ROOTS AND BLUES by Arnold Adoff

Poetry Tag continues with a book review of a new book of poetry connected to yesterday's book review.

Today’s tagline: Poems about another pair

Guest Reviewer: Deanne May

Featured Book: Adoff, Arnold. 2011. Roots and Blues; A Celebration. Clarion. ISBN: 978-0-547-23554-7

Deanne writes: In Roots and Blues: A Celebration, Arnold Adoff explores the evolution of blues music in African American culture as well as its impact on singers and listeners. Beginning with the songs of those being transported from Africa across the ocean during the slave trade and ending with blues music in modern times, Adoff uses lyrical poetry to engulf readers with the pure emotion of this genre of music.

Adding visual beauty to Adoff’s words are R. Gregory Christie’s enchanting acrylic paintings. The rhythm and flow of the poems in Roots and Blues allows for a smooth reading while evoking sensory images through the use of rich vocabulary. Perhaps the most interesting element of this book is the unique layout in which special attention was paid to spacing, line breaks, and the placement of the poems on the page. Readers will enjoy this historically rich exploration of how blues music came to be.

Connections
Due to its complex vocabulary and, at times, abstract nature, Roots and Blues: A Celebration would be best suited for use with high school aged students and beyond. Though one usually associates use of poetry with Language Arts curriculum, Roots and Blues would make for an excellent teaching tool in any music or music history class. This book represents the history of blues music in a historically accurate, yet emotionally riveting manner. Roots and Blues could provide an engaging alternative to reading a traditional textbook about the same topic. To explore the use of blues music in African American culture during various points in history, educators can select poems that represent each time frame being studied. For example:

Slave Trade (taken from p. 10)

Chained
in rags in blood in dark death of daylight.
To survive the passage across the ocean from
life to living hell to life in hell means
silent
singing
of old
songs.
Behind the eyes
the fingers strum
homeland strings and memory of my history
remains as strong as steel.
Always: this melody of words is journey home.

Tomorrow’s tagline: More poems about African American history

[You can still purchase your own copy of PoetryTagTime, an e-book with 30 poems, all connected, by 30 poets, all connected and downloadable right now at Amazon for your Kindle or Kindle app for your computer, iPad or phone. Just 99 cents. Don’t miss it.]

Image credit: Clarion; PoetryTagTime

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

EMMA DILEMMA by Kristine O’Connell George

Poetry Tag continues with a book review of a new book of poetry connected to yesterday's book review.

Today’s tagline: Poems about a pair of sisters

Guest Reviewer: Karla Phipps

Featured Book: George, Kristine O’Connell. 2011. Emma Dilemma: Big Sister Poems. Ill. by Nancy Carpenter. Clarion. ISBN 978-0-618-42842-7

Karla begins:

“Mom, she is bothering me!”
“No, I’m not!”
“Are too!”
“Are not!”

This has been an argument heard at many houses all around the world and will continue as long as siblings strive to build relationships with each other. The relationship between sisters is a very special one. Many of us have at one time viewed our little sisters as pests and would like for them to leave us alone, instead of constantly interrupting us. The poems in this award-winning book do an amazing job of introducing the reader to the unique and often hard to understand relationship between sisters. The author, Kristine O’Connell George, uses her experience as a big sister to give a unique perspective in her writing.

The author uses the connection between Jessica and Emma to appeal to the emotions of the reader. Each person at one point in their life has seen their younger sibling as an ally, a playmate, but also as the enemy. Each of the poems has a natural cadence and rhythm, and is not written in rhyming format. This format would be excellent for choral reading. The language used by the poet can be easily understood by the reader and each of the poems, along with the illustrations by Nancy Carpenter, stimulates the imagination of the reader.

In the following poem, “Emma Dilemma,” the poet presents an interesting description of dealing with the frustrations of having a pesky younger sister.

“Emma Dilemma”
by Kristine O'Connell George

Sometimes Dad calls my little sister Emma Dilemma.
Dad says a dilemma is an interesting problem.
I know Dad’s joking but sometimes Emma is my dilemma.

Each of the poems included in this book shares different facets of the relationship between two sisters and helps to reinforce the purpose of this book, which is to show the love and sometimes intense dislike between two siblings. As much as our siblings do things to drive us crazy, such as trying to copy each thing that we do or embarrass us in front of our friends, we still love them. The reader will feel many different emotions throughout the reading of this book, as the poems share Jessica’s daily struggles with her little sister, ranging from pride to intense sadness.

Connections
As a way of sharing this book, I would use this book as a way of introducing a study of family relationships. I would begin with the question, “How do you feel when your sibling does something to bother you?” Depending on the grade level, students may need to know what the word “sibling” means. After allowing students to verbally share how they would feel and writing these down on chart paper, I would share the poem, “Trespass” from the book. Students could then complete a journal entry about their siblings. An example could be:

When my little sister (or brother) takes something of mine, I feel _______.

To extend this activity, I would have the students complete a home project sharing information about their families with different questions, such as what type of activities does your family like to do together, how many siblings do you have, and what makes your family special. This is an activity that my first grade students complete each year. Older students could write their relationship with a sibling.

Tomorrow’s tagline: Poems about another pair

[You can still purchase your own copy of PoetryTagTime, an e-book with 30 poems, all connected, by 30 poets, all connected and downloadable right now at Amazon for your Kindle or Kindle app for your computer, iPad or phone. Just 99 cents. Don’t miss it.]

Image credit: Clarion; PoetryTagTime

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

TWOSOMES by Marilyn Singer

Poetry Tag continues with a book review of a new book of poetry connected to yesterday's book review.

Today’s tagline: Poems about animals in pairs

Guest Reviewer: Sarah Razer

Featured Book: Singer, Marilyn. Ills. by Lee Wildish. Twosomes. New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN: 9780375867101

Sarah writes: These fifteen poems may be only two lines long each, but they are sweet and specific to the animal the poem describes. Whether adding an animal trait, such as chameleons changing color, or a word pun ("Come leap with me and be my wife. You're the porpoise of my life" in "Dolphins"), these short poems are fun for children and adults alike, so the book appeals to all ages. While younger audiences will enjoy the funny rhymes that focus on love, the adults will catch the wittiness and puns. Poems have a natural flow with short, simple rhymes that are still clever. It evokes silliness and happiness in what appears as childlike rhymes, but are actually clever and knowledgeable rhymes. These love poems are consistent for each animal from around the animal kingdom and it will certainly put anyone in a loving mood, and possibly lead someone to spend some extra time with a pet.



The illustrations are cute and colorful, small and comical. It's a sweet little book that could be given to anyone of any age as a Valentine's present or simply for the love of poetry. 



Sample Poem
 


Porcupines

by Marilyn Singer

"Hugging you takes some practice.

So I'll start out with a cactus."



Connections

The poems are only two lines long which provides young children an example of poetry on a level that they can grasp. It also offers examples a child could mimic. Five year olds can think of rhyming words and would possibly be able to take a trait from an animal they like and create a brief poem. It centers on the emotion of love, but also on the popular topic of animals. Both of these are elements a child can understand. Sometimes the explanations can be short and direct and the poems in Twosomes are short and clear examples of a type of poetry that all ages can understand.

Tomorrow’s tagline: Poems about a pair of sisters

[You can still purchase your own copy of PoetryTagTime, an e-book with 30 poems, all connected, by 30 poets, all connected and downloadable right now at Amazon for your Kindle or Kindle app for your computer, iPad or phone. Just 99 cents. Don’t miss it.]

Image credit: Knopf, PoetryTagTime

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