By: Paul Fleischman
Illustrated by: Eric Beddows
WOW! Was I surprised. Initially, when I read the title and viewed the front cover, I wasn't too excited about picking this book up to read. When I read the inside flap and learned this book was about bugs, I was even more thrilled. (I'm being sarcastic in case you can't tell.) During reading, I became pleasantly amused at the different poems. I can see why this book won a Newbery Medal. I will say that since this book of poems is for two voices, I really needed that second voice as I'm sitting on my couch trying to read both parts myself. That proved to be difficult and I had to find a way to maneuver through the reading. I tried to imagine having that second reader there and this seemed to help a little.
I really never knew that reading about bugs could be so interesting and entertaining. These pests were actually given a voice! One of the most entertaining was the Water Striders piece. As the Water Striders were teaching the readers how to walk on water, they state, "But by that time our student/no matter how prudent/has usually/don't ask my why/sunk from view." I thought that was funny as well as the accompanying illustration.
Another poem which I thought had interesting lines was the Fireflies poem. It states, "Light/is the ink we use/Night/is our parchment/We're/fireflies." I enjoyed the comparison to light and paper. That gives good visual imagery. Students can relate to pens (ink) and paper.
Lastly, the Honeybees poem seemed to be less difficult to read than the others if readers did not have that second voice available. Students can really learn some facts about these insects and bugs while being exposed to poetry. This is definitely more interesting than reading facts from a textbook and this is really creative on the author's part. This collection of poems was definitely better than originally expected.
3 comments:
I had the same reaction as you did when I first picked up the book to read it. Poetry has never really been one of my favorite genres, and I was even less excited about reading about bugs. When I started reading the book, I changed my mind. Having the second voice would have made reading this book much easier for me too!
The second voice makes such a difference. I convinced my husband to help, in the name of my education. It made such a difference. I too was not interested in starting this book. I've had it since week one of class and when I realized what it was about, I pushed it to the back of the pile. I was actually disappointed that I had wasted money on it! Now, I'm so glad I have it. What a great idea for a book!
I know that you teach kindergarten. Can't you imagine the fun your little guys would have with the simplier lines of these poems? I can visualize them getting into pairs and acting out a few lines, tracing or writing the words, drawing the bugs, looking at bug pictures, and on and on.
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