Bibliographic Data: Franco, Betsy. 2009. Messing Around on the Monkey Bars and Other School Poems for Two Voices. Ill. by Jessie Hartland. Massachusetts: Candlewick Press. ISBN 978-0-7636-3174-1
Plot Summary
Messing Around on the Monkey Bars and Other School Poems for Two Voices, written by Betsy Franco, and illustrated by Jessie Hartland is a book of 19 poems revolving around elementary school life. From riding a bus, lining up after recess, or anthropomorphizing inanimate objects in a classroom, this book covers it all. Best of all, it is meant to be read aloud by two (or more!) voices.
Critical Analysis
It is hard not to lose yourself in elementary school nostalgia while reading this book of poems. Franco starts the book with the morning bell and ends it with a bus ride home. The poems are written to be read aloud, and the words to be read by the class or second reader are bolded. This had me nervous, as I was worried it was going to see contrived or forced, and it was at first when I read the book aloud to myself. I really enjoyed it, don’t get me wrong, but something was…. Missing? I pried the video game controller from my boyfriend’s hand and had him read the poems aloud with me. What a joy! The bolded words for the second voice seem to be easier to understand/read, and we did not notice this until going through the book three times. It is a subtle thing, but I feel it would really benefit the child readers participating.
Franco wrote these poems using many different poetic elements, but my favorite is her use of onomatopoeia from ticking clocks, snapping rubber bands, to tapping pencils. She uses rich metaphors, and personification. The poems pull you into the fun, and if you pay attention carefully, you will start to notice a singsongy tone to your voice while you are reading aloud.
The illustrations are vibrant, funny, and filled with tiny details that make them all the more fantastic. For instance, when illustrating the objects around the room that “come alive”, Hartland even assigns genders. The chairs are wearing heels, the rulers are wearing loafers, and the watches hands are human hands. It’s fantastic.
Spotlight Poem:
Where did you come from?
Far away.
Miss your friends?
Every day...
How old are you?
Just turned eight.
You like hoops?
Yeah, great.
Got any friends?
Nope, not yet.
Wanna play?
You bet!
Book Reviews:
School Library Journal K-Gr 6--While the poems in this book can be read silently by one person, they are written for two or more voices and come alive when read aloud. Beginning with a verse about the bus ride to school, the selections cleverly incorporate alliteration and action. Franco adeptly uses meter and rhythm to capture the fast-paced action of jumping rope on the playground, and students will recognize the descriptions of typical classroom sounds that distract them from finishing schoolwork. Franco employs plenty of humor, as in "Weird Stuff in the Lost and Found": "A purple coat,/a wizard hat,/a dirty baseball shirt,/someone's stinky soccer sock,/a yellow hula skirt." Teachers and librarians looking for readers' theater materials will be delighted with this collection; bold text indicates alternating voices, and suggestions for additional "adventurous ways to read the poems" are in the back matter. The bright hues and quirky depictions of students and teachers in Harland's gouache illustrations have plenty of child appeal. The typeface is easy to read and the unassuming, natural language will help reluctant readers feel comfortable with poetry. An enjoyable romp through playgrounds and cafeterias, this book will please class poets, performers, and clowns alike.—Shawn Brommer, South Central Library System, Madison, WI
Kirkus Reviews
A cheeky romp through elementary school children's academic and social lives. Though readers could tackle the poems alone, differences in typeface cue the possibility for two readers to share the poems aloud in Joyful Noise fashion, alternating lines and sharing others in a clever script that reflects children's school-day experiences. Poems cover a variety of topics from losing one's lunch money to reaching out to a new classmate ("Where did you come from? / Far away. / Miss your friends? / Every day") to exasperating a (rather unfortunately stereotypical) stodgy librarian. Hartland's energetic gouache illustrations adopt a naive style that matches the playful spirit of the text while serving as a splendid complement to its evocation of children's voices. This book gets high marks. (Picture book/poetry. 7-9)
Connections:
This is the perfect book to use when explaining to children that poetry can be found anywhere and in anything! The wonderfully imaginative work of Franco could inspire a whole lesson on onomatoepia, alliteration, anthropomorphizes, or rhyming alone. I would have each of the kids choose a poem and then encourage them to write the dialogue for a third voice! This will work wonderfully as they will already have two examples to utilize, and a running theme.
Plot Summary
Messing Around on the Monkey Bars and Other School Poems for Two Voices, written by Betsy Franco, and illustrated by Jessie Hartland is a book of 19 poems revolving around elementary school life. From riding a bus, lining up after recess, or anthropomorphizing inanimate objects in a classroom, this book covers it all. Best of all, it is meant to be read aloud by two (or more!) voices.
Critical Analysis
It is hard not to lose yourself in elementary school nostalgia while reading this book of poems. Franco starts the book with the morning bell and ends it with a bus ride home. The poems are written to be read aloud, and the words to be read by the class or second reader are bolded. This had me nervous, as I was worried it was going to see contrived or forced, and it was at first when I read the book aloud to myself. I really enjoyed it, don’t get me wrong, but something was…. Missing? I pried the video game controller from my boyfriend’s hand and had him read the poems aloud with me. What a joy! The bolded words for the second voice seem to be easier to understand/read, and we did not notice this until going through the book three times. It is a subtle thing, but I feel it would really benefit the child readers participating.
Franco wrote these poems using many different poetic elements, but my favorite is her use of onomatopoeia from ticking clocks, snapping rubber bands, to tapping pencils. She uses rich metaphors, and personification. The poems pull you into the fun, and if you pay attention carefully, you will start to notice a singsongy tone to your voice while you are reading aloud.
The illustrations are vibrant, funny, and filled with tiny details that make them all the more fantastic. For instance, when illustrating the objects around the room that “come alive”, Hartland even assigns genders. The chairs are wearing heels, the rulers are wearing loafers, and the watches hands are human hands. It’s fantastic.
Spotlight Poem:
Where did you come from?
Far away.
Miss your friends?
Every day...
How old are you?
Just turned eight.
You like hoops?
Yeah, great.
Got any friends?
Nope, not yet.
Wanna play?
You bet!
Book Reviews:
School Library Journal K-Gr 6--While the poems in this book can be read silently by one person, they are written for two or more voices and come alive when read aloud. Beginning with a verse about the bus ride to school, the selections cleverly incorporate alliteration and action. Franco adeptly uses meter and rhythm to capture the fast-paced action of jumping rope on the playground, and students will recognize the descriptions of typical classroom sounds that distract them from finishing schoolwork. Franco employs plenty of humor, as in "Weird Stuff in the Lost and Found": "A purple coat,/a wizard hat,/a dirty baseball shirt,/someone's stinky soccer sock,/a yellow hula skirt." Teachers and librarians looking for readers' theater materials will be delighted with this collection; bold text indicates alternating voices, and suggestions for additional "adventurous ways to read the poems" are in the back matter. The bright hues and quirky depictions of students and teachers in Harland's gouache illustrations have plenty of child appeal. The typeface is easy to read and the unassuming, natural language will help reluctant readers feel comfortable with poetry. An enjoyable romp through playgrounds and cafeterias, this book will please class poets, performers, and clowns alike.—Shawn Brommer, South Central Library System, Madison, WI
Kirkus Reviews
A cheeky romp through elementary school children's academic and social lives. Though readers could tackle the poems alone, differences in typeface cue the possibility for two readers to share the poems aloud in Joyful Noise fashion, alternating lines and sharing others in a clever script that reflects children's school-day experiences. Poems cover a variety of topics from losing one's lunch money to reaching out to a new classmate ("Where did you come from? / Far away. / Miss your friends? / Every day") to exasperating a (rather unfortunately stereotypical) stodgy librarian. Hartland's energetic gouache illustrations adopt a naive style that matches the playful spirit of the text while serving as a splendid complement to its evocation of children's voices. This book gets high marks. (Picture book/poetry. 7-9)
Connections:
This is the perfect book to use when explaining to children that poetry can be found anywhere and in anything! The wonderfully imaginative work of Franco could inspire a whole lesson on onomatoepia, alliteration, anthropomorphizes, or rhyming alone. I would have each of the kids choose a poem and then encourage them to write the dialogue for a third voice! This will work wonderfully as they will already have two examples to utilize, and a running theme.