5 Stars A Foot in the Mouth: Poems to Speak, Sing, and Shout Paul B. Janeczko Candlewick Press No. Pages: 64 Ages: 8 to 12 ........................ ................
From the Introduction: Poetry is sound. Oh, sure, it’s other things too, but sound needs to be near the top of the list. To hear the sound of a poem, really hear it, you need to read it out loud. Or have someone read it to you. All the poems in this book have been chosen because they are terrific candidates for reading aloud. They might be as easy as the six-word “Gigi” by Arnold Spilka, or as “frabjous” and as “brillig” as Lewis Carroll’s “Jabberwocky,” full of delicious nonsense words to roll across your tongue. Many of the poems have very strong rhyme schemes—the poet is showing you how to read the poem through the use of rhyme.
You don’t need to be an expert, and if you’re not sure how a certain part should sound, ask a parent or teacher. Practice a few times. In no time at all, you’ll be able to share the music of a good poem read aloud. If you’ve never read a poem to somebody, you don’t know what you’re missing. This book will give you a chance to change that. These three dozen poems are especially satisfying spoken, recited—shouted!—out loud, from lively rhymes to tricky tongue twisters. Give it a try – Paul B. Janeczko
A Foot in the Mouth is a wonderful collection of some of the silliest, funniest, sarcastic, and fabulous poems for children I have ever read. Adults who like revisiting their child-self through books will enjoy reading this diverse selection of poetry. There are tongue twisters, limericks, rhymed poems, bilingual poems, and poems for one voice to a group of voices. Poets include A.A. Milne, Walt Whitman, William Shakespeare, and a few who did not want to, like to, or forgot to, take credit for their work.
I really enjoyed reading, and reading again, these poems, which are mostly humorous. I like funny. I also like the occasional quirky, such as Old Hank by an unknown poet, penning under the pseudonym Anonymous. Okay, okay. No one can recall who wrote Old Hank, still I like it for its irony.
..............................For a lark, ..............................For a prank, ..............................Old Hank, ..............................Walked a plank. ..............................These bubbles mark .....................................O .....................................O .....................................O .....................................O .....................................O ..............................Where Hank sank. .....................
Oh, poor Old Hank, walked that plank, trying to prank someone and instead of bobbing back to the surface and yelling “Gotcha,” he sank and stuck. Old Hank is but one of the shorter poems that try to say much with few words. As a kid, I loved limericks and devoured all the limerick books at the library. I like the identical cadence and the often-unexpected wit about them. There are only three limericks in A Foot in the Mouth, yet kids will get the structure of these poems quickly.
The illustrations cannot be overlooked. They enhance each poem, sometimes help explain the poem, but mostly entertain alongside them. Most of the illustrations look abstract. I am not a graphic artist by any stretch of my imagination, so let me try to explain.
People, animals, and things are comprised of a stroke of paint pulled, blotched, spotted, or sprayed on to make the object. Patterns instead of sketched/painted lines make up these picture.*
I like them, think they are fun and often funny. The illustrations fill up the white space on many of the pages and give the eye a second enjoyable piece of art to consume.
Poetry for children does not show up in my mailbox often, but when it has, the results have been fantastic. This book does not disappoint. The humor and fun in each of these poems, regardless the form, will delight those that read them. When delighted, we want more. That is my wish for A Foot in the Mouth—that kids will be so delighted with these poems they will seek out others.
*If anyone can explain this better, please do so in the comment section. Thank you.
Foot in mouth
Author: Paul B. Janeczko website bio Illustrator: Chris Raschka bio Publisher: Candlewick Press website Release Date: March 10, 2009 ISBN: 978-0-7636-6083-3 Number of Pages: 64? Ages: 8 to 12 ................
Filed under: 5stars, Library Donated Books, Middle Grade, Poetry Tagged: Candlewick Press, children's books, humor, middle grade books, paul b janeczko, picture books, poetry Add a Comment