Poetry Review: Poems in the Attic by Nikki Grimes

Book 2: Poems in the Attic by Nikki Grimes

1.BIBLIOGRAPHY

Grimes, N. (2015). Poems in the Attic  (E. ZUNON, Illus.). Lee & Low Books Inc. (ISBN 978-1620140277)

2. PLOT SUMMARY

Poems in the Attic begins with a young girl who discovers her mom’s poems in her Grandma’s attic. The poems written by her mother give an insight of what it was like for her to travel around the United States while her father was in the Air Force. Her mother writes about her experiences and all of the places she and her family traveled to. Throughout the story the poems bounce from the daughter's experiences to the mothers poems and the young girl adds commentary of what she is reading from her mothers writing. The story ends with the girl joining her mother’s poems with her own that she has written while at Grandma’s house.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS

The illustrations by Elizabeth Zunon do an incredible job of aiding in the understanding of what the setting looked like in each of her mothers poems, using colorful illustrations and are engaging for children. The poems are short and sweet, giving the reader a quick image. I found this book to be a fun experience while imagining my mother and I and what her poems would have been like, and the feelings I would have had reading about her journeys.

4. REVIEW EXCERPT (S)

-”Grades 2-5. A book about discoveries, this celebrates poetry and the quixotic life of a military family. A young girl responds in free verse to the poems she uncovers in the attic, poems her mother wrote in tanka (a form of Japanese poetry) about the wonder of her experiences living throughout the world. The mother’s voice dominates through longer poems and Zunon’s larger illustrations, but the daughter’s poems appear first on each page, and the connection between the poems is heartfelt. Their love of language and the natural world bind them together. There is also a rhythm to their experiences as well (the daughter writes of sandcastles, and the mother, of a grunion run). Notes encourage readers to try their hands at either poetic form, while the pictures, a combination of acrylic, oil, and collage, encourage interest in the many places described. Pair with How I Discovered Poetry, by Marilyn Nelson (2014), for a slightly older audience interested in writing poetry and understanding the turmoil and adventure of being raised in a military family. Taken from the Hardcover.” — Booklist (April 15, 2015)

-”A little girl finds her mother’s stash of childhood poems reflecting the mother’s travels as an Air Force brat. The daughter’s free-verse poems about finding and reading her mother’s work appear on left-hand pages, facing her mother’s tanka poems (a Japanese poetic form) on the right. Pink-toned acrylic and oil illustrations are enhanced by cut-paper and fabric collage. Notes on the poetic forms are appended.” — Horn Book Guide starred (Fall 2015)

5. CONNECTIONS

-This book can be modeled for students to show patterns of sounds, words or lines, words that appear to the senses and how poetry makes you feel.

-This book could be used as a conversation starter to introduce and explain military families.

-Students can explore their own families or heritage and create poems.

-This book could be used to introduce and identify places on a map.




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