Still more on new novels in verse: Trailers

Here's a second installment featuring the work of my wonderful graduate students (in my fall course on YA literature). In honor of Teen Read Week (Oct. 16-23), they created digital trailers to promote some of the hot new verse novels being published for teens and I have their permission to share their projects here. Here are six trailers I think you'll enjoy. Please share them with the teens in your life-- get the books-- and encourage the kids to read and respond with their own audio-visual-digital creations!

First, Elizabeth Hoff has created an intriguing trailer for I'll Be Watching by Canadian writer Pamela Porter.



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Next up, Joseph Krupp made this gem for Orchards by Holly Thompson. [Note: Joe is currently a librarian in a school in Cambodia!]



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Kirsten Dees created this trailer for Margarita Engle's gripping historical novel in verse, Hurricane Dancers.



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Dana Terrell created this evocative trailer for Family by Micol Ostow.



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Janice Kirkland channeled the 1960's in this trailer for Sherry Shahan's Purple Daze.



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And finally, Kathey Smith offers a slightly different interpretation for Shahan's Vietnam-era novel in verse, Purple Daze.

More on new novels in verse: Trailers

In honor of Teen Read Week (Oct. 16-23), the students in my YA Literature course this fall are creating digital trailers to promote some of the hot new books being published for teens. In fact, they chose 9 of the recent novels in verse published this year to showcase in their work and I have their permission to share their projects here. First, I'll feature those that are available at external sites. (Tomorrow, I'll showcase those that are downloadable.)

First, Kathryn Anderson has created an evocative trailer for Displacement by Thalia Chaltas. It's available on YouTube via this link. Check it out.

Kristin Seholm featured Allan Wolf's new novel in verse about the Titanic, The Watch That Ends the Night. Look at her dramatic trailer on YouTube here.

Grace Erkman used Animoto to create her dramatic trailer for Unlocked by Ryan Van Cleave. Look for it here.

Shannon Hanrahan created a completely different trailer for the same book (Unlocked). Interesting to see how differently we can approach the same book. Look here for her edgy trailer.

And 
Traci Kirkland featured exposed by Kimberly Marcus for her digital trailer also using Animoto. Look for her sensitive and suspenseful mini movie here.

P.S. And don't forget to check out my new project, an e-book of new poetry for teens compiled with Janet Wong and featuring 31 photos plus poems by Big Names in poetry for teens like Naomi Nye, Paul B. Janeczko, Helen Frost, Allan Wolf, Kimberly Marcus, Stephanie Hemphill, and more. It's called P*TAG and it's available here.

The Great Migration

Two of my terrific graduate students created resources for Eloise Greenfield's latest work, The Great Migration. Gina Saldana made this digital trailer (below) and Annabel Moreno developed a readers' guide (further below). Check 'em out!





And here is the readers guide created by Annabel Moreno.

Bibliography
Greenfield, Eloise. 2011. The Great Migration: Journey to the North. Ill. By Jan Spivey Gilchrist. New York: Harper Collins Publishers.

Recommended Age Levels
Student ages 3 to 10 in the 1st to 4th grade level.

Summary
In this compilation of poems with beautiful realistic illustrations, the reader is introduced to the causes, emotions and feelings experienced by African Americans as they made their decisions to relocate to the North in search of a better quality of life.

Review excerpts
Booklist (February 1, 2011) - “Greatly enhancing the impact of the words, Gilchrist’s moving mixed-media collages layer drawings, maps, and color-washed archival images that have the slightly distorted look of photocopies, giving some of the figures an almost ghostly, translucent appearance. Together, the immediate words, striking images, and Greenfield’s personal story create a powerful, haunting view of a pivotal moment in U.S. history even as they show the universal challenges of leaving home behind and starting a new life.”

Publisher’s Weekly ( November 22, 2010) - “Making intriguing use of photographs of people, news headlines, maps, and painted elements, each of Gilchrist's collages has a distinctive look and lighting, ranging from conventional portraits of the travelers to more abstract images.”

School Library Journal (April 1, 2011) - “Gilchrist's illustrations gracefully complement the poetry; mixed-media collages incorporating line drawings, muted watercolor washes, newsprint clippings, photos, and sepia-toned illustrations depict warm family representations as well as stark desperation and anger.”
Horn Book Magazine (January 1, 2011) - “Details in the art effortlessly remind the reader of the time period: maps cars, trains, porters, lunch boxes, and crowded stations all played a role in moving African Americans away from the Jim Crow South and toward the promise of the North and a better life.”

Awards and honors received
ϖ Nominated for an NAACP Image Award (January 2011)
ϖ Notable Children’s Book Nominee (Summer 2011)

Questions to ask before reading
Before reading the book, students will be asked the following questions to tap on their background knowledge, lead to the reading of the book and build into the lesson.
ϖ By utilizing a U.S. map, ask the students where the North and the South is. Ask them to name some cities in the North and some cities in the South.

ϖ What does it mean to migrate? After listening to the responses, provide the students with the definition of the word migrate and use it in context to make the word relevant to the students.

ϖ What factors might prompt somebody to leave their hometown and move to another city? What would you do if you depended on your crops to survive and these were burned during a fire, or due to a lack of water they didn’t grow?

ϖ Have you ever migrated up north to work the fields and then come home after the season was over? Would you come back, if people mistreated you, or if you wouldn’t have money to feed your family?

ϖ Do you have any relatives that live in other cities in the north? Why did they move that specific city?

ϖ After discussing the questions above, give the students a brief synopsis of The Great Migration: Journey to the North to lead them into the story.

Suggestions for reading poems aloud
ϖ Book will be displayed over a document camera and will be read over a period of one week. Students will be divided into small groups and each group will be responsible for reading two poems.

ϖ As the poems are read, discussions will be held and students will analyze important elements within each poem, such as the troubled man who is conflicted about leaving his home in “Saying goodbye to the land puts pain on my heart.”

ϖ At the end of each class, students will vote for the best poem read during that class and will volunteer to act out the poem, as a culmination activity for the day.

Follow up activities
Writing
ϖ Students will observe the various illustrations in the book and will write a short analysis of the illustrations. Elements that must be included in the analysis are the emotions depicted by the illustrations, the setting, the physical landscape, the texture and the color, as well as how the illustrations contributed to the book and their depiction of the poems.
ϖ Students will write a Compare and Contrast essay on the lives of African-Americans in the North and the South during the early 1900's.

History
ϖ Students will imagine living in the U.S. during the early 1900”s and will create a brochure to entice African-Americans to relocate to their city. Brochure must include elements such as housing and job opportunities, social and cultural elements of the city, as well as a description of the physical landscape and geographical features.
ϖ Students will receive an outline map of the United States and will label it with the migration routes followed by African-American during the early 1900’s.

Mathematics
ϖ By referring to the link from The Journal of Negro History, vol. 64, no. 3 (Summer1979) "Black Automobile Workers in Detroit, 1910 to 1930" students will calculate the percentage increase in the African-American population in Detroit from 1900 to 1910, 1920 and 1930. http://www.inmotionaame.org/texts/viewer.cfm?id=8_024T&page=177

Related websites
African-American Mosaic: A Library of Congress Resource Guide for the Study of Black History and Culture.
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/african/afam011.html
This website is composed of an exhibit of primary documents such as letters from prospective migrants to African American churches, which assisted these migrants in finding housing and employment. In addition, the church also assisted many African American families in coping and adjusting to their new environment.

In Motion the African-American Migration Experience
http://www.inmotionaame.org/migrations/landing.cfm?migration=8&bhcp=1
This website provides a wealth of resources in reference to the Great Migration and other topics of importance in American History such as: the Transatlantic Slave Trade and Runaway Journeys.

Times is Getting Harder
Curtis, Lucious. 1940. “Times is Getting Harder”. Mississippi River Blues Vol. 1, Matchbox label reissue.
http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5333
This link includes lyrics to a song, Times is Getting Harder, recorded in 1940 by Lucious Curtis. This song details some of the hardships experienced by many African American families, which prompted them to relocate to the North in search of employment and a better life.

Related books
Fiction
Arnow, Harriette. 1976. The Dollmaker: A Novel. New York: Avon.
This is a story of a Kentucky family who leaves the beautiful Appalachian Mountains and relocates to Detroit, Michigan during WWII in search of employment and a better life.

Lawrence, Jacob. 1993. The Great Migration: An American Story. New York: Harper Collins Publishers.
This book describes the migration of many African Americans from the rural South in search of employment and a better life in the industrial cities of the North.

Nonfiction
Bausum, Ann. 2006. Freedom Riders: John Lewis and Jim Zwerg on the Front Lines of the Civil Rights Movement. United States: National Geographic Society.

This book describes the journey of two young men trying to achieve equality for all during the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960’s. The book includes photographs and accounts of the terrible consequences of continuing with the Freedom Rides in an attempt to end racial discrimination.

Wilkerson, Isabel. 2010. The Warmth of Other Suns: the Epic Story of America’s Great Migration. New York: Random House.
This book recounts the horrible experiences of African Americans in the South and details the abuses and punishments these were subjected to, and which ultimately led them to relocate to the North.

Zinn, Howard. 2009. A Young People’s History of the United States. New York: Seven Stories Press.
This book brings important elements of American History to life and presents viewpoints and the impact of workers, slaves, immigrants, women and Native American among others in American History throughout the years.


Used with permission of Gina Saldana and Annabel Moreno.

Skate Fate

My student France Loving created a digital trailer to generate interest in Skate Fate, a new verse novel by Juan Felipe Herrera. It's viewable on YouTube here. Check it out!









Used with permission of Frances Loving.

Karma

Karma by Cathy Ostlere is the featured book in two student assignments. Teri Lybecker created a digital trailer and Jessamy Sorelle developed a readers' guide. Both of these resources are featured below. Enjoy!

Here is Teri's trailer for Karma.





And here is Jessamy's readers' guide.

Ostlere, Cathy. 2011. Karma: a novel in verse. New York: Razorbill. ISBN 9781595143389

Recommended age level: 14 and up (Young Adult)

Summary
15-year-old Jiva, also known as Maya, is the Canadian born daughter of a Sikh father and a Hindu mother. After her mother’s suicide, Maya and her father return to India with her mother’s ashes. Maya writes about her experiences in her new diary. Shortly after their arrival in India, on October 31, 1984, Indira Ghandi is assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards in retaliation for the desecration of the Golden Temple. The city of New Delhi, where Maya and her father are staying, erupts into violence as Hindus massacre Sikhs in retaliation for the prime minister’s death. In the chaos that follows, Maya is separated from her father and escapes on a train bound for Jodhpur. Maya becomes mute after witnessing a Sikh man pulled from the train and burned alive.

Maya is sent to Jaisalmer by a doctor who hopes her younger brother, Sandeep, can help her find her voice. The story continues in entries from Sandeep’s journal as he tries to protect Maya from the vicious rumors that result from having an unmarried woman staying with his family. As weeks go by, and Maya remains mute, Sandeep’s family has no choice but to send Maya away to live with desert nomads. Sandeep and his father accompany Maya on the journey across the sands, on her way to becoming the unwilling bride of their guide, Akbar. When Maya realizes what is going to happen she runs away, right into a sand storm. Maya finds her way back to Sandeep, and finds her voice.

Maya resumes the story, writing in a new journal, as she and Sandeep return to New Delhi to search for her father. Sandeep eventually finds Maya’s father, but he is a changed man who burns with hatred of Hindu people. Maya’s father forbids Maya from having any contact with Sandeep, a Hindu. It is up to Maya to remind her father that the wife he loved was Hindu, and his daughter is half-Hindu, if she is to have a chance of seeing Sandeep again before she returns to Canada.

Review Excerpts / Awards
Nominated for YALSA’s 2012 Best Fiction for Young Adults
• The novel's pace and tension will compel readers to read at a gallop, but then stop again and again to turn a finely crafted phrase, whether to appreciate the richness of the language and imagery or to reconsider the layers beneath a thought. This is a book in which readers will consider the roots and realities of destiny and chance. Karma is a spectacular, sophisticated tale that will stick with readers long after they're done considering its last lines. (School Library Journal)

• In her YA debut, acclaimed adult author Ostlere offers a riveting, historically accurate coming-of-age tale of gutsy survival, self-sacrifice, and love...With artful compassion, Ostlere reveals the infinitely complex clash of cultures within both India and Maya’s family, and although the allusions to karma could have seemed awkward in less talented hands, here they lead into well-framed larger questions that will stay with readers. A fascinating, epic page-turner. (Booklist - Starred Review)

• In her first YA novel, Ostlere (Love: A Memoir) makes Maya's subsequent muteness believable in the wake of the many traumas she endures. Burdened with guilt over her parents' fate, as well as that of a Sikh man burned alive in front of her, she asks, "Is my silence unfounded too?/No. I do not deserve to be found./Or loved." A family in a desert town takes Maya in, and 17-year-old Sandeep (who contributes kinetic, love-struck journal entries) takes special interest in her. In contrast to the hatred, mistrust, and violence, the friendship--and then love--between Maya and Sandeep offers hope, rebirth', and renewal. (Publishers Weekly)

Questions to ask before reading
• What is karma? How does the concept of karma relate to concepts of vengeance or atonement?
• What are the differences between the Sikh and Hindu religions? What is the political history of the people of these faiths in India?
• What is a caste system? How is the caste system used in India?

Suggestions for reading aloud
Karma is a novel written in free verse that incorporates the voices of many characters. As such, Karma is particularly suited for Readers Theater using groups, or reading aloud as duet or monologue.

The Golden Temple (p. 94)
Duet by two narrators:
N1: Bapu says her death
is due to architecture.
Because a four-hundred-year-old
temple was desecrated.
N2: Because of the wind that
came through the cracks
in an old prairie house.
N1: Because its doors were entered
(East. West. North. South.)
without respect.
N2: Because the back door
never closed properly.
N1: Because the gold was tarnished
with blood.
N2: Because the kitchen was
always cold. And empty.
N1: Because of hate. Prejudice.
Intolerance.
N2: Because of love.
N1: Because the extremists used the
temple for a sanctuary of violence.
N2: Because it wasn’t home.
N1: Architecture inspires and kills.

Mirage (p. 149)
Readers Theater for 3-5 people. Two narrators and a chorus of 1-3 people.
N1: They come across the yellow fields
running with dark faces and teeth bared
through ribbons of heated air
a mirage of false water.
The train slows as if waiting for them to catch up.
C: What’s happening?
Why are we stopping here?
Is it wolves?
N1: But they are not wolves
N2: We should have prayed for wolves
N1: But men instead
four-limbed and angry
carrying iron rods and knives
hands gripping gasoline cans
voices shouting into the hot dry air
their fury stirring the dust like a wind.
N2: We should have prayed for wolves
N1: They slam their bodies against the slowing
train. They cling to the window bars. They
climb to the roof and throw people into the air.
A voice demands we unlock the door of our carriage.
C: Open or be burned!
N1: I tell myself I’m still sleeping:
the unwound turban meting out
punishment
a gang of men severing the body of the
prime minister
the pounding of their fists
on this train
on this car
are only hammering
the metal walls of my head.
C: Open or be burned!
We must save ourselves!
N1: But it is no dream
my hands and arms know
my nostrils know
even my lungs and
my shallow breaths
know
what my heart cannot fathom
know
what’s going to happen next
because in dreams you cannot close
your eyes and mine are shut tight.
C: We must save ourselves!
N1: The door opens.
Oh my God. Who unlocked the door?

We are Sikh (p. 473)
Readers Theater for 3 people. Narrator, Maya, and Bapu.
N: The arguments are loudest in the morning.
We are refreshed. Ready to do battle again.
B: Khalistan will become a reality,
Jiva. God has seen our suffering
and will help us.
M: You said that would
never happen.
B: It will now. Sikh soldiers will
gather and be as one. So now is
the time for you to renounce your
Hindu blood.
M: That’s crazy, Bapu.
B: I am not crazy!
M: Well, your thinking is! One can’t wipe
away one’s heritage with the sweep of
a hand. You wouldn’t accept that for
yourself. You kept your hair long in
Canada. You wore the turban. So
you wouldn’t disappear.
B: Your blood, Jiva, is the blood of
murderers. And since I am your
only parent, I will now say what
you are!
M: Or what? You’ll bring out
your big knife?
B: Do not make me angrier!
M: There’s more? Besides my heart,
and the memory of my mother’s love,
what else will you burn with your hatred?
B: Any Hindu that comes near you.
M: Is that what you told Sandeep? Is that
why he left and hasn’t come back?
B: I told him the truth, Jiva.
M: You threatened his life! Unwilling to
see his kindness and sacrifice as
separate from his family’s religion!
B: Jiva, I am grateful to God for bringing
the boy to us. I recognize that through
his actions, he has paid a penance
for the crimes of his people. But he is
still a Hindu and cannot be in control
of his emotions.
M: So, no Hindu can ever be trusted again?
Even those who helped the Sikhs during
the riots? Putting themselves in danger?
B: No.
M: What about your oldest friend, Kiran.
B: There can be no exceptions.
M: And me, of course.
B: You must be cleansed of your nature, Jiva.
But you are still a child. There is time.
M: I used to be a child. When I lived in
Elsinore. But now I am an old,
old woman. I have seen things no child
should see. I have seen adults make
a hell of this world.

Longing (p. 517)
Monologue.
Miraj.
I close my eyes and imagine he’s with me. Holding
my face in slender hands. Lips soft and dark - a
cinnamon bloom. A poet’s words fall from his
mouth into mine: I desire my beloved only / And
there is no other wish in my heart. I touch the
memory of his arm. From wrist to shoulder.
Coffee skin. Thin and close to the bone.
My lover’s name is Miraj.
We find each other in the darkness. Our longing is
our guide out of innocence. Tongues too. We are
awkward but tender in our shyness. Do we
hesitate? Hold back? Perhaps only to take a
breath. For our desire is like a sea. Wave upon
wave. Until our souls lay bare and exposed upon a
far-off shore and our grief is eased.
The young are told to wait for emotions to catch
up to the flesh but what if the moment is now?
Our yearnings ready to set us free from sorrow
and fear?
And besides, who will show the world the
possibility of love, if it isn’t us?

Follow up activities
Writing:
• Have teens write journal entries about events in their own lives in free verse.
Social Studies:
• Research the history that lead to the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. What happened after? What is happening today?
• Research the caste system in India. How did it originate? What does it look like today?
• Research the history and symbolism of the sari. What does the color of a sari signify? The drape? The fabric?
• Compare and contrast the Sikh and Hindu religions.

Related websites / blogs
• http://cathy-ostlere.com
Cathy Ostlere’s website provides information about her inspiration for writing Karma. She talks about her travels through India as a young woman.
• http://www.sarahtregay.com/novelsinverse.html
This website provides an annotated list of novels in verse by recommended age level. If you’re looking for more novels in verse, this is an excellent starting point.
• http://www.skrishnasbooks.com/2008/07/south-asian-review-database_9529.html
A database of reviews of books by and about South Asians. A good way to find more fiction about Indian characters.

Related Books and Film
Young adult fiction set in India:
• McCormick, Patricia. 2006. Sold. New York: Hyperion. ISBN 9780786851713
13-year old Lakshmi is sold into prostitution in a brothel in Calcutta.

A fictional film about the legacy of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots:
• Bose, Shonali (director). 2005. Amu. Jonai Productions.
A young Indian American woman returns to India and discovers secrets that tie her to the massacre of Sikhs 20 years earlier.

Juvenile Nonfiction about Sikh and Hindu religions:
• Meredith, Susan. 2010. The Usborne encyclopedia of world religions. London: Usborne. ISBN 9781409510116
• Mann, Gurinder Singh. 2002. Buddhists, Hindus, and Sikhs in America (Religion in American life). New York: Oxford University Press, USA. ISBN 9780195124422
• Hyde, Margaret O. 2008. World religions 101: An overview for teens. Connecticut: Twenty-First Century Books. ISBN 9780822575184
• Singh, Nikky-Guninder Kaur. 2006. Sikhism (World religions). New York: Chelsea House Publications. ISBN 9781604131147
• Wangu, Madhu Bazaz. 2009. Hinduism (World religions). New York: Chelsea House Publications. ISBN 9781604131086

Adult Nonfiction about saris:
• Katiyar, Vijai Singh. 2009. Indian saris: traditions - perspectives - design. New Delhi, India: Wisdom Tree. ISBN 9788183281225


Used with permission of Teri Lybecker and Jessamy Sorelle.

Hidden

Amanda Andrews created this absorbing digital trailer for Helen Frost's gripping new novel in verse, Hidden.




Plus, Linda Charles also chose Hidden for her digital trailer project. Here's her creation.



Don't these make you want to read this book?!



Used with permission of Amanda Andrews and Linda Charles.

Inside Out

Kathryn Anderson created this terrific digital trailer for the novel in verse, Inside Out & Back Again by first time (children's) author Thanhha Lai. I wrote about this book earlier this year-- it's one of my favorites of 2011-- and I was particularly pleased by what Kathryn came up with to showcase this book. What do you think?





Used with permission of Kathryn Anderson.

Spinster Goose

Graduate student Sharon Forinash created the following digital trailer for Spinster Goose; Twisted Rhymes for Naughty Children by Lisa Wheeler. It's so clever (actually both the book and the trailer are so clever)! Check 'em out.





And Veronica Grooms created a readers' guide for Spinster Goose full of fun activities. Check it out!

Bibliography
: Wheeler, Lisa. 2011. Spinster Goose: Twisted Rhymes for Naughty Children. Ill. by Sophie Blackall. New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers. ISBN 978-1-4169-2541-5

Recommended Age Level: 5 and up


Summary of the Book

In this delightfully sinister twist on Mother Goose, Lisa Wheeler has given us her recreated and reimagined parodies of the traditional Mother Goose rhymes by introducing a new character, Mother Goose’s sister Spinster Goose. When faced with the naughtiest, most rotten children around, Mother sends them on to her stern sister Spinster who rules over a prison-like school for wayward children. Here we find every manner of brat: the pinchers, pokers, biters, takers, swearers, cheaters, liars, and more! We have new delinquents along with some familiar ones like Jack and Jill, Georgie Porgie, Mary Quite Contrary, and Humpty Dumpty. Warning! Watch your manners. If you are not careful, “She’ll box and wrap each little brat/ and send them home to you!” Reminiscent of the horrid adults and situations in the books by Roald Dahl. Each poem is accompanied by morbid little pictures done in watercolor and ink. Sophie Blackall’s illustrated children are every bit as unique and recognizable as the artwork of Edward Gorey and Tim Burton. A standout aspect of her illustrations for the book is that her characters are truly whimsical—some human and some part animal. Georgie Porgie, for example, is a bullying bulldog picking on two cherub-faced little preschoolers. The rhymes and illustrations in this book are a perfect combination to tell the story of these beastly boys and ghastly girls. This will appeal to children and adults who like things slightly strange and off-center.

Review Excerpts
This website has an entertaining and enjoyable review in the form of a video book trailer: 
http://www.ratchatreviews.com/?p=656

STARRED REVIEW in KIRKUS
“Delectably satiric nursery rhymes play with naughtiness and punishment. Mother Goose sends disobedient children (some human, some half-animal) to her sister Spinster Goose’s reform school, where “The pinchers get pinched, / and the pokers get poked. / The biters get bit, / and the smokers get smoked.” Crimes range from eating chalk to stealing sweets and cheating. Some consequences arise naturally (gum-chewer’s gum explodes on her face), while others come at Spinster’s strict hand: Baa Baa Black Sheep swears, so Spinster “hires shearers from the north, / hygenists [sic] from the south. / They promptly shear his BLEATING wool, / then wash his BLEATING mouth!” Real violence remains mostly at rumor level as threats—an electric chair and stretching rack are shown but not used. Lard-boiled beans prove that “Life is Gruel”; deliberately filthy Polly Flinders refuses to shower because “this punk is into Grunge.” Badness was never more enjoyable than Wheeler’s wicked rewrites: "Friday's child stole seventeen lunches. / Saturday's child threw seventeen punches. / But the child who got a Sunday detention / did something too naughty for me to mention." Blackall’s watercolor-and-ink illustrations are fascinatingly delicate in line and color as they convey all the funny, delicious ghastliness of necks bending in woe, cheeks paling in nausea and this whole mob of unbiddable, hybrid Struwwelpeter/Gorey kids.”
—Kirkus 2011

This collection of Mother Goose parodies . . .is as elegant as it is, like Mary, “quite contrary”….Blackall’s pallid vignettes balance chilly poise and mordant humor. . . Wheeler adds some intellectual depth to the original nursery rhymes while grossifying them. . .kids with a twisted sense of humor will feel right at home.
—Publisher’s Weekly 2011

. . .Blackall backs up the rhymes with wry, devilish images that surround, infiltrate, and help spark this offbeat collection. Pairing these parodies with a traditional Mother Goose book . . .will help expand listeners’ appreciation of Wheeler’s humor. —School Library Journal 2011

Questions to Ask Before Reading Book
1. Has anyone heard of Mother Goose?
2. Do you know any Mother Goose rhymes?
3. Would you like to share and recite the rhymes you know?
4. What do you think of Mother Goose? How do you picture her?
5. Looking at the cover of Spinster Goose, does this look like Mother Goose? Who do you think this is? Does she look kind or mean? Why?
6. What is a spinster? What do you think of when you hear that word?
7. Why is she holding the children like that? What kind of children are they?

Suggestions for Reading Poems Aloud
• Invite the children to pick their favorite traditional Mother Goose rhyme or their favorite from Spinster Goose and to recite it aloud using costumes and props. For example, “The Fibber” by Lisa Wheeler (Spinster Goose) could be read by a female student dressed like Mary and with a stuffed lamb prop. “The Custodian” by Lisa Wheeler (Spinster Goose) could be read accompanied by a bucket and mop
• The children could be encouraged to read a rhyme as a duet. A perfect example would be “The Interrupter” by Lisa Wheeler (Spinster Goose). This rhyme has alternating lines: the actual rhyme and then the interjections of the character Mary (Mary, Mary, quite contrary). One child could narrate the rhyme, the other could play the part of Mary. The part of Mary would need to sound like an annoying know-it-all!
Mary, Mary, quite contrary,
she’s a walking dictionary.
“I think you mean encyclopedia.”
• Let the children read their favorite rhyme from Spinster Goose using several different accents, emotions, and tones of voice. For example, “Crooked Row” could be read with a very proper, upper-crust British accent, with a scary, sinister voice, or with a cheerful, peppy voice similar to the Good Witch in the Wizard of Oz movie. Let them have fun and experiment with how one’s voice can change the presentation and characterization of the poem being read aloud.

Follow Up Activities (From Activity Guide on lisawheelerbooks.com)
Science
1. Poem: The Gum-Chewer Pg. 8

Good Books to pair with this poem:

Pop! The Invention of Bubble Gum by Meghan McCarthy

Bubble Gum, Bubble Gum by Lisa Wheeler

Bubble Trouble by Margaret Mahy

BubbleMania: A Chewy History of Bubble Gum by Lee Wardlaw

The BubbleGum Kid by Stu Smith and Julia Woolf


Science Experiment:

Supplies: 6 or more brands of bubble gum

Question: Which brand of gum makes the best bubbles?
Come up with a hypothesis. Do the kids think that more sugary gums make the best bubbles? Does the color of the gum matter? Etc.

Using at least 6 brands of bubble gum, have teams of students chew and blow bubbles.

Measure bubbles carefully and accurately
.
Time the length a bubble lasts before popping or deflating.
 Which gums made the strongest bubbles? Biggest bubbles? Longest lasting bubbles?

Chart the results and compare with the other teams.

2. Poem: The Chalk-eater Pg. 12

Science experiment:
 Supplies: White chalk, vinegar, clear drinking glass

Question: How long will it take chalk to dissolve?
Place chalk into the glass half-full of vinegar

Observe. The chalk will begin dissolving and be completely dissolved within a few days.
Ask students, “Why did the chalk dissolve?”
Research what the vinegar and lemon juice are (acid) and the properties of chalk (calcium bicarbonate.)

Why is chalk ‘non-toxic’? (It is made from ground limestone, clay, water, and non-toxic dry coloring powder.)
Can we make calcium bicarbonate? (Mix soda water, calcium pills and baking soda.)

Language Arts
1. Poem: The Cheater Pg. 32

Parody: a piece of writing, music, etc., that imitates the style of someone or something else in an amusing way.

Compare this parody with the original poem.
Explain the meaning of ‘parody.'
Original:

Peter, Peter, pumpkin eater

Had a wife and couldn’t keep her.

He put her in a pumpkin shell,

And there he kept her very well.

*Note that the entire book, Spinster Goose: Twisted Rhymes for Naughty Children is a parody of Mother Goose.

2. Poem: The Fibber Pg. 39

Using “Mary Had a Little Lamb” as a pattern, write a new poem.
 Here is a pattern to follow:

________had a little_______.
 His/her _______ was ________ as _______.
 Everywhere that __________ went
/ The_______ was sure to _______.

Example:

Justin had a little fish.

Her scales were blue as water.

Everywhere that Justin went

The fish was sure to totter.


Related Books
Addams, Charles. 2002. The Charles Addams Mother Goose. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Burton, Tim. 1993. The Nightmare before Christmas. New York: Disney Press.
Cole, William. 1964. Beastly Boys and Ghastly Girls. Ill. by Tomi Ungerer. New York: Philomel Books.
Gorey, Edward. 1997. The Gashlycrumb Tinies. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Note: This is an adult children’s book. Recommended for older readers.
Holub, Joan. 2008. Knuckleheads. Ill. by Michael Slack. San Francisco: Chronicle Books.
Pichon, Liz. 2008. The Three Horrid Little Pigs. Wilton, CT: Tiger Tales.
Sierra, Judy. 2001. Monster Goose. Ill. by Jack E. Davis. New York: Harcourt, Inc.

Related Websites
http://www.lisawheelerbooks.com/LW/spinster_goose.html

Visit the author’s website for more information about her and her books.
http://sophieblackall.com/

Visit the illustrator’s website for more information about her artwork and projects.
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~pfa/dreamhouse/nursery/rhymes.html

The rhymes, recommended books and resources, coloring sheets and how to share rhymes with children.
http://www.mothergoose.com/Rhymes/rhymes.htm

Games, crafts, activities and more with Mother Goose rhymes.
http://www.librarysupport.net/mothergoosesociety/

Mother Goose rhymes, recipes, and information.
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/Rhymes.html

Mother Goose rhymes in rebus form, a combination of pictures and words.
http://www3.amherst.edu/~rjyanco94/literature/mothergoose/menu.html

Mother Goose rhymes and various links to other websites.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother_Goose

Background information on the history and origins of Mother Goose.

About the Author
Lisa Wheeler is the twisted author of more than twenty-five books for children, including Boogie Knights and Seadogs: An Epic Ocean Operetta, both illustrated by Mark Siegel, and Sailor Moo: Cow at Sea, illustrated by Ponder Goembel. She lives in Michigan with her nice husband and naughty Border Collie.
From the author:
“Writing books for children is definitely a dream come true. I am doing exactly what I am supposed to be doing with my life. Just like when I was a child in Pennsylvania, I love everything about children's books -- even the smell!"

About the Illustrator
Sophie Blackall is an Australian illustrator whose previous books include Ruby’s Wish, Meet Wild Boars, and the Ivy and Bean series. She lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her impeccably behaved children and poorly behaved cat.

Original Mother Goose Rhymes Parodied in Spinster Goose
These can be found on: http://www.rhymes.org.uk/index.htm or are from:
 Rackham, Arthur. 1913. Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes. New York: Franklin Watts, Inc.


Used with permission of Sharon Forinash and Veronica Grooms.

Mambo Moon

Cynthia Molinar created this engaging digital trailer for Under the Mambo Moon by Julia Durango. Enjoy:



Used with permission of Cynthia Molinar.

A Dazzling Display of Dogs

Two students created projects for Betsy Franco's clever book of shape poetry, A Dazzling Display of Dogs, a wonderful companion book to A Curious Collection of Cats. Leslie Wilson created a digital trailer and Angela Giono developed a readers' guide. Here they are.

Here is a link to Leslie's clever trailer:
http://animoto.com/play/fzdYmvTnkhDPQKC8CziHWw

Here is Angela Giono's helpful readers guide:

Franco, Betsy. 2011. A Dazzling Display of Dogs. Ill. by Michael Wertz. New York: Random House. ISBN: 978-1-58246-343-8

Recommended Age Levels 9-12

SUMMARY OF BOOK
This book is a colorfully illustrated collection of thirty-four witty poems including a haiku about dogs and their antics. It includes such poems as: Lottie on a walk, a garbage eating pooch, a bubble catching dog named Petunia, a dog from the pound, Houdini the escape artist, and a dog peeing on the morning paper. These poems are told through the dog’s perspective. Such as in Circling Poem 2 Coco Circling on the Rug the words are in the form of a circle so the reader can experience what Coco does trying to get comfortable on a rug.

REVIEW EXCERPT(S)
“Starred Review. Grade 1–5—This follow-up to A Curious Collection of Cats (Tricycle, 2009) is dazzling indeed. Each of the 34 poems features a different animal, most of them engaged in true dog behavior. From farting in the car to wheezing and snoring while sleeping, these pups are funny and lovable even when they're being annoying. The verses and the book's design are beautifully matched. In "Emmett's Ode to His Tennis Ball," the text is enclosed in a circle held firmly in the dog's mouth. It begins, "Slobbery, sloppy, slimy, sphere—oh, tennis ball, I hold you dear…." Like the poems, the pictures are funny and dynamic. The pages are definitely full, yet careful use of color, typeface, and detail means they never look chaotic. A note says the pictures were started in pencil and then finished using monoprints and Adobe Photoshop. Overall, a delight for kids, their adults, and maybe even their beloved canine companions.—Lauralyn Persson, Wilmette Public Library, IL 
(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.” -SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL

“The creators of A Curious Collection of Cats (2009) offer another volume of concrete poems filled with playful action. Elementary students will pick up the wry wordplay, but younger children will have trouble deciphering the words amid the packed, digitally touched artwork. The poems do capture familiar scenes with pets, such as a dog playing with a tennis ball (“sloppery slippery slimy”) and the pitfalls of car trips with a pooch: “The very worst part / without a doubt / is when Cassandra / makes a fart.” Both silly and on-target, the slapstick rhymes are good choices for family sharing. Grades K-3. --Hazel Rochman.”-BOOKLIST

AWARDS/HONORS RECEIVED
• 2011 Green Earth Book Award Winner
• 2011 Indie Kids’ Next List
• Printz Honor Title
• Edgar Award Nominee

QUESTIONS TO ASK BEFORE READING
Invite students to discuss the following questions prior to reading A Dazzling Display of Dogs:
• Show the cover of the book ask, what do think of or what pictures come to your brain when you hear dazzling display? Once, answers are shared discuss how the illustrations on the cover either prove or disprove students’ predictions.
• Have you ever heard of poetry? What poets or poems have you heard? Have you created your own poetry?
• Prior to reading give students an example of a Haiku poem. Do you see a pattern in the poem? If so what is it? This pattern of poem has a name does anyone know what it is? Does anyone know the origin of the Haiku?
• Imagine what life is like for a dog. What do you think dogs like about being a canine? What do they dislike? Would you want to be a dog?
• If you were a dog what dazzling display would you write your poem about?
• Share a story about a dog past or present. What made that dog special or unique?

SUGGESTIONS FOR READING POEMS ALOUD
• “Saltwater Mutt”- Invite students to participate in the chorus. You read the words or letters on the dog and they read “romping in the waves.”
• “Tonka at Dog School,” Students to volunteer for a line-around. Each student will say a dog’s line. Be sure everyone gets a turn to shine.
• “Circling Poem 1&2,” Have children act out the poem. One person is the reader the other is the dog. Be sure to take turn.
• “Letting Gwen in and Out,” Divide the class into groups. Read the poem in a back and forth way. There is various combinations to reading this poem so experiment.
• “Pug Appeal,” Read the students first and then have them repeat with you in unison.
• “Tigger On His Back,” Perform in two voices-Suggested by the author

FOLLOW UP ACTIVITIES:
Music
• Develop a singing poem from one of the thirty-four given. Perform in music as well as library classes for Don’t Step in the Dog Poop Day-April 25th, International Dog Biscuit Appreciation Day-February 23, National Dog Day-August 26th, or Adopt-a-dog Month-October.

Writing
• Students write a poem review of one of the poems in the book. This is strictly opinion, thus it may include positives and negatives. They may also discuss the illustrations. Post on the library website.
• Students will participate in A Dazzling Display of Dogs illustrated poem contest. Display the participant’s work at parent-teacher conferences.
• In this poetry collection, Mimsey Lou is missing. What types of things have you lost? Discuss what information a lost or missing, poster needs to include. For a fun activity have students make a poster for something or someone lost.

Science
• Students research report for one of the dogs from Crazy Combo. Students choose a combo-dog or the original breed. Include: personality, feeding, grooming, care, characteristics, and history of the breed.

Reading
• Have poetry Friday and share poems from A Dazzling Display of Dogs as well as other poetry.
• Have students volunteer to participate in R.E.A.D. (Reading Education Assistance Dogs). READ provides dog reading companion for children. The statistics and implementation specifics for this successful program are provided on the website.
http://www.therapyanimals.org/R.E.A.D.html

Math
• After reading the poem Bubbles, discuss how a sphere is the smallest area for its volume of any solid shape. Bubbles try to make the smallest surface. Students can make some basic geometric bubble shapes. The site includes a recipe for bubbles and activity ideas such as making cubical bubbles.
http://mathssquad.questacon.edu.au/bubbles.html

Social Studies
• Read Found at the Pound, discuss ASPCA information that are applicable. Such as the statistic 5 to 7 million animals enter shelters per year. Invite the local animal shelter to visit for show and tell. http://www.aspca.org/about-us/faq/pet-statistics.aspx

History
• In this poetry collection Miss Olive has a teddy bear. Read Miss Olive’s Teddy Bear. September 9th is Teddy Bear Day. Read the article by the Workshop Rail Museum about the history of the teddy bear.
http://www.theworkshops.qm.qld.gov.au/~/media/Documents/Learning%20resources/TWRM/Activity%20sheets/history-of-teddy-bear.pdf
For fun, do some of the games and or activities in the Teddy Bear Day website.
http://www.akidsheart.com/holidays/tbearday/tbearday.htm

RELATED WEBSITES/BLOGS
Becky’s Blog Spot
http://zero-to-eight.blogspot.com/
(Her blog gives various book reviews by an avid reader and is updated on a regular basis).

Poetry for Children
http://poetryforchildren.blogspot.com/2011/04/dazzling-display-of-dogs-by-betsy.html
(This blog includes connections for the poem and the opportunity to view other poets work).

YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggGt-PMUQKg
(This is a live performance of songs based on the book).

Betsy Franco Website
http://www.betsyfranco.com/
(This site gives future book, events, links, and blogging).

Poetry Foundation
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/betsy-franco
(Useful website that includes poetry, poets, poetry magazine and tour, as well as resources for children’s poetry)

RELATED BOOKS
Poetry Books
Franco, Betsy, 2009. A Curious Collection of Cats. Ill. by Michael Wertz, Tricycle Press.
Crawley, Dave, 2007. Dog Poem. Ill. by Tamara Petrosino, Woodsong.
Hempel, Amy (editor), 1999. Unleashed: Poems by Writers’ Dogs. Three Rivers’ Press.

Related Fiction and Nonfiction
Wordless Book
• Day, Alexandra, 1989. Carl Goes Shopping. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Easy Reader Picture Book
Clifford the Big Red Dog
• Bridwell, Norman, reprint 2010. Clifford the Big Red Dog. Cartwheel Books.
Fiction-- Age 9-12
• Martin, Ann M., 2007. A Dog’s Life: An Autobiography of A Stray. Scholastic.
• Wallace, Bill, 2005. No Dogs Allowed! Aladdin Books.
Fiction-- Young Adult
• Morey, Walt, 1997. Kavik the Wolf Dog. Puffin.
• Pearce, Jacqueline, 2005. Dog House Blues. Orca Book Publishers.
Nonfiction
• Osborne, Mary Pope, 2011. Magic Tree House Fact Tracker #24: Dog Heroes: A Nonfiction Companion to Magic Tree House #46: Dogs in the Dead of Night. Random House Books for Young Readers.
• Kehret, Peg, 1999. Shelter Dogs: Amazing Stories of Adopted Strays. Albert Whitman and Co.

Author
Betsy Franco is the author of over 80 books for both children and young adults. She has received numerous awards and recognition for her work.

Illustrator
Micheal Wertz’s work has been celebrated by Communication Arts, American illustrators. He has a “dog blog.” That contains 100 dogs in 100 days. Visit www.wertzateria.com

Used with permission from Angela Giono and Leslie Wilson.

All the Water in the World

My student Stephanie Gilbert created this lovely digital trailer for George Ella Lyon's new poetic picture book, All the Water in the World which is beautifully illustrated by Katherine Tillotson. Here is the trailer.








Used with permission of Stephanie Gilbert.

Cousins of Clouds

In my summer classes, my students tried creating a variety of interesting assignments and agreed to let me share some of them here. So for the next few weeks, I'm posting readers' guides and digital trailers they created for nearly 20 new poetry books published for young people this year. We hope it will make it that much easier to share these wonderful new titles with the children and teens in your lives!

First up, Lynette Varassi created this digital trailer for Tracie Vaughn Zimmer's elephant poetry book, Cousins of Clouds. Enjoy!





Used with permission of Lynette Varassi.

Norwegian and Braille poetry

Here's the final installment in my video "series" of readings from around the world. Both clips feature books from Norway.

The first is from the IBBY Documentation Centre of Books for Disabled Young People, sponsored by IBBY and currently housed at the Haug School and Resource Centre in Sandvika, Norway and managed by Director Heidi Cortner Boiesen.

The aim of the Centre is to “promote research, production, mediation and the use of books especially designed for disabled young people.” It is a project of IBBY and the Center develops an annotated catalogue and international traveling exhibition, the "Outstanding Books for Young People with Disabilities" list launched biennially at the Bologna Book Fair. Here's Sissel Hofgaard Swensen who assists with selecting the titles for the Outstanding Books exhibition and catalogue reading an excerpt from the book, Pass deg, Line (No. 18), a novel for and about young adults with learning disabilities.




Sissel is also involved in another project, “Books for Everyone” is a Norwegian organization that supports and promotes “adapted literature” with the goal of providing books to all those who struggle with reading sponsored by The House of Literature in Oslo, Norway. This project included one poetry book unlike anything I have ever seen! It is designed for both sighted and visually impaired children (in Braille and with tactile elements) with components on every page to read-- in print or in Braille, as well as tactile components to engage the child and expand the rhymes through multiple senses. It's ingenious! My short demo video doesn't really do it justice, but here you go:




Image credit: SV; IBBY



Posting (not poem) by Sylvia M. Vardell © 2011. All rights reserved.

IBBY Honour List: Irish poem

Here's one more "international poetry video"-- this time featuring an Irish poem for children. It's from a book on another international book list, the IBBY Honour List, a biennial selection of outstanding, recently published books, honouring writers, illustrators and translators from IBBY member countries around the world. The titles are selected by the National Sections which can nominate one book for each of the three categories: writing, illustrating, and translating. The whole 2011 list is available here.

Important considerations in selecting the Honour List titles are that the books are representative of the best in children's literature from the country and that the books are suitable for publication throughout the world.

The Honour List diplomas are presented at the IBBY Congresses where the catalogue is introduced and the books are shown for the first time. Thereafter seven parallel sets of the books circulate around the world at exhibitions during conferences and book fairs. Permanent collections of the IBBY Honour List books are kept at the International Youth Library in Munich, the Swiss Institute for Child and Youth Media in Zurich, Bibiana Research Collection in Bratislava, at IBBY in Tokyo, and at Northwestern University Library at Evanston, Illinois.

I wrote about the IBBY Honour List last year when the list was first announced. But this year, I was able to corral a colleague into letting me film her reading a poem. Here's the featured book.

IRELAND (Irish)
Ní Ghlinn, Áine
Brionglóidí agus aistir eile
(Dreams and other journeys)
Ill. Carol Betera
Clár Chlainne Mhuiris: Cló Mhaigh Eo, 2008
84pp; 130x200mm
ISBN 978-1-899922-49-9 Ages: 10-13
Poetry

This collection of 40 poems on the theme of dreams encompasses an interesting range of voices guaranteed to bring a fresh perspective to the ordinary. A mouse dreams of sprouting wings to swoop like a bird-of-prey on its enemy the cat, while a dinosaur skeleton in the natural history museum imagines falling in love and fathering the first dinosaur babies in sixty-five million years. A school trip to Mars, a library in which characters are dislodged from their books and a flirtation between the sun and a grey cloud, are just some of the surprising happenings in this vibrant collection. The poems are rhythmic, the imagery vivid and the language musical. While each poem is a gem in itself, the themes are beautifully developed in the collection as a whole.

My friend and colleague, Valerie Coghlan, a children's literature expert in Ireland (and President and former editor of Bookbird) read the poem, "The Wind of the Year" from this book. Check it out:




Image credit: SV

; IBBY

Posting (not poem) by Sylvia M. Vardell © 2011. All rights reserved.


U.S. poem video

The International Youth Library (IYL), the world's largest library of international books for children and young adults, compiles an annual list of best children's books from around the world called the White Ravens list.The 2011 list includes 250 titles in 30 languages from 40 countries. Of these, I found 14 poetry titles-- from 12 different countries. I took pictures of each of the books and found volunteers to read selections from 7 of them for a short video. Here are two poetry books from the U.S. on the 2011 White Ravens list.

USA
Sidman, Joyce (text) 

Prange, Beckie (illus.) 

Ubiquitous.
Celebrating nature’s survivors 

Boston [et al.]: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, 2010. – [36] p. 

ISBN 978-0-618-71719-4 

Nature – Life forms – Survival 


In their latest collaboration, Joyce Sidman and Beckie Prange continue the format of their award-winning “Song of the Water Boatman & Other Pond Poems” (2005). Delivering a combination of catchy poetry, informative science facts, and striking linocut illustrations, the author and illustrator let children in on the secret of successful survival on Earth during the past 4.6 billion years. Species as diverse as bacteria (3.8 billion years old), geckos (160 million years old), squirrels (36 million years old), and dandelions (5 millions years old) are gathered in this volume. Complemented by notes, a glossary, and a stunning timeline printed on the endpapers, texts and pictures provide readers with astonishing details about the most imperishable of our planet’s inhabitants. (Age: 5+)

And here is my friend and colleague, Linda Pavonetti, a professor in the Reading and Language Arts Department at Oakland University in Michigan, reading her favorite poem from Joyce Sidman's Ubiquitous-- in Italy!




Here is the other poetry book from the U.S. that made the White Ravens list.

USA
Seibold, J. Otto (text/illus.)

Other goose re-nurseried, re-rhymed, re-mothered, and re-goosed ... 

San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2010. – 69 p. 

ISBN 978-0-8118-6882-2 

Nursery rhyme – Poetry 


Mother Goose rhymes are probably the most widely-known nursery rhymes – not only in the English-speaking world. In his “Other Goose” collection, J.otto Seibold presents twenty-some of his favourite classics in awesomely illustrated new versions. From Humpty Dumpty and Little Bo Peep to the Cat with the Fiddle, Seibold’s “re-nurseried, re-rhymed, re-mothered, and re-goosed” variants include the same nursery-rhyme staff, but tell slightly twisted (or even completely mutated) tales compared to those with which readers may have grown up. The artist’s computer-generated, loudly coloured trademark illustrations show flat, goggle-eyed protagonists with distorted features. The pictures are brimming with witty allusions and amusing details that perfectly complement the quirky texts. (Age: 5+)


Image credit: SV;IYL

Posting (not poem) by Sylvia M. Vardell © 2011. All rights reserved.

Dutch poem video

The International Youth Library (IYL), the world's largest library of international books for children and young adults, compiles an annual list of best children's books from around the world called the White Ravens list.The 2011 list includes 250 titles in 30 languages from 40 countries. Of these, I found 14 poetry titles-- from 12 different countries. I took pictures of each of the books and found volunteers to read selections from 7 of them for a short video. Here is a Dutch poetry book from the Netherlands on the 2011 White Ravens list.

NETHERLANDS (Dutch)
Biemans, Ienne (text)

Jitta, Ceseli Josephus (illus.)

Rosa en de wonderschoenen
(Rosa and her wonder shoes)

[Amsterdam]: Nieuw Amsterdam, 2010. – 62 p.

ISBN 978-90-468-0711-8

Poetry




Rosa is paying a visit to Sister and her mother Toketore while wearing her magic shoes. Thirty-two poems tell of the adventures of the main characters, in which animals and being together are central themes. Biemans writes in a vivid style and often uses absurd humour. The poems have an agreeable rhythm. Feelings are described powerfully, for example the homesickness Sister experiences when she stays the night at a friend’s house, or the sudden tears that come when watching a sad movie about nature. The illustrations, which combine black and red, fit the book perfectly; sometimes they give the reader a better understanding of the poem, but they may also offer a different interpretation of the text. This is poetry that stimulates the imagination of young children. (Age: 5+)

Here is Ingrid Bon, uber-librarian and leader in IFLA (International Federation of Library Associations), reading a poem from this book.





Image credit: SV;IYL

Posting (not poem) by Sylvia M. Vardell © 2011. All rights reserved.

Russian poem video

The International Youth Library (IYL), the world's largest library of international books for children and young adults, compiles an annual list of best children's books from around the world called the White Ravens list.The 2011 list includes 250 titles in 30 languages from 40 countries. Of these, I found 14 poetry titles-- from 12 different countries. I took pictures of each of the books and found volunteers to read selections from 7 of them for a short video. Here are two poetry books from Russia on the 2011 White Ravens list.

RUSSIA
Djadina, Galina (text)

Bichter, Aleksandr (illus.)

Knižka v tel'njaške. Morskaja azbuka
(Little book in a sailor’s shirt. A marine alphabet)

Sankt-Peterburg: Grif [et al.], 2010. – 61 p.

ISBN 978-5-85388-040-5

Sea – Water – Poetry


In 2010, the children’s book publisher Detgiz organised its second festival for young children’s book authors. In cooperation with the publishing house Grif, they have now published the first book written exclusively by Galina Djadina, who belongs to this new generation of authors. Her poetic kaleidoscope about life in and at the sea is brimming with ideas. From albatross to life belt, from Neptune to tsunami, from sea cucumber to tiger shark – this volume gathers everything connected with the marine world. Djadina turned the content into wonderful verses and arranged them cleverly. For example, she separates the word “iceberg” into two parts and puts the shorter “ice” on top of the longer “berg”. Thus she linguistically imitates a phenomenon observed in nature: Often the ice above the water is only the tip of the iceberg. (Age: 5+)

DUE TO TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES, I HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO LOAD THIS VIDEO CLIP AFTER MULTIPLE ATTEMPTS. Heck!

Here is my IBBY colleague and Russian children's book illustrator, Anastasia Arkhipova, reading a poem from the book above.

And here is another Russian work of children's poetry on the White Ravens list this year.

Usačev, Andrej (text)

Olejnikov, Igor' (illus.)

Kolybel'naja kniga (The lullaby book)

Moskva: Ripol-Klassik, 2009. – [36] p.

ISBN 978-5-386-01704-0

Night – Sleep – Lullaby – Good night story – Poetry 


When you read Russian children’s poetry, you are bound to encounter Andrej Usačev – not only because he likes putting his poems to music and performing them, but also because his poetry is truly harmonious and varied in terms of metre, rhythm, and topic. In his “Lullaby Book”, the poetic universe touches upon everything connected with sleeping and the night: pillows, dream worlds, hibernation, not-wanting-to-go-to-sleep, darkness, quietness, the moon, and fireflies. What Usačev manages to achieve in his onomatopoeic rustling poems, his counting-out-rhymes, and his wordplays, Igor’ Olejnikov accomplishes just as well in his illustrations: He depicts the ocean’s stillness in serene blue within a static maritime landscape, places the wakeful little dragon with its bright red head into a swinging scene, and employs colours and composition flexibly to trace the literary motifs. (Age: 3+)




Image credit: SV;IYL

Posting (not poem) by Sylvia M. Vardell © 2011. All rights reserved.

Japanese poem video

The International Youth Library (IYL), the world's largest library of international books for children and young adults, compiles an annual list of best children's books from around the world called the White Ravens list.The 2011 list includes 250 titles in 30 languages from 40 countries. Of these, I found 14 poetry titles-- from 12 different countries. I took pictures of each of the books and found volunteers to read selections from 7 of them for a short video. Here is a poetry book from Japan on the 2011 White Ravens list.

JAPAN
Tanikawa, Shuntarō (text)

Motonaga, Sadamasa (illus.)

Kokoro no hikari (Light of the heart)

Tōkyō [et al.]: Bunken Shuppan, 2010. – [32] p.

(Series: Poppo raiburari: Miru miru ehon)

ISBN 978-4-580-82102-6

Heart – Soul – Emotion


The poet Tanikawa and the avant-garde artist Motonaga created the book “Moko mokomoko” (Metamorphosis of things) in 1976, and since then it has enjoyed success with readers, even its youngest ones. In the same vein, but this time without onomatopoetic words, they apply concise, verse-like texts to showcase individual positive emotions and moods that may arise in a human being at a particular time. They call it the Light of the Heart. That which is invisible is visualized using abstract images created by means of an airbrush technique, and is made perceptible through the use of finely wrought words. The heart is a universe. The breath-taking originality of this picture book is also due to the collaboration of Etsuko Nakatsuji, award winner at the Biennial Illustration Bratislava, for its layout and design. (Age: 6+)


Here is my friend and colleague, Junko Yokota, reading a selection from this book. She a professor of children's literature at National-Louis University in Illinois, an expert on international children's literature, and Director of the Center for Teaching through Children's Books there.




And here is Junko's translation of the poet's explanation of that poem:





Image credit: SV;IYL

Posting (not poem) by Sylvia M. Vardell © 2011. All rights reserved.