Space Poems and Paintings
By Douglas Florian
Florian, Douglas. Comets, Stars, the Moon, and Mars : Space Poems and Paintings. Orlando, FL: Harcourt, 2007.
ISBN 9780152053727
This book is a wonderful collection of space poems and paintings all created by author Douglas Florian. This is a perfect book to help reinforce space concepts in the science classroom.
The illustrations in this book are creative and a little abstract. Florian uses a combination of artistic styles to create the backgrounds of each page and poem. Each poem has a specific illustration filling up two pages and the poem is presented on one of the pages. Florian's interesting techniques definitely aide in enriching the content of each poem, and providing a helpful visual for readers. The book's layout is fairly straight forward with a table of contents in the front, and a glossary, selected bibliography, further reading, and title page verso in the back. The "Galactic Glossary" is extremely important to have when trying to teach real life concepts to young people. The only time the reader will see page numbers is on a page that holds a poem, and the page numbers are placed on the sides of the pages. This is not a traditional method of numbering pages but it is unique.
The consistency of this book is in the connection to space, and every poem has some sort of rhyming pattern. Each poem teaches readers about a single planet or space vocabulary word. Readers will experience humor, enjoyment, and knowledge as they read or have the poems read to them. One poem that stands out from the rest is "A Galaxy" because it is written as concrete or shape poetry. The words of the poem are displayed in a spiral, similar to a spiral of a black hole. Students will find this poem very interesting to read. All poems are short and sweet. They entertain the reader with end rhyming patterns and figurative language.
This book would be a positive addition to any library that serves children and young adults. I would recommend this book to all elementary science teachers to use in conjunction with space lessons. For example, a science teacher could read this book to introduce all the planets in our solar system. It will definitely enrich the student's learning.
It is really hard to pick just one poem to highlight from this book because they all are fabulous. The poem I would highlight is "A Galaxy". I would have this used during a poetry break. During a stopping point in an English teacher's lesson, the poem can be blown up and presented on the board or projector. The teacher will ask the students to read the poem silently and give them a little time. Then they will have a discussion on if the students had a difficult time reading the poem because of it's shape. After a little discussion the teacher or a selected student will read the poem to the class. This can lead into a lesson on concrete poems, or just be a nice little break from the busy work in class. The following is a picture of the poem written out. It doesn't not have the same effect without it's shape.
A Galaxy
by Douglas Florian
This book is a wonderful collection of space poems and paintings all created by author Douglas Florian. This is a perfect book to help reinforce space concepts in the science classroom.
The illustrations in this book are creative and a little abstract. Florian uses a combination of artistic styles to create the backgrounds of each page and poem. Each poem has a specific illustration filling up two pages and the poem is presented on one of the pages. Florian's interesting techniques definitely aide in enriching the content of each poem, and providing a helpful visual for readers. The book's layout is fairly straight forward with a table of contents in the front, and a glossary, selected bibliography, further reading, and title page verso in the back. The "Galactic Glossary" is extremely important to have when trying to teach real life concepts to young people. The only time the reader will see page numbers is on a page that holds a poem, and the page numbers are placed on the sides of the pages. This is not a traditional method of numbering pages but it is unique.
The consistency of this book is in the connection to space, and every poem has some sort of rhyming pattern. Each poem teaches readers about a single planet or space vocabulary word. Readers will experience humor, enjoyment, and knowledge as they read or have the poems read to them. One poem that stands out from the rest is "A Galaxy" because it is written as concrete or shape poetry. The words of the poem are displayed in a spiral, similar to a spiral of a black hole. Students will find this poem very interesting to read. All poems are short and sweet. They entertain the reader with end rhyming patterns and figurative language.
This book would be a positive addition to any library that serves children and young adults. I would recommend this book to all elementary science teachers to use in conjunction with space lessons. For example, a science teacher could read this book to introduce all the planets in our solar system. It will definitely enrich the student's learning.
It is really hard to pick just one poem to highlight from this book because they all are fabulous. The poem I would highlight is "A Galaxy". I would have this used during a poetry break. During a stopping point in an English teacher's lesson, the poem can be blown up and presented on the board or projector. The teacher will ask the students to read the poem silently and give them a little time. Then they will have a discussion on if the students had a difficult time reading the poem because of it's shape. After a little discussion the teacher or a selected student will read the poem to the class. This can lead into a lesson on concrete poems, or just be a nice little break from the busy work in class. The following is a picture of the poem written out. It doesn't not have the same effect without it's shape.
A Galaxy
by Douglas Florian
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