Customer Reviews

Rainbow Soup: Adventures in Poetry

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

 

 

This book is PERFECT for the teacher who enjoys poetry, but has a hard time coming up with usable lesson plans for her third through sixth graders. My 10 year-old son doesn't even know he's learning. He just loves the funny silly, Silverstein-like poems and fun, wobbly illustrations. With footnotes to explain what type of poem (like macaronic verse, limerick, concrete poem, haiku, villanelle, lantern) or poetic term (like feminine rhyme, couplet, stanza), Rainbow Soup is this teacher's - and this Mom's - best friend!!

Does it get any better than this? In this creative collection of verses that even my thirteen year old son and his friends were laughing over, Cleary not only manages to offer a very readable, fun assortment of clever poetry that kids can enjoy reading themselves...or listening to...he's also added simple but informative footnotes aimed at younger readers that would make any English teacher add this book to their list of required reading. RAINBOW SOUP contains lots of laugh-out-loud humor that both my husband and I AND our 6 year old daughter can enjoy...but at the same time, it shows memorable examples clearly illustrating what a limerick is ~ or a pun, a haiku, palindromes, internal rhyme, parody, couplets, etc., etc. I only wish I'd had this book when I struggled through American Poetry in college! One of my children's favorites (which they've all committed to memory) is a piece Cleary says is "the shortest known poem in the world" called, "What I'd Do If A Burglar Broke Into My House." It goes like this: "I'd hide." There's even a poem meant to teach the villanelle form (something I was never taught) which includes the refrain: "We're going to the villa, Nell." I've purchased three copies (in addition to my own) for 2 friends and 1 relative, all school teachers. They all agree this book lives up to it's subtitle, "Adventures in Poetry." One of my favorites, which exemplifies Cleary's strengths as both teacher and humorist, is the ode to e.e. cummings (no capital letters of course) which ends: "thank you for undreary theory/ style, wit, and grace./your books are always on my shelf/tucked in my lower case." Kid tested, Mother approved - a solid five stars for Rainbow Soup.

Cleary is probably best known for his "Words are CATegorical" grammar instructional series. This time around he has delved into the world of poetry instruction, and it's a winner. Different formats, such as haiku, rebus, and concrete to name just a few, are accompanied by fun whimsical poems that give students engaging examples of each style. Scattered throughout you'll find definitions of language devices such as alliteration, personification, and parody that give further insight it the wondrous world of descriptive language choice. Perfect for any age.

This book is so much fun! One funny, clever poem after another with short explanations about the poetry thoughout this book makes this a blast to read and really easy to teach/learn from. I am a longtime admirer of Shel Silverstein's and my students love Jack Prelutsky. The book Mr. Cleary has delivered is of the same high quality as these two authors from which kids will recite poems aloud, having learned them with no assignment! From a cat who spends too much time on the internet (My Cat Bytes) to an uncle who prints money in his basement (as a result, the government has asked him to print license plates)this book is one smile after another.