Poetry by Kids: Falling Hard

Franco, Betsy, ed. 2008. Falling Hard: 100 Love Poems by Teenagers. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick Press. ISBN: 978076364377.

Image courtesy
Candlewick Press

Review and Critical Analysis
Falling Hard is a collection of one hundred poems sent to editor Betsy Franco via email. The poems, written by teenagers , representing different ethnicities, genders, and backgrounds from all over the world, explore all aspects of falling into and out of love. Whether discussing admiration from afar, sex, or the devastation of a breakup, these teenage writers have captured what it means to be young and experience love.

Most of the poems in the collection are free verse poems, though an occasional sonnet does work its way in. They vary in length from four lines to two to three pages length, as well. The language varies in complexity, as one would expect from a wide variety of teenage poets, but most are filled with imagery and figurative language in attempts to define love. For example, in "Love Poem," the speaker compares his relationship to a tortilla, while in "Love is Like" love is compared to a honey bee. The authors use whatever they are familiar with to describe their love, from food to famous literary inspirations like Homer's Muse.

Because of the mature content and language, I would not recommend this book for classroom instruction, unless the teacher or librarian made a careful, intentional choice of a specific poem. Falling Hard is definitely a high school level book. For teens interested in poetry or who are dealing with love and relationships in any stage, I would highly recommend it for recreational reading.


Example Poems
Love is Like
by Hector Jasso, age 16

the sweetness of honey
falling from a bee hive.

You have to be careful
not to get stung.

Activity
Before reading this poem, ask students to brainstorm a list of things they use or encounter in their everyday life. They might come up with things like a desk, a baseball, or a microwave. They should record as many items and they can think of in their writing journal. After students have had a few minutes to brainstorm, read "Love is Like" two to three times. Invite students to share what they notice about the comparison in the poem and the author's use of opposites (or juxtaposition, depending on the age of the students).

As an extension, students could refer back to their list and choose an object to be the subject of their extended metaphor. Depending on the age and developmental stages of the children, you may want to give them a different emotion like joy, anger, or sadness. They could even include the use opposites in their comparisons.

Janeczko Collection: Hey You!

Janeczko, Paul B., comp. 2007. Hey You!: Poems to Skyscrapers, Mosquitoes, and Other Fun Things. Illustrated by Robert Rayevsky. New York: HarperCollins. ISBN: 9780060523480.

Image courtesy
Paul B. Janeczko

Review and Critical Analysis
In Hey You!: Poems to Skyscrapers, Mosquitoes, and Other Fun Things, Paul B. Janeczko has collected 30 poems by 25 different poets--from classic poets like Emily Dickinson to more modern poets like Douglas Florian and Nikki Grimes. The contents of the poems vary from black holes, to skyscrapers, to bees, and everything in between. Like the topics, the forms are varied, too. The book contains free verse poems, letter poems, and rhyming poems. The one unifying factor that unifies these poems is the fact that they are apostrophe poems, each one written to a specific object.

While the level of the language differs from poem to poem, the nature of apostrophe poems elicits elements of personification in almost every poem. For example, in “Sneakers” by Joan Bransfield Graham, the speaker comments on her shoes that appear “ready to blaze into/the day, either with or without/my feet!” and in X.J. Kennedy’s “To a Snowflake,” the speaker attributes the power of thought to snowflakes as the speaker considers how the snowflake cannot “Make up your wisher where/You wish to spend tonight.” The poets in Hey You! bring all of these ordinary objects to life through personification. Many of the poems build on this personification with imagery and figurative language. Naomi Shihab Nye’s “Little Blanco River” is one of the most vivid examples. Nye’s speaker describes the river, whose “...smooth shale skull/is slick & cool.” She depicts the river as making “...a clean swishing sound/centuries of skirts/lifting & falling in delicate rounds.” Though the language varies among these poems, each one reflects a close, intimate examination of an object that has made itself important to the speaker.

In Janeczko’s selections for Hey You!, the poems use sound in several different ways. Marjorie Maddox’s “Warning to a Fork” includes line after line of alliteration to build a strong rhythm and sense of foreboding. The poem warns the “Pitchfork for pie,/trident for tuna salad” to beware the “mangler of metal utensils,/mortuary of soup spoons and knives.” This alliteration works in conjunction with the onomatopoeic description of the “clank and crunch” of the garbage disposal to create such a dire warning. Unlike the dark nature of “Warning to a Fork,” Russell Hoban’s “Soft-Boiled” uses strong rhythm and end rhyme to create a light-hearted tone reminiscent of Dr. Seuss. His opening lines, “I do not like the way you slide,/I do not like your soft inside,” will conjure Green Eggs and Ham for almost any one.

The poems are accompanied by the cartoon-style illustrations of Robert Rayevsky in the foreground of each spread. The backgrounds of the visuals vary from what appears to be blurred photographs to watercolor paintings to abstract designs. Even the illustrations for the poems take on a variety of tones and textures. Despite their wide range, the images are connected by some type of blur or hazy effect added to each one that gives the pages a dream-like feeling.

Hey You! is a varied collection of poems from well-known poets of quality. While the poems have no clear theme, they provide excellent examples of the many ways poets can use apostrophe.

Example Poem
Sneakers
By Joan Bransfield Graham

Sneakers,
glancing from bed,
I see morning light cast
long shadows behind you just like
comets.

Your tails
flaring, you seem
ready to blaze into
the day, either with or without my feet!

Activity
Have students look at several different types of shoes. You can invite students to sit in a circle and display their shoes to each other, or, if you feel using student shoes might cause a student embarrassment, you could use images of shoes or a selection of your own shoes. Ask students questions that lead them to think of the shoes personified. For example, you could ask students to explain which shoes they think have the most energy? Which ones are tired? Which shoes look like they have been on many adventures? Do any of the shoes seem angry? Excited? Shy? After students have had a chance to respond to the shoes, explain that you are going to read a poem from the point of view of a child speaking to their sneakers.

After reading “Sneakers” at least once or twice, invite students to share what they noticed about the poem. Students should notice that the speaker is talking to shoes that do not have the ability to respond. Ask them to imagine what would happen if the shoes came to life. What might the shoes say in response to the child?

As an extension, students may choose to write a 1-2 stanza poem from the point of view of the shoes that gives its response to the child. Other students may wish to write their own poem that speaks to a specific object like their desk, the school bus, or their favorite game.

Free Choice Poetry: When Green Becomes Tomatoes

Fogliano, Julie. 2016. When Green Becomes Tomatoes: Poems for All Seasons. Illustrated by Julie Morstad. New York: Roaring Brook Press. ISBN: 978159643821.

Image courtesy Macmillan

Review and Critical Analysis
Julie Fogliano’s When Green Becomes Tomatoes: Poems for All Seasons explores the seasons from the first day of spring through the year until the first day of spring rolls around again. The book has a journal-like feel to it, each poem bearing a date in the place of a title. Through these 48 dated poems, readers will gain a personal insight into both the joys and the frustrations of each season.

Each spread in the book holds 1-3 poems that vary in length from two to 42 lines. Each poem is written to capture the essence of its subject. While some of the longer poems like “july 5” describe an entire scene, others like the three-lined “march 22” simply create one clear image. The free verse poems are all written without capital letters. The lack of formality of these lowercase letters adds to the journal motif, making the poems seem as if they are private writings not yet revised for public display.

The language of When Green Becomes Tomatoes is quite accessible for children. Fogliano uses common literary devices like imagery and simile to draw readers into the experiences of the speaker. For example, in the “june 30” description of a summer’s day, the speaker describes how the day is “hot and thick like honey” to prove why she’ll be swimming. She builds upon these vivid images with sound devices such as the alliteration in “january 30.” In this poem, Fogliano depicts the best winter day as one in which the house “sounds like slippers/and sipping.” The common language used to create the images in these poems invites readers to consider their own experiences with the ups and downs of each season from swimming to escape the heat of summer or playing in the leaves of fall.

Julie Morstad’s gouache and pencil crayon illustrations blend beautifully with the simple yet powerful language of Fogliano’s poems. Morstad’s multicultural characters engage with nature at its best and worst throughout the book in a charming style. They might be my favorite part of this entire book!

This book is a great resource to share with younger students who are studying seasons.
Example Poem

“july 5”

when you are still and quietly

in the grass
just sitting
for more than the moment
between coming and going and what’s next and when
but sitting, just to sit
you will find that nothing is still
out there in the grass
where everything is running
and jumping
climbing up and flying over
and everything is moving
back and forth
to and from
everything, except for the trees
who are too busy standing up
to bother

Activity
I would share this poem with students outside sitting in the grass or some similar place that the students would say “nothing” is happening. If the weather is not conducive for an outside experience, another typically busy place during a non-busy time would also work. Alternate locations might include the cafeteria when no one is eating a meal, the hallways when no one is changing classes, or even a silent school library. Ask the students to sit absolutely still and quiet for just a moment and use as many senses as they can to observe what is going on around them. Students will notice the quiet “nothing” has a lot more going than they first suspected. Invite students to share their observations. Record the students’ observations on chart paper or a Google Doc that can be displayed in the library or classroom later.

Then share “july 5” with them. Read the poem at least twice. After the first reading, invite student volunteers to share a summary of what is happening in the poem. Ask them to listen for parts of the poem that are like their observations and parts that are different and the read the poem a second time. Invite students to share what they noticed with an elbow partner, and then invite partner groups to share their best similarity and difference.

As an extension, encourage students to use the observations recorded at the beginning of the lesson to write their own poems to share their observations from being still and quiet. Provide them a template for a five sense poem. Have them include as many of the five senses as possible. Students who do not want to use the five sense template may choose any other format they feel is appropriate to express their quiet observations.