MOD 4: Science Poetry

Bibliographic Data and ISBN

Singer, Marilyn, and Ed Young. 2012. A Strange Place To Call Home: The World's Most Dangerous Habitats & The Animals That Call Them Home. San Francisco: Chronicle Books. ISBN: 9781452101200

Summary

Marilyn Singer uses a variety of poetic forms to explain the unique living locales of different animals.

Critical Analysis

Layout

This volume excludes a table of contents and page numbers. An introduction titled “Risky Places” explains the purpose in three paragraphs.

The artist is Caldecott Medal winner, Ed Young. He uses highly textured mixed media to depict the animals and their unusual living environments. Look closely and you can see the torn edges of paper layers on life-like textures like fur. The foxes in “City Living” are especially lifelike.

Each poem includes a title. Below the title the species is listed. None of the poems are longer than a two page spread. Most are a single page.

The endnotes are five pages. They provide information on each animal depicted in the poetry. Singer does not list her sources for this information so readers may want to compare resources. The last page is dedicated to poetry forms. It lists The Poetry Foundation as a resource for poetry terms. It also lists the type of poetry used for a handful of poems.

Poetic Elements

For the most part, Singer’s words are literal. She does not utilize much figurative language. Simile occurs a few times, once in “A Bird In the Water” in the line, “Gray as wet slate” and again in the title “Dry as Dust.” She includes metaphor by calling tube worms “chimneys built on the ocean floor.” She expresses herself through descriptive vocabulary. Her poetic forms are rhythmic and formulaic. “Down In the Depths” has a rhyming scheme and the author invites readers in the conclusion of the book to figure it out. Much of the sense imagery describes the physical characteristics of the environment. The same poem, “Down In the Depths” describes, “deep sea hydrothermal vents. Superheated water rising” in a way that evokes the sight of water rushing up and the sensation of hot water.

Singer’s poetry is far from emotional. It is more of an informational text intended to awe readers.

Appeal

The poetic forms are appealing because they are formulaic in the repetition of lines and in their rhyming schemes. Readers would delight in dissecting them to figure out their patterns.

The topics of animals and their environments are interesting to many children. Many reluctant readers find pleasure in reading informational text and this poetry collection straddles the line between fiction and nonfiction. Many of the animals in this poetry book are familiar to children, but where they live is not. This information would be enriching for a wide age range. There were even several facts about the animals’ environments that I did not know.

The vocabulary is quite challenging. I would suspect that younger audiences would need lecture time to comprehend the scientific terms.

Readers will empathize with the hardships of the animals and appreciate their resilience. They will have much to remark about and finish the book. left in awe of Mother Nature.

Overall Quality

All poems are informational. The variation in poetry forms is also an educational experience. How many children’s poetry book display what a triolet or villanelle looks like? The art is detailed and perfectly paired with each poem.

The purpose of this collection is to portray the resilience of animals and the variation of environments on our planet. It is an informative text that is also poetic. Readers will learn about science and language arts.

Poems stimulate a variety of thoughts. All the locales are uncomfortable and dangerous, but from the perspective of the animals that live there it is home. The poetry may not be emotional, but it is thought provoking in a scientific way.

Final Analysis

I would highly recommend this title not only to supplement science lessons, but poetry lessons as well. The complementing factual information is thorough and allows for further exploration. It is a finely done collection that defies the stereotypes associated with poetry.

Featured Poem

On the Rocks Limpets

In the intertidal zone,

            where waves are prone

to be forceful,

            where the waters rush

to batter, buffet, crush,

            dislodge, displace, fling,

a limpet is resourceful.

            Its fine construction

employs suction.

            In others words, its thing

is mightily to cling.

Poem Connections

Just as the Chronicle Books teaching guide suggests have children identify an animal and articulate how it can live in its harsh environment. Take it a step further by having them draw the animal and label physical characteristics that help them thrive. For example draw an arrow pointing under a limpet and write “strong suction.”

Chronicle Books teaching guide: http://www.chroniclebooks.com/landing-pages/pdfs/PoetryPicture_TeachersGuide3.pdf