Poem-Making: Ways to Begin Writing Poetry
Grade 4-9-- This well-known poet, anthologist, and teacher demonstrates what makes a poem a poem in a concise, simple, readable manner. She explains the various voices of poetry; types of rhyme; and other elements of sound, rhythm, and metrics. She also discusses figures of speech such as simile, metaphor, and personification; and the forms of haiku, cinquain, limerick, free verse, and concrete poetry. The book is organized well, each chapter building successfully on the previous one. The examples throughout draw from the works of many familiar poets, and effectively illustrate Livingston's points. However, there are no explanations for the notations used to diagram meter; for some they may be obvious in context, but perhaps not for all. The author treats mechanics and style with much more detail than X. J. Kennedy's Knock at a Star (Little, 1985), which, while it supplies excellent and profuse examples and is extremely readable, only touches on the surface, especially where it concerns meter. While this book is an excellent introduction to the serious craftsmanship of poetry for beginners, it ends rather abruptly and, because its approach is more academic than in other books, it is likely that few children will pick it up on their own. It will certainly be useful for teachers, easily refreshing their memories of the basics and giving them a guideline to follow in teaching poetry. --Annette Curtis Klause, Montgomery County Department of Public Libraries, MDCopyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.