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.

RUBBER HOUSES by Ellen Yeomans

Yeomans, Ellen. 2007. RUBBER HOUSES. New York: Little, Brown, and Company. ISBN 9780316106474

Review

Through a course of poems, teenage Kit, experiences the cancer diagnoses of her brother and his eventual death.  She must then learn to cope with her grief, her family, and the return to school.  Tears may be shed but the ending will remind readers of hope, happiness, and the purpose of having relationships to heal. 

This verse novel tells a story and does not rely on rhyming, though there are instances of it.  Some poems use repetition; three sentences in a row starting with “This woman…” or “I miss…” where she states “I miss Callie/I miss swimming/I miss the outdoors.” 

As a reader, the place the story turned for me was in the poem SCAR TISSUE.  As she soaks in the bath, she begins scraping at blackened tile caulk and compares it to “deep scar tissue,” and “opening the wound.”  Who knew picking at tile caulk could be part of a grieving process?  The author also supplies such details and opportunities to visualize the events.  She describes phone calls from Kit’s friend Callie wanting to be there for her and the hoard of food in the trunk of the car not eaten because of her sadness.  She describes grieving parents and her brother’s bad habits that she doesn’t want to forget.  “Peeled his nails/low and raw/fingertips sore/and often bleeding” and “terrible singing voice/low and flat/mixed up tunes/confused lyrics” are two examples. 

This story has potential to be emotional and difficult for some to read if they have experienced something similar.  Most teenagers will be able to relate in some way as so many have dealt with tragedy and/or feeling separated from others and lonely.    An unlikely friendship with an older hardware store worker, Mr. Larkin, adds elements of surprise and hope to the story.      

Poetry in Action:

Introducing the Poem:  Have students identify an important event in their life.  It could be joyful, sad, emotional, exciting, devastating.  Have the students indicate an object, something tangible that represents their event.  For example, cotton candy may represent a day at the fair or bandana to represent a mom who had cancer. 

Follow up Activity:  Read the students the poem and then ask questions about how the molded tub caulk was a metaphor for Kit’s circumstances.  After discussion, have students think about their event again.  Using the intangible object, have students draw their intangible object and create a poem for the event and the object. 

Scar Tissue

Soaking in my tub

I notice

the ring of caulk blackened in the corners,

beneath the soap dish too

a scabbed wound of mildew.

I pick at it with fingers

and a rattail comb,

pulling out bits of crumbly scum and sealant

laying it along the side of the tub,

leaving a gaping one-inch slash.

Toweling off

I grab tweezers from the drawer,

and pull out more dark, stiff caulk.

Another couple inches of crevice revealed

where tile used to meet tub.

Focused I dig,

pull, scrape out

diseased scar tissue,

wiping with a washcloth

opening the wound to light and air.

Soon I’ll find my bathrobe,

get a screwdriver,

finish it right.

But for now I’ll continue with comb and

tweezers.



COMETS, STARS, THE MOON, AND MARS by Douglas Florian

Florian, Douglas. 2007. COMETS, STARS, THE MOON, AND MARS. Florida: Harcourt. ISBN 9780152053727

Review

Vivid and striking paintings with geometric cut-outs capture the audience’s attention and lead the reader into a glowing collection of space-inspired, educational poems.  Florian uses his writing to teach knowledge of planets and all things space including size, purpose, and color.

Rhyme is a constant pattern throughout the book, hence Skywatch,

you might try/the starry sky

and

good to sight/very bright.

Some poems also use pattern as in Pluto, which uses “Pluto was a planet” for every other line. 

Sense imagery is used throughout the book as Florian describes the planets in ways the reader can visualize.  Mercury uses movement words like speed, quick, fast, rush, and racing.  A Galaxy uses descriptive words such as round, flat, and spiral.  This poem is written in a swirl shape to resemble the swirling galaxy movement to enhance the written word. 

Other worthy notes include the use of metaphor in The Minor Planets to compare the small planets to breakfast buns.  This fun use might make you hungry! His poem, Martians, uses alliteration as it repeats the terms Mars and Martians in the lines.  Whether for educational purposes or just for fun, this book is one you will want in your child’s collection.

Poetry in Action:

Introducing the Poem:  Show students real life pictures from NASA’s website: http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/images/?s=1

which includes sand, ice caps, and even some unexplained things.

Follow up Activity:  Give each student a balloon to blow up and have them use markers to illustrate the description of Mars on the balloon.  Attach a string and piece of paper to the balloon and have students write a Martian-tale for Mars.  Then have students pass the balloons around so that everyone gets to see others’ illustrations and read their tales. 

Mars

Mars is red,

And Mars is rusty,

Sandy, rocky,

Very dusty.

Mars has ice caps.

Once had streams.

Mars has Martians…

In your dreams!

WORDS WITH WRINKLED KNEES by Barbara Juster Esbensen

Esbensen, Barbara Juster. 1986. WORDS WITH WRINKLED KNEES. Ill. by John Stadler. New York: Crowell. ISBN 0690045042

Review

Twenty animal words are described to evoke visualization through the eyes of Esbensen. Words like snake, wolf, and penguin are given characteristics which may show through the animal itself or the word and its letters.  Concrete items, these animals are abstractly portrayed in a fun and pensive way. Esbensen’s style is irregular and requires pauses and breaks to give meaning.  Sound is used throughout in poems such as Whale, Frog, and Snake with sound words like “splat!,” “whoooosh,” and “sssssssss.”  “Wide,” “Li” (the Li as in the first part of the word lion), and “white” are used in the poem Lion to create assonance.  Spider includes hyphenated, “ing” words to create rhythm and rhyme.  “Fast-biting,” “tight-wrapping,” and “eight-legged” make speaking about spiders roll off the tongue more easily.  In a collection where mosquito noses are compared to stilettos and penguins wear black slippers, a different approach is used to make animals and poetry a joyful experience.

Poetry in Action:

Introducing the Poem:  Including the letters from “giraffe,” add other letters and make cards with only one letter on them; enough for the class.  For instance, one card will have a g, another will have an I, while a third will have an r.  Have students hold letter cards up and without moving or talking, just by looking around, have them think about the letters and if they can spell an animal with the letters on student’s cards.  (We call this Words with Friends).  After a few minutes, let them get up and talk and try to create animal words with their letters, hoping that someone will figure out you can spell giraffe.  Before reading, give students a few fun facts about giraffes including height, average age, and habitat.

Follow up Activity:  In a box, write other animal names and have students draw for one.  The animal that they get, students should use other books to find a few fun facts and a poem or poetry book that goes with that animal.  If time allows, have students present their facts and poems. 

G I R A F F E

Quietly nibbling

Sneezing now and then

(because of the dust)   this word

munches on the leaves

of books lined up

on the topmost shelves

of high-ceilinged libraries

In the oldest

neighborhoods

in town

G I R A F F E

The whole word has been spray-painted

golden brown through a large

net    The pattern    (light

and shadow filtered through dirty

windows)     protects it

from sharp-eyed

librarians     who think they hear

someone eating paper

high above their heads

 G I R A F F E    a word with legs

so tall    with neck so long

it has never seen

its knees!

A shy word        G I R A F F E   might

take its favorite

food     right from your hand

Offer it a bite of

STEEPLE     TOWER     STRATOSHPERE and

Maybe it will follow you home

If you want to keep      G I R A F F E

in your room

you only need to take

the roof

off the house!

THIS BIG SKY by Pat Mora

Author Pat Mora
Photo by http://www.ncte.org/

Mora, Pat. 1998. THIS BIG SKY. Ill. by Steve Jenkins. New York: Scholastic Press. ISBN 0590371207

Review

With fourteen poems, Mora brings life to the American Southwest.  Deserts, coyotes, snakes, raccoons, and the hot sun, are just a few of the mentioned characters in Mora’s poems. 

A multicultural book, Mora includes Spanish words and provides a glossary of these terms at the end.  She uses words like “vibora” and “paisano” to bring the culture and environment to life in a different way.   It grabs the reader’s attention and either connects with them or intrigues them.  Her poem, Suspense, is a good use of onomatopoeia as the words make you feel the action.  “Plink, plink,” “splatter” and “splash” show the rain and its presence.  I can read this poem and transport myself to this place. These poems do not necessarily rhyme but the stories they tell make it easy to picture them.  Urban Raccoon is another favorite of mine in this collection.  Her use of the five-senses makes it hard to read through without seeping into the story.  In this poem, you feel it and hear it with phrases like “strrrrretch onto the roof” and “scratch, scratch, scratches.”  The reader can almost touch the raccoon as you read about her thick coat/ringed tail/rubs her roundness/pudgy lady. It makes me want to curl up in bed!  The illustrations are vibrant, clean, and textured.  The way they are cut and placed together adds dimension and their effect on the senses. 

The tone of Mora’s poetry in this book is of intoxication.  An environment sometimes portrayed as barren and negative, Mora’s tone is the opposite.  I sense her amazement and wonder in the poems.  Each poem carefully highlights a different aspect of the Southwest.  

Poetry in Action:

Introducing the Poem:  Take students on a nature walk and have them document, in pairs, the things they see including plants, living things, the sky, and the weather.

Follow up Activity:  While still sitting outside and having read the poem, have students revisit their list of things they see and have them add to or rewrite them in more descriptive, sense-provoking ways.  Give them examples of “boil purple” and “prickly cactus.”  Then compare their first words to their later words to see OR FEEL the difference. 

Suspense

Wind chases itself

Around our house, flattens

Wild grasses

With one hot breath.

Clouds boil purple

and gray, roll

and roil. Scorpions

dart

under stones. Rabbit eyes peer

from the shelter of mesquite.

Thorny silence.

My paisano, the road runner,

paces, dashes into the rumble.

races from the plink, plink

splatter into his shadow,    leaps

at the crash   flash

splash,

sky rivers rushing into arroyos and

thirsty roots of prickly pears,

greening cactus.

MUNCHING: POEMS ABOUT EATING selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins

Author Lee Bennett Hopkins
Photo by Charles Egita

Hopkins, Lee Bennett, trans. 1985. MUNCHING: POEMS ABOUT EATING. Ill. by Nelle Davis. Boston: Little, Brown, and Company. ISBN 0316372692

Review

This compilation is a playful read about foods and eating.  Readers will enjoy poetry about eating foods, wanting foods, preparing foods, and playing with foods!  Most of the poems are short and contain vocabulary for early readers. 

The meaning of the book is concrete as all of the poetry pertains to physical acts of or with food.  Some authors use figurative language like similes and metaphors.  The poem, Artichoke by Maxine W. Kumin, compares artichokes to jokes and games.  Fruited Rainbow by Charles Egita compares a fruit salad to a rainbow.  Others use hyperbole to appeal to readers in the poems The Pizza by Ogden Nash and The Perfect Turkey Sandwich by Steven Kroll. 

True rhyme is commonly used throughout the collection. In Spaghetti! Spaghetti! By Jack Prelutsky, the writer “can’t get enough” of the “wonderful stuff.”  Cake by David McCord uses assonance, “Take cake: a very easy rhyme for bake.”  Fun to read, this group of poems by well known and credible authors shows young readers just how much fun you can have with your food!

To name just a few of the authors included in the book, Ogden Nash, was noted by the New York Times as the country’s best known producer of humorous poetry. JackPrelutsky was awarded the Children’s Poet Laureate Award. During her career, Maxine W. Kumin was appointed Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress. 

Poetry in Action:

Introducing the Poem:  With construction paper, help students create a food by cutting and gluing paper.  For example, students can cut and glue pizza toppings onto a pizza slice.  Ask students what their favorite food is to eat.

Follow up Activity:  Ask students when they are in the mood for food?  Teach students about meal times like breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  Have a felt chart (or something similar) with three columns labeled breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  With felt foods, have students place the foods in the meal time that they would like to eat it. 

The Clean Platter by Ogden Nash

Bring salad or sausage or scone,

A berry or even a beat,

Bring an oyster, an egg, or a bone,

As long as it’s something to eat.

If its food,

Its food;

Nevermind what kind of food.

Through thick and through thin

I am constantly in

The mood

For food.

JUMP BALL: A BASKETBALL SEASON IN POEMS by Mel Glenn



Photo located on www.authors4teens.com



Glenn, Mel. 1997. JUMP BALL: A BASKETBALL SEASON IN POEMS. New York: Lodestar. ISBN 052567554X

Review

A high school basketball season is experienced through the personal poems of the members of the basketball team as well as other key members to the story.  Competition, dating, pregnancy, and tragedy are explored throughout the pages.  We read about Garrett James, a player looking to go pro, and his love of the game and his dislike for the media’s questions.  Author Mel Glenn uses the poetry to convey attitudes of the characters.  We feel like James is somewhat quiet and prefers to do his talking on the court.  Mary Beth Hoskins’ poems reveals her tolerance for having a husband as a dedicated basketball coach but we also sense her loneliness as we read, “I often eat, sleep, and live alone.”  The poems give you glimpses into the accident that occurs at the end of the book and readers will be anticipating the outcome. 

Jump Ball is an abstract play on emotions.  The reader will connect with the lives and feelings of the characters and will develop their own hopes of what happens to them.  Readers will also connect with the cultural language that is used with words such as, “ain’t doin’ nothin’,” “outta here,” and “I ain’t no ball player, you is.”   Differentiated poem sounds and structure are used to keep readers interested.  For example, poems with same word endings like “zone” and “zone” in Garrett James (below) and slant rhyme poems like Dennis Carleton can spark interest among users with words that don’t rhyme but are similar like “enough” and “but” or “son” and “was.”  In addition, the Basketball Pulse poems are concrete poems which also appeal to young readers. 

Poetry in Action:

Introducing the Poem:  Have students share with a partner a time when they got to do their favorite hobby and it was a good time/moment. 

Follow up Activity:  Have students notice the middle of the poem where the author uses the same word at the end of the sentences.  Have students create a poem of their own using their hobby as a topic and having the same ending in a part of the poem. 

Garrett James

I’ve played in tournaments ‘round the country.

I’ve gone coast-to-coast,

From one baseline to another,

From one ocean to another.

I’ve flown over more time zones

Than u can remember.

But there is only one zone that counts,

Not the parking zone,

              hospital zone,

             loading zone,

             commercial zone,

Not the combat zone,

red zone,

end zone,

neutral zone.

When I am in THE ZONE,

Every pass connects; every shot clicks.

I can’t hear the crowd or the coach.

I am alone, alive, above the rim, above the arena,

Playin’ in a zone for which there is no defense.

Nobody can ever hurt me up there.

I am untouchable.