"Animal Poems"

Title: “Animal Poems” 

Genre: Poetry 

Author: John Hollander (Editor) 

Major Awards: None

Age Group: 10 - 14 Year olds 

Summary:

This book is an anthology and all of the poems have different writing styles. All of the poems have to do
with either nature or animals and they are an array of serious and creatively worded pieces. The book starts
with a beautiful haiku about the way birds and butterflies fly around trees. The next few poems are about
different animals and they all portray their own writing style and message that lies within. As we continue
throughout the book we see a plethora of poems about different animals and creatures that all stand out in
their own ways and display their own meanings. The book ends with a poem about all of the animals
resting and sleeping which I feel was a very appropriate ending to a book that expresses a series of
different animals. 

I think that I would use this book in a middle school or maybe even a high school classroom due to all of

the underlying meanings and the different types of poems. I feel as if this book would allow for a great
classroom discussion about poems and the different types as well as how poems all have their own
meanings. While this book was a little challenging to read I feel that it would be enjoyable for a group of
older students to analyze and discover. 

If I were to do a lesson over this book I would start by putting my students in pairs and assigning them a
poem from the book. In pairs, I would have them write what kind of poem they believed it to be, what they
think it means, and any other literary devices that they discover. Once everyone was done I would then have
them share their ideas to the class and have a class discussion about each one.