Poems by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater
VanDerwater, Amy Ludwig. Forest Has a Song. Illustrated by Robbin Gourley. New York, NY: Clarion Book, 2013. ISBN 9780618843497
This book is a colorful collection of 26 poems written by one poet, Amy Ludwig VanDerwater. Each of the 26 poems is strong enough to be used independent of this book, but when they are kept together they tell a beautiful story. The theme of this book is a forest. Every poem either has a connection to the forest or is the forest whispering. The poems will give readers a chance to listen to what the forest has to say as it invites a little girl and her dog to visit. Along the journey through the forest, readers will experience all sounds, rhythms, and uses of figurative language. Readers will easily make a connection to the forest. VanDerwater provides just enough emotional impact with this feel good book of poems. To allow readers to easily identify when a poem has different voices, VanDerwater uses italic lettering to distinguish who is speaking. This book is geared toward elementary and middle grade children as the intended audience.
The illustrations done by Robbin Gourley are beautiful. Gourley is represented on every single page of the book, from patterns of different colored leaves on the inside front and back covers, to an illustration for every poem, to a solid color painted blank page. Gourley's artistic style and use of watercolors is delicate and realistic. The illustrations and poems are perfectly matched, and each illustration definitely enhances the power of the poem. The layout of this book is simple and only contains illustrations and poetry. There is no table of contents, index, or reference page to find individual poems by. I would definitely recommended this book for libraries who serve children and young adults.
One poem I would highlight from this book to use in a poetry break is "April Walking". I chose this short poem because it packs a punch with alliteration and a touch of end rhyme. One way to integrate this poem into a lesson is in a speech or theater class. To assist with public speaking students recite sayings to help them not to get tongue tied. As a warm up, students will read this poem aloud several times. This poem is fun to read because it can twist the tongue. This could also be used in a reading classroom to take a mental break from serious work.
April Waking
by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater
Ferny frondy fiddleheads
unfurl curls from dirty beds.
Stretching stems they sweetly sing
greenest greetings sent to Spring.
The illustrations done by Robbin Gourley are beautiful. Gourley is represented on every single page of the book, from patterns of different colored leaves on the inside front and back covers, to an illustration for every poem, to a solid color painted blank page. Gourley's artistic style and use of watercolors is delicate and realistic. The illustrations and poems are perfectly matched, and each illustration definitely enhances the power of the poem. The layout of this book is simple and only contains illustrations and poetry. There is no table of contents, index, or reference page to find individual poems by. I would definitely recommended this book for libraries who serve children and young adults.
One poem I would highlight from this book to use in a poetry break is "April Walking". I chose this short poem because it packs a punch with alliteration and a touch of end rhyme. One way to integrate this poem into a lesson is in a speech or theater class. To assist with public speaking students recite sayings to help them not to get tongue tied. As a warm up, students will read this poem aloud several times. This poem is fun to read because it can twist the tongue. This could also be used in a reading classroom to take a mental break from serious work.
April Waking
by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater
Ferny frondy fiddleheads
unfurl curls from dirty beds.
Stretching stems they sweetly sing
greenest greetings sent to Spring.
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