Unique Introduction To Standard and Obscure Poetry Forms for Children
Written: Dec 09 '07 (Updated Dec 09 '07)
Product Rating:
Pros: a unique poetry book as it entertains and instructs
Cons: none
The Bottom Line: This is a perfectly wonderful book that exposes your children to various forms of poetry and inspires them to write their own as well.
jiastar's Full Review: Avis Harley - Fly With Poetry: An ABC of Poetry
The past 11 months have found me back in college in pursuit of a college degree. As my goal is to be a teacher I have spent time in the Fall '07 semester spending time observing a 4th grade classroom. When I have the gift of downtime I peruse the classroom's bookshelf to find books that my household has yet to discover.
One of the books I recently got to flip through was Avis Harley's "Fly With Poetry". This is a wonderfully unique poetry book for children. Not only are the themes featured totally appropriate for the younger set as they focus on aspects of real life such as nature and animals, but each one illustrates a different poetry form as well. At the bottom of each poem the featured form is defined in a way that makes it easy for a budding young poet to give it a try themselves.
Using the letters of the alphabet as a guide, the author takes the reader through 25 different forms and styles of poetry, the letter Y is reserved with a blank page titled "your poem". Additionally, another 14 poetry forms are explained in a glossary at the book's end.
I personally found this book to be just delightful. It exposed me to many familiar poetry styles as well as several I had never heard of before. The publisher recommends this for children age 7 and up but, most likely, it is a book that will carry them well into middle school if not with the content then with the poetical instruction.
Some of the poetry forms and styles featured include:
I think what makes this book so attractive for children is the fact that the author, Avis Harley, has been a teacher. According to the Boyds Mill Press web site, "Avis has been involved in education for many years (and has taught)in schools in Canada and England." Additionally, Avis Harley is also the illustrator of this volume and the colorful pictures do serve to enhance the experience of reading each poem.
For teachers this book can certainly serve well as a reference book in your classroom library. But, it can also succeed as a jumping off point into 25 different Language Arts lesson plans. If your local curriculum guidelines allow perhaps consider a unit on poetry and challenge the kids to use a form they may have previously been unfamiliar with.
For parents this book is a nice read aloud volume. When time is short sitting together and reading a poem or two and discussing the imagery doesn't take long.
Additionally, for parents who have youngsters than enjoy word play and writing poetry (or song lyrics) this book will certainly challenge your budding writer to try something new.
All in all it is a truly wonderful book of poetry to add to any classroom or household bookshelf.
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