Whisper and Shout: Poems to Memorize [Hardcover]

Patrice Vecchione (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 7, 2002 | Age Level: 9 and up | Grade Level: 4 and up

From John Updike’s “Player Piano” to Walt Whitman’s “I Hear America Singing,” from Lucille Clifton’s “the earth is a living thing” to Gelett Burgess’s “The Purple Cow,” these poems tumble from children’s tongues and dance with their tapping toes. Whether joyous, rhythmic, solemn, or simple silly fun, poetry learned by heart has a lasting claim on children’s affections and a permanent home in their hearts. The introduction includes tips for teaching kids how to memorize poems. Vecchione presents a selection of verses with rhythms, themes, and wordplay that especially appeal to middle graders.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Whisper and Shout: Poems to Memorize, ed. by Patrice Vecchione, offers up more than 50 poems for kids to commit to memory, from Gwendolyn Brooks's opening call to action, "Speech to the Young: Speech to the Progress-Toward" to e.e. cummings's alliterative "maggie and milly and molly and may" to Langston Hughes and Shakespeare. The volume concludes with brief biographies and a suggested reading list for each poet.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-9-This collection of 55 poems, some of them excerpts from longer works, covers a range of styles and moods, from the nonsense of Edward Lear's "The Owl and the Pussy-cat" to William Shakespeare's famous "To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow-" soliloquy. Vecchione's lengthy introduction presents an emotional case for memorizing poetry, an educational practice that may be due for a revival. To encourage "The Poetry Habit," the editor says, "Pick your favorite poems from this collection, and give them away, or keep them tucked safe in your heart and mind." Some of the selections are readily available in many anthologies (Langston Hughes's "Dream Deferred," Walt Whitman's "I Hear America Singing"). Others are less well-known, like e. e. cummings's lovely "maggie and milly and molly and may," which describes a day at the beach ("milly befriended a stranded star whose rays five languid fingers were"). The book's design is appealing and accessible, with lots of white space and simple illustrations (silhouettes of boys and girls) here and there. Overall, though, while there are many excellent poems included and the editor's heart is in the right place, the book suffers from trying to cover too wide an age range.
Lauralyn Persson, Wilmette Public Library, IL
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9 and up
  
• Hardcover: 64 pages
• Publisher: Cricket Books/Marcato; 1st edition (March 7, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812626567
• ISBN-13: 978-0812626568
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #323,609 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars How to entice children with poetry, April 9, 2007

By 

MsLadyLib "bibliomaniac" (Central New Jersey, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Whisper and Shout: Poems to Memorize (Hardcover)

I'm a librarian in an elementary school. I showed this book to a third grader (a bright one) who had no previous interest in poetry -- it was April, and National Poetry month. We browsed through it together; we discussed how some people like to memorize poetry. I started to recite, from memory, Macbeth's soliloquy: "Tomorrow and tomorow creeps in this petty pace..." She stood enthralled, started to read it herself, and said, "I can borrow this book, can't I?" She had it checked out immediately and left the room with a grin from ear to ear. Now, if that's not recommendation enough, I don't know what is.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars happy to give for a 13 year old's gift, November 9, 2008

By 

M. Cook (Ashford, CT) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Whisper and Shout: Poems to Memorize (Hardcover)

i felt great about giving this book as a birthday gift to my 13 year old niece. right away she started to read the poems aloud and i could see the pleasure and excitement in her voice and eyes while she heard the words of the poems.. i always feel much better giving an educational gift. this book combines education and enjoyment!

5.0 out of 5 stars children's poetry, October 31, 2011

By 

leapin lizard "liz" (florida) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Whisper and Shout: Poems to Memorize (Hardcover)

This book was a gift to a niece and she absolutely loves it. I am so glad there are good poetry books for memorization for children