Bibliographic Data and ISBN
Florian, Douglas. 2012. Poem Runs: Baseball Poems and Paintings.
Boston: Harcourt Children's Books. ISBN: 9780547688381
Summary
Poem
Runs is a collection of Douglas Florian’s poetry and art about baseball. Many of
the poems highlight specific positions like first baseman.
Critical Analysis
Layout
Florian
includes a table of contents highlighting Poem titles and page numbers. He
chose to put the poems in a natural order, a mix of chronology and special
order. The poem, “Warm Up,” fires up the list and “Season is Over” concludes
the book. The end lacks additional notes from the author. It simply ends.
Poetic Elements
According
to the description on the book jacket Florian is known for his wordplay.
Although there is frequent rhyming homonyms are few. I recall one for “home” in
“Poem Run.”
Florian’s
style is heavy in repetition and rhyming. Perhaps this is a format he finds
success in to appeal to children. “A Baseball” exemplifies repetition the best.
Each line is rhythmically repetitive, all having two syllables. All lines also
repeat the final word “it.” “First Baseman” repeats the full line, “First base
is the worst base,” which also rhymes. Rhyming and repetition is good for those
learning to read, as it is predictive. I think a storyteller could take
advantage of this by pausing during reading to see if the audience will guess
the next word.
Appeal
True
to his appeal, Florian visually conveys meaning in his poetry by displaying the
text as such. For example, in the poem “Warm Up” the line “bend to the right”
is aligned to the right of the margin while the word “stretch” has spacing
between each letter giving the appearance of a stretched out word.
Baseball
is famously an American pastime. Children grow up watching and playing the
sport whether at school, at the park, or on television. It is not frequent for
poetry to be about sports so this is sure to draw and appeal to a different
crowd.
Refreshingly
Florian deliberately creates the collection to be gender neutral so it appeals
to all children. Poems features females in text and illustration a number of
times. “Our Slugger” prods at readers’ ideas of gender roles by surprising them
with the final line.
The
subject matter may be a challenge for those who do not already have a
background in basic baseball knowledge. It is a good opportunity to build the
slang and vocabulary associated with the game, words such as “slugger” and
“stealing” bases.
This
collection is specific to baseball and does not stimulate much beyond that.
Florian is not only repetitive in his devices but going through each player’s
perspective. In this way it lacks emotional depth and imagination, but it is forgivable
as this is a light-hearted subject.
Overall Quality
Poems
are consistent, not only is Florian’s signature style of repeating lines and
rhyming schemes, but he standardly writes through all the baseball positions. Most
of the players’ perspective are the same, arrogant voice boasting hyperbole in
ability. “Right Fielder” is probably one of the few that rather hang out and
pick flowers.
The
theme of Poem Runs is baseball and the poems collectively reinforce that
mission. Poems do not stimulate a variety of emotions, but steadily tread
through the characters of the field. Instructors and librarians can take this
opportunity to highlight sportsmanship in discussion and by reading other
texts.
Final Thoughts
I
consider this collection good for sporty readers especially those reluctant to
enjoy poetry. To me I am left with something to be desired with this book
alone. It would work well with supplemental materials, stories and activities,
but I would not use it alone to highlight poetry or a baseball themed
storytime.
Featured Poem
Catcher
I
can catch curve balls.
I
can catch heat.
I
can catch sliders.
With
glove or with feet.
I
block with my belly.
I
nab with my knees.
Throw
me jars of jelly.
I’ll
grab them with ease.
Throw
screwballs.
Or
two balls,
Brand-new
balls-
I’ll
snatch ‘em.
Throw
low-balls,
Big
snowballs, Or cannonballs-
I’ll
catch ‘em!
Poem Connections
“Catcher”
is told from the perspective of the catcher. Publisher, Houghton Mifflin
Harcourt, published a guide on poetry month (http://www.teachingbooks.net/media/pdf/HMH/PoetryKitMultipleTitles.pdf)
suggesting the extension activity of creating poetry of other folks you would
find at a game, like a fan or a vendor. Brainstorming these other characters can
act as a jumping off point for discussion- who else is at a ball game? What do
they do and say? Have students role play these parts in front of the class on a
volunteer basis and let others guess whom they are. Then have them work
individually to write their own poetry from the perspective of someone at a
baseball game.
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