Reading Response: Poetry

 

This book by Amanda Gorman, the youngest presidential inaugural poet in U.S. History, is a narrative poem that includes couplets on each page telling the story of how important it is to enact change.  Each set of facing pages includes an illustration that depicts a story that is not necessarily connected to the words, but connected to the theme of change.  Further, each set of illustrations contains at least one musical instrument whether it’s being played, shared with other children within the illustration, or set among the setting within the pictures.  At times, the instruments are large, while other illustrations show the instruments as a shadow or as a very small part of the picture.  The musical instruments correlate with the words “anthem” and idea of “change sings” in the title. The illustrations show a wide variety of characters from various backgrounds, ethnicities, and religions, showing that change is made possible by all who are willing, and clearly supplementing the words/theme of the poem. This book is created for children ages 4-8, and this is appropriate because the characters showcased in the illustrations are all children, again showing that children have the ability to change the world. Since this is one narrative poem, it’s very easy to follow each short couplet on the page while also noting the details of the illustrations.  It seems as though the illustrations are more at the forefront of the pages because they provide a greater story than the words themselves (although the words do enhance the theme).  The title of this narrative poem helps to show that the book is written directly for children as it truly is an anthem of change.

Gorman, Amanda. Change Sings: A Children’s Anthem. illus. Loren Long. 32 p. Viking, Sept. 2021. $18.99. ISBN 978-0-593-20322-4. Ages 4-8.

This book of poetry consists of 35 poems that are short in length, between 4-6 lines each with only a few words on each line.  There are a variety of poets included in the collection, and no poet is featured more than once.  The table of contents gives the audience a scope of the book as well as the page location for each title and poet. The collection of poems is broken up by season, starting with Spring.  The illustrations are the dominating factor on each page and there is not much white space on the pages.  The images are sketched and drawn with rigid lines and the painting of each illustration, while colorful, is not bright but slightly muted.  The illustrations thematically represent the season of focus and the content of each poem.  The intended audience is lower elementary students within the age range of 4-7, and a wealth of images allow the children to explore all details when reading.  Although each poem thematically represents a season, the poems related to that season vary.  There are a variety of poets featured within the collection, and the poems include haikus, couplets, free verse, and narrative form.  While there is not an introduction or clear purpose for the collection, the inside cover of the book states, “It takes only a few words, if they’re the right words, to create a strong image,” and the accompanying illustrations help to support the minimal amount of words. 

Janeczko, Paul B. Firefly July: A Year of Very Short Poems. illus. By Melissa Sweet. 48 p. Candlewick Press, 2014. $16.99. ISBN 978-0-7636-4842-8. Ages 4-7.