Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices (1988)

This book includes many poems about different bugs and insects and is meant for two people to read at the same time with corresponding lines. This book is unique because it requires two people to read together, and while enjoyable to read also provides interesting illustrations of characteristics of bugs. This book would be appropriate for intermediate readers. ( )

This is a book full of two-voice poems about the noises that insects make. Since this is a two-voice poem, it works best when two people read it together. This is what makes this book so great for a classroom. I would recommend this to either an English teacher who wants an interactive, read aloud poem, or a science teacher who is maybe teaching a lesson about insects. ( )

While individual readers will enjoy these resounding poems that highlight the wonders of the insect world, they will strike a particularly joyful note when read as intended - with two voices! From the thudding cicada to the humming bumble bee, each dynamic poem reverberates with emotion that is further highlighted by meticulous drawings that practically glide, crawl or otherwise wriggle off the page! Readers will come back to this reliable, Newbery winning favorite over and over again.

This book has won many awards such as the Newberry Medal book, ALA Notable Children’s Book, ALA Best Book for Young Adults, Boston-Globe Horn Book Honor Book, and Charlotte Zolotow Book Award. The black and white illustrations are simple and beautiful. Poems explore the sounds of insects and paint pictures of them living and moving through nature. Some of the insects in this book are grasshoppers, fireflies, book lice, moths, honeybees, and cicadas. Showing photographs of insects and listening to the sounds they make build background for students about insects that don’t live in their geographical area. The voices sometimes alternate and sometimes are simultaneous. The poetry is fabulous for performance by pairs of students or you can divide a class into two groups and read the poem chorally; one group for each part. The poetry is musical and thus composers have set these poems to music over the years. Excellent for second through fifth grade. Students love performing in small groups or to the class. Rereading promotes fluency and of course a joy of poetry. ( )

I think I would like an audio version of this better than a print version. It's not meant to be read silently. ( )