A foot in the mouth: Poems to speak, sing, and shout is a delightful poetry book, featuring three dozen poems selected by award-winning poet Paul Janeczko. The poems fall under the following categories: poems for one voice, tongue twisters, poems for two voices, list poems, poems for three voices, short stuff, bilingual poems, rhymed poems, limericks, and poems for a group.
The illustrations by Chris Raschka were created using watercolor, ink, and torn paper. In an introduction, Janeczko states that he chose the poems for this collection because they are "terrific candidates for reading aloud".
Though the poems are written by authors spanning a myriad of cultures and writing styles, all of the poems have their own unique voice. The quality of the poems are very high-level, drawing on the expertise of poets who have unique styles. This deceptively simple poetry collection is ideal for introducing some 'classic' poets like Walt Whitman, William Shakespeare, and Lewis Carroll to young children. It is also a great resource for teachers and librarians wanting to introduce young readers to specific format poems like the limerick or list poems. Many of the poems are silly or light-hearted and will appeal to younger beginning readers.
I really enjoyed the poems for two voices. One of these is Georgia Heard's "Fishes". Reading the poem silently, alone, does not do the words justice. This poem is one that begs to be read by two people, aloud! It is so fun.
Fishes
Atlantic blue tang
Zebra pipe
Royal gramma
French angel
Cuban hock
Golden butterfly
We We
are are
fishes fishes
We We
shimmer swim
under
water
Our Our
mouths mouths
open
and
close
Our Our
gills gills
sift
air
from
water
Our Our
fins fins
steer
us like
wings
We We
are are
fishes fishes
We We
shimmer swim
This poem is ideal for two voices. A fun way to introduce this poem to a group of young readers (probably 2nd grade to 5th grade age kiddos), would be to listen to an audio recording of it read by two different people. Before listening to the recording of the poem, the teacher, parent, or librarian working with the kids could explain that this poem is specifically written for two voices.
After listening to the audio recording of the poem at least three times, the adult could separate the children into two groups. Working with each group, the librarian, teacher or parent could help one group learn the first voice part (on the left hand column) and the other group learn the second voice part (the words in the right hand column). Especially when working with young children it is important that the adult have patience and remember that reading poetry aloud is fun! It will take time and practice to get this poem performance ready, especially with two groups reading.
A foot in the mouth. JPEG. Retrieved from http://candlewick.com/cat.asp?browse=Title&mode=book&isbn=0763606634&pix=n
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