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Illustrated Poetry
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From: Lisa Von Drasek <lisav>
Date: Mon, 21 Apr 2003 11:04:15 -0400
Ah the kids are on spring break and I have had time to catch up on the mail.
I am one of the lovers of poetry emphasizing the reading out-loudness of it. From the kindergarten class where we share the Tale of Custard the Dragon and the rhyming nonsense of My Little Sister Ate One Hare by Bill Grossman through 7th grade where many of our teens have discovered Sonya Zones, Stop Pretending: The Year My Sister Went Crazy. I read aloud Vera B. William's Amber was Brave and Essie was Smart and Love That Dog by Sharon Creech to our third and fourth graders. We memorize the Purple Cow and short poems by Doug Florian and Kristine O'Connell George. Often at the end of our library period we take a poetry break with Doug Florian chorusing The Coyote from Mammalabilia,
" I prowl.
I growl.
My howl
Is throaty.
I love a vowel,
For I am coyoooote."
This quote does not do the poem the justice of seeing it on the page with the o climbing in pitch.
Our third and fourth graders participated in New York's Poem in Your Pocket day by rummaging through piles of poetry books, reading one that caught their fancy out loud then copying it out to fold up and put in their pocket. On that Friday if anyone asked for their poem they had one ready to pull out.
I find that one of the best ways to get the attention of a class of ten-year-olds is the reciting of "I am Waiting, Waiting, Waiting" by Prelutsky from The Dragons are Singing.
On the topic of illustrations. I am all for illustrations that do their job, illuminating the text, bringing more to the moment as with June Otani's exquisite watercolor renderings of Kristine O'Connel George's Little Dog and Duncan, a multilayered tale of the sleep over with all of the excitement and anxiety of that common childhood experience.
Or Floyd Cooper's unique oil wash on board techniques displaying the warmth of friendship in Nikki Grimes, Meet Danitra Brown.
Finally poetry is a wonderful way of reaching reluctant readers. A few words on the page are not as intimidating. We explore that there may be more meaning than just the words and often a poem is like a puzzle to be mulled over for the reward of getting it. The Invisible Ladder , An Anthology of Contemporary American Poems For Young Readers by Liz Rosenberg, Henry Holt,1996, is a wonderful collection which includes a short autobiographic piece by each poet. One of my favorites is by Martin Espada, which I hope will display as written on this e-mail.
COURTHOUSE GRAFFITI FOR TWO VOICES
Jimmy C. Greatest Car Thief Alive Chesea '88
Then what are you doing here?
Lisa Von Drasek
Lisa Von Drasek, MLIS Children's Librarian Bank Street College of Education School for Children Pre-K- 8 610 West 112th St NY NY 10025
lisav at bnkst.edu
212 875 4452
Teaching pre-K-8 Teaching Editor/Children's Books Best Children's Books of the Year Nick Jr.
Received on Mon 21 Apr 2003 10:04:15 AM CDT
Date: Mon, 21 Apr 2003 11:04:15 -0400
Ah the kids are on spring break and I have had time to catch up on the mail.
I am one of the lovers of poetry emphasizing the reading out-loudness of it. From the kindergarten class where we share the Tale of Custard the Dragon and the rhyming nonsense of My Little Sister Ate One Hare by Bill Grossman through 7th grade where many of our teens have discovered Sonya Zones, Stop Pretending: The Year My Sister Went Crazy. I read aloud Vera B. William's Amber was Brave and Essie was Smart and Love That Dog by Sharon Creech to our third and fourth graders. We memorize the Purple Cow and short poems by Doug Florian and Kristine O'Connell George. Often at the end of our library period we take a poetry break with Doug Florian chorusing The Coyote from Mammalabilia,
" I prowl.
I growl.
My howl
Is throaty.
I love a vowel,
For I am coyoooote."
This quote does not do the poem the justice of seeing it on the page with the o climbing in pitch.
Our third and fourth graders participated in New York's Poem in Your Pocket day by rummaging through piles of poetry books, reading one that caught their fancy out loud then copying it out to fold up and put in their pocket. On that Friday if anyone asked for their poem they had one ready to pull out.
I find that one of the best ways to get the attention of a class of ten-year-olds is the reciting of "I am Waiting, Waiting, Waiting" by Prelutsky from The Dragons are Singing.
On the topic of illustrations. I am all for illustrations that do their job, illuminating the text, bringing more to the moment as with June Otani's exquisite watercolor renderings of Kristine O'Connel George's Little Dog and Duncan, a multilayered tale of the sleep over with all of the excitement and anxiety of that common childhood experience.
Or Floyd Cooper's unique oil wash on board techniques displaying the warmth of friendship in Nikki Grimes, Meet Danitra Brown.
Finally poetry is a wonderful way of reaching reluctant readers. A few words on the page are not as intimidating. We explore that there may be more meaning than just the words and often a poem is like a puzzle to be mulled over for the reward of getting it. The Invisible Ladder , An Anthology of Contemporary American Poems For Young Readers by Liz Rosenberg, Henry Holt,1996, is a wonderful collection which includes a short autobiographic piece by each poet. One of my favorites is by Martin Espada, which I hope will display as written on this e-mail.
COURTHOUSE GRAFFITI FOR TWO VOICES
Jimmy C. Greatest Car Thief Alive Chesea '88
Then what are you doing here?
Lisa Von Drasek
Lisa Von Drasek, MLIS Children's Librarian Bank Street College of Education School for Children Pre-K- 8 610 West 112th St NY NY 10025
lisav at bnkst.edu
212 875 4452
Teaching pre-K-8 Teaching Editor/Children's Books Best Children's Books of the Year Nick Jr.
Received on Mon 21 Apr 2003 10:04:15 AM CDT
