Poems For Young Children Analysis

B. Book Critique
Criteria # 4 Poems for young children should tell simple stories and introduce stirring scenes of action. The poem itself is fairly long, however on each page the text is fairly simple and easy to read. The story has made-up vocabulary such as, moose-moss and Lake Winna Bango, but this does not distract from the central message. The story begins “Up at Lake Winna-Bango..the far northern shore…”, and it does not leave there until the end of the story. The true action of the story actually occurs atop the head of a moose. Each new page brings a new traveler upon Thidwick’s horns and how poor Thidwick could not get rid of them because, “...but I can’t” , sobbed poor Thidwick, “They’re guests!” Each new page told us a
Awards: Pick of the Lists selection, American Booksellers Association, 2001

B. Book Critique

Criteria # 1 Poems that are lively, with exciting meters and rhythms, are most likely to appeal to young children. This book has rhyme on each page. As I was reading it is easy to see how you can leave the word off and have the children guess the correct rhyme. On the opening page the author uses his rhyme for children to almost hear what is happening. “Drip--drip--soaking, sopping, Always dripping, never stopping.” The readers become engaged in the rhythm, and in my opinion the rhythm helps in the comprehension of the story for younger readers. The rhythm also helps to speed up story up and adds to the existing excitement. The author also chose creative ways to arrange text that appeals to readers. At one point in the text, the author uses the words “You think that’s a cucumber vine--” along the back of a snake. There are several more occasions throughout the story that the text travels up vines or through tunnels and leaves. The ants also have dialogue, smaller than the rest of the text, which students loved.

Criteria # 4 Poems for young children should tell simple stories and introduce stirring scenes of
The pictures start darker, with only the bugs having color and then turn into the colors of spring. We see the leaves turn green, bright yellow flowers in bloom, as well as vegetables full in color. Towards the end we see those vegetables, falling off the vine and beginning to rot. The illustrator has black spots on a squash to help prove this point. In the autumn pictures of the garden we start to see the leaves begin to curl, some turn from green to yellow. The illustrator turely takes us on a walk through the seasons through his pictures. The pictures stretch from page to page, making the reader want to turn the page to see the continuation of the previous picture. It did not feel as though there was a seperate picture on each page, but rather a large picture spread over numerous pages.

Criteria #4 The illustrations should help readers anticipate the unfolding of a story’s action and its climax. The pictures throughout the book, as mentioned earlier, seem to connect over the pages. The ants marching throughout the story made students laugh, and want to turn the page to see what would happen next. The snake is introduced and then appears in the middle of the discussing how it was “A belly with a head stuck on.” It made students wonder if they would see the snake again, and some even jumped at the end as the snake ate “Mr. Mistake”. The snails racing through the story