Genre 3 Poetry

Red Sings From Treetops:

A Year In Colors

Written by Joyce Sidman

Illustrated by Pamela Zagarenski

1. Bibliography

Sidman, Joyce. Red Sings From Treetops: A Year In Colors. Ill by Pamela Zagarenski. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2009. ISBN: 9780547014944

2. Plot Summary

Red Sings From Treetops is a beautiful book of poems that takes you through the seasons of the year.  Each poem highlights a color in a season.  Sidman cleverly uses adjectives and elements such as alliteration to bring her poems to life.  One such example is the Blue poem in the Spring time.  “Blue needs sun.  Blue hides.  Then, suddenly, sparkling spring sky!” The poems are brilliantly illustrated by Pamela Zagarenski, who shows colorful triangular shaped people interacting with nature in each season.  The pictures are often the color of the poem or contain elements of each poem.   Once you start reading the first poem you won’t want to stop!

3. Critical Analysis

This clever book of poetry written by Sidman contains poems written about the different colors that are prominent in each season of the year.  Sidman uses adjectives and alliteration to bring each color to life.  Her words roll off the tongue like honey, smooth and sweet.  Each poem has its own rhythm, with short lines that create a fast staccato beat.  She also uses repetition of work endings such as the “ing” ending and occasional rhyming words in her poems.  The poems sound almost musical and the words make the reader feel as if they are living in each season. 

Once you start reading the poems you don’t want to stop.  It takes a second reading just to notice all that’s happening in the pictures.  Zagarenski uses mixed media paintings and computer illustrations to portray the images of each poem.  Collages and painting on wood are among the mixed media pages.  The characters in this poem are silent people with triangular shaped bodies.  They wear crowns and hats on their heads and are shown outside interacting with the colors of the seasons.  There is also a little white dog with brown spots that follows the characters throughout the book.  The beautiful pictures help the reader image and visualize the words of the poems.

4. Review Excerpts

2010 Caldecott Honor Book

2010 ALA Notable Children’s Book

Booklist The Best of Editors’ Choice 2009

Bulletin Blue Ribbons 2009, Nonfiction

2009 Horn Book Fanfare List

Horn Book (starred review)-"A poet known for multilayered explorations of nature rejoices here in the way colors, and how we perceive them, change with the seasons . . .[with] the playfulness of the text and its sense of awe, mystery, and beauty."

New York Times-"Joyce Sidman’s language is vivid and deft . . . [it] draws mystery and magic around the most familiar scenes."

Kirkus, (starred review)-"Fresh descriptions and inventive artistry are a charming inspiration to notice colors and correlate emotions."

Bulletin (starred review)-"Talented poet Sidman fluidly moves from image to image, wittily personifying colors . . . the book has a freshness and visual impact all its own, and it will inspire a rainbow of uses."

Booklist (starred review)-"Succeeding seasons offer . . . opportunities for the colors to spread their particular magic . . . .  And as the title implies, the colors that surprise on every page do sing."

5. Connections

Use this book of poetry to teach young children about colors.  Read a different color poem each day or when each color is studied. 

Have the students make color poems of their own using the seasons as inspiration.  Each student can pick a color and season and make a poem.  Then the poems can be collected and put together as a book.

Read other poetry books about colors.  Compare the poems and pick some favorites to talk about the words that help create visual imagery or movies in your mind.  The poems might have to be read a few times before the students can pick out the words that help them visualize the color or scene. 

Color Me a Rhyme: Nature Poems for Young People by Jane Yolen ISBN: 978-1590781722

Flashy, Clashy, and Oh-So Splashy: Poems about Color by Laura Purdie Salas 978-1429617451

Hailstones and Halibut Bones by Mary O’ Neil ISBN: 978-0385410786

The Surrender Tree: Poems of Cuba’s Struggle for Freedom

Written by Margarita Engle

1. Bibliography

Engle, Margarita. 2008. The Surrender Tree: Poems of Cuba’s Struggle for Freedom. New York: Henry Holt, ISBN:9780805086744

2. Plot Summary

The Surrender Tree is a book of poems written in free verse.  The poems follow the lives of different characters that lived in Cuba during the three wars that Cuba fought for Independence from 1868 to 1898.  The main character, Rosario Castellanos Castellanos or Rosa, is a nurse or witch as some would call her, because she uses flowers and herbs to cure people of their sickness.  Rosa is a freed slave, but Spain who owns Cuba at the time refuses to recognize that freedom.  The Spanish soldiers and bounty hunters hunt down freed Cuban slaves and runaways and return them to their owners, kill them, or heard them into concentration camps.  The poems are also written from the point of view of a character called Lieutenant Death, who is a bounty hunter and has made it his mission to hunt down Rosa and turn her over to the Spanish army. 

During the story Rosa becomes very good at healing people and teaches others to help her.  She creates a mobile hospital and moves from one location to the next so that the Spanish soldiers cannot find the hospital.  She is a part of the Cuban rebel army, but cares for all in need including Spanish soldiers.  This heartfelt story written in verse portrays the story behind Cuba’s fight for independence and Rosa’s courageous struggle to survive.   

3. Critical Analysis

The Surrender Tree is a riveting book written in verse that follows the life of different people that lived in Cuba during the Cuban wars for independence from 1869 to 1898.  The main characters are Rosa, a freed slave, rebel, and nurse and Lieutenant Death, a bounty hunter that captures freed slaves and rebels and turns them over to the Spanish Army.  The poems are also written from the perspectives of “Lieutenant-General Valeriano Weyler y Nicolau, Marquis of Tenerife, Empire of Spain”, the leader in charge of the Spanish army, Jose, a rebel and Rosa’s husband, and Silvia, a young girl who lost her family during the war.

The writer uses repetition, alliteration, and carefully chosen words and stressed syllables to create a different rhythm for each poem.  No two poems are exactly a like.  When the character’s are in danger, the writer uses less syllables on a line to create a since of urgency.  One example would be when the farm and mansion owners free their slaves and burned their homes in order to protest Spain’s control over Cuba.  The lines of the poems were short and to the point.  The words in the poems are filled with emotion and make the reader feel as if they are a part of the story.  The writer often cuts sentences in half to help create the flow of the text, which adds to the emotional impact and sound of the poem.  One example is an excerpt from one of Rosa’s poems.  “The Little War?/ How can there be/ a little war?/ Are some deaths/ smaller than others, / leaving mothers/ who weep/ a little less?”  This poem shows Rosa’s anger over the war and her sorrow do to the loss of so many lives. 

This novel is rich with culture and the history of Cuba’s fight for independence.  It portrays the harsh realities of war and life in a country ravaged by disease, sickness, and death.  The main character Rosa often explains that she is fighting a war against death rather than against Spain’s troops, even though she is considered a part of the rebel army.  I recommend this book for upper middle school students and high school students do to the difficult subject matter.      

4. Review Excerpts

2009 Newberry Honor Book

2009 Winner of the Pura Belpre Medal for Narrative

2009 Bank Street

Claudia Lewis Award

2009 Bank Street Best Book of the Year Award

2009 Honor Book for the Lee Bennett Hopkins Award

Booklist, (starred review)-“Engle writes her new book in clear, short lines of stirring free verse. Caught by the compelling narrative voices, many readers will want to find out more.”

Horn Book-“A powerful narrative in free verse . . . haunting.”

School Library Journal- “Hauntingly beautiful, revealing pieces of Cuba’s troubled past through the poetry of hidden moments.”

Kirkus Reviews-“Young readers will come away inspired by these portraits of courageous ordinary people.”

VOYA- “The poems are short but incredibly evocative.”

5. Connections

Research and learn about the Cuban Wars for Independence.  Rosa was based off of a woman known as Rosario Castellanos Castellanos or Rosa la Bayamesa.  Look up Rosa and the other characters and find out more information about them.

Read other poetry books by Margarita Engle and discuss common elements found in her poetry.

The Poet Slave of Cuba: A Biography of Juan Francisco Manzano by Margarita Engle ISBN: 978-0312659288

Hurricane Dancers: The First Caribbean Pirate Shipwreck by Margarita Engle ISBN: 978-0805092400

The Firefly Letters: A Suffragette's Journey to Cuba by Margarita Engle ISBN: 978-0805090826

The Wild Book by Margarita Engle ISBN: 978-0547581316

Tropical Secrets: Holocaust Refugees in Cuba by Margarita Engle ISBN: 978-0805089363

Have the students choose a poem from the novel The Surrender Tree that stood out to them and read it to the class.  Discuss why they chose the poem and the words the author uses that helped convey emotion or the message found in the poem. 

A Dazzling Display of Dogs

Concrete Poems by Betsy Franco

Illustrations by Michael Wertz

1. Bibliography

Betsy, Franco. 2011. A Dazzling Display of Dogs. Ill. Michael Wertz. New York: Tricycle Press. ISBN: 9781582463438

2. Plot Summery

A Dazzling Display of Dogs is a collection of concrete poems inspired by dogs.  .  The book consists of 34 poems that are written from the perspectives of dog owners and dogs. Each poem contains a different anecdote on something that a dog enjoys doing or is important to a dog.  A few of the titles are “My Pal, Jazzy”, “Baloo Got Out”, “Fast Al”, “The Retired Greyhound”, “Apollo At The Beach”, and “The Words Waffle Hears”.  There is also one Haiku included in the collection called “Dog Haiku.”  The poems are artfully weaved in and out, up and down, and around the pictures.  One such example is “Emmet’s Ode To His Tennis Ball”.  The poem is written inside the tennis ball, which is in the dog’s mouth.  The poems and pictures are fun and inviting.  Readers of all ages will enjoy these clever canine poems.

3. Critical Analysis

A Dazzling Display of Dogs is a humorous book of concrete poetry that is inspired by the subject of dogs.  Each poem is different and contains its own rhythm and movement.  The author often uses alliteration and rhyming words in her poems.  Some of the poems have the same set of syllables throughout the poem creating an even rhythm, but most of them do not.  Many of the poems are written inside the illustrations about subjects dogs enjoy.  Some of the poems are written from the dog owner’s perspective.  One example might be the poem “Letting Gwen In And Out”.  In this poem the writer uses the words “In and Out” repeatedly to help the reader identify with the actions and frustration of having to let a dog out and back in the house all the time. 

The Illustrator used pencil and paper, monoprints, and Adobe Photoshop to create the pictures.  The illustrations are colorful and match the words of each poem.  The words of the poem flow across the page, up and down, and sometimes around the images.  One example is the image drawn for the Circling Poem I titled “Perkins’s Tail”.  A Dalmatian is shown going in circles chasing his tail and the words of the poem are Perkins’s tail.  In the poem “Miss Olive’s Teddy Bear”, the words of the poem are written inside a teddy bear and Miss Olive, the dog, is shown sleeping with a bear at the bottom of the page.

Each poem is clever, exciting, and fun.  I enjoyed sharing this book with my friends and family.  Readers of all ages will enjoy reading Betsy Franco’s delightful dog inspired poems.

4. Review Excerpts

Starred review, School Library Journal, January 1, 2011-"This follow up to A Curious Collection of Cats (Tricycle, 2009) is dazzling indeed ... a delight for kids, their adults, and maybe even their beloved canine companions."

Review, Kirkus Reviews, December 1, 2010-"34 vividly illustrated concrete poems. Franco delves into her arsenal with cinquain, haiku, rhymed and free verse, as Wertz employs boldly colored multimedia collage"

Review, Booklist, December 15, 2010-"... volume of concrete poems filled with playful action. Both silly and on-target, the slapstick rhymes are good choices for family sharing."

Review, Horn Book Magazine, January/February 2011-"The combination of the funny poems and the goofy dogs will make this a great gift book and a sneaky way to inject a little poetry into someone's life."

Review, Publishers Weekly, November 29, 2010-"Franco and Wertz persuasively convey canine behavior ... as well as the trials and treasured moments familiar to many owners. Dog lovers won't want to miss this clever, jubilant gem."

Booklist-The creators of A Curious Collection of Cats (2009) offer another volume of concrete poems filled with playful action. Elementary students will pick up the wry wordplay, but younger children will have trouble deciphering the words amid the packed, digitally touched artwork. The poems do capture familiar scenes with pets, such as a dog playing with a tennis ball (“sloppery slippery slimy”) and the pitfalls of car trips with a pooch: “The very worst part / without a doubt / is when Cassandra / makes a fart.” Both silly and on-target, the slapstick rhymes are good choices for family sharing. Grades K-3. --Hazel Rochman

5. Connections

Have the students write their own poem about a pet they own or would like to have.  When finished let the students share their poetry with the class.

Read other poems by Betsy Franco and look at her writing style.  Find and discuss some similarities and differences in the poetry in her books.

A Curious Collection of Cats by Betsy Franco ISBN:9781582462486

Messing Around on the Monkey Bars: and Other School Poems for Two Voices by Betsy Franco ISBN: 978-0763631741

Bees, Snails, & Peacock Tails: Patterns & Shapes… Naturally by Betsy Franco ISBN: 978-1416903864

Math Poetry: Linking Language and Math in a by Betsy Franco ISBN: 978-1596470729

Fresh Way

Read the haiku title "Dog Haiku" that is in A Dazzling Display of Dogs. Discuss what a haiku is and teach the students how to write haikus.  Read other haiku books and have the students write their own.  The following books contain haiku poetry.

If Not for the Cat by Jack Prelutsky ISBN: 978-0060596774

The Hound Dog's Haiku: and Other Poems for Dog Lovers by Michael J. Rosen ISBN: 978-0763644994

Haiku! Gesundheit : An Illustrated Collection Of Ridiculous Haiku Poetry by Ross Venokur ISBN: 978-0689840449

Haiku Picturebook for Children by Keisuke Nishimoto ISBN: 978-0893469160

These website links have good resources for writing haiku’s and for learning about poetry. 

http://www.gigglepoetry.com/poetryclass/Haiku.html

http://www.kidzone.ws/poetry/haiku.htm