(Book cover compliments of Titlewave)
Bibliography
Raczka, Bob. Lemonade, and other poems squeezed from a single word. Ill. by Nancy Doniger. New York: Roaring Books Press. 2011. ISBN 978-1-59643-541-4
Review
Raczka’s crazy poems are as much a puzzle to solve as poetry to enjoy. Each of the 22 poems begins as a single word title from kid life…lemonade, vacation, playground, earthworms. Each short poem is then constructed using only the mixed-up letters from the title word. Challenging to read (and certainly even more challenging write) the jumbled letters cascade down the page in an order that forms the words of the poem. For the reader who wants to see if they “solved” the poem correctly, the backside of the page reveals the poem in a more traditional one word per line format. Some are silly “vacation”: “action/in/a/van” while others are more profound “constellation”: a/silent/lion/tells/an/ancient/tale.” Framed by a red, yellow, black color scheme, the sparse poems are complimented by Doniger’s unobtrusive black and red watercolor illustrations. Sometimes Raczka’s poems even take on a concrete poem shape as in “Treehouse” where the words spill down the page complimenting the ladder illustration beside it that leads up to the treehouse. Drawing on the fun of riddles and anagrams, Raczka’s book squeezes poems from the most unsuspecting words that will inspire readers to attempt their own one word poems.
Honors
ALA Notable Children’s Books 2012
Starred Review : School Library Journal and Booklist
Positive Reviews: Horn Book, Publishers Weekly, Wilson’s Children, Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
Sample poem
Earthworms
a
short
storm
worms
here
worms
there
wear
shoes
Connections
During an elementary science unit on earthworms, identify an earthworm habitat outside. After a rain shower, take students outside to witness how earthworms emerge above ground. Read Raczka’s poem “Earthworms.” For older students, invite students to create their own poem about another phenomena in nature using Raczka’s style.
For Secondary students: After reading several of the poems in Lemonade, ask Language Arts students to select a theme for a book similar to Raczka’s. For example, instead of words from daily childhood life, students might select the theme “Life in Middle School” or a theme related to travel, history, or favorite ways to spend free time. Have each student write and illustrate his own one word poem to contribute to the thematic class book.
Follow-up with other poetry books written in unique styles such as Mirror, Mirror by Marilyn Singer and Technically, It’s Not My Fault by John Grandits.
