Poetry and Science

Florian, Douglas.  Beast Feast. New York:  Harcourt, Brace, and Company. 1994.

ISBN  0152951784 

SUMMARY: This book is a collection of humorous poetry about twenty-one different animals, which includes mammals, insects, and fish. The subjects range from a firefly to a walrus.  The book also contains fun illustrations of each animal with their poem.   

CRITICAL ANALYSIS:  This is a fun book of poetry for beginning readers through fifth grade.  The author uses rhyme and conciseness to describe twenty-one different animals.  Some of the poems’ text is displayed to resemble the shape of the animal.  Young readers may have trouble with some of the vocabulary, but the fun rhymes and word play will keep them reading.  The book contains a Table of Contents.  Students will love the simple, yet fun illustrations which are created with watercolor paints.  

POEM EXCERPT: 

The Sloth

 Up in a tree

The shaggy sloth

Is hanging by its claws.

It doesn’t like to move at all.

It only likes to

P  a  u  s  e.

EXTENTION ACTIVITY:  The teacher can read selected poems from the book to the class.  Students can listen to come up with two facts about the animal that author tells us in his poem.  Such as:  Pigeons hunt and peck.  They bob their heads when they walk.  They eat crumbs, etc.  Then, depending on the age, students could research their own animal and incorporate two facts about the animal in their own poem.  They could also illustrate their poem.

REFERENCES:

Florian, Douglas.  Beast Feast. New York:  Harcourt, Brace, and Company. 1994. 

Images by Google Images.