Poetry Review: DIRTY LAUNDRY PILE selected by Paul B. Janeczko

Janeczko, Paul B., selected by. 2001. Dirty Laundry Pile: Poems in Different Voices. Ill. by Melissa Sweet. New York: Harper Collins Publishers.

What do a broom, a bacterium, a scarecrow, and a snowflake have in common? They are all given a voice in this collection of poems selected by respected poet and anthologist Paul Janeczko. Both well-known and lesser-known children's poets "let their imaginations fly" (from Janeczko's introduction) in humorous and engaging poetry that delves into what it's like to be an object, animal, or creature.

Says Patricia Hubbell's vacuum cleaner, "I swallow twigs. / I slurp dead bugs. / I suck the cat hair / from the rugs." Jane Yolen's grandfather bear lulls cubs to sleep, while Ronald Wallace's hippopotamus dreams of being a gazelle. Each of the poems exhibits just the right tone for its persona: a cat's aloofness, an old elm's sagacity, a bright crayon's exuberance.

Readers will enjoy the poets' clever use of perspective, language, and sound devices like Marilyn Singer’s catchy rhyme and rhythm in “Turtle in July”: “But I lie / Nose high / Cool pool / No fool / A turtle in July.” A few of the poets also play with form. Jacqueline Sweeney curves and loops her lines to mirror the movement of the soaring kite of her poem.

The friendly layout of the book gives each poem its own page, and Melissa Sweet’s eye-catching watercolor illustrations dance with the poems, interacting with each of them in a delightful, individually complementary way. Autumn leaves tumble down the side of a page. Red gloves in a variety of vignettes on a golden yellow background form a border framing the poem about them. A velvety-blue night sky spans its way across two pages, the only white space, the glint of stars.

Janeczko and Sweet have put together a charming collection of well-illustrated poems to tease the imagination.

Poetry Break: "Speech Class (for Joe)" by Jim Daniels

Introduction
This poem lends itself to a discussion on myriad topics of concern to young people: friendship, ridicule and bullying, change, empathy, role models, and being different. Be sure to mention that the poem is a serious one about feelings so that children will listen reverently. Sharing that this poem is a true story, that Jim Daniels (pictured below) had a speech impediment and went to speech class from kindergarten to eighth grade, will make it more meaningful for students.

Speech Class (for Joe)
by Jim Daniels

We were outcasts—
you with your stutters,
me with my slurring—
and that was plenty for a friendship.

When we left class to go to the therapist
we hoped they wouldn’t laugh—
took turns reminding the teacher:
“Me and Joe have to go to shpeesh clash now,”
or “M-m-me and J-Jim ha-have to go to
s-s-speech now.”

Mrs. Clark, therapist, was also god, friend, mother.
Once she took us to the zoo on a field trip:
“Aw, ya gonna go look at the monkeys?”
“Maybe they’ll teach you how to talk.”
We clenched teeth and went
and felt the sun and fed the animals
and we were a family of broken words.

For years we both tried so hard
and I finally learned
where to put my tongue and how to make the sounds
and graduated,

but the first time you left class without me
I felt that punch in the gut—
I felt like a deserter
and wanted you
to have my voice.

[from The Place My Words Are Looking For, poems selected by Paul Janeczko (Bradbury Press, 1990)]

Extension
The serious nature of this poem doesn't require fancy formal extension. The best extension is heartfelt discussion with students, allowing them to make connections and express their own concerns, experiences, and possible solutions to the negative aspects. You can guide students to think about the positives of the poem, too, and what real friendship means (the selflessness of the narrator's wanting to give Joe his voice), as well as how adults like teachers (the therapist, in the poem) can provide a steady rock for students to lean on. The fact that one of the boys in the poem "graduates" from speech class before the other may lead to talk about how sometimes there is change within friendships or to friendships, which is not necessarily a bad thing, or how people work at their own pace and that one person's earlier achievement of a goal doesn't make him or her better than another person.

Poetry Review: TOASTING MARSHMALLOWS: CAMPING POEMS by Kristine O'Connell George

George, Kristine O'Connell. 2001. Toasting Marshmallows: Camping Poems. Ill. by Kate Kiesler. New York: Clarion Books.

Kristine O’Connell George gifts us with a collection of exquisite poems told from the perspective of a young girl on a camping trip with her family. Her imagery catches the very essence of the camping experience, from pitching the tent to pulling up stakes.

George is a genius at transforming simple language into something more, something so grand, the end effect is more sweeping than the simple sum of the words. In one poem, for example, she writes, “River words run / in scallops and scribbles, / scrolls of eddies / and watery ripples.” She arranges everyday words into extraordinary word-pictures.

Rain Shower

It was dry
under these trees,
until a confetti of birds
in the wet leaves
danced
another
rain shower.

Here, form strengthens the image of latent rain drops slipping off the leaves after a rain with dwindling lengths of lines. The single word lines, combined with the connotation of “dance,” evoke the less intense drip of the second “rain.”

Ms. George captures the vastness of the universe we feel when gazing at the depth of a star-filled night sky with the poem “Sleeping Outside,” the naiveté of children, whose imaginations spin a shimmer of fancy even around rusted out jalopies in “Old Truck,” the longing to stay just one more day in "Anchored," and the reluctance to give up memories of a special time in "Flannel."

Metaphors, such as “I’m a caterpillar/ in a cozy cloth cocoon/ that zips” (describing her sleeping bag) show readers the startling connection between ourselves and nature and give us a refreshing view of familiar objects. Alliteration, assonance, and subtle rhyme within lines appeal to the ears, enhancing the fond tone throughout the poems. Even the one poem about a "negative" aspect of camping, mosquitos, shows an odd fondness for the pest in the title, "Mosquito Song." Told from the mosquito's perspective (the only poem NOT in the girl's voice), "Mosquito Song" shows us an endearing little thing wanting nothing more than a bit of dinner.

The softened, almost-impressionist-style illustrations give a sense of wistful reminiscence and wonder, portraying how people look back on fond times, the edges blurred just as memories are blurred with time.

Both children and adults will find sweet marshmallows to toast on this camping trip!