter section of the book.  The poem describes how you can see your warm breath on a cold day.  All kids (and even adults) are amused to see their puffs of breath on a bitterly cold day.

The beauty of this book is that it demonstrates that haiku can be for everyone but packages it for a largely underserved population.

I most likely would not introduce this book to a full mixed gender classroom because I don’t want to undermine the premise of the book.  I also don’t want to plant an idea in the girl’s minds that haiku is a strictly male form of poetry.  However, if I had to introduce this book to a class; I would first accentuate the fact that all types of poetry are for everyone!  I’d focus on the format of the book and the breakdown of the year by seasons.  I’d split the class into 4 groups: spring, summer, fall, and winter.  Each group would represent a season, within the group they’d brainstorm things they like about the season.  Together, I’d ask the groups to pick a topic and write as many haikus as they can within the time allotment.  Each group would share their poems.

Yum! Mmmm! Que Rico!: Americas' Sproutings by Pat Mora

Mora, Pat. Illustrated by Rafael Lopez. Yum! Mmmm! Que Rico!: America’s Sproutings. New York: Lee & Low Books Inc., 2007.

ISBN: 9781584302711

“Yum! Mmmm! Que Rico!: Americas' Sproutings” is a fun and colorful collection of haikus about various fruits, vegetables, and beans.  The chosen foods are popular American staples that have originated from Mexico and South America.  Mora expertly weaves in Spanish words and heritage into the fact blocks which accompany each haiku.  These fact blocks are a paragraph of information about the respective fruit, vegetable, or bean.  The information includes various facts such as where the food is mostly grown, where it comes from, what it looks like, what it’s used for, and how it’s typically eaten.

Fact Block:

Papayas also known as tree melons, are believed to have originates in southern Mexico and Central America.  Now they are grown throughout the tropical and subtropical areas of the world.  Papayas are hollow, with small, wrinkled black seeds in the center.  Papain, found in the milky fluid of unripe papayas, is used in several products, including meat tenderizers and some medicines.  When ripe, the fruit is juicy and sweet.  Shaped somewhat like a pear, a papaya can weigh as much as twenty pounds.

Poem:

Papaya

Chewing your perfume,

We taste your leafy jungle.

Yum! Juicy tropics.

Before introducing this book to a class or group I would make sure that there is an understanding of the haiku form of poetry.  The group would need to already have a firm understanding of syllables in place.  Haikus are 17 syllable poems.  They are short and don’t generally rhyme.  As an activity, I’d break the class into small groups of 3 or 4 students.  As a class we would pick a natural food which is not already covered in the book.  I’d ask each group to think of a couple facts about the food the class has picked.  As a class, we would composite together the small group facts to create our own fact block about the chosen food.  Next, each small group would set out to write their own haiku about the food.  Each group should share their poem!

Bing Bang Boing by Douglas Florian

Florian, Douglas. Bing Bang Boing. San Diego, California: Harcourt Brace & Company, 1994.

ISBN: 9780152337704

“Bing Bang Boing” is a collection of poems written and illustrated by Douglas Florian.  The poems are of varying length, topic, and style.  Many of the poems are short and most of them are comical and lighthearted.  Each poem is simple and would be easily understood by the child reader.  Most of the poems are accompanied by simple illustrations which help the reader to understand and envision the poem.

The drawings and the poems work together to make poetry more accessible to young readers.  The illustrations are simple and unpolished.  A child may look at the drawings and think to himself “I could do that.”  This is exactly what we want as educators!

Students should understand from reading poems in this collection that the topic of poetry does not have to be elaborate or grandiose.  Sometimes poetry is just fun!  Sometimes poems are just silly!  “Bing Bang Boing” is an excellent introduction to teach children this truth.

Pencilly

The pencil is a splendid thing

For which there’s no replacer.

But better than the pencil is

The little pink eraser.

Hailstones

Hailstones big as marbles,

Hailstones two feet wide.

Hailstones big as boulders—

Better stay inside.

If I were to introduce these poems to a class, I’d first point out that each is only 4 lines long.  I’d ask the students to address any other similarities.  My hope, of course, would be that the students would notice and address the rhyming of lines 2 and 4.  In order to put poetry in the hands of my students, I’d ask them each to find an item in the room and write a short 4 line poem about the object.  I’d ask each student to do their best to add in a rhyme on line 2 and 4.

Meow Ruff: A Story in Concrete Poetry by Joyce Sidman

Sidman, Joyce. Illustrated by Michelle Berg. Meow Ruff: A Story in Concrete Poetry. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006.

ISBN: 9780618448944

“Meow Ruff: a Story in Concrete Poetry” is a poetry book unlike any that I’ve ever seen.  Concrete poetry is a poetic form in which the words of the poem are positioned into shapes which are used to convey the meaning of the poem itself.  Throughout the pages of “Meow Ruff” the trees, grass, and clouds are all formed by words.  All of the animals in the book are solid illustrations which interact with the concrete poetry setting.  This book is carefully produced for young children.  A child who could not read the print on the pages would still be able to comprehend what is happening in the story.  A dog gets loose from a house and someone has abandoned a cat.  The story follows the common belief that cats and dogs are enemies.  Upon meeting, the cat and dog appear to dislike one another but eventually are brought together by the rain.  The cat and dog escape the rain together under a table and fall asleep.  After the rain stops, the pair seems to realize that they could be friends!

The words on the pages blend seamlessly into the illustrations.  Each cloud has an individual size, shape, and poem; this is an illustration that each cloud shown is different.  Sidman has managed to create motion on the pages of her book this way.  The tree in the poem has the same poem until it begins to rain.  As the rain falls from the cloud onto the tree, the words of the poem illustrate the wind changes that a storm would naturally bring.

Before the rain, the tree poem reads:

E  a  c  h

L    e    a    f

A    m  a  p    o  f

B    r    a    n    c    h    e    s

E   a   c   h             t   w   i   g

A            b     r     a     n     c     h

O       f           l      e       a       v       e       s

E     a     c     h          b     r     a     n     c     h

A      t    r    e    e      o    f      t    w    i    g    s

E    a    c    h        t    r    e    e

A       g    r    e    e    n

H   a   i   r   e   d

S   l  i   m

C h e s t e d

G  r  e  a  t

                            H e a r t e d  g n a r l-a r m e d

S  t  r  o  n  g

L e g g e d

Deep-rooted

O   n   e

Once the clouds begin to rain, the poem reads:

E  a  c  h

l    e    a    f

D i p p i n g   and   d a n c i n g

E   a   c   h      t   w   i   g

T     h     r     a     s     h     i     n     g

A    n    d           p    l    u    n    g    i    n    g

E    a    c    h         b    r    a    n    c    h

B   e   n   d   i   n   g      t   o      s   h   o   w

S    i    l    v    e    r    y

U    n    d    e    r    s    i    d    e

A   n   d

T   h   e

S   l   i   m

C h e s t e d

G  r  e  a  t

H e a r t e d 

                              S  t  r  o  n  g   g n a r l-a r m e d

L  e  g  g  e  d

Deep-rooted

O     n      e

S  w  a  y  s

S l i g h t l y

I’ve attempted to recreate the concrete shape of a tree here, however, Sidman’s version is much more effective in the pages of “Meow Ruff.”  If I were to introduce this book to the class; I would first introduce the form of concrete poetry.  After reading/looking through the book, I’d ask the students how the concrete poetry added to understanding the story.  As an activity, I’d have each student think of a simple object.  If the students have trouble thinking of objects, I’d ask them to think about the objects in the story (a table, a cloud, a tree, etc.).  Once the students choose the object, I’d ask them to write it at the top of the page.  Next, I’d ask them to begin describing the object in various ways: what the object looks like, what purpose the object serves, what the object does, how the object is used, etc.  Once the activity is complete the students will have written their very own concrete poem!

Hip Hop Speaks to Children by Nikki Giovanni

Giovanni, Nikki. Hip Hop Speaks to Children. Naperville, Illinois: Sourcebooks, Inc, 2008.

ISBN: 9781402210488

Hip Hop Speaks to Children is a compilation of poems that are written in a rap or hip hop style.  This means that the poems are intended to be lyrics.  They are written and performed with a unique rhythm and beat which is accomplished through phrasing and rhyme.  For this reason, the intended rhythm is often easily deciphered by reading the poem alone.  Nikki Giovanni introduces the collection by giving a background to the cultural underpinnings of rap and hip hop.  Giovanni explains that during the time of American slavery, slaves were not allowed to learn reading and writing, as a result, sermons were taught by a method named “call and response”.  The cadence and rhythm were integral to committing the bible stories to memory.  Rap songs imitate this form of “call and response” by harnessing a unique beat and rhythm in order to tell a story that can be easily shared and remembered.

People Equal by James Berry

Some people shoot up tall.

Some hardly leave the ground at all.

Yet—people equal. Equal.

One voice is a sweet mango.

Another is a nonsugar tomato.

Yet—people equal. Equal.

Some people rush to the front.

Others hang back, feeling they can’t.

Yet—people equal.  Equal.

Hammer some people, you meet a wall.

Blow on some people, they fall.

Yet—people equal.  Equal.

One person will aim at a star.

For another, a hilltop is too far.

Yet—people equal.  Equal.

Some people get on with their show.

Others never get on the go.

Yet—people equal.  Equal.

The rhythm in this poem is unmistakable.  After reading the first grouping, the form that the poem is intended to take is obvious and the reader will continue with the cadence throughout.  The meaning of the poem is expounded through each grouping: people retain equality while being different.  The poem does not use complete sentences or proper grammar.  However, the writing does not detract from the meaning and reader understanding of the poem. 

If I were introducing this poem to a classroom, I would first let the students read it alone.  As the rhythm is the most important part of the poem and its brand, I would want to see if the students could hear it on their own.  Then I’d read the poem to the class aloud, with the wrong rhythm.  “How’d that sound?  Why?”  With these questions, I’d encourage the students to tell me how the poem gives clues to its cadence.