Messing Around on the Monkey Bars

Messing Around on the Monkey Bars

and other School Poems for Two Voices

Betsy Franco

illustrated by Jessie Hartland

 

Betsy Franco has authored over 75 books including poetry collections, picture books and a young adult novel. She also writes screenplays and sketch comedies. Jessie Hartland has written and illustrated eight picture books for children, including two that she also wrote.

Messing Around on the Monkey Bars contains 19 poems intended to be read aloud by two people.The reader 1 text is normal font, reader 2 has bold text and when they read at the same time the text is bold & italicized. Each poem is about school experiences from the school bus ride, to visiting the library, to the long-awaited recess period, to lunch, all the way up until the last bell of the day. 


Franco's short and fun poems have a sing-song cadence that are both entertaining and  energetic. The lines from "Jump Rope Jingle" are a good example of this: "Come on in./ I'll jump with you./ It's double fun/ to jump with two./ Jump, jump,/ spin around./ Jump jump,/ slap the ground./ Turn to the east./ Turn to the west./ Choose the one/ you like the best. If I had to select one book to be used to get children excited about poetry it would definitely be this one. 

Hartland's memorable illustrations are quirky but loveable. One of the first things I noticed is that many of the inanimate objects are drawn as being alive. The bus for the "Wild Bus Ride" poem has eyes, lips, and sharp teeth and the children are shown crawling out of its opened mouth. The objects shown for the "Anatomy Class" poem are alive as well; the ruler is winking, the chair has arms and the show is sticking out its tongue, which adds humor to the text. The teacher looks mean and the librarian is old and has glasses. My favorite illustration accompanies the "Homework Blues" poem, which talks about an alien stealing homework and shows a smiling alien walking up a ladder to his UFO.

Professional Reviews for Messing Around on the Monkey Bars:

• Booklist: "Hartland's energetic gouache illustrations add interest, portraying relevant objects and lively scenes in a childlike style with cartoonlike details."

• School Library Journal: "An enjoyable romp through playgrounds and cafeterias, this book will please class poets, performers, and clowns alike."
• ForeWord Magazine: "the poems are fun, provocative, and include lots of onomatopoetics. Jessie Hartlands always fresh and lively illustrations are the perfect accompaniment. This book should be a standard in classrooms."

Books by Betsy Franco
Interview with Betsy Franco
Click here for classroom activities to accompany the book.

Franco, Betsy. Messing Around on the Monkey Bars: and other School Poems for Two Voices. Massachusetts: Candlewick Press, 2009. 

ISBN 978-0-7636-3174-1

$13.95 at Barnes & Noble

Work consulted: Vardell, Sylvia M. Children's Literature in Action: A Librarian's Guide. Connecticut: Libraries Unlimited, 2008. 

I Am the Book

I Am the Book

poems selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins

illustrations by Yayo

 

Lee Bennett Hopkins has written/edited over 100 children's books, many of these being anthologies. He has won several awards including the NCTE Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children in 2009 and the Christopher Award in 1995 for his autobiographical poetry collection. Yayo has illustrated 8 children's books and has won awards for his cartoons and illustrations from the U.S., Canada, Colombia, Europe and Japan. 

I Am the Book contains 13 poems from different authors pertaining to the joys of books & reading, and each poem has an accompanying illustration that fills the entire page.

 My favorite poem called "Wonder Through the Pages" by Karla Kuskin describes the adventures that can be taken through books: "nonsense and knowledge/ came tumbling out,/ whispering mysteries,/ history's shout,/ the wisdom of wizards,/ the songs of the ages,/ all wonders of wandering/ wonderful pages" (pg. 6). I love this anthology because each poem is unique and adds its own touch to the book. "When I Read" by Beverly McLoughland is about experiencing the ocean through a book: "When I read, I like to dive/ In the sea of words and swim./ Feet kicking fast across the page/ Splashing words against my skin" (pg. 10). There is also a page near the back that tells a bit about each contributing author. 

Yayo's whimsical acrylic illustrations complement the poems perfectly, using both light and dark shades, different patterns, scenes with one main focus (like the school bus in "Don't Need a Window Seat") and scenes that show many things and do not have one main focus (like in "A Poem Is" that shows an amusement park, a child, a dog, birds and the ocean). The word placement varies on each page depending on the illustration. For example, in "This book" the text is white and on a young girl's black hair. In "Book" the text is black and on a beige sandy beach.

Professional Reviews for I Am the Book:

• Publishers Weekly: "this collection of poems by contemporary writers celebrates the joys of reading."

• School Library Journal: "The attractive and fanciful acrylic paintings feature exaggerated shapes and perspectives that go nicely with the flights of imagination depicted in the poems. Literature-loving adults will want to share this book with the young people in their lives."
• Booklist: "13 well-known children's poets celebrate how books can take readers on wild adventures, as well as how plain words can reveal the surprising drama in ordinary things... Fun for sharing with preschoolers, this will also spark discussion in grade-school writing and art classes."

Books by Lee Bennett Hopkins

A short biography of Yayo

Lee Bennett Hopkins. I Am the Book. New York: Holiday House, 2011. 

ISBN 978-0-8234-2119-0

$16.44 at Barnes & Noble

Work consulted: Vardell, Sylvia M. Children's Literature in Action: A Librarian's Guide. Connecticut: Libraries Unlimited, 2008.

The Surrender Tree

The Surrender Tree

 Poems of Cuba's Struggle for Freedom

Margarita Engle

 

Margarita Engle is a Cuban American author and was awarded a the first Newbery Honor awarded to a Latino for The Surrender Tree in 2009. She has written several award winning books including The Poet Slave of Cuba, Hurricane Dancers, Tropical Secrets and The Firefly Letters.

The Surrender Tree is historical fiction in free verse and tells the story of Cuba's fight for freedom through different voices. Rosa, a nurse, tends to sick and injured people using whatever she can find from the earth. She travels from cave to cave in the wild jungle using plants to heal women, children and even soldiers who are fighting against her. Rosa's husband, Jose, stays by her side and keeps the look out to make sure they are safe. 

A verse novel is a "narrative [that] unfolds poem by poem, often with multiple points of view and in colloquial, conversational language" (Vardell, 2008). Engle writes her verse novel this way, using short sentences within fairly short poems. No poem is more than two pages. A short poem and one of my favorites is on page 69. Rosa is the speaker: "Too soon/ the battles/ begin again./ Mercifully/ this new war/ is brief./ Tragically/ this new war/ is futile./ Sometimes, war feels/ just like one more/ slavery." Although the poems are short I can feel the growing despair in the words. 

Engle does a great job of describing the jungle scene throughout the novel: "Tree frogs, screech owls, the dancing leaves/ of feathery ferns, the fragrant petals/ of wild orchids./ Night wings/ crickets/ imagining secrets/ wondering which flowers/ might save a life" (pg. 105) and "trees grow like castle towers/ with windows opening/ onto rooms of sunlight./ I can no longer imagine/ living elsewhere/ without this garden of orchids/ and bright macaws" (pg. 114)

Professional Reviews for The Surrender Tree:

• Voice of Youth Adrravocates: "This book is a quick read and offers a rare glimpse into a historical period that is often overlooked in schools. The poems are short but incredibly evocative of what it feels like to be fighting oppression. It will be a great choice to hand to reluctant readers or to history students to humanize a lesson about Hispanic heritage or the Spanish American War."

• School Library Journal: "This collection is an intriguing way to introduce Cuban history and discussions on issues such as slavery and colonialism."
• Booklist: "Many readers will be caught by the compelling narrative voices."

Books by Margarita Engle
Meet the author: An interview with Margarita Engle
Classroom ideas to accompany the book
Similar books

Engle, Margarita. The Surrender Tree. New York: Henry Holt and Co., 2008. 

ISBN978-0-8050-8674-4

$9.99 at Barnes & Noble

Work cited: Vardell, Sylvia M. Children's Literature in Action: A Librarian's Guide. Connecticut: Libraries Unlimited, 2008. 

Author photo from http://www.arabesques-editions.com/journal/212206.html

The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs

The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs

Jon Scieszka

illustrated by Lane Smith

 

Jon Scieszka has won a Caldecott Honor medal for The Stinky Cheese Man and is a founder of Guys Read, a nonprofit literacy organization. He has sold over 11 million copies of his children's books worldwide. Lane Smith has illustrated over 25 books including the 2012 Caldecott Honor book Grandpa Green.

The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs is a version of the original 3 little pigs story told from the wolf's point of view. The wolf explains that he was practically innocent and only visited the pig's homes to borrow a cup of sugar for a cake. His accidental sneezes blow the houses down and he is framed and thrown in jail.

Scieszka uses a small amount of text on each page and small sentences. For example, to describe the sneezing he says:

"That's when my nose started to itch.

I felt a sneeze coming on.

Well I huffed.

And I snuffed.

And I sneezed a great sneeze."

My favorite part about the story is how pitifully innocent the author makes the wolf sound. When describing the dead pigs and how he should eat them he says "It seemed like a shame to leave a perfectly good ham dinner lying there in the straw. So I ate it up. Think of it as a big cheeseburger just lying there." The humor continues as the wolf comes upon the second house and the second dead pig and says "You know food will spoil if you just leave it out in the open. So I did the only thing there was to do. I had dinner again."

Lane Smith's illustration brings the text to life and adds even another layer of humor to the tale. The wolf is distinguished with glasses, nice clothing and a cute little hankie with pink embroidered sheep. If the reader isn't sympathetic to the wolf already, they are now because the wolf looks like a gentleman and the pigs look plain mean. The illustrations are for the most part dark, but this doesn't take away from the humor. My favorite illustration is on page 3 and the wolf is looking at a giant cheeseburger and talking about his diet. The cheeseburger has bunny ears and a tail sticking out of it. 

Professional Reviews for The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs:

• Publishers Weekly: "the collaborators take a classic story and send it through the wisecracker machine, much to the glee of kids young and old."

• School Library Journal: "It's the type of book that older kids (and adults) will find very funny."
• Booklist: "it not only breaks apart and deliciously reinvents the pigs' tale, it invites readers to step beyond the boundaries of story and picture book altogether."

Books by Jon Sciezka
Books illustrated by Lane Smith
Interview: Jon Scieszka & Lane Smith

Scieszka, Jon. The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs. New York: Viking, 1989. 

ISBN 0-670-82759-2

$7.99 at Barnes & Noble

Work consulted: Vardell, Sylvia M. Children's Literature in Action: A Librarian's Guide. Connecticut: Libraries Unlimited, 2008. 

Author/illustrator photo from http://www.designmom.com/2012/04/author-interview-jon-scieszka-and-lane-smith/

Dust Devil

Dust Devil

by Anne Isaacs

illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky

 

Anne Isaacs has written eight children's books. Her Swamp Angel received a 1995 Caldecott Honor Book award and Dust Devil was awarded a Caldecott Honor. Paul O. Zelinsky has received Caldecott Honors for three of his books as well as the 1998 Caldecott Medal for his illustrations in Rapunzel.

Dust Devil, the companion to Swamp Angel, tells the story of Angelica Longrider (nicknamed Swamp Angel) living in Montana in the 1830s. Angel creates buttes by moving mountains with her bare hands, caused it to rain milk all summer because of her gigantic cornfield, created geysers, created the Grand Canyon by scraping her feet along the ground and caught her giant horse out of a dust storm whom she named Dust Devil. Together Angel and Dust Devil have a wild adventure saving the town from Backward Bart and his Flying Desperados.


I love the Montana dialect that Isaacs uses ("I reckon" and "varmints" and "that's a beat") because it caused me read the story with an accent. Isaacs uses many similes and metaphors throughout her story:

• "Essie's biscuits were hard as horseshoes"
• "wind that bellows like a horse"
• "flatter than butter melting on a flapjack in a fry pan"
• "the wind tore across Montana faster than a baby ripping a newspaper"
• "the wind shrieked like a thousand trumpets playing out of tune"
• "no more buck in him than a baby"
• "opened up their toothless mouths and bawled like babies"
• "shave a cornfield balder than a parson"

Isaacs adds humor to her story by describing the tiny mosquitoes ridden by the Desperadoes and by explaining how Backward Bart does everything backwards, including talking. Angel has to speak backwards for him to understand: "Fight to prepare or stolen, you've gold the back give, varmints!"

The beautiful illustrations accompany the text perfectly. Zelinsky illustrates Montana showing mountains, plains, rivers, trees and sunsets with stunning colors, and each illustration is placed on top of different colored wood. Humor can be found not only in the text book in the illustrations as well. Angel is humorously large and Zelinsky shows her falling on animals, standing on mountains, throwing biscuits at the Desperadoes and knitting on top of a building. Backward Bart and the Desperadoes are drawn humerously as well, with ear hairs and nose hairs, big ears, abnormally large mustaches and ugly teeth.

Professional Reviews for Dust Devil

• School Library Journal: "A stunning tour de force and a satisfying continuation of Angel's saga."

• Booklist: "children will delight in the deadpan, Old West narration and every gleefully silly, expertly rendered visual detail."
• Kirkus: "Artfully crude, comedic artwork, friendly, understated narration and a wildly hyperbolic story combine to create a new classic."

Books by Anne Isaacs.

Click here for teaching activities.
Dust Devil video
Click here for books illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky.

Anne Isaacs. Dust Devil. New York: Schwartz & Wade, 2004. 

ISBN 978-0-375-86722-4

$14.03 at Barnes & Noble

Work consulted: Vardell, Sylvia M. Children's Literature in Action: A Librarian's Guide. Connecticut: Libraries Unlimited, 2008.

Raccoon's Last Race

Raccoon's Last Race

told by Joseph Bruchac & James Bruchac

Illistrations by Jose Aruego & Ariane Dewey 

 

Joseph Bruchac has authored over 100 books for children and adults. A few awards given to Bruchac are: the Cherokee Nation Prose Award, the Knickerbocker Award and the Hope S. Dean Award for Notable Achievement in Children's Literature. Joseph collaborated with his eldest son, James, when writing Raccoon's Last Race. Jose Aruego (1932-2012) authored/illustrated over 80 books for children with his wife, Ariane Dewey. 

Raccoon's Last Race tells a fast moving, Abenaki story of a raccoon named Azban who has very long legs and can run faster than all of his friends. Azban races a bear, fox, rabbit, and even a big rock that ends up squashing him flat to the ground. Because of his arrogant attitude, none of the animals will help him. Azban finally gets help from a colony of ants who help put him back into shape, as long as he promises to always be their friend. Unfortunately the raccoon appreciatively brushes them off before they are done and he ends up with short, squatty legs. 

Raccoon's Last Race is a folktale, which is an imaginary story that tells a simple truth about life. As Dr. Vardell explains, folktales contain special conventions and motifs, often with formulaic beginnings and endings, strong repetition and rhythm in the language, and a bit of magic and exaggeration (pg. 82). The main character displays a negative attitude by taunting the other characters and is a representation for children of how not to act. The primary theme is to be humble, kind and to keep promises.

The authors use onomatopoeia (Zip-zip! and ka-boom!) throughout the story as well as some short poems that are sung by Azban to his animal friends. His rhyming poem goes like this: 

 "Hee hee hee, look at me.

I am Azban, I am fast.

Look at you, ho ho ho!

You are very,very slow."

The illustrations with bright and different colored backgrounds bring life to the tale. The illustrators use lines to portray movement and the character's facial expressions really depict their emotions.

Professional Reviews for Raccoon's Last Race

• Kirkus: "Lively, clever and authentic."

• School Library Journal: "The text reads aloud smoothly and keeps the action moving quickly."

Click here for a list of other works by Joseph Bruchac

Click here for similar books.

Bruchac Joseph and James Bruchac. Raccoon's Last Race. New York: Dial Books for Young Readers, 2004. 

ISBN 0-8037-2977-4

$12.66 at Barnes & Noble

Work consulted: Vardell, Sylvia M. Children's Literature in Action: A Librarian's Guide. Connecticut: Libraries Unlimited, 2008.