Jazz

Bibliography

Myers, Walter Dean. Jazz. Illus. by Christopher Myers. New York: Holiday House, 2006. 978-0823421732

Review

Jazz is an altogether moving collection of poems by Walter Dean Myers. The meanings portrayed in the poems vary from concrete to abstract but the key to these poems is that they are MEANINGFUL.

Rhythm is an important concept as many of the poems are a reflection of jazz music. In “Three Voices” (Myers, pgs. 36-38) the Bass and Piano have a steady rhythm displaying that they correspond in beat and in their pattern. These are able to be read in unison because of their likeness. When the third voice, the horn, is brought in however, a spontaneous, individual beat is brought into the picture.

Rhyme is seen in some poems such as “Be-Bop” (Myers, pg. 24) with words such as “playing…laying…paying…slaying” and “grinding…finding”. In “It’s Jazz” (Myers, pg. 41) a “t” sound is used with “rat-a-tatting…patting…scatting”. Assonance is also used in this poem with “of old New Orleans” being repeated. Sounds are powerful in this collection of poems.

The sense of sound is created on “Three Voices” (Myers, pg. 36-38) with the repetition of a “thum, thum, thum, and thumming” of a bass. The piano in this poem is described “like a charming angel choir” showing an example of similes used in Myers’ poetry.

The mood of this book can be described as confident and vivacious. The poems hold so much life and power and the illustrations are a perfect blend of the emotions evoked by the poems. The reader is constantly drawn into each poem and many will find a new hunger for more information about jazz and its origins.

Poem & Connection

Now I Come In

By Walter Dean Myers

(an excerpt)

This melody from memory

Makes harmonies that reach to be

So much more than a simple tune

Or rhyme

I’ll take you as far as I can go

I’ll blow as hard as I can blow

I’ll reach for the stars

Blow notes around Mars

And then you come in

And

Then

You

Come

In

(Myers, pg. 35)

Oh, No! Where Are My Pants? and Other Disasters: Poems

Bibliography

Hopkins, Lee Bennett, ed. Oh, No! Where Are My Pants? And Other Disasters: Poems. Illus. by Wolf Erlbruch. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2005. 978-0688178604

Review

Oh, No! Where Are My Pants? And Other Disasters: Poems is a hilarious and sometimes cringe-worthy collection of poems with concrete meaning. Many readers will feel that they can relate to the disasters held by the characters or at least have a fear of these things happening to them. A relatable collection for any reader, young or old.

The rhythm differs in each poem some having short lines with two beats each such as “Oh, No!” (Weaver, pg. 14) or longer lines with four beats as in “Winter Rabbit” (Comora, pg. 9). The patterns in each poem are a reflection of the meaning of the poem. The aforementioned poems’ rhythms are a suggestion towards the meaning each carries: “Winter Rabbit” (Comora, pg. 9) having a sad more serious tone and “Oh No!” (Weaver, pg. 14) holding a playful, funny mood.

Similar to rhythm, the use of rhyme differs from poem to poem. “Nightmare” (Viorst, pg. 23) is one poem that does use rhyme with words such as “dressed…best…vest”. Figurative language is used by various poets to enhance the descriptions in the poems. In “Winter Rabbit” Madeleine Comora on page 9 describe the rabbit’s lifeless ears and feet “like falling velvet drapes”.

In this collection many of the poems’ words are strategically placed to add emphasis to the poem’s meaning. “Play Ball” (Hulme, pg. 17) has words that are written in the shape of a baseball diamond to help the reader visualize the batter running around the four bases. The lines in “Haircut” (Singer, pg. 20) are jagged and uneven, a perfect reflection of the girl’s horrible haircut in the poem.

The mood varies throughout the poems as these disasters cover a wide range of events: losing a pet, forgetting your pants, or stuck on a ferris wheel. As with each poet and poem the tone will vary as does the reader’s response depending on their experience or reflection on the described disaster.

Poem & Connection

Oh, No!

By Katie McAllaster Weaver

Hello apple!

Shiny red.

CHOMP. CHOMP.

Hello worm.

Where’s your head?

(Weaver, p. 14)

Read this poem slowly so that the surprise at the end of the poem can be realized. Show the poem on the board and have the class read it aloud together. Talk about what your facial expression would be like at every part of this poem and as you read each line, have the students portray the writer’s feelings by their facial movements.

Farmer's Garden: Rhymes for Two Voices

Bibliography

Harrison, David L. Farmer’s Garden: Rhymes for Two Voices. Illus. by Arden Johnson-Petrov. Honesdale: Wordsong Boyds Mills Press, 2000. 978-1590781777

Review

Farmer’s Garden is a collection of playful poems that exude concrete meaning. The dog’s voice in each poem carries a regular pattern, asking his question in a 3 line format with 2 beats, 2 beats, and 3 beats consecutively.

Rhyme is used consistently in Harrison’s poems with short sounds that early readers are able to easily identify. Examples of this are used in the poem “Beetle” with “fast…past”, “run…sun”, and “do…dew” (Harrison, p. 24). In the poem, “Corn”, the use of the letters ‘r’ and ‘o’ in “corn…row…crow” by Harrison on page 15 creates a common sound through the first half of the poem. The words seem to complement each other which is an extremely important part of poetry.

Personification is a large part of these poems as the dog approaches and speaks to not only animals and insects, but inanimate objects such as a carrot, strawberry, and corn. The foods speak to the dog just as the living things do and describe their life in the Farmer’s garden from its point of view.

Some of the food items in the poems evoke imagery through taste such as the radish “hop(ing) to go in a pot of stew” (Harrison, p. 28). The deer creates a sense of hearing in the reader when repeating “Shhh!” (Harrison, p. 30) to the dog, displaying to the audience that it is night time and silent out in the garden.

The overall mood of this book of poems is light-hearted and playful as the dog wanders from object to object curious as to what it is doing in the garden. A perfect ending is created as the dog and farmer wind up together in the garden.

Poem & Connection

Have students perform this book of poetry as reader’s theater for a class of students, giving one person the dog role, and the other students splitting the other roles. Each student draws their character and tapes it onto a Popsicle stick to be held when he or she is reading their part. An alternative to this would be dividing the students up into pairs and each pair getting one poem to perform. For example, one pair could perform “Mousey” with one student playing Farmer’s Dog and the other person playing Mousey.

Mousey

Mousey, Mousey,

why do you hurry?

Cat is coming!

I must scurry!

Cat is coming?

Hide! Hide!

His teeth are sharp!

His mouth is wide!

Where will you go?

You can’t get far.

Then I will hide

in Farmer’s garden.

(Harrison, p. 11)