1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Worth, Valerie. 1994. ALL THE SMALL POEMS AND FOURTEEN MORE. ill. Natalie Babbitt. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN 9780374302115
2. BOOK REVIEW
This book of poems is a collection of poetry written about simple and familiar animals and objects. Everyday objects like safety pins, pebbles, and keys and familiar animals such as frogs, cats, and robins come alive in a whole new way through Worth's use of similes, metaphors, and personification. Each poem is full of sensory images. The reader can almost see "The spotted frog...On a wet stone;...green with a luster of water on his skin", hear as marbles are "poured clicking, water-smooth, back to their bag", smell as garbage from "the stained, sour-scented bucket tips out...", taste "raw carrots...cool and hard, like some crisp metal", and feel "the fine invisible teeth of gentle grass" on bare feet.
Worth uses onomatopoeia as coat hangers "clash and cling" and crows cry "thaw, thaw, thaw!" to the melting winter snow. Worth uses language in unique and imaginative ways. For example, the poem titled, "clock" is written in a rhythm which simulates the ticking of a clock as it slowly ticks to a stop. In another poem titled, "flamingo", the poems are written in two vertical lines, simulating the bird's long thin legs. The poems in this book are naturally appealing to children. They have a natural rhythm and sound that is appealing when read aloud. Young readers will delight in seeing familiar objects and animals presented in a unique and imaginative way.
The book has a table on contents beginning with a page titled, "small poems", in which there are 24 poem titles and the page numbers where each poem can be found. After this page are pages titled, "more small poems", "still more small poems", "small poems again" and "fourteen more." On each of these pages is a list of poem titles and the pages where each poem can be found once again. There are a total of 113 poems in the book.
3. SELECTED POEM
The poem I selected from this book it titled "sun." I chose this poem because it is an excellent example of Worth's use of personification, metaphor, simile, and sensory imagery. This poem takes a familiar object and paints it in a whole new way.
This book of poems could be used as a way to introduce children to writing poetry about everyday things that are familiar to them, using imagery and poetic elements such as personification and metaphor. The instructor could read the poems aloud to the students. The students could then work together to choose one ordinary object in the classroom to write about. The students could brainstorm creative words that could be used to describe the object. The students could then work together to create a class poem about the object they chose. Afterward, the students could pick another object in the classroom and repeat the process, either with a partner or individually.
sun
The sun
Is a leaping fire
Too hot
To go near,
But it will still
Lie down
In warm yellow squares
On the floor
Like a flat
Quilt, where
The cat can curl
And purr.
Worth, Valerie. 1994. ALL THE SMALL POEMS AND FOURTEEN MORE. ill. Natalie Babbitt. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN 9780374302115
2. BOOK REVIEW
This book of poems is a collection of poetry written about simple and familiar animals and objects. Everyday objects like safety pins, pebbles, and keys and familiar animals such as frogs, cats, and robins come alive in a whole new way through Worth's use of similes, metaphors, and personification. Each poem is full of sensory images. The reader can almost see "The spotted frog...On a wet stone;...green with a luster of water on his skin", hear as marbles are "poured clicking, water-smooth, back to their bag", smell as garbage from "the stained, sour-scented bucket tips out...", taste "raw carrots...cool and hard, like some crisp metal", and feel "the fine invisible teeth of gentle grass" on bare feet.
Worth uses onomatopoeia as coat hangers "clash and cling" and crows cry "thaw, thaw, thaw!" to the melting winter snow. Worth uses language in unique and imaginative ways. For example, the poem titled, "clock" is written in a rhythm which simulates the ticking of a clock as it slowly ticks to a stop. In another poem titled, "flamingo", the poems are written in two vertical lines, simulating the bird's long thin legs. The poems in this book are naturally appealing to children. They have a natural rhythm and sound that is appealing when read aloud. Young readers will delight in seeing familiar objects and animals presented in a unique and imaginative way.
The book has a table on contents beginning with a page titled, "small poems", in which there are 24 poem titles and the page numbers where each poem can be found. After this page are pages titled, "more small poems", "still more small poems", "small poems again" and "fourteen more." On each of these pages is a list of poem titles and the pages where each poem can be found once again. There are a total of 113 poems in the book.
3. SELECTED POEM
The poem I selected from this book it titled "sun." I chose this poem because it is an excellent example of Worth's use of personification, metaphor, simile, and sensory imagery. This poem takes a familiar object and paints it in a whole new way.
This book of poems could be used as a way to introduce children to writing poetry about everyday things that are familiar to them, using imagery and poetic elements such as personification and metaphor. The instructor could read the poems aloud to the students. The students could then work together to choose one ordinary object in the classroom to write about. The students could brainstorm creative words that could be used to describe the object. The students could then work together to create a class poem about the object they chose. Afterward, the students could pick another object in the classroom and repeat the process, either with a partner or individually.
sun
The sun
Is a leaping fire
Too hot
To go near,
But it will still
Lie down
In warm yellow squares
On the floor
Like a flat
Quilt, where
The cat can curl
And purr.
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