BIBLIOGRAPHY
Stanley, Diane. 2000. MICHELANGELO. NY: HarperCollins. ISBN 0688150861.
CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Diane Stanley biography presents interesting facts (with bibliography) interspersed with original watercolor, colored pencil and gouache. The illustrations are not prize-winning, but they do flow well with the story. One exception is the Adobe Photoshop-manipulated photos of actual Michelangelo works. Stanley attempts to combine her original work with that of the master, and the effect is a glaring offense to the senses. The sympathy behind the attempts is laudable, but she does not effectively carry out her plan.
The text, on the other hand, is fresh, interesting, and authentic. Stanley manages to convey many facts in a manner that is not overbearing or patronizing. She begins as most biographies do, at the beginning. One interesting point is that very little of the information is of personal nature. Only a couple of times do we get glimpses of Michelangelo the person rather than Michelangelo the artist. Once is when he is referring to his love of architecture. He remarked that it must have come to him along with his foster mother’s milk. Another is later in life when remarking upon his lack of a wife. “I already have a wife who is too much for me; one who keeps me unceasingly struggling on. It is my art, and my works are my children.”
REVIEW EXCERPTS
There is no one like Stanley (Leonardo da Vinci; Joan of Arc) for picture-book biography. She brings to the genre an uncanny ability to clarify and compress dense and tricky historical matter, scrupulous attention to visual and verbal nuances, and a self-fulfilling faith in her readers' intelligence. … Unfortunately, the digital techniques she used to good effect in Leonardo collaging in photos of her subject's work are not successful here. The … effect blemishes an otherwise outstanding work. Ages 8-up. (Sept.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --Publisher’s Weekly
Grade 4-7-As Michelangelo breathed life into stone, Stanley chisels three-dimensionality out of documents. Her bibliography lists original material as well as respected scholarship; from these sources she has crafted a picture-book biography that is as readable as it is useful. … An author's note and map provide historical context, the former explaining the impact of the classical excavations on the Renaissance sensibilities. Integrating Michelangelo's art with Stanley's watercolor, gouache, and colored-pencil figures and settings has the desired effect: readers will be dazzled with the master's ability, while at the same time pulled into his daily life and struggles. … For further information, readers may sample Gabriella Di Cagno's Michelangelo (1996) or Vittorio Giudici's The Sistine Chapel (2000, both Peter Bedrick). For fascinating facts with an attitude, try Veronique Milande's Michelangelo and His Times (Holt, 1996).
Wendy Lukehart, Dauphin County Library, Harrisburg, PA
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. -- School Library Journal
Stanley continues her series of outstanding biographies, but this time she puts a new twist on some venerable art by using computer images. One of the most pleasing things about Stanley's books is the way her sturdy texts stand up to her strong artwork. That's particularly evident here, as she tells the story of Michelangelo's turbulent life in a style that is so readable, and occasionally so colloquial, that even children not readily interested in the subject will be drawn in. Ilene Cooper
Copyright © American Library Association.--Booklist
"...Images of Michelangelo's art are photo-based and computer manipulated, and they're seamlessly integrated into the compositions...an in-depth picture of Michelangelo..." -- -- Bulletin of the Center for Children' s Books
CONNECTIONS
*Collect photographs of all of Michelangelo’s works and have students try to remember which ones they remember from his biography
*Get clay and have students try sculpting
*Collect other Michelangelo biographies and have students compare and contrast the information they find in each
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Module 4 Book Review -- Informational Book -- ANIMALS NOBODY LOVES
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Simon, Seymor. 2001. ANIMALS NOBODY LOVES. NY: SeaStar Books. ISBN 1587170795.
CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Seymour Simon presents ANIMALS THAT NOBODY LOVES with short narratives placed opposite amazing photographs of the real creatures. He covers animals as large and fierce as the grizzly bear and as small and innocuous as the cockroach.
In each passage he presents factual information about a creature, presents some untrue myth, and then either debunks the myth or tells why a small fact has taken on mythical proportions. For example, when discussing sharks, he says that “some sharks are large and dangerous. Others are just a few feet long and eat small fish.” Later on in the passage Simon admits that though great white sharks usually swim around in the open ocean, some swimmers have been attacked and killed. In a later passage about the Cobra, he says, “In India alone, cobras are reported to kill thousands of people each year, more than sharks all over the world do in fifty years.” Through the uses of such comparisons, one learns the equivalent danger of gila monsters and rattlesnakes and the relative numbers of rats and cockroaches.
While the text may be factual, it is sparse. The true power of Simon’s work is the photographs. Each is clear, striking, and extremely detailed, down to the “hair” on the ant’s head and tail.
REVIEW EXCERPT
Gr. 4-6. The photos (and even the text) won't do much to change the reputation of animals such as the vulture and the rat, but there's no denying they'll draw a crowd and a chorus of "Gross." The pictures are fine, large, and in full color, as fascinating as they are repulsive and scary: the yawning jaws of a shark; a hyena consuming bloody food; a wasp enlarged bigger than a human fist, stinging a grasshopper. Simon puts forward some interesting facts and dispels a few myths about these 20 unlovable subjects, but report writers won't find enough material here, nor are there notes to lead curious kids on to more information. There's no question this will look great on display, but it will serve kids best when it's presented with more fact-rich natural histories. Stephanie Zvirin Copyright © American Library Association. All rights --Booklist
CONNECTIONS
* Select and display other “creature” books
*As Simon suggests on the last page of the book, have students make lists of the animals they “don’t love” and choose one to research.
*Have students create animal mobiles with interesting facts
Simon, Seymor. 2001. ANIMALS NOBODY LOVES. NY: SeaStar Books. ISBN 1587170795.
CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Seymour Simon presents ANIMALS THAT NOBODY LOVES with short narratives placed opposite amazing photographs of the real creatures. He covers animals as large and fierce as the grizzly bear and as small and innocuous as the cockroach.
In each passage he presents factual information about a creature, presents some untrue myth, and then either debunks the myth or tells why a small fact has taken on mythical proportions. For example, when discussing sharks, he says that “some sharks are large and dangerous. Others are just a few feet long and eat small fish.” Later on in the passage Simon admits that though great white sharks usually swim around in the open ocean, some swimmers have been attacked and killed. In a later passage about the Cobra, he says, “In India alone, cobras are reported to kill thousands of people each year, more than sharks all over the world do in fifty years.” Through the uses of such comparisons, one learns the equivalent danger of gila monsters and rattlesnakes and the relative numbers of rats and cockroaches.
While the text may be factual, it is sparse. The true power of Simon’s work is the photographs. Each is clear, striking, and extremely detailed, down to the “hair” on the ant’s head and tail.
REVIEW EXCERPT
Gr. 4-6. The photos (and even the text) won't do much to change the reputation of animals such as the vulture and the rat, but there's no denying they'll draw a crowd and a chorus of "Gross." The pictures are fine, large, and in full color, as fascinating as they are repulsive and scary: the yawning jaws of a shark; a hyena consuming bloody food; a wasp enlarged bigger than a human fist, stinging a grasshopper. Simon puts forward some interesting facts and dispels a few myths about these 20 unlovable subjects, but report writers won't find enough material here, nor are there notes to lead curious kids on to more information. There's no question this will look great on display, but it will serve kids best when it's presented with more fact-rich natural histories. Stephanie Zvirin Copyright © American Library Association. All rights --Booklist
CONNECTIONS
* Select and display other “creature” books
*As Simon suggests on the last page of the book, have students make lists of the animals they “don’t love” and choose one to research.
*Have students create animal mobiles with interesting facts
Book Review Module 4 -- Informational Books -- AN AMERICAN PLAGUE
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Murphy, Jim. 2003. AN AMERICAN PLAGUE: THE TRUE AND TERRIFYING STORY OF THE YELLOW FEVER EPIDEMIC OF 1793. NY: Clarion. ISBN 0395776082.
CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Jim Murphy presents the details of Philadelphia’s yellow fever epidemic factually and interestingly. The book is not suitable for the very young, as the format contains few black and white illustrations and little white space. The facts are presented in a very straightforward way, often using direct quotations for emphasis and credibility. For example, the diary entry for Elizabeth Drinker on August 28 sums up quite clearly the spread of the disease with “There is a man next door but one to us, who Dr. Kuhn says will quickly die of this terrible disorder. Caty Prusia, over against us is very ill, and a man at ye Shoemakers next door the Neighr Waln’s; some sick in our Alley.”
The facts are presented in chapters named (with great use of foreshadowing) followed by a quotation of either a victim or survivor, subsequently followed by a date; therefore the course of events unfolds in perfectly logical manner. In the course of his text, Murphy covers not just the actual epidemic of 1793, but also timely descriptions of state and national affairs, the medical community, injustices in society, and personal vignettes of post-Revolutionary residents. Murphy uses each of those descriptions not to tease the curiosity rather than preach his convictions.
Overall, the text is clear, factual, and interesting in an attempt to explain a disease that is unclear, mysterious, and scary. Murphy uses the final chapter to explain the current threat of yellow fever and the probability that it will be just as devastating in the 21st century as it was in the 18th.
REVIEW EXCERPTS
Grade 6-10-If surviving the first 20 years of a new nationhood weren't challenge enough, the yellow fever epidemic of 1793, centering in Philadelphia, was a crisis of monumental proportions. … An afterword explains the yellow fever phenomenon, its causes, and contemporary outbreaks, and source notes are extensive and interesting. Pair this work with Laurie Halse Anderson's wonderful novel Fever 1793 (S & S, 2000) and you'll have students hooked on history. -- School Library Journal
Mary R. Hofmann, Rivera Middle School, Merced, CA
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Gr. 6-12. History, science, politics, and public health come together in this dramatic account of the disastrous yellow fever epidemic that hit the nation's capital more than 200 years ago. .. . ]T]he most interesting chapters discuss what is now known of the tiny fever-carrying mosquito and the problems created by over-zealous use of pesticides. Hazel Rochman Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved -- Booklist
"Murphy's dramatic history book...brings to life the determination and perseverance of a people whose future was uncertain." CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR -- Review
"A mesmerizing, macabre account...powerful evocative prose... compelling subject matter...fascinating discussion...valuable lesson in reading and writing history. Stellar." KIRKUS REVIEWS, STARRED REVIEW
"Leisurely, lyrical tone...Murphy injects the events with immediacy...archival photographs...bring the story to life...comprehensive history." PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY
"laudable insight...Readers view the panic from several vantage points...allows his audience to share the contemporary complexity...truly absorbing" THE BULLETIN OF THE CENTER FOR CHILDREN'S BOOKS, STARRED REVIEW
"solid research and a flair for weaving facts into fascinating stories...extensive and interesting...you'll have students hooked on history." SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL, STARRED REVIEW
"diverse voices...representative images...Everywhere, Murphy is attentive to telling detail...Thoroughly documented...the work is both rigorous and inviting." THE HORN BOOK MAGAZINE
"Nobody does juvenile nonfiction better than Murphy...transparently clear and well-paced prose...grueseome medical details...also plenty of serious history" --The Washington Post
"superbly written...represents nonfiction at its best...extremely accessible and readable...captivating...an outstanding annotated bibliography...an excellent choice" VOICE OF YOUTH ADVOCATES (VOYA) VOYA (Voice of Youth Advocates)
"Lavishly illustrated . . . Murphy unflinchingly presents the horrors. . . . he has produced another book that can make history come alive. . . ."--NY TIMES BOOK REVIEW The New York Times Book Review
CONNECTIONS
*Gather and display for further reading other books on epidemics, diseases, and/or yellow fever
*After further reading, students can make up “Did you know?” mobiles or posters with facts they discovered during their research
*Coordinate with a science class or county extension agent to discuss mosquitoes and their breeding grounds. See if you can identify the kinds in your area and determine the kinds of diseases they may carry.
*Borrow a microscope and allow students to see more closely pond water, mosquito larvae, or other gross materials
Murphy, Jim. 2003. AN AMERICAN PLAGUE: THE TRUE AND TERRIFYING STORY OF THE YELLOW FEVER EPIDEMIC OF 1793. NY: Clarion. ISBN 0395776082.
CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Jim Murphy presents the details of Philadelphia’s yellow fever epidemic factually and interestingly. The book is not suitable for the very young, as the format contains few black and white illustrations and little white space. The facts are presented in a very straightforward way, often using direct quotations for emphasis and credibility. For example, the diary entry for Elizabeth Drinker on August 28 sums up quite clearly the spread of the disease with “There is a man next door but one to us, who Dr. Kuhn says will quickly die of this terrible disorder. Caty Prusia, over against us is very ill, and a man at ye Shoemakers next door the Neighr Waln’s; some sick in our Alley.”
The facts are presented in chapters named (with great use of foreshadowing) followed by a quotation of either a victim or survivor, subsequently followed by a date; therefore the course of events unfolds in perfectly logical manner. In the course of his text, Murphy covers not just the actual epidemic of 1793, but also timely descriptions of state and national affairs, the medical community, injustices in society, and personal vignettes of post-Revolutionary residents. Murphy uses each of those descriptions not to tease the curiosity rather than preach his convictions.
Overall, the text is clear, factual, and interesting in an attempt to explain a disease that is unclear, mysterious, and scary. Murphy uses the final chapter to explain the current threat of yellow fever and the probability that it will be just as devastating in the 21st century as it was in the 18th.
REVIEW EXCERPTS
Grade 6-10-If surviving the first 20 years of a new nationhood weren't challenge enough, the yellow fever epidemic of 1793, centering in Philadelphia, was a crisis of monumental proportions. … An afterword explains the yellow fever phenomenon, its causes, and contemporary outbreaks, and source notes are extensive and interesting. Pair this work with Laurie Halse Anderson's wonderful novel Fever 1793 (S & S, 2000) and you'll have students hooked on history. -- School Library Journal
Mary R. Hofmann, Rivera Middle School, Merced, CA
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Gr. 6-12. History, science, politics, and public health come together in this dramatic account of the disastrous yellow fever epidemic that hit the nation's capital more than 200 years ago. .. . ]T]he most interesting chapters discuss what is now known of the tiny fever-carrying mosquito and the problems created by over-zealous use of pesticides. Hazel Rochman Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved -- Booklist
"Murphy's dramatic history book...brings to life the determination and perseverance of a people whose future was uncertain." CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR -- Review
"A mesmerizing, macabre account...powerful evocative prose... compelling subject matter...fascinating discussion...valuable lesson in reading and writing history. Stellar." KIRKUS REVIEWS, STARRED REVIEW
"Leisurely, lyrical tone...Murphy injects the events with immediacy...archival photographs...bring the story to life...comprehensive history." PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY
"laudable insight...Readers view the panic from several vantage points...allows his audience to share the contemporary complexity...truly absorbing" THE BULLETIN OF THE CENTER FOR CHILDREN'S BOOKS, STARRED REVIEW
"solid research and a flair for weaving facts into fascinating stories...extensive and interesting...you'll have students hooked on history." SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL, STARRED REVIEW
"diverse voices...representative images...Everywhere, Murphy is attentive to telling detail...Thoroughly documented...the work is both rigorous and inviting." THE HORN BOOK MAGAZINE
"Nobody does juvenile nonfiction better than Murphy...transparently clear and well-paced prose...grueseome medical details...also plenty of serious history" --The Washington Post
"superbly written...represents nonfiction at its best...extremely accessible and readable...captivating...an outstanding annotated bibliography...an excellent choice" VOICE OF YOUTH ADVOCATES (VOYA) VOYA (Voice of Youth Advocates)
"Lavishly illustrated . . . Murphy unflinchingly presents the horrors. . . . he has produced another book that can make history come alive. . . ."--NY TIMES BOOK REVIEW The New York Times Book Review
CONNECTIONS
*Gather and display for further reading other books on epidemics, diseases, and/or yellow fever
*After further reading, students can make up “Did you know?” mobiles or posters with facts they discovered during their research
*Coordinate with a science class or county extension agent to discuss mosquitoes and their breeding grounds. See if you can identify the kinds in your area and determine the kinds of diseases they may carry.
*Borrow a microscope and allow students to see more closely pond water, mosquito larvae, or other gross materials
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Book Reviews Module 3 -- Poetry -- J. Patrick Lewis -- DOODLE DANDIES
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Lewis, J. Patrick. 1998. DOODLE DANDIES: POEMS THAT TAKE SHAPE. Images by Lisa Desimini. NY: Atheneum. ISBN 0-689-81075-X.
CRITICAL ANALYSIS
In a mix of traditional concrete and closely illustrated poetry, Lewis and Desimini pair up for a delightful collection of poems for young children. Some poems are almost riddles and depend upon the illustrations for their full meaning, and some illustrations simply add to the experience. The same is true of the concrete poems -- some take the form of riddles and depend on the title, which is not always at the top of the page, to fully reveal the topic of the verse.
As with most poems, a second or even third reading reveals subtle meanings. For example, “The Turtle is a giant hurdle” is one poem in its entirety. Only the most observant reader may see the tiny ant on the turtle’s back and the slightly larger font used for the last three syllables, “-ant hurdle.”
Some of the poems are mediocre, at best, and without the clever illustrations would be just lame. For example, the only redeeming quality of “Lashondra Scores” is that it contains plenty of “O’s” which are substituted with basketballs. As the lines arch up and over the page, the balls leap from Lashondra’s hand through the hoop.
REVIEW EXCERPTS
Publishers Weekly Starred review
“The interplay between words and pictures effectively conjures images from seasons, to sports, to the jungle. From endpaper to doodled endpaper, this mix of clever language and visual delights makes a dandy treat for all ages." Ages 3-8.
School Library Journal“Doodle Dandies captures the joy that wordplay can bring. It deserves a place on every library shelf.”
CONNECTIONS
*A suggestion by J. Patrick Lewis: Have students use stencils or clip art to put various shapes of animals/ objects on paper. What words do these images inspire? From http://www.readingrecovery.org/pdf/conferences/NC06/Handouts/Lewis.pdf
*Have students choose their favorite poems to practice and read aloud to the class.
Lewis, J. Patrick. 1998. DOODLE DANDIES: POEMS THAT TAKE SHAPE. Images by Lisa Desimini. NY: Atheneum. ISBN 0-689-81075-X.
CRITICAL ANALYSIS
In a mix of traditional concrete and closely illustrated poetry, Lewis and Desimini pair up for a delightful collection of poems for young children. Some poems are almost riddles and depend upon the illustrations for their full meaning, and some illustrations simply add to the experience. The same is true of the concrete poems -- some take the form of riddles and depend on the title, which is not always at the top of the page, to fully reveal the topic of the verse.
As with most poems, a second or even third reading reveals subtle meanings. For example, “The Turtle is a giant hurdle” is one poem in its entirety. Only the most observant reader may see the tiny ant on the turtle’s back and the slightly larger font used for the last three syllables, “-ant hurdle.”
Some of the poems are mediocre, at best, and without the clever illustrations would be just lame. For example, the only redeeming quality of “Lashondra Scores” is that it contains plenty of “O’s” which are substituted with basketballs. As the lines arch up and over the page, the balls leap from Lashondra’s hand through the hoop.
REVIEW EXCERPTS
Publishers Weekly Starred review
“The interplay between words and pictures effectively conjures images from seasons, to sports, to the jungle. From endpaper to doodled endpaper, this mix of clever language and visual delights makes a dandy treat for all ages." Ages 3-8.
School Library Journal“Doodle Dandies captures the joy that wordplay can bring. It deserves a place on every library shelf.”
CONNECTIONS
*A suggestion by J. Patrick Lewis: Have students use stencils or clip art to put various shapes of animals/ objects on paper. What words do these images inspire? From http://www.readingrecovery.org/pdf/conferences/NC06/Handouts/Lewis.pdf
*Have students choose their favorite poems to practice and read aloud to the class.
Book Reviews Module 3 --Poetry-- Karen Hesse's OUT OF THE DUST
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Hesse, Karen. 1997. OUT OF THE DUST. NY: Scholastic.
CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Karen Hesse uses poetry to write a novel, mimicking the scarcity of water and hope with her sparse words. Each poem can stand alone, but taken together weave a story fraught with the spiking emotions of a young teen most of the audience can relate to even across the decades since the Great Depression.
Because the poems are short, reluctant readers should feel little or no threat at the thought of reading the novel. The characters and plot are revealed slowly, and readers are given the burden (or freedom) of grasping as much or as little as they can handle. For example, in “Outlined in Dust” Billie Jo is imagining what it must be like for her father to live without her mother when she says, “Now he smells of dust and coffee, tobacco and cows. None of the musky woman smell left that was Ma.” Through the imagery of these lines, the reader can sense how much they both miss Ma.
Hesse successfully uses figurative language throughout the novel, like in the poem “Hope” she is describing the rain that finally comes to Oklahoma, “steady as a good friend who walks beside you, not getting in your way, staying with you through a hard time.” Such uses of personification, simile, and metaphor can be isolated for demonstration purposes in the classroom or simply enjoyed in its own context.
REVIEW EXCERPTS
Publisher’s Weekly starred review
Hesse’s sparse prose adroitly traces Billie Jo’s journey in and out of darkness…With each meticulously arranged entry she paints a vivid picture of Billie Jo’s emotions, ranging from desolation…to longing…to hope.
School Library Journal starred review
Booklist starred review
Kirkus Reviews
Hesse presents a hale and determined heroine who confronts unrelenting misery and begins to transcend it. The poem/novel ends with only a trace of hope; there are o pat endings, but a glimpse of beauty wrought from brutal reality.
CONNECTIONS
*Choose excerpts to prepare and demonstrate for UIL Poetry and Prose competition
*Have students take a chapter or selection from a novel and have them reduce it to poetry by eliminating any extra verbiage until only the bare story is left.
*Use one or more poems, if not the whole book, to introduce or conclude a study of the Great Depression in Social Studies
Hesse, Karen. 1997. OUT OF THE DUST. NY: Scholastic.
CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Karen Hesse uses poetry to write a novel, mimicking the scarcity of water and hope with her sparse words. Each poem can stand alone, but taken together weave a story fraught with the spiking emotions of a young teen most of the audience can relate to even across the decades since the Great Depression.
Because the poems are short, reluctant readers should feel little or no threat at the thought of reading the novel. The characters and plot are revealed slowly, and readers are given the burden (or freedom) of grasping as much or as little as they can handle. For example, in “Outlined in Dust” Billie Jo is imagining what it must be like for her father to live without her mother when she says, “Now he smells of dust and coffee, tobacco and cows. None of the musky woman smell left that was Ma.” Through the imagery of these lines, the reader can sense how much they both miss Ma.
Hesse successfully uses figurative language throughout the novel, like in the poem “Hope” she is describing the rain that finally comes to Oklahoma, “steady as a good friend who walks beside you, not getting in your way, staying with you through a hard time.” Such uses of personification, simile, and metaphor can be isolated for demonstration purposes in the classroom or simply enjoyed in its own context.
REVIEW EXCERPTS
Publisher’s Weekly starred review
Hesse’s sparse prose adroitly traces Billie Jo’s journey in and out of darkness…With each meticulously arranged entry she paints a vivid picture of Billie Jo’s emotions, ranging from desolation…to longing…to hope.
School Library Journal starred review
Booklist starred review
Kirkus Reviews
Hesse presents a hale and determined heroine who confronts unrelenting misery and begins to transcend it. The poem/novel ends with only a trace of hope; there are o pat endings, but a glimpse of beauty wrought from brutal reality.
CONNECTIONS
*Choose excerpts to prepare and demonstrate for UIL Poetry and Prose competition
*Have students take a chapter or selection from a novel and have them reduce it to poetry by eliminating any extra verbiage until only the bare story is left.
*Use one or more poems, if not the whole book, to introduce or conclude a study of the Great Depression in Social Studies
Book Reviews for Module 3 -- Nikki Grimes -- A DIME A DOZEN
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Grimes, Nikki. 1998. A DIME A DOZEN. Pictures by Angelo. NY: Dial Books for Young Readers. ISBN 0-8037-2227-3.
CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Grimes introduces her poetry collection A DIME A DOZEN with a short inspirational narrative entitled, “Where do writers come from?” She says that her mother discouraged her from becoming a writer, telling her that they are “a dime a dozen,” and the people in her neighborhood didn’t think writers came “from ‘round (t)here.” Despite the discouraging remarks, Grimes encourages kids to follow their hearts in choosing their life’s work.
The poems she includes in the book seem very auto-biographical, with “Stroll” echoing her introduction with the following lines:
But
I set my own pace
‘cause Spirit says
I’m heading places
that aren’t marked
on my mother’s
map.
Later in the collection, other poems also seem to follow her own life, from a little girl’s adoration of her mother and father, to sister rivalries, to appreciation of family. The only poem that did not seem to fit was “Foster Home.” It seemed an aberration in the otherwise natural flow of growth. Of course it is possible that Grimes spent time in a foster home, but there was no other reference in the collection that would lead the reader to believe so.
Each of Grimes’s poems has a unique style. Some are a mere four lines of free verse, and others are lengthier and surprisingly end with a quatrain of AABB rhyme. Still another consists of triplets with each third line rhyming. The unexpected rhymes catch the reader by surprise, as in the case of “Music Lesson.” The irregular meter and rhyme slip into and then out of ABCB rhyming quatrains to end with an AB couplet.
Throughout the collection, Grimes masterfully uses the exact poetic devices needed to convey with perfect clarity the tone for a particular poem. Her somewhat defiant, “I set my own pace” in “Stroll” contrasts perfectly with the longing she feels in “Mother’s Best Friend.” (How could this be the person who hides inside my mother’s skin? Maybe next time Ruby comes she will leave this laughing mom behind a little longer for me.) The short terse line of “Untitled” perfectly expresses the loss of any flowery feeling when a child tells of her parents’ divorce. Simply put, Nikki Grimes is a master.
Angelo’s pictures actually seem to be pencil or charcoal portraits of the subjects in the poems. They are realistic and quite detailed. Not every poem is illustrated, and one wonders if he worked from old photographs or from the author’s descriptions. The illustrations do add to the text.
REVIEW EXCERPTS
VOYA
Through twenty-eight slice-of-life poems, Grimes tells a semi-autobiographical coming-of-age story that comes alive with stunning black-and-white drawings by Angelo.
School Library Journal
A quietly profound, heartfelt work.-
CONNECTIONS
*Use the collection or selected poems like “Untitled” to lead into a class reading of The Divorce Express by Paula Danziger
*Print selected poems from each section on a different sheet of paper and have children put them into chronological order based on the events in the poems.
Grimes, Nikki. 1998. A DIME A DOZEN. Pictures by Angelo. NY: Dial Books for Young Readers. ISBN 0-8037-2227-3.
CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Grimes introduces her poetry collection A DIME A DOZEN with a short inspirational narrative entitled, “Where do writers come from?” She says that her mother discouraged her from becoming a writer, telling her that they are “a dime a dozen,” and the people in her neighborhood didn’t think writers came “from ‘round (t)here.” Despite the discouraging remarks, Grimes encourages kids to follow their hearts in choosing their life’s work.
The poems she includes in the book seem very auto-biographical, with “Stroll” echoing her introduction with the following lines:
But
I set my own pace
‘cause Spirit says
I’m heading places
that aren’t marked
on my mother’s
map.
Later in the collection, other poems also seem to follow her own life, from a little girl’s adoration of her mother and father, to sister rivalries, to appreciation of family. The only poem that did not seem to fit was “Foster Home.” It seemed an aberration in the otherwise natural flow of growth. Of course it is possible that Grimes spent time in a foster home, but there was no other reference in the collection that would lead the reader to believe so.
Each of Grimes’s poems has a unique style. Some are a mere four lines of free verse, and others are lengthier and surprisingly end with a quatrain of AABB rhyme. Still another consists of triplets with each third line rhyming. The unexpected rhymes catch the reader by surprise, as in the case of “Music Lesson.” The irregular meter and rhyme slip into and then out of ABCB rhyming quatrains to end with an AB couplet.
Throughout the collection, Grimes masterfully uses the exact poetic devices needed to convey with perfect clarity the tone for a particular poem. Her somewhat defiant, “I set my own pace” in “Stroll” contrasts perfectly with the longing she feels in “Mother’s Best Friend.” (How could this be the person who hides inside my mother’s skin? Maybe next time Ruby comes she will leave this laughing mom behind a little longer for me.) The short terse line of “Untitled” perfectly expresses the loss of any flowery feeling when a child tells of her parents’ divorce. Simply put, Nikki Grimes is a master.
Angelo’s pictures actually seem to be pencil or charcoal portraits of the subjects in the poems. They are realistic and quite detailed. Not every poem is illustrated, and one wonders if he worked from old photographs or from the author’s descriptions. The illustrations do add to the text.
REVIEW EXCERPTS
VOYA
Through twenty-eight slice-of-life poems, Grimes tells a semi-autobiographical coming-of-age story that comes alive with stunning black-and-white drawings by Angelo.
School Library Journal
A quietly profound, heartfelt work.-
CONNECTIONS
*Use the collection or selected poems like “Untitled” to lead into a class reading of The Divorce Express by Paula Danziger
*Print selected poems from each section on a different sheet of paper and have children put them into chronological order based on the events in the poems.
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