Poetry

Title:  Poem Runs (Baseball Poems and Paintings)

Author: Douglas Florian 

Awards: N/A

Published: 2012

Genre: Poetry Picturebook 

Out of all the picturebooks I have read this summer, Poem Runs is by far my favorite. The word and font play are a lot of fun. The baseball players in my classroom will love the accuracy and wit included in this collection of poems. The colors take up the entire page and the illustrations look like something a devout young fan would draw of their favorite team. This collection starts with the warm up and takes you through each position adding in some humorous stereotypes. The season ends with a "poem run" and a reflection of the season. Sometimes it is hard to motivate the boys in my classes to read and enjoy poetry, but I won't have to worry about that any longer. This will be the first book I read to my students during any poetry unit and double as a book that describes my interests. The players in this book are both boys and girls adding to the playfulness and relatability of the book to all of my students. Students will be able to see how creative you can be with poetry and how it can be applied to any topic. I can already visualize my students wanted to create poems of their own about one of their favorite hobbies. 

As the description on the back says...

"You'll find this book

 has many a poem.

There's first base, 

second base, 

third base, home. 

A pitcher, catcher, 

slugger, and all.

There's even an umpire-

LET'S PLAY BALL!" 

Title:  A Child's Anthonlogy of Poetry 

Edited by: Elizabeth Hauge Sword with Victoria Flournoy McCarthy 

Illustrated by: Tom Pohrt 

Awards: N/A

Published: 2015

Genre: Poetry 

Many times children's poetry can be considered immature. I love that this anthology does not lose the richness of many poetic classics. With authors such as Maya Angelou, William Blake, Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost, Edgar Allan Poe, and Walt Whitman, you can imagine the depth and diversity in which this collection contains. There are very few illustrations included but those that are add to the comprehension of the poem it accompanies. The poems are organized alphabetically by author with a table of contents available at the beginning. There is not one set theme in this anthology but more of a collection of classics. I would not expect the students I work with on a regular basis to be able to read and comprehend the poems in this compilation, however, this would make for a great read aloud which would lead to some great discussion. Deep thinking and inferencing skills are required but the more students listen and discuss and the more I model students will be able to critique, analyze, and infer on their own.