Customer Reviews

Fold Me a Poem

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Fold Me a Poem is a wonderful example of a book being more than the sum of its parts. Inside the covers of this stunning creation, the poems and illustrations meld to create a picture book that is both inspiring and entertaining.

Each of George's short poems is exquisitely illustrated with an acrylic painting depicting a young boy among his origami creations. In "Spring," for example, we read:

At last
my tulips
arrive
wearing
paper crowns.

And thus we see-surrounding the large, black print-patterned and boldly colorful origami tulips.

While a few of the poems are about possibilities, the majority concern themselves with animals. A double-page spread shows a large yellow table festooned with rabbits at one end and foxes at the other. In between the boy has placed blocks (for the rabbits' protection). On another page, the pink ostrich receives no such protection and is attacked by the boy's cat. "Glue? Staple? Tape? Band-Aid?" The boy tries to decide how best to make repairs.

Midway through the book we find the large, green dragon on a rampage-having knocked down the other animals-and must be reigned in. Later on, we see a herd of colorful cows hungrily "eyeing the green paper. Oh. Grass!"

As the young boy prepares for bed, he hangs his own origami star against the darkening sky. Soon he hears "rustling/ soft/ papery/ whisper-thumps ./ Is someone dancing?" It appears so: the penguin and the ostrich (now sporting band-aids) move toward one another.

The book includes a list of suggested books on making origami.

Classroom Uses: We took this book into two classrooms. The first was a second-grade special-education classroom. When we finished reading the book, the students, of course, wanted to make their own origami creations. We had prepared paper so the students could create origami dogs. You will find the instructions in a wonderful downloadable teacher's guide here on the illustrator's website. The students then wrote haiku poems about their animals.

On another occassion we brought the book into a seventh-grade language arts classroom. The students were in the middle of a script writing unit. Again, taking a lesson from the teacher's guide, we had the students write a script using the origami animals they had created as characters.

Highly recommeded. Suitable for district-wide purchase.

Our only suggestions is that you have plenty of origami paper and a set of instructions ready when you read this.

This books is a delight for anyone who has experimented with Origami and knows its frustractions and rewards. Basic orgigami subjects are captured through the combination engaging poems and illustrations (each enhancing the enjoyment of the other). This book made our family smile over and over again! My favorite captures a moment of oragami uncertainty...

Camel

What went wrong?
Lean against
this sand dune
while I double-check
the directions.

I love origami and I love children's books. This story combines both and inspires one to start folding the animals. I recommend this book for children about three years old ( although folding is beyond the capabilities of this age group).

The words are beautiful and inspiring and the illustrations catch the attention of young children. There was a sense of awe and anticipation when I read this book to a group. I was impressed with the free teacher's guide on the author's and illustrator's websites. I was grateful for the folding diagrams and origami resources on the sites as well. This book appeals to adults as well as children. My children and their friends have had hours of rainy-day pleasures all due to FOLD ME A POEM. This book is a "must have" for any child's library.

This book was a success during my Poetry Unit. I was disappointed at first there wasn't a pattern included, but I found many on the internet to download. I also wondered if my students would like the book since it was more of a picture book type poem book. I shouldn't of worried, they loved the book and wanted to read it again. I used the Elmo so they could see each page. We made oragami shapes after reading the book. I used this book to begin my poetry unit and wished I had brought it out at the end. Lovely book.

Very sweet little book! If you're doing Origami for a group class this is a nice addition to read to younger children. The pictures are soft and blended. My 7 year old liked it, I'll use it in our group class, for 5 - 10 year olds, but I don't see this as a favorite in our house. One reviewer wrote they thought there would be instructions. I did not get this impression at all. It's exactly what the review says it is, a book of poems. The poems are very short and easy to follow, so they held our attention well. This just isn't going to be a read over and over type book, that's all I'm saying. There are books like Shel Silverstein that are falling apart on our bookshelf from use! This is cute and we'll leave it at that.

I am a teacher and found this book on the author's website when I was searching for origami links. While the picture book is a great introduction to the art of origami, I had assumed there would be directions included to create the origami animals the little boy in the book made in the story. I was disappointed that no directions were included, nor were they available on the author's website. As a story book, it is beautiful though.