A Poem in Your Pocket Day Celebration
March 1, 2022
Grades 1-3 As a child considers possibilities for Poem in Your Pocket Day, a bird outside provides inspiration: "Suddenly I'm thinking / about creatures everywhere. / Which poems would they carry? / Which poems would they share?" Imagined poems from the perspective of a variety of creatures follow, each incorporating some of their characteristics. Ruby-Throated Hummingbird begins, "My feathers / are tiny. / I sing / with my wings"; on a starry night, Spotted Turtle writes, "My old shell is sprinkled / with golden constellations. / I am a walking sky." Some vocabulary might need extra explanation, but the imaginative, whimsical tone should easily resonate with children, and the child's finished poem, concluding ""I am an animal child,"" encourages solidarity with wildlife. Throughout this delightful collection, VanDerwater (Read! Read! Read!, 2017) employs various poetic forms and attitudes, which enliven the reading experience, as do the vibrant, cartoon illustrations. Some Poem in Your Pocket Day information is included, and though this is connected to that celebration, this collection also provides an engaging introduction to both poetry and animals.
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April 25, 2022
VanDerwater’s playful collection opens with a light-brown-skinned child gazing out a window, prepared for Poem in Your Pocket Day and wondering about “creatures everywhere/ Which poems would they carry?” In the following pages, animals, birds, and insects satisfy the question with child-friendly verses in simple rhythms and varying rhyme schemes. A red fox lyrically proclaims: “In forest/ ever brown and green/ I am a splendid spark.// My poem is/ my fiery tail/ flashing in the dark.” Elsewhere, an Atlantic horseshoe crab explains: “Our ancestors/ are ocean history./ We are part understood./ Part mystery.” Virján’s flat art style presents a variety of species, settings, and color palettes. Not only fun to contemplate, each poem also imparts a information about its speaker, making for a group of brief lessons as pleasing as they are accessible about “life in the/ wondrous wild.” Ages 4–8.