Declaration of Interdependence: Poems for an Election Year (e-Book Poetry)

Image from TheDeclarationOfInterdependenceBlog.blogspot.com

Bibliography

Wong, Janet. Declaration of Interdependence: Poems for an Election Year. Princeton, New Jersey: PoetrySuitcase.com. 2012. ISBN 9781468191912. Print.

Review

Janet Wong’s collection of election year poems will appeal to readers of all ages. Avoiding any political slant, Wong’s poems are fresh, entertaining, even comic at times. The 20 poems touch on a range of election-related topics that begin with the freedom to vote and move through absentee ballots, televised debates (“They should call these things ‘Duh-baits,’/ the way those guys are baited.”), primaries and caucuses, ballots, and finally a winner (“Can’t stand the winner./ Don’t feel like eating dinner./ I’m worried about our country./ Is our future doomed?/ Mom says: the country’s fine--/ but can you clean your room?” ). Simple enough to be enjoyed by grade school children, but thought-provoking enough to stir up deep discussion among older readers, the poetry collection also includes a voter’s journal and discussion guide with 12 discussion/writing prompts. The book is available primarily as an e-book which adds appeal due to ease in procurement and cost-effectiveness for readers. Perhaps the greatest additional feature of the book is the online blog site TheDeclarationOfInterdependenceBlog.blogspot.com that engages readers in discussing the poems and related topics. Wong’s timely book will be a particular favorite among teachers seeking ways to help students personalize the presidential election experience.

Reviews

Customer reviews from Amazon.com:

“Three cheers for Janet Wong for providing this collection of thought provoking and reassuring poems just as the election process heads toward a heated finish. Many of her poems bring wry smiles and all of them give the reader serious thoughts to ponder and nod over in agreement. Readers of all ages will finish this book with a deeper sense of pride in our country and gratitude for being an American.”

“Janet Wong's Declaration of Interdependence: Poems for an Election Year is smart bit of work. ePublished in Amazon's Kindle store and delivered for a whisper (and a song), these are fresh-picked poems are perfect for this season but well-crafted enough to have value beyond the current election cycle.”

Sample poem:

Occupy the TV

I can’t wait for the election

to be over , to be done.

This president selection:

99% no fun.

The cable TV coverage

occupies too many channels

With nonstop blah-blah-blabbing

by some not-so-expert panels.

They should call these things “Duh-baits,”

the way those guys are baited

Into acting so ridiculous

they seem uneducated.

I think they must be smarter.

They simply must know more

than they’re showing us—say what?

You and me in ’24?

Connections:

English Language Arts :

Use the Voter’s Guide at the back of the poetry books for inner/outer circle discussion and writing prompts.

Samples:

Ridiculous: Write a list of the most ridiculous (or scariest or most impractical) ideas you’ve heard from presidential candidates (official and unofficial).

Inspiring: Write a list of the most inspiring or sensible ideas you’ve heard from presidential candidates (official or unofficial) in this election.

Social Studies :

Have student groups select their own “dream team” candidates for president and vice president. Students will research the candidate backgrounds and qualifications to create a wiki site with original campaign materials, platform issues, etc. for their “candidates.”

Research electoral college votes and make a map for tracking votes on presidential election night. Have students write responsive poems about the election results.

More Resources:

See Janet Wong’s blog at TheDeclarationOfInterdependenceBlog.blogspot.com for more activities, discussion ideas, and sample poems from the book.

Share Janet Wong’s Poetry Suitcase idea with students and have them help create a poetry suitcase of election related-memorabilia to accompany their own original election poems. 

http://www.PoetrySuitcase.com/Poetry_Suitcase/PoetrySuitcase.com.html

Big Talk: Poems for Four Voices (Performance Poetry)

(Book Cover compliments of Titlewave)

Bibliography
Fleischman, Paul. Big Talk: Poems for Four Voices. Ill. by Beppe Giacobbe. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick Press. 2010. ISBN 9780763606367

Review 

Following the success of his Newbury award winning Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices, Paul Fleischman steps things up several paces by creating poems written for four voices.  A far cry from the refined, insect-themed poems of Joyful Noise, the three unrelated poems in Big Talk rollick and throb with rhythmic humor that will have readers tapping toes, slapping legs, and laughing aloud. Much like the stanzas of a piece of music, the four color-coded lines of the poems run horizontally across the page showing the reader at a glance where to speak and where to stay silent. The instructions at the front of the book help readers learn to identify and follow their part much like reading quartet music. The poems can be read by four readers, four groups of readers, or even two readers who share parts.

The first poem “Quiet Evenings Here” allows the folksy speakers to espouse the virtues of staying home and avoiding “the speedway/ roarin’ engines/ grindin’ gears” of city life. Toes will be tapping as readers echo and jointly proclaim the quiet evenings with “Grandma rockin’/ clock tick-tockin’, Sister hummin’/ Grandpa strummin’/Raindrops rappin’/Toes a-tappin’” which is better suited to their country ears. The chaotic gossip of the second poem “Seventh-Grade Soap Opera” will have readers laughing as they interrupt one another’s lines with the latest shocking update of junior high school social life. The final poem “Ghosts’ Grace”  provides the most sophisticated reading of the three poems as the four ghostly speakers wistfully observe and comment on the wonders of the dinner table experience that is no longer theirs to enjoy. Spoken in rounds, their observations of the wonders of dinner now denied are filled with humor as seen in their laments over a green salad: “A jungle explored by fork/tints flashing/tastes couching/Yes, I remember, I’ll always remember./The wet crunch of cucumbers, each an oasis/The deckle-edged lettuce/The sharpness of scallions/Tomatoes sliced up into seed-bearing galleons./The unlikely marriage of oil and vinegar/soother/lip-scorcher/How well I remember.”

Illustrator Beppe Giacobbe’s loud, colorful, computer-generated paintings add to the chaotic noise and “big talk” of the poems. While each poem is introduced with a large full page painting, small cartoon-style frames run horizontal across the bottom of each page depicting scenes from the poems. The free-hand style, multi-colored lettering on the titles helps convey the idea that these poems are meant to be read with laughter and fun in a social setting.

Won-Ton: A Cat Tale Told in Haiku (Hopkins Award Poetry)

(Book Cover compliments of Titlewave)

Bibliography

Wardlaw, Lee. Won-Ton: A Cat Tale Told in Haiku. Ill. by Eugene Yelchin. New York: Henry Holt and Company. 2011. ISBN 9780805089950

Review 

In this winsome poetry picture book about a lanky gray shelter cat with wide-open blue eyes, Wardlaw utilizes 33 Japanese senryu (similar to haiku format) to unfold the tale. While haiku focuses on nature themes, senryu focuses on the quirks of human (or cat) nature. When the stray cat is looked over by prospective owners at the shelter, he feints disinterest “Visiting hours! / Yawn. I pretend not to care. / Yet-I sneak a peek”, but the cat cannot help hoping that the Boy will choose him “No rush. I’ve got plans. / Gnaw this paw. Nip that flea. And / wish: Please, Boy, pick me.” After a stress-filled ride to his new home, the cat imperiously comments on the unsuitability of all the names being considered, and when he is dubbed “Won-Ton”, he concedes that this name is not his REAL name.  Through playful poetry with crisp wording and punctuation to fit each 17-syllable poem, Won-Ton continues to adjust to his new home, food, sleeping routines, dress-up tea party, strange cat in the yard, and an evolving affection for his new Boy (“Your tummy, soft as / warm dough. I knead and knead, then / bake it with a nap.”) 

Eugene Yelchin’s pictures leap off the page with brilliant yellows, reds, oranges juxtaposed against the lanky charcoal-gray cat. Using graphite to create dark outlines around the gouache images gives the pictures an almost cartoonish-feel furthered by the amusing expressions on Won-Ton’s face and his gangling body language. The bold, over-sized cover image of Won-Ton will entice many young readers to sink their claws into this kittenish tale.

Swirl by Swirl: Spirals in Nature (Sidman Poetry)

(Book Cover compliments of Titlewave)

Bibliography

Sidman, Joyce. Swirl by Swirl: Spirals in Nature. Ill. by Beth Krommes. New York: Houghton Mifflin. 2011. ISBN 9780547315836

Review 

Newbury award winner Joyce Sidman shines a light on the prevalance of the spiral shape in the natural world. Using free verse poems to describe a few qualities of the spiral within section spreads in the book, Sidman first explores how a spiral is “a snuggling place” as small creatures such as the bull snake and chipmunk curl tightly while sleeping in their homes beneath the ground and then on the next page expand and move about. Next, the spiral is seen in the nautilus as a “growing shape” that “starts small/ and gets bigger,/ swirl by swirl”, and the frond of a lady fern that “unwraps itself,/one/soft/curl/at a time.” The spiral is also described as a strong shape, one that explores the world while hanging on, a clever shape, bold and beautiful as seen in the spiral horns of a merino sheep, arms of an octopus, tail of a sea horse, proboscis of a butterfly, web of an orb spider, heads of flowers, waves of the ocean, and the spiral arms of a galaxy. Sidman’s crisp, simple wording set in large font pop off a clean background inviting the even the youngest readers to enjoy the words on each page and ultimately ends up where the book started with the spiral returning to being a “snuggling shape.” A spread at the end of the book provides interesting additional details about the creatures and objects featured in the book that will encourage readers to explore the natural world further.

Caldecott winning illustrator Beth Krommes uses her scratchboard art medium to create an opulent feast for the eyes that will keep readers coming back to pour over the rich images packed on each spread. Krommes uses line drawing and cross-hatch techniques to scratch off the black-painted surface of the white scratchboard unveiling a wonderland of plants, creatures and other natural objects which then come to life with splashes of warm, earth-toned watercolor. Readers will enjoy the “I-Spy” quality of Krommes attention to minute detail right down to the end papers of the book which are riddled with spiral shapes such as snails, shells, and monkey tails. A book for all ages, Swirl by Swirl reminds readers of the amazing natural wonders waiting to be re-discovered everyday.

A River of Words: The Story of William Carlos Williams (Biographical Poetry)

(Book Cover compliments of Titlewave)

Bibliography

Bryant, Jennifer, and Melissa Sweet. A River of Words: The Story of William Carlos Williams. Grand Rapids, Mich: Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, 2008. ISBN 9780802853028

Review 

A lavish picture-book biography about William Carlos Williams, Jennifer Bryant brings to life the poet who from his youngest years learned to notice everything. His rambling boyhood walks and hours exploring outdoors helped him learn to listen to the Passaic River’s “Gurgle, gurgle—swish, swish, swoosh!—gurgle, gurgle./ The water went slipping and sliding over/ the smooth rocks, then poured in a torrent/ over the falls…” Bryant’s imagery and word choice paint a picture of Williams as a young observer of life who found his own simple style of poetry free from the confines of famous poetry styles that instead made him “feel free as the Passaic River as it rushed to the falls.”  Williams value for the simple things in life…like a red wheelbarrow, plums, birds, children’s games…helped him keep noticing and writing poetry even while pursuing a medical degree and ultimately caring for children for years as a pediatrician. 

In an interview shortly after A River of Words received the 2009 Caldecott Award, Poet Jennifer Bryant talked about her choice to write this poetic biography in the form of “poetic prose or lyrical prose. I do try to pay attention to repetition, sound, and imagery—all of which play a big part in this text…” Bryant’s free verse style and sparse writing compliment the richly-detailed mixed-media illustrations by Melissa Sweet who uses book covers, Dr.’s prescription pads, old report cards as canvases for watercolor drawings, hand-drawn pieces of William’s poems, and snippets of vintage-type words to create collage art with impact. The illustrations are whimsical and yet elegant. An especially powerful spread contains a silhouette of Williams writing in a lit attic window in his house created from an open book cover against a dark night sky made from an old map of star constellations where “Willie took out his pen and his notes./ He sat down and looked at the words.../ …and shaped them into poems.”

The Brothers' War: Civil War Voices in Verse (Social Studies poetry)

(Book Cover from Titlewave)

Bibliography

Lewis, J P. The Brothers' War: Civil War Voices in Verse. Washington, D.C: National Geographic, 2007. ISBN 9781426300363

Review 

620, 000 people died during the worst war on American soil. Almost 400 people died every day from 1861-1865. Lewis’ book The Brothers’ War captures the war as seen through the eyes of soldiers from both sides: runaway slave, general, father, young soldiers. Lewis writes his poems in a variety of forms including free verse, sonnet, and more. Heavy with imagery, the reader can hear, see, and feel the horrors of a hopeless battle … “Hobart Funderbruck, nineteen, three months married,/ one month lost, screaming in another world,/felt in his stomach the welcome ice of bayonet”… and the despair of the imminent war… “Let all the hired guns of hate/Punish this old John Brown./The dam they opened up will flood/With blood until they drown.”

Offering a personal perspective, the eleven mostly fiction poems are created from primary source books and articles and each poem is paired with a full page black and white photograph from the Library of Congress. Historical background passages are included in small print on each spread providing the reader with a frame of reference for each photograph and poem.  The grainy photos evoke immediate emotions of amazement or shock…a slave family, dead bodies on a battlefield, hope-filled young soldiers, an infirmary, a slave’s scarred back, a soldier who has had both arms amputated. The book includes a timeline of events from the Civil War, author’s notes on each poem, photography notes, and a bibliography sampler of books “for the Civil War beginner.”  

Bugs: Poems About Creeping Things (Science Poetry)

(Book Cover compliments of Titlewave)

Bibliography

Harrison, David. Bugs: Poems about Creeping Things. Ill. by Rob Shepperson. Honesdale, Pa: Wordsong, 2007. ISBN 9781428735798

Review 

Harrison’s small book of 40 short poems takes a playful look at the world of insects. Readers will enjoy leafing leisurely through the humorous verses about creepy things such as the millipede who “giggles/wherever/he/goes./Grass/tickles/all of those/toes”  or the pathetic mosquito afraid of a can of Deet who declares “Let’s be friends!/ Let’s not fight!/ All I ask is/one/small/bite.”  Harrison’s silly approach to bugs will disarm even the most squeamish reader.  With engaging alliterative sounds like the praying mantis who “Sits motionless still”  and fun onomatopoeia found in the two-voice poem about bees (“zzzzzzzzz”), the poems beg to be read aloud. In fact, the book includes seven exceptionally creative poems for two voices such as the worm crossing the street where the second voice makes traffic sounds until ending with a big “SQUISH!” 

Shepperson’s simple black and white line drawings add to the fun by giving the bugs comical expressions and even human-like behaviors such as the swash-buckling gnat brandishing a sword and the gleeful bed bug donned in chef hat, fork, and knife.  Some of the poems about bugs that live in the dark like roaches, fireflies, and no-see-ums are written on solid black pages with white typesetting. The small size of the book makes it perfect for tucking in a backpack for hikes, campouts, and nature walks.