Dinothesaurus

Book Review
Module 3
Poetry

BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Florian, Douglas. Dinothesaurus. New York, New York: Simon & Schuster's Children's Publishing Division, 2009. ISBN 9781416979784

PLOT SUMMARY:

Douglas Florian creates a book of "prehistoric poems and paintings". His anthology contains twenty-three dino-themed verses. Mr. Florian cleverly constructs poems that are entertaining, as well as instructional.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS:

The poetic formula is arranged with the consistency of altering rhyming lines. Each poem is to be experienced while learning will come from the whole. Scientific terms and dinosaur names are incorporated and lend credibility to the information relayed. Among my favorite is the first poem title the Age of Dinosaurs where Mr. Florian includes each of the periods of Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous. The majority of the poems are based on individual types of dinosaurs. Among the species included are: Brachiosaurus, Stegosaurus, Giganotosaurus, Plesiosaurs, Seismasaurus, Baryonyx, Tyrannosaurus rex, Iguanodon, Triceratops, Ankylasaurus, and Barosairis. Deinanychus, Stegaceras, Micropachycephalosaurus, Troadon, Pterosaurs, Minmi and Spinosaurus. He concludes his collection with the poem "End of the Dinosaurs" and follows with a "Glossarysaurus" and references for dinosaur museums, fossil sites and finally a bibliography with further reading suggestions.

 Mr. Florian is responsible for the illustrations filling this book of poetry. The pictures are all combinations of multimedia. Mr. Florian uses pastels, paper cutting, collage with copied images and newspaper clippings, paint, colored pencil, watercolor and ink wash. The childlike "prehistoric" style of each illustration, not only compliments the subjects of each poem, is intriguing and displays a fresh interpretation of the extinct species.

AWARDS WON AND REVIEW EXCERPTS:

Bill Martin, Jr. Picture Book Award, 2010; Nominee
Gillian Engberg (Booklist, Mar. 1, 2009 (Vol. 105, No. 13))

Starred Review* Florian, whose previous picture-book poetry collections have covered the animal kingdom, from dogs and cats to lizards and pollywogs, takes a few evolutionary steps back in this exuberant verse roundup of prehistoric creatures.

 Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews, January 15, 2009 (Vol. 77, No. 2))

In the fine tradition of Jack Prelutsky's Tyrannosaurus Was a Beast, illustrated by Arnold Lobel (1988), a set of dinophile-pleasing verses penned by a poet with a rare knack for wordplay and silly rhymes finds apt visual setting fronting playful images of monsters rearing up from extinction to grin toothily at young viewers.

CONNECTIONS:
Art: Collage/ Mixed Media art of Romare Bearden (1914 - 1988)
Romare Bearden Foundation
Romare Bearden Lesson Ideas

Dinosaur thematic units

Literature: Other works by Douglas Florian

Lesson Plans site: A to Z teacher stuff http://atozteacherstuff.com/Themes/Dinosaurs/

Information Resource: Children's Literature Comprehensive Database http://www.childrenslit.com/index.php

Mr. Florian reading poetry from Dinothesaurus. Additional links appearing under the finished video are the property of those who posted their video on Youtube. I have not followed all links. User discretion is advised when veiwing any unknown links.

Images credited to Romare Bearden's Homepage and  Art of Romare Bearden: A resource for Teachers. Video provided by Simon & Shuster via Youtube.

What my mother doesn't know

Poetry Review

LS 5603.20/Spring 2010
S. Vardell

BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Sones, Sonya. what my mother doesn't know. New York, New York: Simon & Schuster, 2001.

PLOT SUMMARY:

Adolescence, coming of age, immaturity to maturity is an experience we will go through or have already weathered. All teens have the experience in common, but each has to make the emotionally exhausting journey alone. Sophia is no different.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS:
Reading what my mother doesn't know by Sonya Sones shares Sophia's personal journey of growing up including emotive new feelings, physical desires, changes of course and the possible discovery of "true" love. This free verse story is a mirror into Sophie's mind. Conversational language and current vocabulary create a very relevant reading experience. Sophie is a "cyber-savvy" teen navigating the internet and her hormones at the same time. Ms. Sones creates a very three dimensional Sophie. Using strong imagery and description the reader becomes immersed in Sophie's world. The ups and downs of Sophie's life relate to readers of any age. Another interesting element that Ms. Sones, the artist, adds to this verse novel starts on page 231. Between the pages 231-259, in the lower right hand corner, resides a charming "flip art" image. This sympathetic character wades through her confusion and ultimately chooses her own end. This book is a great read for young adults immersed in seeking the first loves of their lives. This is a difficult, confusing time of life and knowing you are not alone can ease that adolescent angst.

AWARDS WON AND REVIEW EXCERPTS:
Iowa Teen Award 2006
Soaring Eagle Book Award, 2004

CCBC (Cooperative Children's Book Center Choices, 2002)
At almost 15, Sophie is trying to make sense of her intense emotions, unreliable hormones, and ever-changing feelings. A novel told through a series of prose poems speaks in Sophie's lively, gut-level honest voice. Her confusion as the rapture she once felt just thinking about her boyfriend Dylan cools to ambivalence, and then to irritation, is refreshingly realistic.

Melissa J. Rickey (Children's Literature)

... The highs and lows of Sophie's life reflect much of the excitement and anguish that mark adolescence--maintaining and developing new friendships; experiencing first love; despairing of parents in the midst of marital strife and personal transitions; and facing down religious bigotry and collective scape-goating. Sophie negotiates all of these life-events with honesty, openness and humor as she reconstructs her identity and learns to trust her own perspective.

CONNECTIONS:

Animated Flip Book Resources: Flip Book Ideas http://www.ehow.com/way_5292083_flip-book-ideas.html

Interesting take on the traditional flip book.  Additional links appearing under the finished video are the property of those who posted their video on Youtube.  I have not followed all links.  User discretion is advised when veiwing any unknown links.

Literature Connections:

Sonya Sones Official website http://www.sonyasones.com/

Other Books by Sonya Sones: http://www.sonyasones.com/mybooks.htm

Make connection with Nikki Grimes' jazmin's notebook and other coming of age books featuring girls from different bacgrounds and cultures.

Images credited to Sonia Sones official website.  Video from Youtube.

jazmin's notebook

Poetry Review
LS 5603.20/Spring 2010
S. Vardell

BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Grimes, Nikki. jazmin's notebook. New York, New York: Puffin Books , 1998. ISBN 0803722249

PLOT SUMMARY: Jazmin is a young black girl growing up in a tough neighborhood and dealing with an absentee mother. Her only solace is her poetry and recording her thoughts on the stoop of the apartment she and her sister share.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS:
jazmin's notebook is a free verse novel by Nikki Grimes. With a poem introducing each chapter, this novel features a "young afro-american teenager" expressing her opinion through her notebook (Dean Wilder, A.J. Boggs and Company 1999). Readers get an internal view of Jazmin's life and the inspirations for her poetry. A strong fleshed out character, Jazmin has a mind of her own and a will to succeed despite the setbacks of her earlier years. Nikki Grimes gives her young character determination and vision. Rooting for Jazmin becomes a joy and the reader will be actively cheer for the heroin until the end. This verse novel can inspire anyone to work hard and achieve their dream. The reader is left with a clear picture and hope for Jazmin's future.

AWARDS WON AND REVIEW EXCERPTS:
Coretta Scott King Book Award, 1999 Honor Book United States

CCBC (Cooperative Children's Book Center Choices, 1998)
Jazmin is a bright, introspective 14 year old growing up in Harlem in the early 1960s who faces the harsh realities of her world with a poet's heart and soul. Living with her competent older sister who's little more than a teenager herself, Jazmin looks at the world with an endearing mixture of realism and optimism, which she expresses in a poem at the opening of each first-person chapter.

Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews, 1998)
There's a poetic soul taking notes up on Amsterdam Avenue in New York City, and her name is Jazmin Shelby, the star witness to the hard lives and high hopes in a novel from Grimes (Come Sunday, 1996, etc.).

CONNECTIONS:
Link to Coretta Scott King curricular resources at teachingbooks.net http://www.teachingbooks.net/titlesearch.cgi?id=3604&a=1&crc=1

CLCD 's Nikki Grimes titles
http://www.teachingbooks.net/titlesearch.cgi?id=3604&a=1&crc=1

Children's Literature Comprehensive Database additional search results for subject African Americans Juvenile Fiction http://ezproxy.twu.edu:2294/cgi-bin/member/search/r?./temp/~QAVEyR:@term+@subj+African+Americans+Juvenile+fiction.
Nikki Grimes Official Website http://www.nikkigrimes.com/

Images credited to Amazon.com and Official Site of Nikki Grimes