THIS IS JUST TO SAY: POEMS OF APOLOGY AND FORGIVENESS by Joyce Sidman

Sidman, Joyce. 2007. THIS IS JUST TO SAY: POEMS OF APOLOGY AND FORGIVENESS. Ill. by Pamela Zagarenski. New York: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 9780618616800

Review

We can all use lessons in apologies and forgiveness and this is one book that will make you grin while you follow Mrs. Merz’s class through this very lesson in poems.  Her sixth grade class completes a project whereby each student writes apology letters (Part One) and then we get to read response letters (Part Two).  The poems touch on many topics which will connect with readers of this age including dysfunctional families, hurting other’s feelings, disobeying, death of a pet, steeling, friendship and sports.  Throughout the book, Sidman incorporates various poetry styles including pantoum (Spelling Bomb), concrete (Dodge Ball Crazy), haiku (Haiku for Carmen) and couplet (Brownies – Oops! and A Waste of Heart). 

Sidman uses simile to reach the readers senses and past experiences.  In What Was I Thinking?, Mai Lee compares the principal’s eyes to hot sparks and her own demeanor to that of a whipped dog.  Fashion Sense compares the silence to “a hundred crushing elephants.”  Other poems include repetition of words, dialog, and sensory language.  The reader can feel in each poem that the child’s own emotion led to the apology poem.  In It Was Quiet, Tenzin writes a note to his dog, apologizing for having to put the dog to sleep.  Tenzin writes, “But inside, something was crumbling/But inside, all my cells and nerves were screaming.”

Clever and age-appropriate poems keep the reader’s attention throughout the book but the illustrations are what called to me to read this book.  The reader, too, will enjoy the choppy and whimsical designs that connect the text to the page. 

Poetry in Action:

Introducing the Poem:  Ask students if there is something they have done before that they need to apologize to someone and ask forgiveness?  You might give examples of your own to jump start them.  Read BALANCE below to the students.

Follow up Activity:  Brainstorm with students how they can apologize.  For example, leave them a note, write them a poem, call them on the phone, send them an email, sing them a song, buy them a gift, and so on.  Then read the students, SECRET MESSAGE about a boy who leaves his apology poem in his brother’s car under the seat.  Have students write an apology poem to someone and decide how they will give it to them.  For fun, read BROWNIES-OOPS! and bring brownies for the kids to eat. =)

BALANCE, Excerpt page 16

Dad, I’m sorry for smashing

the garage  window when I was a kid.

Felipe and I were messing around

and saw the cracked pane.

One had a crack.

So they should all have a crack, right?

That what Felipe said.

We hefted some rocks.

SECRET MESSAGE, Excerpt page 21

Where would you hide a secret message?

Under a pillow?  In a pocket?

Between two slices of bread?

Where would you hide a message

that wants to be gound?