Giant Children

Summary:

This is a collection of poems by Brod Bagert. The poems range from stage fright, to brother/sister relationships, conquering fears, and love of poetry. It is geared towards elementary aged children. There are a smattering of topics, which could be interesting to all students.

Personal Response:

This is a wicked funny collection. Although all the poems are lyrical, and all rhyme, I can see how they would be a welcome collection in a classroom. The majority of the poems are interesting,because they are reality based. I think this would be helpful, in introducing poetry to children, because they can identify with the subject matter.

Classroom Extension:

Although April is National Poetry Month, I think that poetry should be used throughout the school year. This collection can be used to talk about things that are happening at school. When students audition for their school choir, or a play, the peom "Heart Stopper" can be a great way to open up communication about expectations and being prepared.

A few of the poems are based upon sibling relationships. These can be used to discuss how families are made up and how students deal with conflict between them and their siblings.

There are a couple of poems that can be used for encouragement, especially when a child feels as though they are not able to do an assignment or feel that they are too small for the job: Bad Words is about not using the words "I can't", and GIant Hearts is about how physical size doesn't matter, but the size of the heart and the need to succeed can override physical size. I think these poems could be used to encourage students and allow discussions about what may be going on either in the classroom or somewhere else in school. ( )

Giant Children is a book filled with a collection of silly poems. It is aimed towards younger children, but older children will love it too. It starts off with a poem from a hamsters point of view. The hamster describes the little children as giant. Well, I guess they are giant compared to a hamster.

I love the illustrations in the book. I think kids can relate to this book, and the sillyness of it will keep them entertained. I would suggest this book for pre-k up to 2nd grade.

I would use this book to start a unit on poetry. I would have the students write a silly poem, and illustrate it. I would also have them draw a picture of something they think is giant.

This book of poetry is silly and the kids will love it! It tells poetry from a hamster's point of view and about princesses and dragons. ( )

This book follows the story of us-GIANT children!! Actually, it's a collection of poems about school related incidents and growing up (the tooth fairy, wanting to be a firefighter, loving chocolate, playing pranks on siblings.) There is no real plot except the very story of childhood and growing up.

I loved this and thought about most Shel Silverstein poetry. The tone is nonsensical, but it's fun to read. I read it to my preschoolers, which was a bit much. But I read it to my husband and he loved it. What does that mean, exactly?

This book is great for kids of all ages. For an older class, we could write our own poems about growing up. Younger classes could make a "giant child"...or just a life-size copy of each child. They could take it home and do it as a project with their parents.

This book is a humorous anthology of poems about life from the perspective of young children. It is a knee jerking, laugh out loud, I can relate book of poems. This book is filled with poems such as: Booger Love, The Tooth Fairy, and Giant Children which are poems that delve into topics or issues that are so relevant to young children.

I am still laughing hours after I put the book down. I absolutely gag at the thought of Boogers but I have read Booger Love to every person that has crossed my path since I acquired the book. Having a young boy who has a love for boogers made me appreciate the poem to its fullest. I also found great humor in the Tooth Fairly poem which is about how the Tooth Fairy forgets to come night after night. Without explanation, I am sure anyone who reads this will guess why I personally found this poem humorous.

I think this book will be of great use in the classroom. For those of us that believe it might be a challenge to inspire boys to read or enjoy poetry, I have found the perfect book. I think that most boys would love this book and perhaps be inspired to write a comical poem such as Brod Bagert did in Giant Children. As an extension idea, I would use this book to do a themed unit on poetry. This book would fall under a few different categories such as: Funny Poems, Poems about Children, or Reality Poems (meaning in this case, a poem that applies to you in real life). I would have the children pick a theme a write a poem of that nature. As a second idea for using this book in the classroom, I would ask student to write and illustrate a poem of their choice. This book has wonderful illustrations that help the reader visualize the writing. It would be fun to see what students would create in this activity. ( )