"Where the Sidewalk Ends"Finally, Poems I can Understand!

Where the Sidewalk Ends
Written & Illustrated by Shel Silverstein
ISBN# 9780060256678

   I have to admit that when I realized this week's blog was to be on poetry, I was somewhat less than thrilled.  As a complete and utter "realist," I like things to be spelled out for me.  I feel that if you have something important to say, just say it!  Reading between the lines has never been my strong point.  As a student, I would dread the yearly unit on poetry.  Not only did I not "get it," but I had trouble writing poems too.  Not to tip my own hat or anything, but I know I write well.  Ask me to write an essay on a given topic, and I'll go to town.  However, ask me to just write without giving me a topic first - I'll freeze.  What can I say, I crave structure.  I'll even let you in on a secret; these blogs are difficult for me to write as well.  When I tell you there's not a creative bone in my body, I mean it.
     It was not until I took a children's literature class during my senior year of college that I began to change my mind about poetry.  I still don't "love it," but I no longer hate it either.  My professor showed us dozens of different types of poems.  In fact, she even created a type of poem herself that is starting to become very popular across the country.  Broadening my knowledge of poetry has helped me write poems a little bit better.  Writing poetry is about expressing yourself; your personality, ideas, and opinions.  Now I know that I can combine my need for structure with my personality.  I actually enjoy making simple rhyming poems, but it's the deeper ones that get to me.
     As a kid, one of my favorite pieces of literature was a compilation of poems by Shel Silverstein called Where the Sidewalk Ends.  Silverstein wrote and illustrated each poem in this book.  Although the poems were intended for schoolchildren, I'm sure most adults will get a kick out of them too.  The situations in the poems are very silly; typical ideas that the average kid thinks dozens of times throughout the day.  Silverstein uses short, simple words so that the kids can understand and relate to the poems.  Remember, someone like me wants to read a poem and enjoy it, not have to think hard about what the poet really means.
     Where the Sidewalk Ends is great to use as an ongoing activity.  For instance, you may want to cuddle up with your child each night and read a few poems to each other.  They're fairly short, so you can probably read quite a few, maybe right before bedtime.  C'mon now, if that's not a great memory to leave your kids with, I don't know what is!  This book can be utilized by teachers as well.  Obviously you won't be curling up with your students, but you can maybe read a page or two right after lunch each day to settle the children down (or after they unpack, or before they go home, or even as a reward for good behavior).  I guarantee that when they read poems about crocodiles going to the dentist, a boy turning into a TV, and instructions on how to bathe your armadillo, Where the Sidewalk Ends will quickly become a favorite book!

If you think you're just like me,

And you just don't get that thing called "poetry,"

Don't get discouraged, kid... listen up!

Because I'm only gunna say this once

There's millions of poems out there, kid, count 'em and see

There's more than enough for you, and even some for me

They're not all really boring, some of them are cool

So get off your butt and stop being a fool

Find the perfect poem, one that makes you smile

Keep on looking, kid, even if it takes a while

Try writing your own now, about anything you like

Vacation, school, even your very first bike

Keep on trying, kid, just think what you can do

Because if I can do it... SO CAN YOU!!

Copyright NM 2011

"Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters"Easily Relates to Ethnic Girls



Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters
Written & Illustrated by John Steptoe
ISBN# 0590420585

      Each year, the Coretta Scott King award is given to a book that recognizes the African American experience.  As I'm sure you (should) know, Coretta Scott King is the wife of the late and great Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  This award has been designed to honor not only Dr. King's legacy, but Mrs. King's determination to continue her husband's quest for peace.
     In the year 2010; 150 years after the abolishment of slavery; forty five years after the Civil Rights Movement; with a black President in office, how is it that young African American children still feel like they are on the outside looking in??  As a country, we have all the check marks; I listed them above.  We look great on paper, don't we?  But how do we, as white American citizens, treat our African American counterparts?  Why do these children feel the way they do?  No child, black or white, should have to feel like they cannot be who they are. 
     There is a video that has gone viral in the past few weeks.  Sesame Street's head writer, Joey Mazzarino, wrote a song for his daughter.  I am so incredibly proud to say that I have known Joey my whole life, as he grew up a few doors down from me.  Joey and his amazing wife, actress/singer Kerri Butler, adopted a beautiful baby girl named Segi from Ethiopia a few years ago.  It came to Joey's attention that Segi was feeling very down because she wanted to have long, straight, blond hair.  Joey and Kerri thought that this was just because she was the only black member in their Italian family.  Perhaps she feels this way from seeing the hair on her mother and cousins.  After doing some research, Joey realized that his daughter was not the only girl who felt this way.  Grown black women, who grew up in primarily black families even felt bad about the way their dark, curly hair looked.  So, Joey put his talent to work and created "I Love My Hair."  Not only did Segi love it, but women across the country are expressing their gratefulness that someone "finally gets it."  Click here to read about Joey's story and see the video!
     This story proves how important it is for people, black and white alike, to be able to connect with the characters they see and read about.  The Coretta Scott King award expresses just this idea.  Each year, it picks several books that meet this criteria.  I was so pleased to find out while researching this week that one of my very favorite books, Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters by John Steptoe was a winner in 1988 for its illustrations.  This book is about King Mufaro's two beautiful daughters.  There is the sweet, kind Nysasha and the mean, bitter Manyara.  When a neighboring king requests the meet the girls to choose a future queen, Manyara tries beat her sister to the village.  Along the way she meets several people that she treats badly.  When Nyasha makes the trip the next morning, she treats the same people with kindness and love.  When the girls meet the king, he reveals that he disguised himself as the people along the road the night before.  He chooses Nyasha to be his queen because of her good heart, while Manyara becomes their servant.

     Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters shows that not all princesses look like a Barbie doll.  Young African American girls can relate to the beautiful princesses.  They will realize that if these girls are beautiful, and I look like them, I am beautiful too.  This is such an important lesson for girls to learn.  We all feel ugly at some points, and I suppose that is somewhat normal since it happens to the best of us, but all girls need to know deep down that they are beautiful people.  Seeing characters that look like you certainly helps.  On another note, this story really has the most gorgeous, detailed illustrations.  I can certainly see why it won the Coretta Scott King Award, as well as the Caldecott Honor.  If you have had the privilege to read this book, I'm sure you know what I am talking about.  If you haven't I strongly suggest adding it to your bookshelf!

"Little Red Hen" is a Fairytale Fav

The Little Red Hen
Illustrated by Lucinda McQueen
ISBN #059041154

    Ask any little girl what she wants to be, and chances are she will tell you "a princess."  In some cases, the little girl will tell you that she already is a princess.  I, myself, am guilty as charged.  Although I knew very well that I had not been born into royalty, I really thought that I'd marry into it.  Every little girl knows that if you marry a prince, you become a princess.  So, for the first few years of my life I would observe my future husband, Prince Harry, from behind my television set, holding tight to the secret that he would someday make me the princess I always wanted to be.
     Obviously, as I grew up I realized that although Prince Harry will eventually make some girl a princess, she would probably (okay, definitely) not be me.  But where did I, and every other little girl in the world, get this fantasy from?  Fairy tales.  Between the books and movies, toys and dolls, little girls are surrounded by this genre.  A fairytale, or folktale as it is sometimes referred, are stories that grew out of the imaginations of the people (folk).  These stories are generally popular with children, although they were actually intended for adults.  Walt Disney has recreated many fairy tales where he altered the ending and added fairies and magic to make them appropriate for children.  Many of the original stories did not have a "happily ever after" ending.  Did you know that the Little Mermaid actually sacrificed her own life and turned into sea foam because the prince married someone else?
     Luckily, writers have made these stories much more enjoyable to read.  I have always loved reading folktales to children of all ages, maybe because I enjoy them so much myself.  One of my all time favorite folktales is The Little Red Hen, illustrated by Lucinda McQueen.  This tells the story of a hardworking hen who lives with a lazy dog, a vain cat, and a chatty goose.  When the Little Red Hen finds a few grains of wheat, she decides to use them to make a loaf of bread.  She asks her friends for help during each step, planting the grains, cutting the wheat, threshing it and taking it to the mill, and finally baking the loaf.  Each time, they refuse to help her.  Once the bread has been taken out of the oven, the animals tell the Little Red Hen they will help her eat it.  This time, the hen explains that she does not need help.  Since she did the hard work all by herself, she will enjoy the final product all by herself.
     Not only does this story teach a great lesson about hard work, there are so many reading strategies you can teach with this book.  You can do a character analysis lesson with each of the 4 characters.  A character web would be a helpful graphic organizer for this lesson.  Another lesson can be sequencing; in what order did she do each task?  These tasks can also tie in to a science lesson on how bread is made from grains.
     Folktales are a very enjoyable genre to read, for both children and adults.  I imagine that both teachers and parents alike have tons of fairy/folk tales on their bookshelves.  I hope that this blog will persuade you to add The Little Red Hen to your bookshelf!