Poetrees by Douglas Florian (Module 2, Book 3)

Poetrees Review by Elaine Alexander

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Florian, Douglas. Poetrees. New York: Beach Lane Books, 2010. ISBN: 9781416986720

SUMMARY
Poetrees begins its ode to trees with the concrete poem entitled, The Seed. This poem is shaped in an infinity symbol, exhibiting the circular, unending journey a tree makes from its beginning of life, to its attempt at spreading new life through producing seeds. The book highlights known tree types and parts, as well as unusual trees in a way that is both informative and fun, supported by imaginative artwork that a sense of frivolity into the poems. In addition to the poems, the book provides informative information, including a "Glossatree" with interesting facts about each tree or tree-related term.


ANALYSIS
This book would have great appeal with younger audiences between the ages of 5-10, both in celebrating nature and in the accessible and sensory language. Florian has a knack with fresh ways to use language in his poems, such as stretching out words like "branch" to emphasize their length or weaving in a fun pun on the word "bark", equating it with a dog. The twist on the words are sure to draw children in and make the poem collection accessible and lighthearted, without sacrificing the deeper meaning in the words.

The artwork includes images of children and humans, showing a connectedness between humans and trees, a coexistence that is necessary and vital to our lives. The book is meant to be turned on its side to read, which effectively elongates the page spread and makes the images of the trees taller and more prominent on the page. There is also a concerted effort to use art mediums that include paper collage, artful twists of watercolor or thick crayon-like lines throughout the pages. The mix of different styles and mediums throughout the book are successful in representing the different types of trees, but they are done in such unique ways, such as the poem Roots that weaves brown watercolor roots with the image of a tree that also looks like a child. This personification of a tree, or hidden child in picture provides a parallel image that draws the reader to the conclusion that humans and trees share a deep and meaningful connection.



Use & Highlight Poem
This book would be an excellent way to celebrate Earth Day. It's got a great message of celebrating trees and gives an overall message of human connectedness toward trees and the preservation of the natural world. I also think it could be used in a lesson plan for a family tree. As the highlighted poem, Roots demonstrates, Florian has a gift for playing with words to imply dual messages. We see the root as a vital part of the tree, but we can also read this poem as a more abstract message of how humans are connected to our own families by our roots and that those connections ground us, too.

Echo Echo by Marilyn Singer (Module 2, Book 1)

Echo Echo by Marilyn Singer. Review by Elaine Alexander

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Singer, Marilyn. Echo Echo. New York: Dial Books, 2016. ISBN 9780803739925

PLOT SUMMARY

This book of “reverso” poems begins with a celebratory poem that introduces the concept of mythology and past civilizations and ends with another poem that encourages the reader to be avid listeners and active storytellers. Sandwiched in between are famous Greek Myths told in 'reverso' format, engaging the reader to look at the words from a new view, reading first down the page, and then in reverse order. As the reader mulls through the poems, they come into contact with Greek Myths and the duality of their conflicting stories. One by one, the poems give competing views and offer each character a chance to challenge former assumptions, see the see the weaknesses and strengths, and understand more about the human experience through storytelling.

ANALYSIS
This book of poetry would have high appeal among students who enjoy Greek mythology, but it will also draw in readers who enjoy the duality of conflicting viewpoints. The artwork effectively supports these opposing sides of each story, reflecting the duality between each way of seeing the story. The poems truly make the reader question who is the hero and who is the antagonist!

explores familiar figures from Greek Myths and asks the reader to look at each story in a unique way. The 'reverso' poems are mirror images, with one character reading the poem in forward and the other character in reverse. The effect is as though the words were echoed back, showing that there are two sides to every story. The artwork features split frames as an effective means of showing each perspective, such as an angry Athena with a woven tapestry next to a woeful Arachne, struck with spider arms and a web, her punishment for winning a contest with a goddess. Singer’s “reverso” poems are first presented in one form, and then the lines are put in reverse order for a totally unique meaning. Reading the famous tale of King Midas, the forward reading of the poem reflects the daughter's longing for her father to touch her. Yet, the second reading in reverse, shows King Midas's grief that he did touch his daughter, and the result was turning her to gold.


Each ‘reverso’ poem challenges the accepted norms for these characters from Greek Mythology and offers a different perspective. Singer’s format shows that how we view a situation can be turned completely upside down, if viewed from a different angle. The language is simple, yet the construction of a poem that can be read forwards and backwards is anything but simplistic. It is that clever play with order that gives this book of poems a unique spin. This structure, combined with looking at each familiar story through two points of view, make this collection of poems a new experience in the genre.

This book has a broad appeal because the unique structure makes the poems fun to read. Because the format literally flips the words of one character upside down, it can challenge readers to shift their scope and realize that no one character is entirely good or entirely bad -- that those qualities reside in each of us, in equal measure.


Use and Highlight Poem

The spotlight poem in this anthology is Icarus and Daedalus, the familiar story of a father and son that escape imprisonment. The poem is filled with the promise of flight, but the caution of letting impulse take over and sway common sense. When Icarus fails to listen to Daedalus's wise warning, his moment of glory ends in a disastrous descent into the sea. In the reverso poem, we see that Daedalus is mournful, lamenting his son's decision to fly too high, along with the inevitable death and "bright heaven" (Singer 23) that is to come. For Daedalus, the "dark sea below" (Singer 23) is sadness. For his son, the same line means something he is leaving behind as he ascends into flight. The flip sides of this tragic tale are an excellent example of why the book is so powerful. This would be a fun exercise for students to read the poems in class, enacting the different perspectives for their peers.

Another idea for studying the reverso poem structure is to gather Marilyn Singer’s other reverso poetry books:

• Singer, Marilyn. Mirror Mirror.
• Singer, Marilyn. Follow, Follow.

Use Singer’s Reverso poem structure for a lesson plan for elementary school children on poetry and role reversal. I also think that the reverso poem structure might be adapted to a children's theater or even a classroom exercise to practice reading aloud poetry. Characters could recite the poems and solidify the examples of how different and powerful the perspectives can really be.

Yum! ¡MmMm! ¡Que´ Rico! Americas' Sproutings Haiku by Pat Mora (Module 2, Book 2)

Yum! ¡MmMm! ¡Que´ Rico! Americas' Sproutings Haiku by Pat Mora; Review by Elaine Alexander

BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Mora, Pat and Rafael Løpez. Yum! ¡MmMm! ¡Que´ Rico! Americas' Sproutings. New York: Lee & Low, 2007. ISBN:978160060892650995

SUMMARY
This book of poetry focuses on the visual and sensory appeal of different foods from the Americas. Each page includes a factual paragraph that describes the origin of the highlighted fruit or vegetable, and a haiku that captures the color, taste, emotional and sensory connections to the food. The artwork is vivid and full of whimsy. For example, in the pages dedicated to chocolate, there is a mix of celebration and dream-like qualities that encapsulate the way a bite of chocolate feels to a child.

ANALYSIS
This book has appeal on two fronts -- it gives factual and cultural information about fourteen different types of food from the Americas and it offers clever haikus to support the way these foods draw upon sensory and emotional memories connected to sharing these treats. The bold colors used in the artwork compliment the celebration of South American and Southwest culture, with sunset color schemes, peppered with bright blues and greens. The use of haiku make the poems more accessible for children because they bring a sense of fun and frivolity. Haiku poetry follows a simple pattern of five syllables, followed by seven, and finished with five. This short poetry form can be a great way to introduce children to try out their own haiku and poetry skills.

In addition to the informational text and the haiku format, the poems stimulate emotions that range from silly to joyful, as well as evacuating a sense of family or even magical connotations. Food has a transformative power in these poems. The items selected are both familiar and common, with some insertions of less common items, such as prickly pears. The collection has an overall ability to highlight our similarities through showing children the foods in which we share with our neighboring countries. By showing that the Americas are connected through these delicious foods, readers gain a sense of commonality and shared experiences that bring us all closer together.

The author ends the book with a letter to the reader, inviting children to join the foods introduced in the book with either a clapping or jumping rope rhyme. In addition, her letter goes on to discuss the variety we have in the world and how that variety is part of what makes the world an amazing place. It is a sweet way to end the collection and an important reminder to children to embrace the diversity in the the world around them.

Use & Highlight Poem

The collection on the whole could be used as a fantastic way to delve into a multicultural unit for a classroom or library. Any of the chosen poems could be used to introduce the haiku format and encourage the reader to try their own hand at this poetry form. In addition, students could be encouraged to share a food they love and find out the origins of that food to share with the group.

For a spotlight poem, I chose Chocolate because many people can easily connect to the joy of eating chocolate. In addition, I thought the artwork, depicting cakes and pies in the clouds, as well as a castle made of chocolate with a child gleefully running toward it, was such as fantastic example of how food can truly connect us to sensory experiences.

Chocolate

Fudge, cake, pie, cookies.
Brown magic melts on your tongue.
Happy, your eyes dance.