Friday, August 23, 2013

Poetry Friday- A Whiff of Pine, a Hint of Skunk



 Poetry Friday is hosted by I Think in Poems.  Be sure to visit to read about other poetry books.

A Whiff of Pine, a Hint of Skunk 
A Forest of Poems
by Deborah Ruddell
Illustrated by Joan Rankin

Published by Margaret K. McElderry Books 2009
40 pages
Format: Picture Book
Genre: Poetry
I rated this book 4 out of 5 stars on Goodreads.com. 

Summary
This book contains 22 short, rhyming poems about forest animals throughout the four seasons. Poems include: Proposal for a Squirrel Spa, Ode to a Salamander and Nobody's Pet


My Thoughts
If you are looking for animal poems that share factual information, this is not the book for you. These poems are silly, entertaining and sometimes, downright funny.  The water color illustrations fill each page with whimsical pictures. 
This book would make a nice addition to any poetry unit or collection.  Older elementary as well as younger children will enjoy these poems because of their content, humor and use of language.

My favorite poem was Biography of a Beaver.
Bucktoothed Cleaver
Tree Retriever
Building Conceiver
True Believer
Waterproof Weaver
Overachiever
Roll-Up-Her-Sleever-
Hooray for Beaver!

Use this book to...
Teach/reinforce poetry rhyming schemes
Develop vocabulary. Words such as smidgen, position, uncommonly, flimsy, quavery and investing are included to name a few.
Teach/reinforce visualization.
Have a good laugh.


15 comments:

  1. Gigi! I loved this book by Deborah Ruddell! I'll have to reread it. Love the beaver list poem as well.

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  2. Gigi! I loved this book by Deborah Ruddell! I'll have to reread it. Love the beaver list poem as well.

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  3. Haven't seen this one before. It does sound fun. Like the beaver poem :).

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  4. Sounds like a great book! The titles you shared make me curious...

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  5. Books that could make you smile always are a sure hit. Thanks for sharing this.

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  6. "Roll-Up-Her-Sleever" -- what a sweetly inventive rhyme :-) Looks like a kid-friendly read.

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  7. This book looks like it would pair well with Amy Ludwig Vanderwater's Forest Has a Song to compare the different styles used to write about a similar topic. Though I have to say, beavers have ruined many of our pine trees and flooded part of our property this year, so those hardworking critters are not high on my list! ;-)

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    1. I will have to check out this book. You could write a poem "Beavers are a Bummer" :)

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  8. Just the title cracks me up - totally brings those smells to mind! Looks cute. Thanks for sharing!

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  9. Looks really cute... I'll have to keep my eyes open for it.

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