Kinds of Poetry

Poetic Form

Guyku:  A Year of Haiku for Boys

Raczka, Bob.  Guyku:  A Year of Haiku for Boys. Boston, Massachusetts:  Houghton Mifflin Books for Children. 2010.

ISBN  9780547240039 

SUMMARY:  This book of Haiku poems for boys is divided by seasons of the year, beginning with spring.  Each season is a Haiku poem representing activities boys would participate in during each season.  The poems’ themes are nature and boys playing outdoors, such as flying a kite and fishing.  This fun collection of Haiku should appeal to beginning readers from first to fourth grade.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS:  Haiku poetry is formed by using five syllables in the first line, then seven for the second line, and five again for the last line.  All these poems are written about boys participating in activities outdoors in nature.  The book is all about fun.  The activities are all about things boys like to do.  Dividing the book by seasons is a great way to showcase nature and activities outdoors.  There is no table of contents and the poems have no titles. They are simply divided by spring, summer, fall, and winter.

The illustrations by Peter H. Reynolds are simple and fun.  They all are displayed in a central muted color, with brown or gray charcoal included.  The font is also one that children will like, it is not typed, but printed and looks like children might have written the poems themselves.

This book is a fun way to introduce Haiku to young students.  Haiku is also a great way to introduce writing poetry to children, because it follows a set pattern and is easy to understand.

POETRY EXCERPT: 

This poem is taken from the section of spring poems. 

“With baseball cards and

Clothespins, we make our bikes sound

Like motorcycles.”

EXTENTION ACTIVITY:  I would explain about writing Haiku poems and read the book to students.  We would then have students come up with their favorite outdoor activity and write a Haiku poem.  You could have them write one for each of the seasons.  For girls, we would make up our own book of poetry called “Girlku.”  They would also come up with their favorite activities to write about.  The classes could make their own books and each student could talk about their favorite activities to introduce their poem or poems.  Then, they would share their poems with the class. 

RESOURCES:

Raczka, Bob.  Guyku:  A Year of Haiku for Boys. Boston, Massachusetts:  Houghton Mifflin Books for Children. 2010. 

Images by Google Images.

Verse Novel

Hidden

Frost, Helen. Hidden. New York:  Francis Foster Books. 2011.

ISBN  9780374382216 

SUMMARY:  This verse novel begins when Wren is accidentally kidnapped by Darra’s father when he steals her Wren’s mother’s car.  She is trapped at Darra’s house until Darra helps her to escape.  Darra’s father is arrested, and Darra feels her life is ruined.

The girls end up at the same summer camp six years later when they are fourteen.  They immediately recognize each other and the rest of the novel is about how they come to terms with what happened six years ago. The book is told from each girl’s point of view and alternates between them.  

CRITICAL ANALYSIS:  This verse novel is a great example of how students can solve their own problems in difficult situations without fighting and violence. The story focuses on friendship and forgiveness.  The book is told alternatively through Wren and Darra’s points of view.  The poems are free verse and I felt that the situation the girls found themselves in, is completely original.

The book contains a table of contents and a Diving Deeper section, where the author discusses the book and her poetic technique. The book divided into three parts.  The first part is written by Wren and the poems in that section are numbered. “The placement of the words on the page is something like a musical notation. The numbered sections indicate the passage of time”(Frost, p. 145).

The second section is told by Darra and the poems “are written in a form invented for this book.  The last words of the long lines, when read down the right side of the page, give further insight into her story”(Frost, p. 145).

There is also an Acknowledgements section.  There are no illustrations, but the cover is intriguing.  It shows two girls who are very different physically, with their long hair intertwined.

This is a great read for reluctant readers, it has a beginning that will catch readers’ attention, while showing a great example of how two girls deal with a difficult, emotional situation.  I would recommend this book for fifth grade through high school.  

POETRY EXCERPT:

I’ve Never Seen Her

Darra 

“How many girls my age named Wren can there be?  Plus I

Remember her picture, and she looks exactly

The same.  Older, of course, and different hair,

But it has to be here.  Now I really don’t want to stay!  Mom, could

We please get back in the car and go home?

Mom says, Grandma just wanted you to be

Happy! Is that asking too much of you?  How many ways can I tell

Her the same thing?  I turn away.  She goes, Darra!

And this girl Wren, hears my name, and gets

A look, like something just hit her.  I see it in slow motion.  She

Doesn’t want to look at me, but she can’t help it,

And I can’t help staring back.  Mom asks,

Do you know that girl?  I think:  Hello?  Remember?  She was

In our garage eavesdropping on everything…”

EXTENTION ACTIVITY:  After reading the book, I would use this free verse novel to illustrate the concept of two sides to an argument, or point of view.  I would get students to remember a disagreement they have had with someone, providing an example from my own experience.  Then, I would have them write about the situation, tell their side of the argument, and then have them try and write about the same situation from the other person’s point of view.  They would then write a conclusion about what they learned from the experience. 

RESOURCES:

Frost, Helen. Hidden. New York:  Francis Foster Books. 2011.

Images by Google Images.

New Poetry Book

Requiem:  Poems of the Terezin Ghetto

Janeczko, Paul B.  Requiem:  Poems of the Terezin Ghetto. Summerville, Massachusetts:  Candlewick Press.  2011.

ISBN  9780763647278 

SUMMARY:  This free verse novel is historical fiction written about the Holocaust.  The poems are written by the author himself, but represent the thoughts, feelings, and emotions of all types of individuals in or around the Terezin Ghetto during World War II.  Terezin was home to many Jewish intellectuals and artists of Prague.  This ghetto was one prison where the arts were allowed to thrive. 

The poems include the point of view of Nazi officials, some ruthless and others struggling with the tasks they were forced to impose. German citizens sympathetic to the Jews, and those that were not are also represented.  Inmates from all ages and walks of life describe heart-wrenching situations and their struggles come alive through the poetry in this novel.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS:  I found this free verse novel to be a wonderful book to add to any Holocaust or Historical Fiction collection.  The poetry explores the point of view from all types of individuals that came together in the Terezin Ghetto. 

The poems are cataloged in a Table of Contents.  The poems are untitled, but have the individual’s name and what they represent, or their walk of life.  If they were an inmate, it includes their tattooed numbers. The book also includes an Author’s Note, in which he describes his research, which I believe is very thorough.  He includes in this book a poem he wrote from an actual postcard written by an inmate and another poem is an excerpt from a journal that was found in the camp.  The author also lists a selection of books for further research on this time in history, as well as a list of websites, and DVDs.  At the end, he includes a glossary that describes foreign words and phrases that students might not be familiar with.  I think that putting the glossary at the front would be more helpful, because most students won’t look into the back of the book until the end, if at all.  

The haunting and somber illustrations, done in charcoal, were created by actual inmates at the camp after the war ended.  They show the darkness and hopelessness of the situation.

This book is touching and should be read by students from sixth grade through high school.  It explains through many points of view one of the most horrific historical events of all time.  Reluctant readers should find it an easy read.

POETRY EXCERPT:  

This poem is untitled, but represents what all prisoners at the Terezin Ghetto must have felt. 

“Blue sky

Beyond

Barbed wire.

I wish I were

Sky.”

EXTENTION ACTIVITY:  I would use this book in a Social Studies class.  This would become a research project to be done, after a Holocaust unit had concluded.  After reading, we would research to find individuals that actually were in the Terezin Ghetto.  Students could choose inmates, citizens, or Nazi officials to research. 

We would use the internet and library resources to research students’ chosen individual. The students would research their lives and explain how they were connected to Terezin. They would also tell us what happened to them.  Did they die, and if not, what did they accomplished after liberation from the Ghetto or other camps?

Students could also try and find a character from the book most like the person they did their research on.  They could include that poem in their project.

RESOURCES:

Janeczko, Paul B.  Requiem:  Poems of the Terezin Ghetto. Summerville, Massachusetts:  Candlewick Press.  2011.

Images by Google Images.