Welcome to Poetry Friday!
What is Poetry Friday?
Find out HERE. Basically, every week a host is assigned who rounds up all the bloggers ,who want to share their poems, book recommendations, and much more. Most are posting about the world of literature for young people.
I hope everyone is enjoying the seasonal change from fall to winter. Yeah. Cold weather, I know it’s not for everyone. But I enjoyed the snow fall we had this week in Syracuse, enough to make me feel and to anticipate the holidays’ arrival. I even did some baking and holiday planning.
I have a Christmas deadline for this Christmas Stocking for my Grandson. I have a long way to go so I have an excuse to watch too much television.
So today I want to recommend a non-fiction picture book,
While I attended the Highlight’s Poetry Palooza two weeks ago, I discovered a mentor text that informs the non-fiction poetry picture book I am revising about digestion. The mentor text Georgia Heard recommended is YOUR ONE AND ONLY HEART, by Dr. Rajani LaRocca and colorfully illustrated by Lauren Paige Conrad.
This picture book, about our very important heart, is able to teach us about the hard working part of us, without technical, cold, and frankly boring terms. Somewhere in my past I learned that scientific terms don’t elicit emotion. Think pericardium, aorta, systolic and diastolic. These words are difficult to relate to. especially for very young people.
LaRocca doesn’t use cold scientific terms but instead writes poems about the function of the heart in vocabulary a child might more easily relate to, words for example like ENERGETIC, MUSCULAR, COOPERATIVE, CHANGABLE, SELFLESS, AND SELFISH. The heart is all these things.
The poem below writes about how the heart is HIDDEN and protected because it’s so important.
Your heart is HIDDEN
Tucked in your chest
between pillowy lungs
in a protective cage of ribs.
Your heart is hidden because
it's so very
vital.
That the heart is hidden reminded me of the pancreas, the part of the digestive system that is protected by the stomach because it houses powerful enzymes. Kids can understand why something important might need to be hidden and maybe protected.
Your heart is CHANGEABLE
In response to
moving
sitting
thinking
playing
feeling
sleeping,
your heart speeds up
or slows down,
squeezes more
or less,
working like a hidden engine
or calm beating
while you rest.
All the poems tell us a lot without weighing the reader down with scientific jargon that they are too young to understand.
So why is it important for kids and adults to learn about their bodies, whether it’s about their heart, their digestion, or about other organs like the brain? I think it teaches us to empathize with our bodies, to respect the parts unseen, and to take care of them. Kids might understand why healthy food is important, get off the couch and move, and understand why taking certain drugs might hurt them.
Speaking of Mentor Texts, Irene Latham thought I might like to check out SCIENCE COMICS: The digestive System.
It is written by Jason Viola with art by Andy Ristaino. It’s very informative and well done, dealing with the complicated issues of digestion often at the molecular level. Written by a gastroenterologist, it is for a YA audience, not for the younger audience I’m writing for, fourth grade.
To all those at NCTE, have a fabulous time! Everyone else have a great weekend, too and best wishes for a joyful Thanksgiving.
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