Thursday, April 19, 2007

Joyful Noise Poems for Two Voices by Paul Fleischman

I must confess the idea of this book did not excite me at all. Poetry is not my favorite genre and I find bugs revolting - especially the hummingbird size bugs of Virginia. My first taste of Virginia bugs was the wasp - a not so friendly fellow, at least three times the size of those in NY and RI, who stung me on the throat. That was my welcome to VA five years ago. I still haven't forgiven that creature. Nevertheless, I asked my husband to join me in reading this book last night and was shocked that I thoroughly enjoyed it. Admittedly, not even the sad story of the Wasp could warm my heart to them, but I have a whole new appreciation for Mayflies - a significant foe in the Adirondacks of NY where we hike every summer. Our trips are scheduled around their anticipated arrival and departure. The poor little guys, they only live one day. "Your trifling day" "Our life". How sad! I still won't be going hiking with them, but they have reminded me to appreciate how precious one day really is. I also loved the image of fireflies as artists. "Light is the ink we use" "Night is our parchment" I never thought of them that way, but in hindsight it seems so obvious. Their magic attracts the youngest child and the oldest man, but rarely is their beauty regarded as art. Other stories were funny - Book Lice, a love story; The Moth's Serenade, another love story with a lightbulb (yes, a very brief romance); and House Crickets, living near the "bright blue pilot light". The two perspectives of Honeybees was so poignant. Having worked in a factory where the work is backbreaking and then having stood in a classroom doing what I love, I can fully appreciate this dicotomy. Without the factory worker, I wouldn't have paper to write on or read from in my classroom, but I rarely think about that. I should. Much more often.
Posted by at

5 comments:

Carolyn said...

I was intrigued by the beauty of the bugs brought by this book of poems. I'm so into poetry lately, I'm feeling to write with alliteration. The love story between the moth and light bulb was touching and humorous. We had lots of crickets in the crawlspace of our house last year, so their "hangout" near the pilot light of the water heater seems very real to me. Fleischman surely has a way to make the ordinary bug that is typically taken for granted into something uniquely beautiful and lovely in their ways.

Thursday, April 19, 2007 5:55:00 PM
Hillary said...

How great that you had someone to read it aloud with you. I also really enjoyed the variety of perspectives on insect lives. A love story, a comparison to human lives, or comparison of roles in the community. I thought that it made the collection more interesting because I never knew quite what would come next.

Friday, April 20, 2007 6:21:00 AM
Amber Lacy said...

I completely agree with you! The last thing I wanted to do was read about bugs! It's funny, I had a similar encounted with a wasp when I moved to VA. I moved from a pretty bug free world in suburban southern CA to the buggy world of VA. Only, my sting was on my thigh when I was using a porter john (for the first time in my life at age 19!)!
But my mind completely changed reading the poems. I felt touched by their small but touching lives. I can't stand mayflies (I never had to deal with those bugs either until I moved here) but their story made me feel sorry for them.

Friday, April 20, 2007 11:12:00 AM
Tricia said...

When I read the Mayflies poem, I connected it to life. I saw it as a metaphor for our own human life. Yes, they only live one day- but that is almost how our life can be described as well. Even though it isn't exactly the same, I was reminded of Frank Sinatra's song "It Was a Very Good Year". I just love how his life is described through the seasons.

Saturday, April 21, 2007 8:52:00 PM
Katie Grace said...

I had someone read it with me too, and it made a world of difference. We even tried to be dramatic with the readings, especially with the Honeybees because they are such different perspectives! I did find it was hard for us to coordinate, though. I can only imagine elementary schoolers reading this aloud for the first time...talk about a great opportunity for repeated readings!

Sunday, April 22, 2007 9:24:00 AM

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

Piggy Monday A Tale About Manners written and illustrated by Suzanne Bloom

Suzanne Bloom is fabulous. My preschoolers are big fans of her Is This the Bus For Us, Gus?. My family just got Piggy Monday A Tale About Manners and we love it! When I first looked at the cover, I thought it would scare my chidlren, 4 and 6. That they would be afraid of turning into pigs themselves. Quite the contrary. The book begins with a class of children who are teasing, being rude, talking in class, etc. As their behavior deteriorates throughout the day, they begin growing pig snouts, hooves, and tails, until they are all little pigs. The Pig Lady comes to the rescue and reminds them of their manners. As they begin to use manners, their pig parts disappear and they become polite young children. By the end, they are all complementing each other, reminding each other of the proper way to say things and do things, and saying please and thank you. The illustrations are fabulous inspiring fits of laughter from my children as the students tear apart the classroom and acquire one pig part at a time. The story is in verse which always attracts the attention of young listeners and the dedication, "to that sparkling class who inspired this tale" was a great topic of conversation afterwards - "Did this really happen?" "Are there really kids who don't have any manners?" "Kids can't turn into pigs!" A few days after reading this book my children were arguing over some precious toy they both desperately needed at the same time and I looked in the doorway and said, "I see a pig tail ... and an ear!" My children stopped arguing immediately and started looking at each other for their pig parts. They rolled in a fit of laughter and actually apologized to each other without being told to!!!! It was terrific! Later that night my husband forgot to say please and my son was quick to say, "Be careful Daddy, you're going to get a pig tail." Humor is such a great way to remind children to make good choices, rather than getting angry or frustrated. The kids catch each other and because of the fabulous imagery from the illustrations, they can't help but laugh at the thought. I'm so glad I did not judge this book by its cover.