Betsy Franco, Messing Around on the Monkey Bats and Other
School Poems for Two Voices. Massachusetts: Candlewick Express, 2009.
Illustrator: Jessie Hartland
ISBN: 978-0-7636-3174-1
Betsy Fracno has put
together a very relatable book of poetry based on the ends and outs of life at
an elementary school. For example, a reader can find poems about getting in
line, bikes on the bike rack, and homework loss. Not only is this interesting to
students but, this book of poetry is intended for two voices. Each poem has a
part for each student (pairs). There is a lot of rhyming in each poem which is
great for younger students. This book of poetry also in arranged well. The text
and pictures are very organized and easy to follow. The majority of the poems
has a significant amount of space between each line and is not just stationary
to one page. The poems begin on one page and continue to a second. I feel that this is important for
younger children!
If you were passing this
book on the shelf, you would be drawn to it immediately. Its cover is line
green with realistic illustrations scattered throughout. The best
characteristic of this book is that it has extremely relatable content for
school children. Personally, my students love to read silly poetry so its even more perfect that they can easy understand the basis- school. I also
think that this book offers great opportunity for students to make text to self-relationships.
These types of relations to the text are extremely important in helping
students make inferences about the story.
I Can’t Wait
Today’s the day.
I can’t wait.
At recess time,
I won’t be late.
I’ll meet you by
the mulberry tree.
And then you’ll make the trade with me.
I’ll trade my little green Iguana…
For my little sister Donna!
I think this poem is a great example of how students can
relate to the text. Everyone knows what it feels like to have an annoying
brother or sister! I would absolutely introduce this poem using that text to
self- relation. After getting the students interested, we would read through
the poem together. Once they’ve read the poem, I would have students discuss in
groups of three or four what they think the authors purpose for writing this poem
was and how they relate to the poem. Hopefully at this point, students would
share their experiences.
