MOD 1: African American Poetry

Bibliographic Data

Grimes, Nikki, and Cozbi A. Cabrera. 2006. Thanks a Million: Poems. New York: Amistad. ISBN: 9780688172923

Summary

Nikki Grimes collects her poetry in the theme of gratitude. All the poems are within the context of the childhood experience.

Critical Analysis

Poetic Elements

This is a collection of rhyming poetry under the theme of gratitude. Grimes uses an expressive voice abundant with exclamations. It sounds conversational and playful which complements well with Cozbi Cabrera’s colorful illustrations.

Most of the poems are longer, having multiple stanzas, and are mostly narrative. The Lunchroom is a good example of one of her longer narrative poems. It tells a story of a budding friendship in the intimidating environment of the lunchroom.

Younger readers would be attracted to the various rhyming schemes. Lunch Box Love Notes features rhyming couplets that conclude with gratitude not from a child, but from a mother to her daughter.

The emotional impact of Grimes poetry is largely encouraging. It is an affirmation of not only expressing gratitude, but receiving it. Because it is presented within the context of childhood most of the poems are light-hearted, although one is about grief, Dear Author.

Appeal

Although nearly all the poems rhyme the poetic forms vary. Homemade Card stands out from the rest because uses a Rebus. Rebus uses pictures to represent words. It is fun and visually appealing to readers young and old. It can also help children learn to read.

Grimes unique voice retains readers’ attention. Her conversational style is solid by making use of italics, quotations, and exclamation points. The poetry sounds genuine, but also approachable. A reader may react to it thinking enjoying a writing poetry is just like talking.

The subject matter of grimes’ poetry takes place in the childhood experience. In Weekends we observe the thoughts of a child on his days off. He ponders sleeping all day, skateboarding, and watching a movie.

While the vocabulary may expand readers’ linguistic abilities the use of punctuation will also help build a verbal reading fluency. The punctuation indicates where a reader would pause, inflect, or even shout. Good Neighbor uses parenthesis where one might whisper.

Grimes’ words and Cabrera’s art stimulate emotion and imagination. Grimes makes the reader feel like someone is speaking to them. While wading in more light-hearted emotions she also dives into the pain of losing a father in Dear Author. Cabrera complements the meaning with muted grays and neutrals and by having the subjects looking down and away from us.

Overall Quality

Grimes consistently presents her trademark voice. Many of the works have a pleasant surprise about them whether it’s a Rebus or a new perspective. They are all compatible with the theme of gratitude. Readers conclude with not only expressing gratitude, but seeing others express it to them. I think it makes us think about how we react to someone expressing their gratitude.

Readers will journey through a range of mood and emotion. Scout’s Honor recounts a moment of humiliation, but also of friendship. Unspoken is ironically in a dialogue format lets the text fill a two-page spread and is playful.

Layout

This single poet anthology includes a table of contents, but no index. Cabrera painted full, two-page spread illustrations. The illustrations are rich in color and are strong indicator of the mood. You can see Cabrera’s brushstrokes. The art appears to be three dimensional and full of detail. Each human subject has unique features and collectively are ethnically diverse.

Featured Poem

Reward

“Thank you”

is a seed I plant

in the garden

of your heart.

Your smile

is the flower.

A slow and sweet surprise,

it blooms before my eyes!

Poem Connections

This poem is a great way to introduce a lesson or storytime about plant life. It is shorter, only a single stanza. True to Grimes’ style the punctuation and format invite the reader to pause at each line and say the words with thoughtfulness. After reading the poem twice create a whimsical art project by taking the lines literally. This would be an interesting collage project. Plantzilla by Jerdine Nolen would be a good narrative story to follow as it involves taking metaphors and idioms about plants literally. This can then transition to a discussion about how metaphor works. You can ask is the plant in this poem actually a smile? How is it like a smile? To integrate science the instructor can teach a lesson on germination and plant growth then conclude by having students plant grass seed in their own cups.