Bernice E. Cullinan (1926–2015)

Another Jar of Tiny Stars would probably be best for grades 2nd-5th.
It is a book that consists of a ton of poems by NCTE Award winning poets. The poems invoke feelings of wonder of everyday life, emotional depth and playful imagination while reading.
One activity I could do with my class using this book could be having them chose a poem that resonates best with them and create a visual collage about the poem. Then they can share and reflect on others.

Read for the Poetry folder in the Children's Books group.

[b:A Jar of Tiny Stars: Poems by NCTE Award-Winning Poets|955041|A Jar of Tiny Stars Poems by NCTE Award-Winning Poets|Bernice E. Cullinan|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1347433891l/955041._SX50_.jpg|939951] is a beautifully designed anthology for families to own and use often. Not only are there plenty of poems that are accessible to even young children, but there are fascinating author notes.

Of show more particular note:

[a:David McCord|6883656|David McCord|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1419301792p2/6883656.jpg]'s "The Pickety Fence" is one that many will want (and be able) to memorize. A poem to 'put in one's pocket' as the saying goes. http://bookish-ambition.blogspot.com/2016/04/the-pickety-fence.html.

[a:Barbara Esbensen|20853139|Barbara Esbensen|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] is a name I don't recognize, but I particularly liked her imagery and metaphor in "Pencils" like:
---
Every word in your
pencil
is fearless ready to walk
the blue tightrope lines....
---
One of the surprises for me in this are the very short author bios, in which most spoke of what poetry means to them. I highly recommend this book to families, and at least the notes to educators and other adults.

[a:Karla Kuskin|218260|Karla Kuskin|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1251305427p2/218260.jpg] speaks of a recipe with the ingredients "sounds, rhythm, description, feeling, memory, rhyme, and imagination. They can be put together a thousand different ways...."

[a:Eve Merriam|78741|Eve Merriam|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1525503858p2/78741.jpg] focuses on the "joy of the sounds of language."

[a:John Ciardi|19361|John Ciardi|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1351504974p2/19361.jpg] says that "you can make language dance a bit."

[a:Lilian Moore|119268|Lilian Moore|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] says "Poetry should be like fireworks, packed carefully and artfully, ready to explode with unpredictable effects."

[a:Arnold Adoff|36171|Arnold Adoff|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1307429316p2/36171.jpg] reveals that "I want my poems to do more than prose can do.... I want my poems to sing as well as to say."

(I want to add that [a:Myra Cohn Livingston|46487|Myra Cohn Livingston|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] mentions her poem "74th Street" but it is not in this anthology. It is avl. online and worth reading.) show less

This book is great for older elementary to middle school students. This is a book of many poems, each page contains a different short story poem. In a classroom this is great to give students another example of writing and broaden their reading lists, as well as introduce the idea of poetry for them to try.

This book is a collection of ten different award winning children's poets. Each section highlights a selection of poems from one poet, so there is a great variety of types of poetry with simple black and white illustrations. The introduction states that the poems included are ones the children can understand, make them laugh, or tell a story. This is clear with the poem titled *Skip Rope Rhyme for Our Time* by Eve Merriam that is about junk mail!

This book also offers an "About the Poets" show more section to learn more about each poet. There is also a bibliography for each poet for further reading. show less