In my last post I featured an overview of the ages and stages of children birth-6, reviewed board books and picture books. Here I will focus on another two forms of children's literature, traditional literature and poetry, these can be written in a diverse range of formats and for a large range of age levels. Through stories such as these, "people share their dreams, their hopes, and the lessons they learn from life, and also their celebration of the imagination and the ingenuity of a well-told tale." (Ada, 2006)
Traditional literature are works that have been shared for years. Many of which had started from oral storytelling such as myths, legends, fairy tales or folklore. These pieces are usually passed down from generation to generation and have an underlying message or warning to them for the listener to learn from.
Poetry or books written in verse follow the structure of poetry. “Poetry uses words in musical, rhythmic patterns that delight small children, even before they understand the meaning of the words. As children get older, they are better able to appreciate the subtleties of poetic form and content, but young children seem to be especially attracted to the regular structured patterns, more aptly called verse.” (Horning, p.74, 2010)
Both traditional literature and works of poetry can range in audience age more than picture books alone, spanning from infancy to adulthood and they can be scaled to meet the needs of the audience and teller.
Traditional Literature
While completing my master's degree in library and information sciences, I took a course on storytelling where I got to review many different works and collections of traditional literature. It was fun diving back into stories I remember hearing as a child and exploring new cultural stories that I was less familiar with. Whether these tales are more traditional or have a modern spin on them, like a fractured fairy tale, they all share a narrative style that is derived from oral telling. These qualities are "to quickly establish the time, setting, and main character of the story and then move right into the action. Very few words are wasted on physical descriptions or on creating a context for the story." (Hearne, p.65, 2010) If you'd like to explore more, here is an annotated bibliography of 12 different collections of traditional literature I complied and reviewed.
This collection features 12 folktales that originated in Spain or Latin America. Many of the tales have influences from Africa, Arabia, Greece, Italy, and Germany. While the sources are not all together in a bibliography, the author does a nice job organizing them throughout the text. At the end of each story, the author explains the origin, cultural influences, sources, and edits they had on the text. They compare and contrast the similarities and differences between the reference sources. In these notes, the author also shares their personal connection to the tale based on how their Abuela, or Grandmother, told it to them. The stories are ready to come off of the page in this collection with minimal adjustments needed. Most jump right into the story and feature strong characters and dialogue to help keep the pace moving along.
These stories are recommended for listeners ages 3 years old and up. They generally take on a positive spin even though some of their sources have a darker tone. The tales are medium in length but have nice rhythm to them using repetitive language, building on elements of the story, adding a lighthearted feeling to them. The illustrations are sparse but bright and colorful. They do not add to the stories as significantly as some others do but help to lend them to be told orally. When you do come across an illustration it is jam packed with details which could help younger readers retell the story just from the picture alone.
This collection features 22 folktales that come from Native American tribes. Each folktale can be read independently from each other but all share the common theme of a main character who is a trickster. It was difficult to determine which tribes and Indigenous Native American peoples these stories came from specifically but the author mentions the Wabanaki, the Iroquois, the Lakotas, the Haudenosaunee, the Kiowas, the Laguna Pueblo, and the Anishinaabe tribes. More tribes were recognized in the contributors section which provided background on all of the authors and illustrators who worked on this collection. They do a nice job explaining what a trickster commonly is remembered by and the importance of trickster stories, which is, "Rather than telling children "don't do that!" the most effective way of illustrating the results of selfish or foolhardy behavior is still through the sharing of a story." (Bruchac, 2021)
The authority of the work doesn't actually lie with the editor as much as it does with the contributing Native American storytelling authors they brought on to collaborate with. Ultimately, bridging these traditional tales with a modern day illustrative approach. The graphic novel take brings the stories to life. The illustrations enhance the tales. If one were to tell these stories orally certain details should be added into the narration to help paint the picture for the listener. It wouldn't need to be intensive and should be quickly paced to get to the bulk of the story. These tales are recommended for grades 6-10.
Poetry
A few years ago, I read Jacqueline Woodson's Before the Ever After. This is a story written in verse about a young boy's experience as his father's health slowly declines due to injuries he had obtained as a professional football player. During a Booklist interview Woodson described how poetry resonates with her stating, "You step in, have the experience the poet is bringing to you through the poem, understand what the poet is trying to say and step out of the poem someone different than you were before you read that first line.” I can connect with Woodson's statement about poetry taking you in and leaving you in a different mindset once you are done with it. I would say the first instance poetry truly connected with me was reading Sandra Cisneros' The House on Mango Street and being challenged to write a series of my own vignettes. I wrote about a difficult transition in my life, moving in high school from Florida to Illinois. I had never been able to express myself like this before and it felt freeing. I still have my original copy of these vignettes and refer to them when I am having a difficult time. Reflecting and connection with the beautiful words.
I had lost my touch with poetry for a few years. Then reconnected when I heard Brandon Leake's audition on America's Got Talent. He has such a passion, him expressing himself through poetry made me see poetry through a different light again. It took me by surprise how deeply I connected to his cadence and meter. The flow he shares, the emotion he brought to his telling inspired me, and reminded me of the power words hold.
This collection of 20 poems is organized into three sections which are "Part I: Got Style?", "Part II: In Your Shoes", and "Part III: Thank You". Each section has a small introduction explaining why the three authors were inspired by the poets they chose to celebrate in that section. At the end of the text there is a section entitled "About the Poets Being Celebrated". In this section each poet is described in-depth, listing their notable works, and recognizes them for their honors and awards.
The poems are recommended for ages 5-10 because the purpose of this collection is to encourage others to write poetry, to be creative, and to be inspired. They are short in length and the illustrations spark further representation of the words themselves. There are no wasted words, everything is intentional. While the poems are organized in sections, they can be shared singularly or in succession. The words do not always have a set rhyme to them but flow together like water in a stream nodding to the greats that they celebrate by reimagining their styles.
Engle, M. (2017). Bravo! Poems About Amazing Hispanics. Illustrated by Lopez, R. New York : Goodwin Books, Henry Holt and Company, [2017]. ISBN 9780805098761 (hardcover).
This collection of 18 poems features amazing people with Hispanic American backgrounds. They are all people who have faced challenges in their lives in creative ways and are inspiring to the author. The poems honor people from Cuba, Mexico, Puerto Rico, El Salvador, and Venezuela. The text jumps directly into the poems but the author leaves notes in the front and back of the book to provide further perspective about the layout of the collection and those that are featured in the poems. The "Notes About the Lives" gives the reader details about the accomplishments of the inspirational person being featured, when they lived, and a little background about their heritage.
While these poems are brief and could be shared with younger listeners, I would recommend them for Grades 3-6. These short poems would be helpful when doing history studies and papers. They quickly explain about a person of note, their experience, and a moral message to the reader. This collection celebrates each of the 18 Hispanic Americans featured in a two page colorful spread that plays with an uplifting name, an illustration of them, an illustration of something they were known for, and the word placement of the poem itself. The illustrations are inviting but semi-realistic. They spark curiosity and make the reader want to learn more about that person.
This collection features 28 poems based around 14 twists on classic fairy tales. These poems are all written to be read forward and in reverse! The author explains this concept at the end of the book, when it would have been stronger if placed at the beginning. Allowing the reader or teller to pick up on this concept from the start. Each poem is a fractured fairy tale. They provide two sides to each of the stories, sharing multiple perspectives on the same tale.
This collection is recommended for ages 3-7 because of the connection to common fairy tales they are already familiar with, the colorful and cartoonish illustrations, and the quick pace of each poem. The poems can be read independently or together in the collection. The illustrations enhance the stories the poems tell. They divide the two poems shared side by side, forward and backward, by using two different colors of text. The illustrations mimic this concept by contrasting symmetry or breaking the image into four segments with opposite coloration and tones. Some look as though one side is good and one side is evil.
Thoughtful commentary. Work toward more precise word choice in your evaluative comments. Look at the instances where you use the word "nice" and dig into what you mean by that. Can you be more specific? When you only have 250 words (or less) to use for a review they must all add value. Also, in a formal review, there is no need to add "I think" or "in my opinion" phrases. That the evaluations belong to the reviewer is implied.
Thoughtful commentary. Work toward more precise word choice in your evaluative comments. Look at the instances where you use the word "nice" and dig into what you mean by that. Can you be more specific? When you only have 250 words (or less) to use for a review they must all add value. Also, in a formal review, there is no need to add "I think" or "in my opinion" phrases. That the evaluations belong to the reviewer is implied.
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