John CiardiReviews

For this poem I realized the poetic elements were alliteration, assonance, and hyperbole. I think the meaning of the poem is about Ciardi's personal feelings to having to become successful and remind himself to not give up.

Great Collection by two birlliant minds!

4/18/22

At once an introduction to the art of poetry and a selection of poetry both fine and interesting. The authors attempt to penetrate the mystery that surrounds poetry with some success. One may not agree with all of their opinions but the experience of engaging with poetry under their direction yields benefits that lead to more enjoyment of poetry going forward.

2015
https://www.librarything.com/topic/191940#5216811
(link goes to my review on LT)½

Funny poems for children. Beautiful Edward Gorey illustrations.

Content note: references to spanking.

Wears thin.½

Ciardi wrote these poems with his 1st grade daughter in mind--the majority of the vocabulary is from 1st grade word lists. The resulting simple, rhyming poems that are a good example of poems with a joke at the end. Could be used as models for students to write their own riddle poems. Poems that involve word games could spark students' participation in similar games. Grades K and up.

Has anyone else noticed that this book is filled with examples of excellent poetry that are all, with the exception of a few from Dickinson, written by men, while most of the examples of poor poetry are written by women? And some of the examples of excellence are truly misogynistic pieces on the cruelty and deceptive beauty of women? Am I alone here? I know it was published in 1959, but really? REALLY?!

The guy clearly knows his craft, and there are some excellent pieces of guidance in here, but his obvious bias against women poets has become tiresome.

Not to mention this gem from page 2, in which he bemoans America's sports-obsessed culture in comparison with the literary culture of other countries: "...even retarded boys in the United States are capable of reciting endlessly detailed football stories..."

This era I inhabit sure ain't perfect, but I am so glad I don't live in 1959.

Great way to take turns reading with children. Taking turns reading helps with fluency and reading comprehension. This collection of poetry allows transitional readers to read along with another. The illustrations help enhance the poetry. These poems are creative and will help develop confident readers. What better way to increase fluency than to read along with your child.

Favorites: chang mctang mcquarter cat, halloween poem

John Ciardi's poems and Edward Gorey's illustrations are a curious combination.

From "Tell Him to Go Home":
He sang about a sheep-dog
That sang about a sheep
That sang a song that was so long
It sang itself to sleep.

Doodlesoup is a cute rhyming book with silly little stories.½

Came for the Gorey, stayed for the Ciardi. Funny, but dated . . . especially with the spanking references.

A lot of interesting poems for children. All children would love to read them.½

This book is packed full of very cute poems. An easy read for kids and something great to use to calm kids down. I enjoyed all the poetry and ryming inside.

Fun vintage Gorey illustrations, but not Ciardi's best work for children. A few poems were an absolute pleasure to read aloud, a few were clunkers, and a few were just too dated (spanking, pink for girls and blue for boys) to not land with a thud.

Seriously mind-blowing on a number of fronts - how we look at and respond to language and art, what it means to be educated, and the bones of good writing (not just poetry).

A unique collection of poems by John Ciardi. This collection is posthumous and no doubt Mr Ciardi would be very proud to see his work in this volume. Clean, honest work that highlightd the true artist.

This is another book that came to me accidentally via a library book sale. I knew of John Ciardi and so picked up the book for .50 or .10, whatever pittance it was going for. The poetry in it is competent but I kept it primarily for those that are amusing, such as "On the Orthodoxy and Creed of My Power Mower," which provides a valid impression of the general subject matter of the book: conventional, suburban, middle-aged--with full awareness of life's absurdity even in the simplest things. There's a poem about his digging a hole in his yard to the dismay and perplexity of various people around him. In typical, yet humorous, middle-aged fashion, he bemoans the activities and choices of his children in a section called "Generation Gap." But he does all of this with considerable language art and often an elevated diction that adds to the humor. I liked this book but could really only recommend it to someone caught in that suburban middle to upper middle class life who needs to laugh at themselves and their general situation. I'll risk quoting most of "Encounter":

"We," said my young radical neighbor, smashing my window,
"speak the essential conscience of mankind."

"If it comes to no more than small breakage," I said, "speak away.
but tell me, isn't smashing some fun for its own sake.."

"We will not be dismissed as frivolous," he said,
grabbing my crowbar and starting to climb to the roof.

"You are seriously taken," I said, raising my shotgun.
"Please weigh seriously how close the range is."

"Fascist!" he said, climbing down. "Or are you a liberal
trying to fake me with no shells in that thing?"

"I'm a lamb at windows, a lion on roofs," I told him.
"You'll more or less have to guess for yourself what's loaded

until you decide to call what may be a bluff.
Meanwhile, you are also my neighbor's son:

if you'll drop that crowbar and help me pick up this glass,
I could squeeze a ham-on-rye from my tax structure

________

So leave this book alone unless you can laugh at both yourself and others.

Since I was a kid, I have loved books like this: mystery/adventures in linguistics. Like those language collections from the Funks, this presents seemingly endless sidelines into the origins, meanings, changes, and misuses of words. Amazing fun and very interesting. Always love stumbling over texts like this in my literary rambles.

An amusing collection of funny, and occasionally dirty, limericks by the great poet and the good doctor. A good time was had by both gentlemen, now sadly gone off to join the majority..

Great fun. Almost every entry is documented from literary use, both English and other. Often witty. Fun to browse; great bathroom reading.

John Ciardi's collection of children's poetry is delightful and beautiful. A lot of the poems are about mystical beasts, such as the Saginsack which has radio horns. The lines in the poems are short and are a combination of rhyming and free verse. Ciardi's poems have a great rhythm to them that pleads for them to be read aloud. His language is very beautiful and full of similes and metaphors. The imagery is very strong and the illustrations beside the poems helps the reader visual the poem. Some of the poems are funny and others convey the beauty of the world. None of the subjects of the poems feel dreary or have a moral. The collection is small and not intimidating to readers who are not enthusiastic about poetry. Recommended.

Found it hard to get past their "I'm going to die" flavor. Will read again and see if I change my mind.