Dakos, Kalli. Put Your Eyes Up Here. ill. G. Brian Karas. Simon and Schuster, 2003. ISBN 0-689-81117-9
In this book, Penny tells us about her classroom experiences through her eyes as well as her teacher's. She tells us all about how her underwear is silly but no one knows, how she bites her nails just like Ms. Roys, "dead" pencils, how silly Ms. Roys is, and how Ms. Roys made Penny feel so special by writing a poem about her. Dakos has taken a child's point of view of school and brought to life so many things we may never have thought about before.
This book holds meaning for anyone in school or who has attended school at one point in time. The poems are a mixture of concrete, rhyming, free verse, short, and long. Some are silly and others are serious. There is a rich sense of imagery that can stimulate emotions and imagination for the audience...both students and teachers! The only downside of this book its overall layout. Some poems end on the verso side of the page which feels awkward sometimes. Other poems may start at the bottom of a page that had enough space and continue onto the next. Within the layout, the illustrations were not in color. This might provide more room for imagination within the context of the poems, however, it might be even better if they were in color.
My favorite poem from this book is a rather long one about patting yourself on the back. I will present you with the last few stanzas of the poem. As an introduction, I would ask the students how they congratulate themselves on a job well done, a good grade, or just making it through a bad day.
Preface: Penny has described the large collection of plastic hands that Ms. Roys has collected. One day after school she went back to the classroom to get a pencil she had forgotten.
"The Hand Collection"
...
Ms. Roys was
Sitting at her desk,
Patting herself
On the back
With a giant inflatable hand.
"I survived today," she said.
"And it was horrendous.
Sometimes you have to
Pat yourself on the back
Just for surviving."
"I remember the pencil
That I forgot,"
I told Ms. Roys.
"Do you think
I could have
A pat on the back too?"
Ms. Roys laughed
And gave me
A giant green hand.
We stood together
Patting ourselves
On the back-
One teacher,
One student,
And six hands.
In this book, Penny tells us about her classroom experiences through her eyes as well as her teacher's. She tells us all about how her underwear is silly but no one knows, how she bites her nails just like Ms. Roys, "dead" pencils, how silly Ms. Roys is, and how Ms. Roys made Penny feel so special by writing a poem about her. Dakos has taken a child's point of view of school and brought to life so many things we may never have thought about before.
This book holds meaning for anyone in school or who has attended school at one point in time. The poems are a mixture of concrete, rhyming, free verse, short, and long. Some are silly and others are serious. There is a rich sense of imagery that can stimulate emotions and imagination for the audience...both students and teachers! The only downside of this book its overall layout. Some poems end on the verso side of the page which feels awkward sometimes. Other poems may start at the bottom of a page that had enough space and continue onto the next. Within the layout, the illustrations were not in color. This might provide more room for imagination within the context of the poems, however, it might be even better if they were in color.
My favorite poem from this book is a rather long one about patting yourself on the back. I will present you with the last few stanzas of the poem. As an introduction, I would ask the students how they congratulate themselves on a job well done, a good grade, or just making it through a bad day.
Preface: Penny has described the large collection of plastic hands that Ms. Roys has collected. One day after school she went back to the classroom to get a pencil she had forgotten.
"The Hand Collection"
...
Ms. Roys was
Sitting at her desk,
Patting herself
On the back
With a giant inflatable hand.
"I survived today," she said.
"And it was horrendous.
Sometimes you have to
Pat yourself on the back
Just for surviving."
"I remember the pencil
That I forgot,"
I told Ms. Roys.
"Do you think
I could have
A pat on the back too?"
Ms. Roys laughed
And gave me
A giant green hand.
We stood together
Patting ourselves
On the back-
One teacher,
One student,
And six hands.
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