Poetry- INSIDE OUT & BACK AGAIN by Thanhha Lai

Bibliographic Data

Inside Out & Back Again by Thanhha Lai

Harper ©2011

ISBN: 9780061962783

Brief Plot Summary

Just as the I Ching Teller of Fate predicts, Hà’s, a ten-year-old Vietnamese girl, life is turned inside out. Chronicling a single year Ha lives through incredible changes displacing her from war torn Vietnam to the other side of the world, Alabama. Her mother is strong and her father has been M.I.A. for years. This emotional tale is told through free-verse dense with culture, sensory language, and a touch of humor. After the hardships of culture shock and alienation, Ha transitions to her new home.

Critical Analysis

This story is told from the first person point of view of our 10-year-old protagonist, Hà. She is learning English and the culture of America. Using a free-verse format makes sense because it expresses her voice well. Her voice is phonetically represented in words like “Msss. Sscott.” People and things are referred to as she would, for example, the pink boy. Her perspective really clears the air for perceptions of immigrants in America. Too often Americans see English learners as unintelligent. Hà turns thoughts like these on their heads, as she is clever. She often acts as though other people are dumb (“Whoever invented English should have learned to spell”).

Hà's narrative has strong emotion. We find her longing for normalcy, in sadness, living in fear, drowning in embarrassment and shame, raging in anger, and more. This year of her life is traumatic. She fled a country in war, never knew her father, moves to the other side of the world, and learns to live a new life.

This book has resounding sensory language. We can see the glossy seeds of the papayas she loves so much. We can smell the lavender of her mother. We can hear the distant explosions of bombs. We can feel the hot metal benches burning her legs as she waits for rations. We can see the flowers through her tears as she tries to run to her home in Alabama. We can taste the bitter mouthful of fish sauce and how good fresh-killed chicken is. Color is constantly brought up in this story. Many times we hear about the plant life in Vietnam and the colors of people’s hair and skin.

Saigon, At Sea, Alabama, and From Now On are the four section’s titles in which this book is organized. It is almost like the four seasons in a year, coincidentally the span of time this story takes place. The stanzas for each poem vary in length and quantity. Each poem has a title and ends with a date, similar to a journal entry.

Since this is a somewhat autobiographical book about a Vietnamese girl the reader will this volume dense with cultural references. Foods like papaya, rice, and tamarind candy come up frequently. The first and last poems take place during Tet, the lunar New Year. A metaphor refers to worms (“Hours later the stitches appear in slow motion, the needle a worm laying tiny eggs”) and a simile to lizards (“It hurts too much to keep screaming, but it feels good to trash about like a captured lizard”), creatures she knows from her childhood.

Review Excerpt(s)

“Readers will be moved by Hà's sorrow as they recognize the anguish of being the outcast who spends lunchtime hiding in the bathroom.” - Hazel Rochman (Booklist, Jan. 1, 2011 (Vol. 107, No. 9))

“In haunting poems based on her own childhood experiences as a refugee in the deep South, Lai shares the sting of American ignorance and prejudice, the stigma of being thought "dumb" for not yet being fluent in the perplexities of English language spelling and pronunciation, the kindness of new friends, and the slow acceptance of inevitable change” - Claudia Mills, Ph.D. (Children's Literature)

Connections

Scholastic Book Clubs Lesson Plans and discussion questions: http://teacher.scholastic.com/clubs/pdfs/guides/inside_out_guide.pdf

Share excerpts that portray Ha’s difficulty with learning English. Many rules of grammar have exceptions. Discuss grammar rules and exceptions of those rules. Find this activity and more: http://classroombookshelf.blogspot.co.uk/2011/05/inside-out-back-again.html

Poetry- I AM THE BOOK

Bibliographic Data

I Am the Book

Poems selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins

Illustrated by Yayo

Holiday House Books ©2011

ISBN: 9780823421190

Brief Plot Summary

Celebrate reading and books with thirteen poems by thirteen authors. Yayo’s acrylic paintings playfully hide a book in every image.

Critical Analysis

I Am the Book is a topical collection because it features multiple poets. Lee Bennett Hopkins selected these works and is well known the juvenile poetry world. This collection is organized with a table of contents and numbered pages. Gazing at the table if contents it looks as though there is a grouping. Poems 2-4 all start with “w.” Poems 5-7 start with “p.” The last three poems all have the word “book” in the title.

(Observe the grouping of titles in the table of contents)

Despite the range of poets in this collection we see a visual consistency in this book (same fonts, same illustrative style). Yayo’s art for each poem spreads over two pages. Readers will enjoy seeking the book hidden in every picture. Yayo’s compositions display large swatches of color with smaller items in view. It gives the images depth. The objects appear to have a slanted appearance giving this work a unique style.

(Yayo style- slanted figures and swatches of color- is truly unique)

In Children’s Literature In Action, Sylvia Vardell shares that topical collections are great for promoting other poets. Well-known authors, like Jane Yolen, bring attention this volume containing lesser-known authors as well. This book concludes with short biographies on each poet. This is a great way to peak curiosity of readers into exploring authors.

The title of this book is a metaphor. The illustration on the cover is of a book with limbs and a head. The poetry within its pages range from free verse, to rhyming, to narrative poetry, to imagery.

(Tom Robert Shields’ metaphor perfectly illustrated)

Tom Robert Sheilds poem is the same title of the book. It’s highly visual with intense images derived from lines like, “When I read I like to dive| Feet kicking fast across the page| Splashing words against my skin.” The reader can see the fantastical scene through his clever metaphor.

(Observe the instruments illustrated for Yolen’s A Poem Is)

In Jane Yolen’s poem A Poem Is she personifies words. She makes words run, nudge, and hum. The title of the poem begs the question, “what is a poem?” A poem is words and words do things. Words are powerful. Her poem features internal rhyme, “humming, thrumming, drumming, strumming.” These words also describe musical instruments, which Yayo thoroughly displays in the image as well.

Review Excerpt(s)

“In this picture-book collection from veteran anthologist Hopkins, 13 well-known children's poets celebrate how books can take readers on wild adventures.” - Hazel Rochman (Booklist, Mar. 1, 2011 (Vol. 107, No. 13))

“In Yayo's acrylic spreads, an open book becomes a whale's tail, a treasure box, and a drifting raft, emphasizing the transformative potential of words.” –Publishers Weekly

Connections

Read selections that display metaphor. Ask the children to think about something they enjoy. Then have them use that as a metaphor for enjoying reading to jumpstart ideas for a poem. Have the children complete the poem with a picture.

Read this book along with other books that promote the joy of reading. Ask everyone what his or her favorite book is. Then show book trailers during a book talk to explore new titles.

Poetry- A CURIOUS COLLECTION OF CATS by Betsy Franco

Bibliographic Data

A Curious Collection of Cats

By Betsy Franco

Illustrated by Michael Wertz

Tricycle Press ©2009

ISBN: 9781582462486

Brief Plot Summary

Michael Wertz colorfully enhances Betsy Franco’s poetry depicting what it is to be a cat using bright shapes and typography. These 34, single-paged poems spotlight the good and the bad aspects of cats with playfulness and whimsicality.

Critical Analysis 

A Curious Collection of Cats is an individual compilation of Betsy Franco’s poetry. Michael Wertz illustrates them into concrete poetry. Concrete poetry translates the words of poems into typography that shape into a picture. This is not a strict example of concrete poetry, but it does feature inconsistent lettering in shapes that are often combined with other shapes to create images. Wertz illustrations enhances Franco’s poems just as they should.

(Not strict concrete poetry because the words alone do not form shapes)

Franco’s poetry compilation is a mix of free verse and rhyming poetry. It is mostly imagery poetry, depicting scenes of cat-dom. The point of view is third person, often referring to cats by adorable names like Rascal, Darla, and Gonzo. The reader experiences a range of senses. They can hear the howls and yowls of a catfight in Lenny Vs. Patch. They can see movement in words like clawing. The can imagine the clumps of fur on the ground. The verb choices of this poem exhibit strong meaning and make for a great vocabulary lesson- screeches, pouncing, scuffling. This poem also follows a rhythmic format bouncing from four to three syllables. The second and fourth lines rhyme “fighting felines!| screeches howls!| pouncing biting!| high pitched yowls!”

(The Purrfect Scarf)

The poem The Purrfect Scarf uses metaphor to refer to the “Burmese scarf.” In a simile Franco explains how the “scarf” is as “warm as wool.” On the edge of the page we see the calming onomatopoeia, “purr purr purr purr purr purr.”

The title of this collection shows alliteration, a hard c noise repeating. One poem, Prickles Vs. the Golden Retriever also has repeating sounds, but they occur internally, “Pickle’s fur is sticking out his back.”

(We can hear and see how prickly Prickles is)

The organization is this book is minimal. Readers will not find a table of contents and page numbers. The poems also seem to be in no particular order. We simply wonder an emotional range, from peace, to warmth, to high pitches, and violence.

Review Excerpt(s) 

“Sly humor and a deep appreciation of feline quirks add to the fun as do Michael Wertz's bright, stylized illustrations.” - Mary Quattlebaum (Children's Literature)

“Cat lovers will recognize the standoffs with arching backs, the cozy touch of the "purrfect" scarf on their shoulders, and the tech-savvy cat who walks across the keyboard to add her own note to an e-mail to a friend.” - Hazel Rochman (Booklist, Mar. 15, 2009 (Vol. 105, No. 14))

Connections

After reading selections from A Curious Collection of Cats, follow by reading A Dazzling Display of Dogs (also by Franco and Wertz).

After reading selections from the book explore writing poetry using techniques found in the book such as rhyming, alliteration, metaphor, etc. Turn the poems into art by mimicking the concrete poetry from the book.

After reading selections explore vocabulary through concrete poetry. Have the children draw words into shapes based on the word’s meaning. Enhance vocabulary by using words like fluid, frantic, and sizzle.

(Polydactyl- a fine vocabulary word)

Traditional Literature- THE THREE PIGS by David Wiesner

Bibliographic Data

The Three Pigs by David Wiesner

Clarion Books ©2001

ISBN: 9780618007011

Brief Plot Summary

Three pigs start their new individual lives. The first builds his home of straw and sure enough the wolf asks to enter, is denied, and blows the straw house down. But this time is different. This pig flies right off the page despite the text saying he is eaten. The second pig makes his escape off the page then the two find the third. The story transforms featuring the three pigs in negative space flying on paper airplane. They wonder into another story- a nursery rhyme. They escape into a fantasy tale with a dragon that they befriend. They take the dragon back with them to the negative space to explore other stories. They rebuild the story of the three little pigs and re-enter it. The dragon scares off the wolf and they all live happily ever after in their new hybrid storyland.

Critical Analysis

This version of the classic folktale of The Three Little Pigs is transformed taking the reader into the imagination of David Wiesner. All three pigs completely leave the story and enter a new world of magic and wonder that celebrates literature. Using verbal irony the tale begins as usual, but the pigs pop out of the story by chance.

(Characters examining other worlds in what appear to be pages from other stories)

(The pigs wonder into another well-known story and a cat follows them out)

Accomplished through three-dimensional art, the pigs fall off the page appearing photo-realistic while the story art appears two-dimensional. They wonder into other stories that have their own motifs. The nursery rhymes is bright and simple. The fantasy tale is colorless and detailed.

(The pig falling out of the two-dimensional story into a new world where he is three-dimensional. Notice the wolfs arms bending like a human)

Three Pigs is a beast tale because the characters are animals with human behaviors. They talk and even the wolf’s front leg bends like a human arm to knock on the door. It is also a fractured fairy tale because it parodies a classic story. It will leave children remarking about the distinctions between the two.

(In this version the pigs befriend this dragon and take him back with them)

This version is like a folktale in many ways. The characters embody virtues of either good or evil. Surprisingly the dragon is good. The plot features the protagonists overcoming obstacles and going on a long journey. The setting is in a faraway and simple place. The theme is the good pigs (and dragon) triumphing over the bad wolf and living happily ever after. It teaches readers the value of friendship.

(Displacing text while living happily ever after)

Review Excerpt(s)

“The story begins in a traditional, flat, almost old-fashioned illustrative style. But once the first pig leaps from the picture's frame, he becomes more shaded, bristly with texture, closer to a photographic image. As the pigs travel and enter each new story world, they take on the style of their surroundings--the candy-colored nursery rhyme, the almost comic-book fairy tale--until, in the end, they appear as they did at the beginning.” -Gillian Engberg (Booklist, May 15, 2001 (Vol. 97, No. 18))

“Children, young teenagers, and adults, too, will find great pleasure and humor in the unexpected turns of this tale.” -CCBC (Cooperative Children's Book Center Choices, 2002)

“The pigs have braved the new world and returned with their treasure: the cat for company and fiddle music, the dragon's golden rose for beauty, and the dragon himself for warmth and protection from the wolf.” -Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews, April 1, 2001 (Vol. 69, No. 7))

Connections

Read this story in an art themed storytime. While reading ask the children how the art differs in each tale the pigs wonder into. Follow with an activity where the children choose a favorite story by asking what story would they wonder into. Have them try to replicate the art in that kind of story.

Three Pigs has many stories within it. Have the audience identify the stories after reading aloud. Surprise them by reading stories like the ones in the book.

Read the story then listen to David Wiesner talk about his writing process here (http://www.teachingbooks.net/author_collection.cgi?id=47&a=1) . Have the children create their own story in a similar way by drawing the pictures first then writing the narration.