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From: steven at westlinn.lib.or.us <steven>
Date: Wed, 12 Feb 97 14:52:26 -0800
Mel Glenn's "Who Killed Mr. Chippendale" is an interesting recent collection of poems. It's a murder mystery about a teacher who gets shot. The story is told through a series of one-page poems from the points of view of about twenty characters, mostly students and teachers. The poems express the diverse feelings and reactions of all these people very well...I'm not sure this could have been done so well in a regular novel format. I'm hoping the unusual format will draw some readers who don't normally pick up poetry. "I Am Wings" by Ralph Fletcher (from a couple years ago) also used a set of connected poems to tell one story (a teenage couple falling in and out of love) very nicely.
I also have to mention two of my favorite poetry collections, though they've been around for awhile: "Something Sleeping in the Hall" and especially
"Soap Soup," both by Karla Kuskin. Since they're written for an easy reader series, they have controlled vocabularies. So the poems are very short and simple, but still use playful language and humourous wordplay. Kids can read poems like "Butter / butter / butter / butter / that is a word / I love to utter" or "It makes me squirm / to watch a worm" and feel like they could write something like that too. Silverstein and Prelutsky are great fun to read, but too sophisticated for most kids to imitate..."Soap Soup" can really inspire young kids to make up their own poems.
Steven Engelfried, West Linn Public Library (Oregon) ph: 503e6x57 fax: 503e6'46 e-mail: steven at westlinn.lib.or.us Steven Engelfried, West Linn Public Library (Oregon) ph: 503e6x57 fax: 503e6'46 e-mail: steven at westlinn.lib.or.us
Received on Wed 12 Feb 1997 04:52:26 PM CST
Date: Wed, 12 Feb 97 14:52:26 -0800
Mel Glenn's "Who Killed Mr. Chippendale" is an interesting recent collection of poems. It's a murder mystery about a teacher who gets shot. The story is told through a series of one-page poems from the points of view of about twenty characters, mostly students and teachers. The poems express the diverse feelings and reactions of all these people very well...I'm not sure this could have been done so well in a regular novel format. I'm hoping the unusual format will draw some readers who don't normally pick up poetry. "I Am Wings" by Ralph Fletcher (from a couple years ago) also used a set of connected poems to tell one story (a teenage couple falling in and out of love) very nicely.
I also have to mention two of my favorite poetry collections, though they've been around for awhile: "Something Sleeping in the Hall" and especially
"Soap Soup," both by Karla Kuskin. Since they're written for an easy reader series, they have controlled vocabularies. So the poems are very short and simple, but still use playful language and humourous wordplay. Kids can read poems like "Butter / butter / butter / butter / that is a word / I love to utter" or "It makes me squirm / to watch a worm" and feel like they could write something like that too. Silverstein and Prelutsky are great fun to read, but too sophisticated for most kids to imitate..."Soap Soup" can really inspire young kids to make up their own poems.
Steven Engelfried, West Linn Public Library (Oregon) ph: 503e6x57 fax: 503e6'46 e-mail: steven at westlinn.lib.or.us Steven Engelfried, West Linn Public Library (Oregon) ph: 503e6x57 fax: 503e6'46 e-mail: steven at westlinn.lib.or.us
Received on Wed 12 Feb 1997 04:52:26 PM CST
