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From: wmmayes_at_aol.com <wmmayes>
Date: Sat, 02 Apr 2005 23:52:05 -0500
I second Dean's titles and want to add my praise and admiration for John Grandits' TECHNICALLY, IT'S NOT MY FAULT, a slim volume of concrete poems that has kids clamoring to get their hands on it and try the technique for themselves. And it's funny!
Walter M. Mayes aka Walter the Giant Storyteller www.walterthegiant.com VALERIE & WALTER'S BEST BOOKS FOR CHILDREN: A LIVELY, OPINIONATED GUIDE by Valerie V. Lewis and Walter M. Mayes New edition on sale from Harper Resource Books
Message----From: Robin Smith To: Subscribers of ccbc-net Sent: Fri, 1 Apr 2005 18:20:20 00 Subject: [ccbc-net] Recent Poetry Picks from Dean Schneider
From Dean:
Three of my favorite recent books of poetry are:
Here in Harlem by Walter Dean Myers A Wreath for Emmett Till by Marilyn Nelson A Kick in the Head: An Everyday Guide to Poetic Forms, selected by Paul Janeczko, illus. by Chris Raschka
Here in Harlem, I think, is a modern masterpiece. Inspired by Edgar Lee Masters' Spoon River Anthology, it's a collection of voices telling their stories and, in so doing, the story of Harlem. A jazz artist, a salesman, a live-in maid, students, a poet - the varied voices of a neighborhood -- with a Whitmanesque feel and allusions to Langston Hughes, Duke Ellington, Richard Wright, Cullen, Baldwin, Hurston, and Marcus and Malcolm and Booker T. A rich reading experience with a high school class!
A Wreath for Emmett Till is written in the rare form of the heroic crown of sonnets-- fifteen connected sonnets -- telling the story of Emmett Till, with allusions to those who spoke out, bore witness, or risked reputations and safety to do the right thi ng throughout history: Garrison, Douglass, Sojourner Truth, Wendell Phillips, Susan B. Anthony. There are references to Rwanda, Nazi gas chambers, the World Trade Towers, Yugoslavia and the "Obscene theft of human lives." In remembering Emmett Till, the poems are a rallying cry to bear witness: "We can speak now, or bear unforgettable shame./Rosemary for remembrance, Shakespeare wrote." Teachingbooks.net, by the way, has Marilyn Nelson reading the volume and an interview with Andrea Davis Pinkney.
A Kick in the Head, companion to A Poke in the Eye, is a wonderful guide to poetic forms, from haiku to limericks to odes, ballads, and acrostics. Perfect for use in the classroom, this is a fine blend of poetry and Raschka's illustrations in watercolor, ink, and torn paper. Raschka at his best.
As for trends, that's for another posting. I'm going to sit back and reread these fine books!
Dean Schneider Ensworth School Nashville, Tennessee schneiderd at ensworth.com
Received on Sat 02 Apr 2005 10:52:05 PM CST
Date: Sat, 02 Apr 2005 23:52:05 -0500
I second Dean's titles and want to add my praise and admiration for John Grandits' TECHNICALLY, IT'S NOT MY FAULT, a slim volume of concrete poems that has kids clamoring to get their hands on it and try the technique for themselves. And it's funny!
Walter M. Mayes aka Walter the Giant Storyteller www.walterthegiant.com VALERIE & WALTER'S BEST BOOKS FOR CHILDREN: A LIVELY, OPINIONATED GUIDE by Valerie V. Lewis and Walter M. Mayes New edition on sale from Harper Resource Books
Message----From: Robin Smith To: Subscribers of ccbc-net Sent: Fri, 1 Apr 2005 18:20:20 00 Subject: [ccbc-net] Recent Poetry Picks from Dean Schneider
From Dean:
Three of my favorite recent books of poetry are:
Here in Harlem by Walter Dean Myers A Wreath for Emmett Till by Marilyn Nelson A Kick in the Head: An Everyday Guide to Poetic Forms, selected by Paul Janeczko, illus. by Chris Raschka
Here in Harlem, I think, is a modern masterpiece. Inspired by Edgar Lee Masters' Spoon River Anthology, it's a collection of voices telling their stories and, in so doing, the story of Harlem. A jazz artist, a salesman, a live-in maid, students, a poet - the varied voices of a neighborhood -- with a Whitmanesque feel and allusions to Langston Hughes, Duke Ellington, Richard Wright, Cullen, Baldwin, Hurston, and Marcus and Malcolm and Booker T. A rich reading experience with a high school class!
A Wreath for Emmett Till is written in the rare form of the heroic crown of sonnets-- fifteen connected sonnets -- telling the story of Emmett Till, with allusions to those who spoke out, bore witness, or risked reputations and safety to do the right thi ng throughout history: Garrison, Douglass, Sojourner Truth, Wendell Phillips, Susan B. Anthony. There are references to Rwanda, Nazi gas chambers, the World Trade Towers, Yugoslavia and the "Obscene theft of human lives." In remembering Emmett Till, the poems are a rallying cry to bear witness: "We can speak now, or bear unforgettable shame./Rosemary for remembrance, Shakespeare wrote." Teachingbooks.net, by the way, has Marilyn Nelson reading the volume and an interview with Andrea Davis Pinkney.
A Kick in the Head, companion to A Poke in the Eye, is a wonderful guide to poetic forms, from haiku to limericks to odes, ballads, and acrostics. Perfect for use in the classroom, this is a fine blend of poetry and Raschka's illustrations in watercolor, ink, and torn paper. Raschka at his best.
As for trends, that's for another posting. I'm going to sit back and reread these fine books!
Dean Schneider Ensworth School Nashville, Tennessee schneiderd at ensworth.com
Received on Sat 02 Apr 2005 10:52:05 PM CST
