Review: Blue Lipstick: concrete poems

Grandits, J. 2007. BLUE LIPSTICK: CONCRETE POEMS. New York: Clarion Books. ISBN 9780618568604. 

This funky book of concrete poems is an excellent example of the types of poetry available for young readers. Grandits not only wrote the poems in Blue Lipstick, but he also illustrated the book. In a note from the author at the back of the book, Grandits explains that he used QuarkXPress Software to create the illustrations.

Most of the poems in this collection seem to be written from the point of view teenagers, so this book will certainly appeal to young teenagers. There are over thirty concrete poems in this collection. The poems seem to be in no particular order, and this somewhat disarray may be frustrating for some readers (as it was for me). In a book with poems of this format, a table of contents or a list of the poems would have been helpful. There is a short note from the author entitled “Pocket Poem” at the end of the book.

Probably one of the most fun poems is the one titled “Poems Inspired by the Free Perfume Samples at Carson’s”. It features six different haikus written for the “Totally Lame English Assignment #19”.

Here is the haiku “Attar de Girls’ Bathroom during a dance”:

            Breath mints. Bubble gum.

Jealousy, lies, and gossip.

Ninth-grade witches’ brew.

And “Essence of Lunchroom”:

            Mysterious meats.

           Questionable vegetables.

        Mix, bake, burn, and serve.

            (Grandits, 2007)

These hilarious haiku poems are just one example of the variety of concrete poems in this collection. Grandits uses the concrete poem form to show through design and words, the gamut of thoughts, feelings and emotions teenagers experience due to budding hormones. A fun activity to do with teenagers, based on the haikus above, would be for them to come up with a “Totally lame English Assignment” and then switch with a peer and write out a poem based on the satirical “assignment”.

This is a light-hearted look at poetry, and really a fun way to get the kids excited about poetry, which may be viewed with trepidation. After writing their poem assignments, the kids could take turns sharing their poem with a partner, and then vote on whose assignment was the most lame. All in good fun of course! 

Blue lipstick cover photo. JPEG. Retrieved from http://www.hmhco.com/shop/books/Blue-Lipstick/9780618851324#

Review: Pug and Other Animal Poems

Worth, V. 2013. PUG AND OTHER ANIMAL POEMS. New York: Margaret Ferguson Books. ISBN 9780374350246. 

Pug and other animal poems, a topical collection of poems written by late author Valerie Worth (1933-1995), was published in 2013. The book features beautiful cut-out collage pictures by Steve Jenkins. The book's eighteen poems each focus on a different animal.Worth’s animal poems feature many different poetic elements throughout book. Since the poems are all about animals, the most obvious element is that of personification. Young readers will be captivated by how Worth describes the various animals and insects. The rhythm of the poems vary. 

Almost all of the poems are succinct, and in only a few lines, give the reader a glimpse of the mouse, rabbits, the wood thrush, the cat, the fox, toads, fireflies, along with other animals and insects. The beautiful illustrations complement the poems well. 

What is so great about Worth’s poetry style is that her concise, seemingly simple poems will appeal to young children who are being introduced to poetry. Who doesn't love poems about animals? Worth weaves intricate details of some of the most mundane insects, like the cicada, for instance. Readers may be surprised that their perceptions of certain animals and insects may change after reading Worth's poems. Here is the poem "Cicada":

            A fairy

            Tale come

            True: the

           

Humped brown

            Gnome split

            Up the back,

            The silver-

            Caped prince

            Set free.

(Worth, 2013)

This poem's three stanzas depict Worth's clear style: the imagery is clear, the lowly cicada becomes an exalted prince! One way to introduce this book to young children would be to print out copies of footprints for each of the animals mentioned in the poems, and have the children match up the footprints to a photograph of the animal.

After the children have worked together to match the footprints to their correct animal owners, the teacher or librarian could lead a short discussion on how/why the children chose the footprints for their respective owners. Afterwards, each child could choose an animal and the group can read the poem that corresponds with that particular animal. 

Review: May B.: a novel in verse

Rose, C.S. 2012. MAY B. : A NOVEL. New York: Schwartz & Wade Books. ISBN 9781582463933 (hardcover).

Rose’s novel in verse is a beautiful book set in the rural prairies of 19th-century Kansas. It is an interesting novel in that the book features only one point of view, that of twelve-year-old Mavis Elizabeth Betterly, otherwise known as May B. She is sent by her parents to help out a newly married couple who live fifteen miles from May's family. 

From the beginning of the novel we see May's strong determination- she is insistent on not going to live with strangers, but the choice is ultimately made by her father, who promises the separation will be only till Christmas. May soon finds herself alone in the newlyweds' soddy, the new bride having run away and the groom set out to find her. 

Rose’s verse style features a variety of poetic elements. Some great examples of this include beautiful sensory imagery which makes the reader feel as if they are on the Kansas prairie with May B. In a beautiful stanza describing the area near their home, May says:

            

            I play a game inside my head,

            counting plum trees that dot a creek bed,

            rabbits that scatter at the sound of wagon

               wheels,

            clouds that skirt the sky.

            For hours, that is all,

            and grass,

            always grass,

            in different shade sand textures like the braids in a rag rug.

(Rose, 18)

Throughout the novel, the grass, the hills, the river, the woods and the sky are presented realistically through Rose’s verse that the reader is captivated by the wide, open space of the Kansas prairie. Through sharing May's struggle with reading (she most likely has dyslexia), Rose's verses have great emotional impact as the reader begins to understand May’s doubts about her ability to read aloud. She longs to overcome her struggle with reading to become a school teacher. May's determination to become a fluent reader will inspire any young readers struggling with dyslexia. 

Rose’s verse style will be appealing to both young and adult readers alike. She intricately weaves sensory details of the Kansas landscape with the thoughts and feelings May experiences throughout her time living alone, separated from her family. May’s quite sense of humor and sarcasm about Mrs. Oblinger and some of her schoolmates keeps the mood of the verse throughout the novel light when it otherwise would have been disparaging. The verse is full of seemingly everyday details which show the immensity of physical work it took just to survive on the prairie.

The layout of this verse novel is set in two parts. What may be slightly confusing to some readers is the numbering of pages or entries. It appears that the numbering at the top of each page is for each entry, sort of like a chapter number, but it also may be that this numbering represents the amount of days which transpire, since May lives alone for several months. The numbers at the bottom of the page are the traditional page numbers.

Some of my favorite verses come from the time when May finds herself alone at the Oblingers’ soddy, with no idea of what the future holds.

            I push open the door

            and run,

            and run,

            and run,

            and run,

            until the soddy’s a tiny speck.

            And around me,

            the grass reaches in every direction.

            There is nothing here to mark my place,

            nothing to show me where I am.

            No trees.

            No stones.

            No wagon ruts this way.

            Just emptiness.

            This isn’t home,

            where I know the land.

           

(Rose, 73)

This beautiful verse embodies the hopelessness threatening to engulf May. As she has never lived away from her family before, she is completely unsure of where she is, and has no idea how to return to her parents’ home. A great activity to introduce this novel to middle-grade readers (most likely 4th-6th graders) would be to present some historical photographs of rural 19th-century Kansas as it is depicted in the novel. Personally, I did not know exactly what a ‘soddy’ was before reading the novel. If young readers are able to view photographs of Kansas from the time period that the novel is set in, they will be able to create more accurate mental images of what Rose describes with such beautiful detail. 

May B. book cover. JPEG. Retrieved from http://www.randomhouse.com/book/208455/may-b-by-caroline-rose