Whisper and Shout: Poems to Memorize - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0812626567 ISBN 13: 9780812626568

Publisher: Cricket Books/Marcato, 2002

Synopsis

From John Updike’s Player Piano” to Walt Whitman’s I Hear America Singing,” from Lucille Clifton’s the earth is a living thing” to Gelett Burgess’s The Purple Cow,” these poems tumble from children’s tongues and dance with their tapping toes. Whether joyous, rhythmic, solemn, or simple silly fun, poetry learned by heart has a lasting claim on children’s affections and a permanent home in their hearts. The introduction includes tips for teaching kids how to memorize poems. Vecchione presents a selection of verses with rhythms, themes, and wordplay that especially appeal to middle graders.

About this title

From School Library Journal:

Grade 5-9-This collection of 55 poems, some of them excerpts from longer works, covers a range of styles and moods, from the nonsense of Edward Lear's "The Owl and the Pussy-cat" to William Shakespeare's famous "To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow-" soliloquy. Vecchione's lengthy introduction presents an emotional case for memorizing poetry, an educational practice that may be due for a revival. To encourage "The Poetry Habit," the editor says, "Pick your favorite poems from this collection, and give them away, or keep them tucked safe in your heart and mind." Some of the selections are readily available in many anthologies (Langston Hughes's "Dream Deferred," Walt Whitman's "I Hear America Singing"). Others are less well-known, like e. e. cummings's lovely "maggie and milly and molly and may," which describes a day at the beach ("milly befriended a stranded star whose rays five languid fingers were"). The book's design is appealing and accessible, with lots of white space and simple illustrations (silhouettes of boys and girls) here and there. Overall, though, while there are many excellent poems included and the editor's heart is in the right place, the book suffers from trying to cover too wide an age range.
Lauralyn Persson, Wilmette Public Library, IL
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist:

Gr. 4-6. With a lengthy, enthusiastic introduction and a generous final section of resources and biographies, this anthology will get as much use in the classroom as with individual readers. Vecchione writes with simple eloquence about memorization and the joy of poetry ("Poems are made out of everyday language that's given special attention"), but many of the selections are probably better for reading aloud than for learning by heart. The book has an old-fashioned flavor, with classics such as "The Owl and the Pussycat" and "The Boy Stood on the Burning Deck." There's no mention of rap or popular song, but there are lots of contemporary voices, from Nikki Giovanni to Paul Fleischman. The best pieces are timeless, and kids will enjoy chanting together e. e. cummings' "Maggie and milly and molly and may" as well as reading some quieter verses alone. The book design invites browsing; there's plenty of white space and an exuberant watercolor picture at the start of each section. Hazel Rochman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About this edition

• Publisher: Cricket Books/Marcato
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0812626567
• ISBN 13: 9780812626568
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 64
• Editor: Vecchione Patrice