Module 3 Book Review #2: Countdown to Summer: A Poem for Every Day of the School Year

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*This book review was written for a MLS course at SHSU.*


BIBLIOGRAPHY
Lewis, J. Patrick. (2009). COUNTDOWN TO SUMMER: A POEM FOR EVERY DAY OF THE SCHOOL YEAR. Ill. by Ethan Long. New York, NY: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. ISBN 9780316020893

PLOT SUMMARY
In this hilarious and whimsical book, J. Patrick Lewis provides an assortment of 180 poems and riddles for students. This collection includes topics about content area subjects, holidays, local places, and so much more, for they represent the time span between the beginning of the school year until the start of summer break.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS
J. Patrick Lewis created an individual poet compilation, meaning he is the only featured poet in Countdown to Summer: A Poem for Every Day of the School Year. In order to mix it up, Lewis’s collection includes many poetic structures and elements instead of just sticking to a standard one to get his messages across. There are some as free verses, shaped-poems (i.e. Poem #8: “A Banana Is”), riddles, epigraphs, etc. Most of them include rhyme, but really just rhyming words to help bring out the humor. Just like how it’s stated in the title, the poems are numbered, but are decreased throughout time to represent such a countdown. The book begins with the poem, “A Sixth Grader Sees the Future”. Even though Lewis is writing about other aspects of the future, the reader can infer that the poem is really about a student dreading the school year, for there is so much time to go by before it’s summer again. As the poems go on, they cover different topics. Perhaps Lewis meant for the collection to vary in order to help represent how a student’s mind works. Many thoughts run through their minds, especially when they wait for time to pass. Students can also figure out what part of the year it is based off the holiday and seasonal poems.

Ethan Long’s illustrations are just outlined in black with no color, appearing to be similar to childlike sketches. In fact, they are more like little cartoons, simply representing Lewis’s quirky poems. They mimic the words, which can definitely be helpful for those readers who do not understand the poem or riddle the first time they read it. For example, Poem #61 is called “The Dancing Black Bear”. In one of the lines, the bear exclaims, “And it feels like I’m walking on air!” Readers may assume that he is literally walking on air since boots are on his head, but by looking at his facial expression, they can infer that he is basically just full of glee and his statement was meant to be taken figuratively. There are many other examples that contain metaphors, idioms, and puns, but luckily Long’s pictures are there to help serve as a guide.

REVIEW EXCERPTS
*School Library Journal Review: “This collection may be most appreciated by teachers, who’ll find it an appealing and accessible introduction to whimsical wordplay.”
*Kirkus Reviews: “As a no-pressure, just-for-poetry’s-sake tool to start the day in the classroom, it could be a teacher’s best friend.”

CONNECTIONS
*As a whole class, students can recreate a poetry countdown collection. Each student in the class will be assigned a different number and can write about a topic that is relevant to what they’re learning, personal experiences, or the setting they are in. They can even write a poem based off another content area. In addition to the writing, students can create cartoon-like illustrations to help make their poem clearer. For those students who prefer not to draw, they can create a cartoon online. The students can combine them all together t create a final product.
*Students can analyze a poem every day until the school year. Another option is to just have students analyze a poem from the book every day when going through the poetry unit. Reading and annotating the poems will serve as great bell ringers or even as read alouds with appropriate response time.
*ELAR teachers can give a mini-lesson over figurative language before reading the book. 

PICTURE SOURCE
https://www.amazon.com/Countdown-Summer-Poem-Every-School/dp/0316020893/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1538580435&sr=1-1&keywords=Countdown+to+Summer%3A+A+Poem+for+Every+Day+of+the+School+Year

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