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Big Talk: Poems for Four Voices

by Paul Fleischman

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A collection of poems to be read aloud by four people, with color-coded text to indicate which lines are read by which readers.
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Showing 5 of 5
4 voice poems for performance. They are fun and engaging poems that kids can relate to. Great for use in the classroom for inspiration for creating their own poems and performing poetry for an audience. ( )
  kikione | May 23, 2010 |
Sure, you're verbal, but are you verbally coordinated? If Paul Fleischman's Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices left you tripping over words and stammering like a fool, Big Talk will leave you speechless. Fleischman gives words life, making them dance gracefully around each other as four voices unite to tell stories. Three poems are included; each is progressively more complicated. From the rhythmic beat of "The Quiet Evenings Here" to the gossip of "Seventh Grade Soap Opera" and the eerie voices in "Ghost's Grace," poetry-lovers will savor the words as they roll off the tongue. A salad becomes "A jungle explored by fork" (p. 33), and corn on the cob invites diners "To march down the rows with your eager incisors/To bite into summer itself, sweet as sugar" (p. 38). Color-coded lines let readers know which words are theirs, and careful spacing directs them when to jump in. These poems are a wonderful challenge for anyone with an agile tongue. 2000, Candlewick Press, $14.99. Ages 8 to 14.Carol E. Lynch (Children's Literature)
  fergie5 | Jun 9, 2007 |
From School Library Journal
Grade 5-8-Fleischman expands the choir in this new collection of poems for multiple readers. Four voices intertwine to narrate the three amusing scenarios. Rhythmic refrains define "The Quiet Evenings Here," with "Sister hummin'," "Grandpa strummin'," "Grandma rockin'," and the "Clock tick-tockin'." Once readers get their color-coded lines sorted out, this will be a toe-tappin', audience-joinin'-in pleaser. "Seventh-Grade Soap Opera" catalogs the doings and dramas of the peer group in terse verse, inviting improvisation. And "Ghosts' Grace," with the longing voices of spirits yearning for old pleasures as they observe a family hastily dispatching with dinner, is both poignant and fun. Giacobbe's computer-generated paintings in warm, muted tones are an effective folksy backdrop. While there are a few full-page pictures, most of the art consists of strips of small vignettes running below the narrative. Instructions for group reading introduce the poems. This book will find a host of uses in choral reading and in stimulating reading, discussion, and writing. The likely cacophony will bring giggles as readers work on getting the hang of all of this big talk.
Margaret Bush, Simmons College, Boston
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. (amazon) ( )
  Lorrie | May 29, 2007 |
Following his Newbery Medal-winning Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices (1988), Fleischman offers another collection of beautifully orchestrated, spirited poems for many voices. This book, however, has no obvious theme (Joyful Noise's poems focused on insects), and Fleischman has upped the volume and chaos by adding more voices. The artwork is also more intense: the illustrations, by Beppe Giacobbe, are bright and sometimes unsettling compared to the quiet, elegant graphite drawings in Joyful Noise. Although the picture-book format may seem too young to some readers, the poems are physical, eloquent, and challenging, with potential appeal for a wide age group. The first, "The Quiet Evenings Here," is a rhymed tongue-in-cheek celebration of staying in; the second explores the chaotic drama of a "Seventh-Grade Soap Opera"; and in the last, "Ghost's Grace," spirits remember the pleasures of food and of family meals as they watch dining mortals take both for granted. On wide pages, a line of small paintings runs below colored bars printed with each voice's part, much like notes on a staff. Clear instructions for reading are included; children with musical training will follow easily. Perfect for classroom theater. Category: Middle Readers. 2000, Candlewick, $14.99. Gr. 4-7.(Gillian Engberg (Booklist, June 1 & 15, 2000 (Vol. 96, No. 19 & 20))(CLCD)
  heathergarcia | Nov 26, 2007 |
CCBC (Cooperative Children's Book Center Choices, 2001)
After reinventing choral reading for children with his poetry for two voices in Joyful Noise (1988) and I Am Phoenix (1985), both published by Harper, Paul Fleischman stretches further with a daring foray into poetry for twice as many voices. The three poems in this volume hold such enormous appeal that young readers will be itching to try them out aloud. "The Quiet Evenings Here" celebrates the small noises of a family that prefers to stay at home. "Seventh Grade Soap Opera" offers short bursts of teenage gossip. "Ghosts' Grace" features the delicious patter of unseen dinner guests who comment on the things they most miss about eating: "To do battle with butter / brick-hard and defiant / in wintertime / soft and servile / in July. / I'm hungry for hunger! / What rapture, that tug in the stomach / when butter and rolls are close by!" As Fleischman explains in an introductory note, each poem gets progressively more challenging to read aloud. He has included helpful instructions for interpreting the design that uses four color-coded, horizontal bars to delineate the speakers and arrange the words almost like musical notes. It's a bit tricky but with some practice, the poems are likely to be as much fun for the listeners as they are for the speakers. Beppe Giacobbe's buoyant color illustrations add a lively humor without detracting from the poems. CCBC categories: Poetry. 2000, Candlewick Press, 44 pages, $14.99. Ages 9-14.
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  connieh1433 | Jun 15, 2007 |
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Candlewick Press

2 editions of this book were published by Candlewick Press.

Editions: 0763606367, 0763638056

 

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