Poems by Avis Harley, Photographs by Deborah Noyes
2009 | 40 pages | Ages 9-12
2009 | 40 pages | Ages 9-12
This book is a collection of acrostic poems about animals that live
in Africa. Each poem is accompanied by a huge photograph of its animal
subject. Some of the poems simply have one line for each letter in the
animal's name. Others are more impressively complicated, using different
phrases as their bases, or creating double acrostics, where both the
first and last letters in each line spell out a word.
These poems are so well done, I kept forgetting they were acrostics. They flow so smoothly, and the words fit together so well, it doesn't feel like they were written to suit a specific form at all. Rather, each poem captures the essence of the animal it describes.
The crocodile is the "Inner-grinner/Lizard-wizard/
The rhino has "boulders for shoulders."
The bat-eared fox has ears that can "Read any breeze, even / Sound out punctuation."
The language is simple and beautiful, and the photographs really highlight whichever features and personality traits figure heavily into the poem. A great collection, with so many possible uses. I'm already brainstorming ways to make it fit the summer reading theme, One World, Many Stories.
Poetry Friday is a weekly celebration of poetry. This week's host is Book Aunt. To see my previous Poetry Friday posts, click here.
I borrowed African Acrostics from my local public library.
It's National Poetry Month! I'm celebrating by linking to a favorite poem at the end of every review I post in April. Today's poem is Expect Nothing by Alice Walker.
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