Multicultural Poetry

Mora, Pat.  Ill. Jenkins, Steve. This Big Sky. New York:  Scholastic Press.  1998.  ISBN  0590371207

SUMMARY:  There are fourteen lyrical poems by Pat Mora.  They bring to life the  people, animals, and landscape of the American Southwest.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS:  This Latino poet has obviously chosen a subject that she loves.  The book contains no introduction or table of contents.  The author uses some Spanish words that readers might be unfamiliar with, so she does include a glossary of those terms at the end of the book.  Putting those terms at the beginning of the book would have been more useful, because I don’t think children will look at the back of the book until they have finished it.  This makes the poems lose some of their meaning if there is vocabulary that is not understood. 

The poems use rhyme and repetition which makes the poetry appealing to children.  Some vocabulary might be difficult for beginning readers, so I would recommend this to 3^rd, 4^th, and 5^th grades.  The poet also uses beautifully descriptive language which makes us feel, hear, see, and smell life in the Southwest.  The added bonus to this book of poetry is the beautiful textured cut paper illustrations by Steve Jenkins.  They evoke the power of this wonderful part of our country.  Together, the illustrations and words make us wish we lived in America’s Southwest region.  

POEM EXCERPT:   

Desert Snow 

“Coyote spies

New moon, slight

Grin, high

In the sky. 

Coyote licks

Cold, white

Shine, mouthful

Of stars.

Coyote serenades

Moon, grinning slyly

At hills sleeping in starry blankets,

And music rising, “Halloooooooooo!” 

EXTENTION ACTIVITY:  I would have students write about the landscape in their area using descriptive language.  They could also research another area of the country and write about its terrain.  Then, I would have them use torn or cut colored paper to make pictures of what they’ve written, using Steve Jenkins technique.