Jessica Johnson
EDU 291
Poetry
98/100
Mechanics -2
Reviews -5
Evans, Dilys,
compiled by.
Weird Pet Poems.
New York: Simon and Schuster, 1997.
Summary: This is a collection of weird animals that children want to make into pets, it
shows how sometimes there are great pets and how there are some bad pets. The authors
include: Lee Hopkins, Rebecca Dotlich, May Swenson, Shiki and many others that help to
portray different animals as weird pets.
Selected Poems:
The Long Night
Only My Opinion
Under The Willow
I Can Get an Ant
The Mudgimu
Haiku
Haiku
Haiku
Free Verse
Free Verse
Evaluation: The selection in this anthology is about weird animals to have as a pet and
even some that live in the jungle. The poems mostly rhyme to keep the children enthused
and happy when reading each poem. They have very weird animals that make the children
more interested in reading than just the ordinary dog and cat it is a very exciting selection.
Personal Reaction: What I liked most about this series of poems is that it is exciting to
read about all the new animals that people come up with. I think it is great for children to
experience a book like this to see how their imagination can run wild with what they read.
Windham, Sophie,
compiled by.
The Mermaid and Other Sea Poems.
New York: Orchard Books, 1994.
Summary: This is a collection of different poems from the ocean and sea creatures in the
ocean. It shows the mean and good sea creatures and how they are treated in the sea by
the other creatures. Some of the authors are Lewis Carroll, James Reeves, Marchette
Chute, Ted Hughes and plenty more that bring the ocean right to these poems.
Selected Poems:
Seahorse
Free Verse
The Eel
Haiku
The Mermaid
Free Verse
Undersea
Free Verse
Do Oysters Sneeze? Free Verse
Evaluation: The selection in this anthology is about the ocean and what the living
creatures do in the ocean. These poems rhyme a lot to keep the children into learning about
ocean creatures and how they affect the sea life. I think they are great poems for children to
keep an imagination about the seas and not be so scared of everything in an ocean.
Personal Reaction:
I think these poems are great for kids to learn about sea life
because now kids don’t watch anything with animals anymore it’s always about guns and
blood. This series of poems keeps the magic in the ocean and it will help the kids learn
about ocean life even if it is their imagination.
Esbensen, Barbara Juster,
author.
Cold Stars and Fireflies.
New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Junior Books, 1984.
Summary: This selection of anthology’s are about the four seasons and how each
season is beautiful in its own way. This series of poems is by one author Barbara Esbensen
and she shows how each season is perfect in its own way and she portrays the seasons
perfectly. All these clauses say the same thing. -2
Selected Poems:
Looking Down in the Rain
Blizzard
Icicles
Morning
Mud
Free Verse
Free Verse
Free Verse
Free Verse
Free Verse
Evaluation: This selection is about the four different seasons and what people do in those
seasons to show that they are in the appropriate time frame. I think it is a good
accumulation of poems for the four different seasons. -2 need more detailed information
Personal Reaction:
I think that these poems are great for kids to learn what
different types of seasons there are and what normally happens during that time with the
world. I think that by reading these poems its helps the kids to appreciate each season and
to learn more about them. -1
Dotlich, Rebecca Kai.
Poetry
The Mudgimu.
New York: Simon and Schuster, 1997.
“The Mudgimu”
The Mudgimu is sludgy brown
for constantly he rolls around
in every muddy holes he’s found;
that’s how he stays so cool.
The Mudgimu plays in a pool;
sloshing in the squishy mud,
belly-flopping smack and thudslapping toes and paddling in
the doughy mud that coats his skin,
and when it dries he cannot movethe stiff-as-cardboard Mudgimu.
-
How did the Mudgimu make you feel?
Why do you think the Mudgimu likes mud so much?
What would you do if you had to sleep in mud?
What would you do if the Mudgimu was your pet?
What would you do if you were stuck in the mud and couldn’t move?
Prelutsky, Jack.
Poetry
Do Oysters Sneeze?
New York: Orchard Books, 1994.
“Do Oysters Sneeze?”
Do oysters sneeze beneath the seas,
or wiggle to and fro,
or sulk, or smile, or dance awhile
… how can we ever know?
Do oysters yawn when roused at dawn,
and do they ever weep,
and can we tell, when, in its shell,
an oyster is asleep?
-
Do you think that the oyster sneezes when it’s under water?
What would you do if you were an oyster?
Do you think that an oyster has eyes or sleeps at night?
What would you do if you could be an oyster for a day?
What would you do if you were asked to eat an oyster?
Esbensen, Barbara Juster.
Poetry
Icicles.
New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Junior Books, 1984.
“Icicles”
Have you tasted icicles
fresh from the edge
of the roof?
Have you let the sharp ice
melt
in your mouth
like cold swords?
The sun plays them
like a glass
xylophone a crystal
harp.
All day they fall
chiming
into the pockmarked
snow.
-
What would you want to do to the iciles on your roof?
What would you do if you had snow in your backyard?
What would you do if someone asked you to eat icicles?
Would you want to eat the icicles from your roof?
Do you think that it snows here in Arizona?