Hopkins, Lee Bennett, Amazing Faces. New York: Lee and Low
Books, 2010.
Pictures by Chris Soentpiet
This book is a
versatile collection of poetry! It has poems that appeal to both adults and
children. For example, there are poems based on parenting and then poems based
on starting a new elementary school. I love that this book reaches so many different people!
I have had this book of
poetry in my classroom for a long time, to be honest; I hadn’t cracked it open
in several months. Finally, I read through it again and... wow. I forgot how smooth
and captivating these poems are! The illustrations are so wonderful. They are
realistic, almost like photos. Soentpiet absolutely did a fabulous job of
recreating these poems through pictures. They will do a wonderful job of
helping keep the reader focused and interested in the poem. I also like that the pictures take up
the majority of the page. They start on a page, cross the seam of the book and
the last 1/3 of the page is white and that is where the poem is found.
Technically the poems found in Amazing
Faces are diverse in structure. Every poem is laid out in different form
whether it be regular stanza’s or staggered words. Exposing readers to poetry
that is read in different ways is a great way to teach pacing, vocabulary, and
just expose them to a lot of different structures of poetry!
I could find great use from
the illustration that represents each poem. Students could look at the
illustration and create a poem based on the photo. This activity would go a
long way in helping students draw conclusions and make inferences. I am overly
satisfied with the quality of the poems Bennett used in this book. They are all
wonderful and diverse. I highly recommend this book!
Amazing Face
Amazing, your face.
Amazing.
It shows there will be
trails to follow,
Porches to wave from,
wonder from,
Play on.
It shows you will sail
ships,
Paint stars,
carve pumpkins,
hours,
years.
You will climb stalks,
greet giants,
crawl before you walk.
And you will fly
And you will fall.
And you will fly again.
Amazing, your face.
It shows you will watch
from a window,
whisper to a friend,
ride a carousel,
melt candy on your tounge.
Amazing, your face.
Amazing
- Rebecca Kai Dotlich
(The illustration that
reflects this poem is a Mom holding a little baby up in the air. Both the mom
and the baby are extremely happy and laughing. As a momma myself, the poem and
illustration make me smile!)
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