« Conspiracy, Anyone? | Main | REAL Suggestions from the Children's Room »
April 06, 2007
Green as a Bean: Poetry Friday
If you could be fierce
and roar with rage
would you be a tiger
and pace your cage?
Would you be a dragon
or two or three?
Tell me, most fierce one,
what would you be?
-Green as a Bean
Last week, Susan at Chicken Spaghetti alerted me to the fact that another one of Karla Kuskin's poems has been made into a picture book, so, of course, I had to get my hands on a copy and read it posthaste.
Such a treat! I sincerely hope these wonderful picture books are leading people to Kuskin's collections. Green as a Bean is a poem about possibilities. As I’ve come to expect, Kuskin doesn’t go for tired, obvious meter and rhymes. Instead, she finds language that is inspired and wants very much to be read aloud. She uses the word “sassafras.” Melissa Iwai’s illustrations make an interesting companion to the text. She moves through strongly color-based spreads, the loveliest of which are toward the end when a page of cool blues is followed by a page of sunny yellows and then the colors combine in an illustration of a night-blue sky filled with bright fireflies. A final spread shows a child reading the book who is reading the book who is reading the book – one of those concepts I, personally, love. Put another point on the board for Karla.
[Kelly's rounding them up at Big A, little a today.]
Posted by adrienne at April 6, 2007 03:44 PM
Comments
Reading Karla Kuskin's poetry is like sitting on a covered porch and drinking tea while the rain comes down.
Posted by: Alkelda the Gleeful at April 6, 2007 06:41 PM
Hey, Adrienne. I think I'm gonna buy this book as a teacher gift for staff appreciation day at my son's school.
Posted by: Susan at April 6, 2007 08:14 PM
Ooo! A good gift for the right occasion! The theme would resonate with most teachers, I would think, and it's such a nice read-aloud (and sneaky way to introduce Kuskin to people who might not know her -- this is how I think).
Thanks again for alerting me to the publication of the book. I am sadly behind on my review journals.
Posted by: adrienne at April 7, 2007 08:32 AM
Yay! I love Karla Kuskin's poems-made-into-books too. James and the Rain is one of my favorite readalouds. I'll have to check this one out. Thanks to you and Susan for the heads-up.
Posted by: eisha at April 7, 2007 11:59 AM
Susan, is staff appreciation day an actual *day*? Like boss' day or administrative professionals day (formerly known as secretarys day)? Or is it just at your school?
I'd hate to think I missed a teacher appreciation day or something like that. My son's teacher *rocks!* (Even though she's employed by Kendall Schools).
Posted by: JJ at April 10, 2007 05:41 PM