Check It Out

City I Love by Lee Bennett Hopkins is a delightful collection of poems about city life.  A great read as I prepare to start my spring break next week.  San Francisco, London, Rio, Tokyo and Cairo are all featured.  A hydrant, taxi, hot dog vendor, and the zoo, everyday things one might see in the city, and Hopkins has a poem for each.

What I like is how the poems are shaped on the page.  One of my favorites is the poem about the subway. Amazing placement of text.  This is a great mentor text to show students how to shape their poems. And Marcellus Hall’s  illustrations are colorful and playful  in brush and ink and water color.  The traveling dog with backpack is an added whimsical kick. (He looks like my Rusty dog)

Here is a taste:
Sparrow
Lucky to be born
on this balcony, sparrow
awaits city flights.

 Bridge
Even
the strongest
men
in the world

cannot
hoild
as much
steel
as you
can
at
one
time.

Each poem is chock full of words that create strong sensory images for the reader.  Poems that students can enjoy and relate to as they read.  Be sure to put City I Love on your must have list.Title: City I Love
Author: Lee Bennett Hopkins
Date Published: 2009
Pages: unpaged
Reading Level:  All ages
Publisher: Abrams Books
ISBN: 978-0-8109-8327-4
Source of Book: Sent by publisher.

Next week is spring break for me. Are you ready for National Poetry Month?   Students will be immersed in poetry for the month.  My goal: 30 poems in 30 days.  Students will be invited to “Write a Poem Send a Postcard”  Do you want to have a poem postcard delivered in your mailbox?  Let me know.

Poetry Friday is rounded up at The Drift Record by Julie Larios.  It is her first time to host.  I have an original haiku and pantuom at Deowriter this week as well.

Happy Reading.

MsMac