Firefly July: A Year of Very Short Poems

Five stars, because it's "amazing." Not perfect. But some of the highest quality poems made accessible to newbies and children that I've ever seen.

See, I judge poetry by the images and feelings a poem evokes. I don't care for ballads, nor do I consider most nonsense to be real poetry (but rather, nonsense is more a sort of word-play like puns and riddles). Good haikus are poems. Much music is poetry. This book suits me. It has some classics; it also has some new to me.

Consider Joyce Sidman, she of the brilliant [b:Ubiquitous: Celebrating Nature's Survivors|7623958|Ubiquitous Celebrating Nature's Survivors|Joyce Sidman|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1309894229l/7623958._SX50_.jpg|10106657] and show more other collections. Here she is represented with:

_*A Happy Meeting*_

Rain meets dust:
soft, cinnamon kisses.

Quicky, noisy courtship,
the marriage: mud.
..............
I'll have to look for more by [a:Raymond Souster|284368|Raymond Souster|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] after reading

_*Spring*_

Rain beats down,
roots stretch up.

They'll meet
in a flower.
.............
One of Carl Sandburg's inclusions is new to me:

_*Window*_

Night from a railroad car window
Is a great, dark, soft thing
Broken across with slashes of night.
---
I mean, look at that. Look at the word choices. Broken, not wrecked or cracked; slashes not stripes or cuts... talk about those with your youngsters.
............
Ok, as I said, the book isn't perfect. For example, included is one of my favorites, _*Dust of Snow*_ by Robert Frost. But the key to the poem is "a day I had rued." And the illustration shows father and child heading home from an afternoon's sledding. They rejoiced in their day; they didn't rue it! show less

An enjoyable collection complemented by colorful, kinetic illustrations, but most of the poetry selections failed to evoke---for me, anyway---the seasons to which they were intended to belong. An occasional piece would spark the clarity of a summer night or the forlorn abandonment of autumn in the city, but the only section that wholeheartedly invited me into the textures, sounds, and sense of a season was winter.

In my opinion this is a great book for students throughout elementary levels. It would be great to be used to expose younger readers to poetry in a read aloud session due to its clear and simple language used. An example of this simple language is seen in the poem Little Orange Cat, "Little orange cat, you prowl like a small tiger." Now even younger readers have seen a tiger or big cat stalk so this language conveys this imagery in a very powerful way. It will engage young readers as well as expose them to this genre of literature. This book is also great for older elementary students because it makes poetry understandable and the writing helps to convey to readers what constitutes a poem or poetry. I remember writing a class book in show more fifth grade when we learned about different forms of poetry. We submitted our poems and the teachers put them in a class book we all got a copy of. So with that in mind this book I feel would help students create their own poems because it lends itself to being used as an example due to its writing. The poems in this book are structured in a way that is easy to read and imitate. The poem Little Orange Cat does not rhyme but it flows with a rhythm in a way that is attributed to poetry. This poem could be used for students to study how poems flow and what makes them different from regular paragraph writing. The book is also great for students of all ages because it is organized in a way that makes the reader want to keep reading. It takes the reader through all of the seasons of the year and makes the reader remember the things they themselves like and miss about the seasons. It is a very engaging and descriptive book and I think many grades could benefit from this book in many ways. The big message of this collection of poems is to make the reader reminisce about the year and its seasons and also to expose readers to poetry and the feeling it creates in the reader. show less

This collection is a great way to introduce children to poetry. The combination of powerful writing and imaginative illustrations is perfect for this book of seasons. We can picture the countryside and the cityscape in these pages. Enjoy reading, listening and looking at this treasure.

This is a wonderful collection of poems about the seasons of the year. The illustrations are fabulous. The poems are short but they still create strong images for children to explore and discover. There is a lot to discuss and discover with each of the 36 poems in this collection. Can be used to teach young children about the difference between literal and figurative use of words and symbols in a short, concise way.

There are thirty-six very short poems in this collection, enhanced by stunning illustrations by Melissa Sweet.

The poems are divided into four sections, one for each season of the year. In Spring, for example, you will find this evocative gem by X. J. Kennedy:

"Open-billed
gulls
fighting
for fish heads
creak
like rusted
gates.”

Summer features, inter alia, the title poem, “Firefly July” by J. Patrick Lewis:

"When I was ten, one summer night,
The baby stars that leapt
Among the trees like dimes of light,
I cupped, and capped, and kept.”

In Fall you will find this wonderful thought by Jim Harrison and Ted Kooser:

"What is it the wind has lost
that she keeps looking for
under each leaf?”

What would winter be without some Carl Sandburg?

"The fog show more comes
on little cat feet.

it sits looking over harbor and city
on silent haunches and then moves on.”

You will find other beloved poets in this collection, including William Carlos Williams, Charlotte Zolotow, Langston Hughes, Robert Wallace, Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost, and Richard Wright.

Award-winning illustrator Melissa Sweet used watercolor, gouache and paper to create outstanding mixed-media collages representing the poems. Along with the poems, the artwork demonstrates how dominant colors and moods change throughout the year. Furthermore, the pictures are full of movement and whimsey and hidden delights. Each page is full of revelations, and lends understanding to the poetry as well.

Evaluation: This book is not to be missed, even if you don’t think you are an aficionado of poetry. The poems are short and pleasing, and the pictures are wonderful. show less

This poetry book has poems throughout the four seasons of the year which is fun for kids and me. I really enjoyed this one. Very short but sweet poems to enjoy with beautiful illustrations that bring these poems to life.