BUILD A POEM

Happy Poetry Friday! Mary Lee is hosting over at A Year of Reading today. 

We got a head start on Poetry Month at our library with a three-session BUILD A POEM workshop in March. The children were so receptive and shared their deep wells of creativity. We probably didn’t change any lives, as Ms. Mirabel did in Word After Word After Word, but spending this time with six kids from my town was a gift to me. I encourage other poets to step out and share your love of writing poetry with kids. Here are some photos and samples poems generated by 4^th and 5^th graders. Our focus was strong verbs and words that feel good on your tongue.

We started with a mask poem, becoming the tree that was living before it became the wood we wrote on. 

William Carlos Williams’ poem “This is Just to Say” was our model for apology poems.

I’m sorry I ate the last                                  I’m sorry for stuffing you

piece of strawberry pie                                 in your cat carrier

which was probably for dessert,                   and leaving you for an hour.

but the crust was so flaky                             I’m sorry for forgetting you

and the inside so red                                      and for missing your dinner.

and juicy.

Please forgive me.

We experimented with the Six Room Poem exercise from Georgia Heard’s Awakening the Heart to write about a special place.

At each session, we wrote on wood and boxes and built a Poem Center for display. 

The culminating activity was a cupcake poem about spring!

Award Winning Books - Review of ONE COOL FRIEND

One Cool Friend  by Toni Buzzeo

Illustrated by David Small

Dial Books for Young Readers, 2012

New York Times Best Seller

2013 Caldecott Honor Book

2013 ALA Notable Children’s Book

Dolly Parton Imagination Library Selection

One Cool Friend is a delight, pure and simple. But there is nothing simplistic about the picture book magic created in this perfect marriage of text and art. The concept of communication is key to the story, and it’s the underlying conversation that doesn’t quite make it onto the page that creates a satisfying joke.

Young Elliot is a most polite and proper child. He refrains from saying what he actually means – I’d rather read at home by myself than visit a noisy, crowded aquarium, Dad – and takes to heart his Dad’s instruction to “have fun” at the aquarium. When Elliot asks for a penguin, again he doesn’t quite communicate what he is really thinking. Picture a wading pool turned ice rink in an air conditioned bedroom to keep Elliot’s new pet happy.

Buzzeo’s masterful skill with the text gives readers just what they need to know one page spread at a time. Of course, it’s all hilarious for kids because Caldecott medalist David Small’s pictures show them what’s going on, even if Elliot’s dad seems clueless. It’s the twist ending that sends adults back to the beginning to see what they missed.

When you re-read to absorb the story all over again, take your time and savor the nuances in both text and art. Your young reader friend will be begging you to read it again, anyway. One Cool Friend is a keeper. That’s why it wears a Caldecott Honor seal.

Visit Toni Buzzeo’s website to learn about this talented and prolific author. Check out David Small’s website for a look at the over forty picture books he has illustrated and an online sketchbook.

 After reading One Cool Friend, travel over to Jules' terrific blog Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast for a wonderful look at the evolution/development of David Small's sketches for this book.

Award-Winning Book Challenge Status: 2/11