Happy Poetry Friday!

Today's Poetry Friday Round-Up is being hosted by Sheri at Sheri Doyle.

Sheri reminds us to find happiness in the simple things.  Poetry is surely one of my favorite ways to find joy in each day!  Be sure to visit Sheri to indulge in many poetry pleasures!  

March 21  holds many exciting things for me!  My first born will become a teenager this year (eeks!), it is the first official, full day of spring, and this year I will have the pleasure of spending the day with poet and author, Kenn Nesbitt!  

My first born, Sienna, will soon be 13!  She is a beautiful dancer!

Kenn will be visiting my school on that day!  He will be making two presentations (primary and intermediate) for the students and staff.  In preparation for his visit, I have been sharing his poems during my "Poetry Breaks!," with my small reading groups, and on the morning announcements.  Additionally, I (along with our librarian and other classroom teachers) have been sharing Kenn's delightful website, Poetry 4 Kids with students.  

My absolute favorite Kenn Nesbitt poem  . . . 

A Pug is a Dog

by Kenn Nesbitt

A pug is a dog
with a curlicue tail.
He eats like a hog
and he snores like a whale.
He's flat in the snout
and his belly is big.
The pug came about
just by misspelling pig.

Miley, my pug!

Miley and I can't wait to have him autograph this poem poster (see an earlier post about these posters)!  She wants him to autograph her picture, too!

 

Audiobook Jukebox Review: Rise of the Guardians

   

Rise of the Guardians: An Audiobook Review

Title: Rise of the Guardians: Movie Novelization
Author: Stacia Deutsch
Narrator: Keith Nobbs
Unabridged Length: 2 h, 33 m
Published by Simon & Schuster Audio, 2012
Genres: Young Adult, Middle Reader, Fantasy

From the Publisher:

Join forces with the Guardians to defeat Pitch in this retelling of the animated feature Rise of the Guardians.

When Pitch, the boogeyman, decides that children should believe in him and not the Guardians, he adds a little fear to their dreams, turning them into nightmares. If children around the world are afraid, there will be no more room for hope. The Guardians must band together to stop him. But in order to do so they need a little help from an unlikely source: Jack Frost. Jack loves to have fun, but he’s not usually one for heroics. Will Jack find the hero within him before Pitch can carry out his master plan?

Join Jack Frost and the entire gang of Guardians—North, Bunnymund, Tooth, and Sandman—as they band together to vanquish the boogeyman and his nightmarish threats and to preserve the very spirit of childhood. This junior novelization includes eight pages of color images from the movie.

My Review:

I will begin my review of this audiobook by saying that I had not yet seen the movie prior to listening to its audiobook adaptation.  I was pleasantly and immediately immersed into the fantasy world of the Guardians.  Listening to narrator, Keith Nobbs read this tale, made me feel as though it was being read by a full cast of narrators.  Knobbs does such a fabulous job of bringing each character to life, that the listener truly feels as though there is a different person for each character's dialogue, as well as for the narrator of the story.  Knobbs transforms his voice into North by using a perfect Russian accent, speaks for Bunny in a believable and humorous Australian accent, and transform his voice, yet again into an eerie, English accent to portray Pitch, the Boogeyman.  Additionally, Knobbs uses other voices to bring the various children characters to life.  Honestly, the listener of this movie adaptation will have no need to actually watch the movie, because the narration of the audiobook allows the listener to create his/her own unique movie in his/her own mind - the ultimate goal of reading and listening to a tale be told.  

Although the genre lists this audiobook as a young adult and middle grade fantasy, I believe that parents of younger children may want to choose this as a family audiobook to listen to on a trip in the car or even as bedtime family entertainment.  Teachers may also find this audiobook to be a great resource to play, not only as a classroom read aloud selection for entertainment and enjoyment but also to assist in helping teach children to truly visualize the story and bring it to life.  Knobbs narration is also excellent modeling for how reading fluently should sound - he truly brings all characters and situations to life by using his voice and narration style.  

An additional note that I'd like to mention:  I did watch the movie after listening to the audiobook and found them to be extremely similar.  Kids who have already watched the movie will be in for a treat when choosing Rise of the Guardians as an audiobook selection.  Audiobooks like this could turn reluctant readers into avid readers/listeners. 

Popping Up A Popcorn Poetry Break!

"Popcorn" poem by Helen H. Moore

For many years I have enjoyed sharing Helen H. Moore's "Popcorn" poem with my students. It's a fun and catchy poem that is easy to remember and naturally lends itself to dramatization! We become the popcorn popping in the pot!

Bringing in the air popper, popping up some real popcorn, and reciting Moore's poem couldn't be any more fun!

Students are able to fully enjoy and internalize this poem using ALL five senses! We see, smell, hear, touch, and taste the popcorn AND the poem!

Popcorn

 Pop, pop, popcorn,

popping in the pot!

Pop, pop, popcorn,

eat it while it’s hot!

Pop, pop, popcorn,

Butter on the top!

When I eat popcorn,

I can't stop!

                                 -- Helen H. Moore

Happy Poetry Friday!  Today's round-up is being hosted by Linda at Teacher Dance. 
She will surely be sharing many poetry treats!