- from Bob Raczka, author of Lemonade and Other Poems Squeezed from a Single Word illustrated by Nancy Doniger)
“Once upon a happenstance
I met a knight in armor.
I fixed my flame upon his lance –
It was a four-alarmer!”
- from the poem “Dragonbrag” from The Dragons are Singing Tonight written by Jack Prelutsky and illustrated by Peter Sis
I have always been a lover of poetry. As a singer, I hear poetry as spoken music. The lilts, rhymes, alliterations, and musicality of poems lend themselves kindly to dreamer’s ears. And surely, I have always been a dreamer. In the book I am currently reading, Princess Academy The Forgotten Sisters by Newbury Honor Winner Shannon Hale, the main character Miri describes poetry as "human imagination, seeking to express what is, even while dreaming of what might be" (Hale, 2015).
Recently, I discovered that poetry can be so much more than I once believed it to be. In college I wrote many anagram poems in which the alternating lines would have the same exact letters as the preceding lines. Little did I know that this form of letter-playing poetry was a true style! Because of my love for anagramming, I thoroughly enjoyed the simple genius of author Bob Raczka and illustrator Nancy Doniger in Lemonade and Other Poems Squeezed from a Single Word which consists of brief poems written in the letters of a single word. For example:
Creative
i
crave
art
Simple but genius. The same letters from the word “creative” are used to make up the three words of the poem that truly describes the essence of being “creative”. Look at the picture and see how the poet designed the poems so that the letters fall under their original place in the title word. Because of this, reading the longer poems can be a tricky business. On the back side of the page, the poem is written in normal form. Another of my favorites is “Constellation”. See if you can read it from the picture without me telling you the words.
Did you get it?
Constellation
a
silent
lion
tells
an
ancient
tale
The poem reminds me of Aslan and Narnia. Great skies of stars that speak stories. You see? I begin speaking more poetically even as I talk about poetry. I cannot help it.
The illustrations by Nancy Doniger are equally as simple and genius as the writing. Minimalistic black, grey, and red watercolors blend to depict humble yet intriguing images that thoroughly capture the meanings of the poems.
I believe I am so inspired that I must venture one of my own on the spot in this post. Let’s see:
quotes
s
e
t
o
u t
t
o
qu es
t
quotes
set
out
to
quest
My poem picture book is a beautifully illustrated set of poems about dragons. Given my preoccupation with all things fantasy, this combination of rhyme and fantastical beast was a winner for me. I could read these all by myself and chuckle to no end. As you can see in my opening example “Dragonbrag”, many of the poems are quite humorous. Some of the funny and witty ones take a turn at the last line to make the joke evident. Even so, there are a few poems that were more thought-provoking and encouraging of childlike imagination such as the secret dragon in the bath tub, the dragon in a child’s computer, the nasty half-inch dragon, and “If you don’t believe in dragons”.
The illustrations by Peter Sis draw the reader into an unforeseen world. Each poem specifically matched with masterful drawings to create the mood, atmosphere, and point of view set by the poem. I highly recommend both books of poetry and writing your own poetry! I also recommend trying to put them to music as I plan to do with this book of dragon poems in my elementary music class. Read this last poem "I am Boom!" and imagine marching and singing with a group of young, active students.
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