Janeczko,
Paul B. Seeing the Blue Between: Advice
and Inspiration for Young Poets. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick Press, 2002.
ISBN: 0-7636-0881-5
SUMMARY
Have you
ever wanted to be a poet, but felt as if you would never be able to pull off
writing a poem? Then, this is the book for you! After reading all of the
helpful, positive, and upbeat advice from some of the most famous poets today,
you will feel poems beginning to burst from your imagination - waiting for you
to put them into writing! Douglas Florian, Georgia Heard, Lee Bennett Hopkins,
Jack Prelutsky, and many other famous poets give upbeat advice and samples of
their own poetry in this wonderful collection of poets' advice and poetry for
young (and older) readers! As Douglas Florian says, "Remember, in poetry,
the only rule is that Poetry Rules!"
ANALYSIS
Paul B.
Janeczko cleverly compiled a collection of suggestions and poems from
contemporary poets in Seeing the Blue
Between: Advice and Inspiration for Young Poets. The poets' warm, inviting, and encouraging
words of advice inspire their readers to find poetry in everything, no matter
how small or large or seemingly uneventful.
Jack Prelutsky
advises young poets to "exaggerate...make the ordinary special...and
(finish with an) absurd conclusion..." Janet S.Wong encourages poetry
writers to "Try to shout your poems out on a field, up in a tree. You may
look completely stupid, but part of being a poet is being willing to put
yourself out there, to open up." Wise advice comes from Naomi Shihabe Nye
about a common, critical component of
poetry writing: revision. Revising is a dreaded task that students with great
reluctance undertake, and she expresses her understanding of this when she
writes, "I know revision is like
an ugly word to you. I didn't love it when I was in school. If a teacher told
me to revise, I thought that meant my
writing was a broken-down car that needed to go to the repair shop. I felt
insulted. I didn't realize the teacher was saying, 'Make it shine. Make it
worth it.' "
Janeczko
includes samples of a poet's poems that follow each poet's letter to the readers.
The format of the poetry varies: free
verse, couplets, quatrains, and rhyming forms are found throughout the book.
The selected poems appeal to younger audiences and include topics that range
from school to holidays to animals. The selection fits the theme of the book:
poems can be about anything and can
be written in any way, but they all
must be meaningful to the poet who creates them.
A brief
biography for each poet, an Index of First Lines, and an Acknowledgement page conclude the book. Seeing
the Blue Between: Advice and Inspiration for Young Poets should be included
in every classroom or school library.
BEST
BOOKS
Middle and Junior High School Library
Catalog, Ninth Edition, 2005: H.W. Wilson, United States
Notable Children's Books in the Language
Arts, 2003: NCTE Children's Literature Assembly, United States
SUGGESTED
ACTIVITY
Make a Poet-Tree in your classroom.
Throughout the year, students can hang poems (their own or favorite poems from
books) from the tree's branches. Encourage the students to read their poems to the class prior to adding it to the Poet-Tree. Write the following poem by Michael Ducan on a poster board and place it on the trunk of the tree.
Letter
to a Young Poet
Love words,
play with them,
find the meanings of those you don't know.
Learn to recognize
descriptive words,
reflective words --
all manner of words
for all manner of purposes.
Decide whether you like to write in rhyme
or in other forms.
Experiment,
invent words,
invent forms,
harness ideas,
fish for images
and metaphors.
Express your ideas
in words and forms
that suit you.
Find your own voice
even if it takes hard work
and many hours.
Traveling to a poem
is a journey to be enjoyed.
Seeing the Blue Between: Advice and
Inspiration for Young Poets. Cover illustration. Internet on-line. April 26, 2013 from http://www.flr.follett.com/search?SID=4674a0f991fd609075eb2035c09db2d3.
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