The Wild Book

Bibliography:

Engle, Margarita. 2012. The Wild Book. New York: Harcourt. ISBN: 9780547581316.

Summary:

Josefa (Fefa) lives in Cuba in 1912 with her mother, father, and 10 brothers and sisters. The doctor says Fefa has “word-blindness” (dyslexia) and she struggles with reading and writing. Her mother gives her a blank book and tells her it is like a garden where she can sprinkle words like seeds on the pages. She practices and practices, and slowly realizes she can overcome this “blindness.” She thinks about words, breaks them down into pieces, and discovers the beauty and wildness inherent in language. When a lawless bandit demands a ransom in order to not kidnap Fefa and her siblings, it is Fefa who reads the ransom note and recognizes the handwriting. This leads to the arrest of the farm manager and makes Fefa a heroine.

Analysis:

Engle is a Cuban-American poet, and the story is based on real events in her grandmother’s life, which give an already meaningful story added significance. The novel is in free verse, written from Fefa’s point of view as she fills the blank pages in the book her mother gave her. She writes of the doctor’s diagnosis, and how words jump away from her “like slimy/bullfrogs” (5). She shares her feelings and emotions, and the reader can see her grow throughout the book, from frustration and discouragement to peace and confidence. She also writes of doing chores on her family’s farm, being teased by schoolmates and siblings, going on a vacation to the beach, and enjoying a trip to town with her cousin.

Engle makes Cuba come alive in this book, with references to animals (caimans, manatees, parrots), plants (candy tree, pensamiento flowers, jasmine petals), and customs (boys and girls going on a promenade, roasting a pig for a hunting party, and a poetry duel among the adults). She also describes the various feast days and holidays celebrated in Fefa’s town; Christmas will be familiar to all readers, but the feast day of Santiago may not be. There are also allusions to troubles in Cuba’s past, such as prison camps, and the present troubles of bandits and kidnappers. There are no illustrations except the cover, which shows a beautiful girl with brown skin and black hair who has a book in her hands and a confident expression on her face.

Spanish words are scattered throughout the poems; they are sometimes translated and sometimes can be figured out from context. Still, bilingual readers will enjoy an added dimension to the work.

Reviews/Awards:

Kirkus Reviews New and Notable Books for Children, 2012

"The idea of a wild book on which to let her words sprout is one that should speak to those with reading difficulties and to aspiring poets as well.” School Library Journal

“The author gives readers a portrait of a tumultuous period in Cuban history and skillfully integrates island flora, fauna and mythology into Fefa’s first-person tale. This canvas heightens Fefa’s determination to rise above the expectations of her siblings, peers and society.” Kirkus, starred review

Connections:
* Read Thank you, Mr. Falker by Patricia Polacco, another book about overcoming dyslexia.
* Read more of Margarita Engle’s poetry books about Cuba, such as The Surrender Tree and Firefly Letters.

The Surrender Tree: Poems of Cuba’s Struggle for Freedom

Bibliography:

Engle, Margarita. 2008. The Surrender Tree: Poems of Cuba’s Struggle for Freedom. New York: Henry Holt. ISBN: 0805086749.

Summary:

In 1850, Rosa was a young slave in Cuba, learning how to heal using plants and natural remedies. In 1868, she was freed along with other slaves as a declaration of independence from Spain. Yet she was not really free, as this began the first of three wars. For the next 30 years, Rosa and other refugees hid in the jungle, escaping from the Spanish soldiers. With a price on her head, Rosa and her husband nursed many wounded people back to health, including some of their enemies. They took in those who escaped from the brutal “reconcentration camps,” and they survived to see Cuba free from Spain but purchased by the United States.

Analysis:

This is a verse novel where the poems are in the first-person and narrated by various characters: Rosa, her husband Jose, a young refugee Sylvia, an enemy slavehunter, and others. The free verse poems are full of beautiful language and haunting imagery, and they tell the story well. Often concise, the poems convey powerful messages about war, freedom, courage, hardship, compassion, and much more. Because of the book’s length and the violence present in some poems, this is a story for older readers. Rosa the healer and most of the other characters were real people, though some of the details are fictionalized. The author’s great-grandparents were refugees in Cuba during these events, bringing additional meaning to the story.

Reviews/Awards:

Pura Belpre Author Award
Newbery Honor Award

“Engle’s new book is written in clear, short lines of stirring free verse. This time she draws on her own Cuban American roots, including stories from her grandmother, to describe those who fought in the nineteenth-century Cuban struggle for independence. At the center is Rosa, a traditional healer, who nurses runaway slaves and deserters in caves and other secret hideaways.”
Booklist, starred review

“Often, popular knowledge of Cuba begins and ends with late-20th-century textbook fare: the Cuban Revolution, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and Fidel Castro. The Surrender Tree, however, transports readers to another, though no less tumultuous, era. Spanning the years 1850–1899, Engle's poems construct a narrative woven around the nation's Wars for Independence.”
School Library Journal

Connections:
*Pair this book with Engle’s The Poet Slave of Cuba.

Messing Around on the Monkey Bars and Other School Poems for Two Voices

Bibliography:

Franco, Betsy. 2009. Messing Around on the Monkey Bars and Other School Poems for Two Voices. Ill. by Jessie Hartland. Massachusetts: Candlewick Press. ISBN: 9780763631741.

Summary:

As the title indicates, these are all poems about school, specifically elementary school. They include poems on riding the bus, giving reports, standing in the lunch line, searching the lost and found, playing at recess, and many more. The author incorporates a variety of voices with fun results, such as two bikes having a conversation at the bike rack.

Analysis:

These nineteen poems are meant to be read by two or more voices, alternating lines or saying them simultaneously. One example is a poem about meeting a new kid (“Where did you come from? / Far away. / Miss your friends? / Every day.”). Because of both the theme and the style, these poems would be perfect for a classroom to read together. Many poems rhyme, and all of them have great rhythm. Some even include sound effects, like tapping, that kids will enjoy. The book has a loose organization that goes from the beginning of the school day to the end, and at the back of the book is a resource for teachers and librarians on different ways to read the poems. The gouache illustrations show a bustling, fun, multicultural school.

Reviews/Awards:

“While the poems in this book can be read silently by one person, they are written for two or more voices and come alive when read aloud. Beginning with a verse about the bus ride to school, the selections cleverly incorporate alliteration and action. Franco adeptly uses meter and rhythm to capture the fast-paced action of jumping rope on the playground, and students will recognize the descriptions of typical classroom sounds that distract them from finishing schoolwork.”
School Library Journal

“Reading aloud is essential for re-enforcing pronunciation, phrasing, vocabulary - but for all those not doing the reading out loud its deadly dull. Thats why Franco’s Messing Around on the Monkey Bars is such a great idea. Two voices can also mean two groups: two rows, boys and girls, back and front. Everyone is engaged because everyone acts and responds.”
ForeWord Magazine

Connections:
*Practice reading the poems in pairs or groups, and pick one to perform.
*Read other poems for two voices, such as Joyful Noise by Paul Fleischman.

This Is Just to Say: Poems of Apology and Forgiveness

Bibliography:

Sidman, Joyce. 2007. This Is Just to Say: Poems of Apology and Forgiveness. Ill. by Pamela Zagarenski. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN: 0618616802.


Summary:

A grade school class reads William Carlos William’s poem “This Is Just to Say,” and they decide to write their own poems of apology. These “sorry” poems range from serious to humorous as kids apologize for hurting a sibling, sneaking brownies, and hitting a friend with a dodge ball. Then the people the kids wrote the poems to write their own poems of forgiveness in response.
(Thomas: “I have stolen/ the jelly doughnuts/ that were in/ the teacher’s lounge”; Mrs. Garcia: “Of course I forgive you/ But I still have to call your mother.”)

Analysis:

The book is inventive and touching. It is all from the author’s imagination, I believe, but she successfully captures a variety of child and adult voices, and puts in details that makes it seem like a real class project. Some poems bring up serious issues, like a father’s abandoning his daughter, and the response is moving. There are a variety of poetical forms, though most don’t rhyme, and they flow nicely. All the apology poems are in the first section and the forgiveness poems in the second, but the best way to read it is to flip through and read the corresponding apologies and responses together. Children will enjoy the poems and the colorful illustrations, which are a mix of sketches and collage.

Reviews/Awards:

Claudia Lewis Poetry Award

School Library Journal Best Book of the Year

“Zagarenski’s (Mites to Mastodons) inventive mixed-media illustrations brim with items found in a classroom: a dictionary entry on “apology,” for instance, becomes part of a student's clothing, and white hole reinforcements resemble a character's stolen doughnuts.”
Publisher’s Weekly

“Mrs. Merz assigns her sixth-grade students to write poems of apology, and what emerges is a surprising array of emotions, poetic forms, and subjects from dead pets and biting hamsters to angry siblings and betrayal of trust.”
School Library Journal, starred review

Connections:
*This book lends itself very well to a project like that found in the story – children writing poems of apology and/or forgiveness.
*The author has used many different poetry forms, like haiku and pantoum, and the book can be used to study types of poetry.