Lady Liberty: A Biography

Bibliography

Rappaport, Doreen. Lady Liberty: A Biography. Illus. by Matt Tavares. Cambridge: Candlewick Press, 2008. 978-0763625306

Review

Lady Liberty is a collection of poems that exhibit concrete meaning of how the Statue of Liberty came to be in America. The pattern in some poems such as “Joseph Pulitzer” (Rappaport, pg. 21) are steady and have the same number of beats in between distinct pauses. There are surprises however in the meter of the poem, such as the sudden “I know” in the third stanza that stops the poem and brings attention to the fact that Joseph Pulitzer understands being an immigrant.

Sounds of alliteration are heard by readers in poems such as “scows and steamers and ships of war” (Rappaport, p. 26). This poem, “Jose Marti”, also provides repetition of words or groups of words such as “left, right, left, right” and “regiment after regiment” (pg. 26) which are the perfect compliment to a poem about military and soldiers.

Figurative language stirs up a more accurate and in depth picture of the creation of the Statue of Liberty. Similes such as “wears a flowing robe like the ancient goddess Libertas” (Rappaport, pg. 33) or “as grand as any one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World” (Rappaport, pg. 9) depicts the beauty and magnificence of Lady Liberty.

Sound is an important part of many of these poems. One in particular, “Auguste Bartholdi” uses sounds such as “tugboat whistles and trumpet fanfares clash…cannons fire deafening salutes…shrieking tugboats” (Rappaport, pg. 31) to create the incredibly proud, boisterous, and patriotic atmosphere that took place at the unveiling of the monument.

Poetry and Connection

Auguste Bartholdi

I have sketched Liberty many times

And made clay models.

Laboulaye helped me at every stage.

She will be massive but elegant,,

As grand as any one of the

Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

(Rappaport, pg. 9)

Read the poem aloud while students close their eyes. Give students the choice of molding clay or sketching a picture of the Statue of Liberty as you reread the poem. Students can put their models and sketches on display with “Lady Liberty: A Biography”.

Your Own, Sylvia

Bibliography

Hemphill, Stephanie. Your Own, Sylvia: A Verse Portrait of Sylvia Plath. New York: Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2007. 978-0440239680

Review

Your Own, Sylvia portrays a mix of poetry that contains concrete meaning as in the things Sylvia should do to be the perfect wife in “Patriarchy” (Hemphill, pg. 41-42) and abstract meaning with “Demolition” (pg. 24-25) in reference to Sylvia’s sexuality through the images of a car ride. The poems’ meter is steady and allows for the lines to be read in a fluid manner. Most of the poems have a natural, stronger stress on the last syllable of each line.

Hemphill uses rhyme throughout several poems in this book such as “talk…locks…shocks…blocks” in “Golden Girl” (pg. 91) or in “Theodore” (pg. 118-119) with “worth…birth…earth”. The repetition of words at the beginning of each stanza play an affect on the sound of the poem. In “Ski Trip” three stanzas in a row begin with “Sylvia” (Hemphill, pg. 58) which plays on the fact that Dick Norton was fascinated with her.

Figurative language is used to enhance the content of the poems in Your Own, Sylvia and bring more intense meaning delicately. “Sylvia’s skin tans brown as the beach sand…fourteen-karat hair blazes like the noon sky” show two examples of similes used to describe Sylvia through resilient comparisons. Sylvia is personified by Richard Sassoon as an insect who “flap(s) against my web, yet are grateful to be confined” (Hemphill, pgs. 98-99) helping the reader to draw the conclusion that although Sylvia still wants to flap her wings, she is secretly happy to be in love.

The senses are evoked within Your Own, Sylvia through Hemphill’s poetry. In “Demolition” the line of “burnt tire fumes choking her throat” awaken the reader’s sense of smell so that they can picture themselves sitting close to the track of a car race.

Your Own, Sylvia is skillfully written and so wonderfully tells the story of Sylvia Plath’s life. I felt very moved by this book and feel that the overall serious mood are a perfect parallel to Sylvia’s life.

Poetry and Connection

Selfish

Mommy gave Sylvia

a blue cloth book

without words

where Sylvia puts words

each day.

(from Selfish, Hemphill, pg. 17)

Read the entire poem of “Selfish” as a class and have a journal (preferably blue!) as a prop. Give students about five minutes to write in their journal. They are given the freedom to choose their topic of writing or style of writing (i.e. poetry).

Bibliography

Alarcon, Francisco X. Animal Poems of the Iguazu. Illus. by Maya Christina Gonzalez. San Francisco: Children’s Book Press, 2008. 978-0892392254

Review

Animal Poems of the Iguazu has poetry that displays both concrete and abstract meaning. “Better Fun” (Alarcon, p. 22) clearly describes people floating down a river on a tubing boat, while the “River Turtle” depicts the Southern Hemisphere being carried on the turtle’s back as an allusion to old myths that the Earth rode on the back of a turtle.

The poems contain short lines that usually each contain two to five syllables. Many poems have lines with differing lengths of syllables that contrast each other, yet allow the poem to easily flow. Although the poetry in Animal Poems of the Iguazu rarely display rhyme, there is a presence of repetition. An example of this is on pg. 9 in “Hummingbird” when Alarcon uses “flit, flit, flit” or “pick, pick, pick”. This poem also shows the use of the “fl” sound among words such as “flit”, “flowers”, and “flower-picking”.

Similes are in abundance throughout this lovely book of poetry. In ”Red Earth” the poet describes the Earth’s color “like ground dried chiles and peppers…like cinnamon and chocolate powder” (Alarcon, pg. 26). The ants on pg. 21 describe the tourists “like giant ants” creating an interesting contrast between busy humans and these insects (Alarcon). Not only are similes used to enhance these poems, but metaphors are created, as well. Butterflies are painted as “multicolored flowers of the air”, which creates an image of beautiful colors flowing through the sky (Alarcon, pg. 16).

Sense imagery is crucial to Alarcon’s poems in depicting the Iguazu clearly. Foods are used to describe animals such as the “papaya slices” for a toucan’s beak (Alarcon, pg. 6) and “cinnamon and chocolate powder” to describe the earth’s soil (pg. 26). Sound is an intense and startling element in “What a Pest!” when helicopters are described as “big mosquitos” by nesting birds (Alarcon, pg. 20). This puts human like objects into the perspective of an animal in a rainforest, as a huge mosquito would be quite annoying and terrifying to a human.

The poetry in this book truly creates an impact on the reader. The tone is light and cheerful when introducing many animals, but in the middle of the book the mood is overshadowed by the affects of humans on these animals’ habitats. The last few poems move away from animals’ opinions of humans in the Iguazu to more meaningful and powerful poems. I believe this book of poetry does a phenomenal job of bringing awareness to the Iguazu National Park and allowing people to understand and appreciate its natural beauty.

Poetry and Connection

Butterflies

We are

the multicolored

flowers of the air

(Alarcon, p. 16)

Take different colors of tissue paper. Fold in half, draw one side of the butterfly and cut it out. Once each child has a butterfly, have groups recite the poem and at the end toss their butterflies in the air and watch them flutter to the ground. Each group will take a turn reciting the poem and tossing their butterflies.

All the Small Poems and Fourteen More

Bibliography

Worth, Valerie. All The Small Poems and Fourteen More. Illus. by Natalie Babbitt. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1994. 978-0374403454

Review

This collection of poems by Valerie Worth is exquisite and well composed. Most of the poems have concrete meanings with short, distinct lines. Most lines have only two, three or four words on them.

Sounds are used to create the right tone such as rhyme and repetition. On page 25, Worth uses rhyme in "tick or tock. Poor clock." to create the rhythmical sound of a clock in the reader. Repetition in "Mice" with words such as "places in places" or "world inside the wide world" shows how small mice are and that a small space within a room is a room in itself for an animal of such small stature.

Many of the poems in this collection use personification to bring inanimate objects to life. For example, on page 95 Worth creates a bell with a tongue that can sing or on page 102 a mushroom is like a human skeleton with a "soft skull" and "frail ribs" that float above the ground.

Sense imagery is an important part of making these poems full of energy and engaging to the reader. Sounds such as "grass whispers" (Worth, pg. 41), the "crunching up" of raw carrots (Worth, pg. 22), or the "poured clicking" of marbles (Worth, pg. 23) bring about a realistic environment for the audience. In "Marbles" readers feel that they can touch the objects in their hands as they read that they are "hard, glossy, glassy, cold" (Worth, pg. 23).

These poems are simple and yet hold so much meaning. With a light-hearted mood, this collection of poetry uplifts the soul and warms the heart.

Poetry & Connection

Coins

Coins are pleasant

To the hand:

Neat circles, smooth,

A little heavy.

They feel as if

They are worth something.

I would give each child a coin to hold in their hand. Tell students to move it around in their hand and think about how it feels. Then as each child is holding his/her own coin, read the poem "Coins". After, do a choral reading of the poem together as a class.