A KICK IN THE HEAD: AN EVERYDAY GUIDE TO POETIC FORMS selected by Paul Janeczko



Paul Janeczko



Janeczko, Paul. 2005. A KICK IN THE HEAD: AN EVERYDAY GUIDE TO POETIC FORMS. Ill. by Chris Raschka. Massachusetts: Candlewick. ISBN 9780763606626

Review

Twenty-nine poetic forms including haiku, cinquain, tanka, and senryu are explained and modeled in Janeczko’s compilation A KICK IN THE HEAD.  A memorable way to learn the poetic forms, this book appears to be for children but would be more appropriate for young adults.  Its use in middle school and high school libraries and classrooms is ideal due to its abstract and higher-level thinking material.  The poetry leans more towards a playful mood rather than serious or emotional.   

Poems selected by Janeczko are written by quality authors like J. Patrick Lewis, Ogden Nash, Georgia Heard, Bobbi Katz and Janeczko himself.  Each poem highlights a form of poetry.  To focus on the haiku listed below, Buson describes an active scene in nature.  To take the haiku structure but write about human behavior, this form becomes senryu as shown with Kristine O’Connell George: First day, new school year/backpack harbors a fossil…/last June’s cheese sandwich.

The Table of Contents is a quick reference guide to find the poem and form needed.  The back also includes Notes on the Forms which is really neat and could be referenced in Language Arts classes everywhere.  In this section, more information is given on each form and a paragraph explaining the structure.   

Figurative language is used in the poetry selected by Janeczko.  Personification is used in the concrete poem, “A Kick in the Head” by Joan Bransfield Graham: Poetry… opens its arms to me/jabs me in the heart.  Simile is used in “Amelia Cramped” by comparing pilot Amelia in a cockpit to a bird in a box.  Rhyme is used in some poems that allow it, like in the clerihew by E.C. Bentley: Edgar Allan Poe/was passionately fond of roe/he always liked to chew some/when writing something gruesome. 

Poetry in Action:

Introducing the Poem:  Take students outside on a nature walk or if you live in West Texas like I do, you may want to pass out pictures that have pretty nature scenes.  In small groups, have students brainstorm words that describe nature.  Explain the guidelines of writing a haiku and show examples including this poem about rain.

Follow up Activity:  Afterwards, give students time to write and illustrate a haiku of their own using words from their group’s brainstorming list.  Upper level students could discuss the conversation taking place in the midst of the spring rain in the poem. 

SPRING RAIN by Buson

In the rains of spring,

An umbrella and raincoat

Pass by, conversing.