What's Everybuggy Reading: Ophelia
A Poke in the I: A Collection of Concrete Poems
selected by Paul B. Janeczko, illustrated by Chris Raschka
Candlewick Press 2001
Don't listen to Spider—concrete poems are NOT poems you scratch in cement before it dries. But they're not the poems you're used to seeing, either, where the words march down the page in an orderly column. They're more like word puzzles-the shape of the poem gives you a hint as to what it's about.
For example, here's a concrete poem I wrote:
C
O
R N E R
Get the idea? Once you get the hang of them, concrete poems are a lot of fun. One of my favorites in this book is "A Weak Poem," whose lines droop as if they don't have the strength to make it all the way across the page. Sonya couldn't get enough of "The Sawfish," which zigs and zags like the sharp teeth along a sawfish's snout. And everybuggy—even Spider—loved "Tennis Anyone?" We showed it to our friend Dexter the spittlebug and tried not to laugh as he swung his head back and forth like he was watching a tennis match.
Whether you're a poetry devotee, an unraveler of riddles, or a sawfish, you're guaranteed to find something to sink your teeth into in this superb collection.
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