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| Image retrieved from www.amazon.com |
Free Choice Poetry:
Bibliography:
Hopkins, Lee B., and Jane Manning. Jumping Off Library Shelves: A Book of Poems. Honesdale, Pennsylvania: WordSong, 2015. ISBN 9781590789247
Review and Critical Analysis:
Jumping off Library Shelves: A Book of Poems is an anthology compiled by the famous anthologist, Lee Bennett Hopkins. This book is a collection of 15 poems, written by well-known poets in children’s literature such as J. Patrick Lewis, Nikkie Grimes, Jane Yolen, and Lee Bennett Hopkins himself. The poems take the reader through a day in a library. Beginning with “Breakfast Between the Shelves” and ending with “Midnight in a Library,” library lovers will read through these poems and feel like their thoughts have been creatively, warmly, and sometimes humorously, written into poetry.
The poems in this collection are written in a variety of forms. Most of the poems are featured on a two-page spread, with Jane Manning’s colorful illustrations leading the way. All of the poems are short and simple, quickly grabbing the reader’s interest and leaving them with one after another sweet taste from the library. The poems are written in all different forms and stanzas. Some rhyme and some are written in free verse. Some weave themselves into the illustrations, making the poem and the illustration become one. The variety of style is appealing because the poems are arranged in a way that they flow well from one to the next.
Each poem in this anthology conjures strong images of library experiences. With a few simple words they create the warm and cozy feelings a library offers. “Refuge” by Nikki Grimes talks about the library as a refuge, a place “to rest, to explore - / to dream.” “Enchantment” by Jane Yolen compares a library card to a magic wand, portraying the power of a library card. “Storyteller,” a tribute to one of Hopkins’ personal friends, creates the feeling of being so enchanted during story time that the child says, “I believe in / once-upon-a-time, / I believe in / happily ever after.” These poems have the unique ability to make the library an even more endearing place to a young child than it already is.
Jane Manning’s beautiful, colorful illustrations truly make this anthology the delight that it is. Her illustrations were created with gouache and pencil, and their soft lines and vibrant colors contribute to the warmth the poems exude. The poems seem like they are woven into the illustrations, making them one - a rare art. The illustration for “Internet Explorer” show a boat, the “S.S. Library,” sailing away, with the words to the poem written into the wave the boat is riding. In “Book Pillows” by Amy Ludwig Vanderwater, the poem alludes to several classic pieces of literature. Manning creates a dreamy swirl of well-known literary characters dancing above children who are asleep on books. This book is a school library must-have. Children of all ages will read it again and again.
Poem Used to Support Critical Analysis:
My Card
By Cynthia S. Cotten
This may look
like a plain,
pocket-size
piece of plastic,
but it’s really
a super-card.
More powerful than
the smartest phone,
more powerful than
a TV remote,
more powerful than
a hundreds apps.
My library card
unlocks the world
and more
with a single
scan.
What I love about this poem is its creativity - it takes a simple object and imagines how powerful it truly is. A library card is really just a small piece of plastic, but because of what it is used for, Cotten imagines it as being more powerful than some of the most powerful things we use in our everyday lives. So powerful that with a single scan it unlocks the world and more.
I would read this poem along with the next poem in the anthology, “Enchantment” by Jane Yolen. This poem portrays a library card as having magical powers, similar to “My Card.” I would ask students some discussion questions such as: How is a library card more powerful than the smartest phone? How is it more powerful than a hundred apps? What does Cotten mean that it “unlocks the world?”
I would place students in groups of two or three and have them think of other objects that are powerful like a library card. Think beyond the object to what it allows to happen in the world. After making a short lists, students would choose an object (one that could actually be brought to school). Students would write a few sentences to describe the object’s power. I would ask students to bring their object to school the next day, present it to the class and talk about the power of that object.
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