Hate School - Love Poetry - Like to Laugh - You Will Like This Book
Pros:
Not quite 5 stars, but worth adding to your home or classroom library nonetheless
Cons:
too much focus on the editor's own poetry .. not enough variety in authors
The Bottom Line:
Full of silly poetry sure to elicit giggles from your favorite little reader.
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Overall Rating:
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Author's Review
The past 11 months have found me back in college in pursuit of a college degree. As my goal is to be a teacher I have spent time in the Fall '07 semester spending time observing a 4th grade classroom. When I have the gift of downtime I peruse the classroom's bookshelf to find books that my household has yet to discover.
"No More Homework, No More Tests" was one of the children's poetry books that recently found its way into my hands. It is a compilation of works by various children's poets that were (supposedly) selected by Bruce Lansky with the assistance of over 100 elementary school teachers. However, it is the editor himself (Mr. Lansky) who's works predominate the collection so I have to wonder a moment about how much input the teachers and their students truly had in the poem selection process.
To his credit though Mr. Lansky is quite notable in his field. He operates gigglepoetry.com which holds a true plethora of humorous poems to tickle your favorite youngster's funny bone. From silly rhymes to holiday poems to family poems and yucky poems from an assortment of authors.
However, back to "No More Homework!"
One of our household's personal favorites is Shel Silverstein's poem "Sick" is included in this anthology. It opens with the words:
"I cannot go to school today,"
Said little Peggy Ann McKay.
"I have the measles and the mumps,
A gash, a rash and purple bumps.
The book covers the gamut of childhood complaints from hated teachers, dreaded cafeteria school, homework, tests, pests, and more. It is enhanced with pencil illustrations which really play up the humor of each piece and also contains both a table of contents and an author index to allow a child (or adult) to easily find a favorite poem again and again without resorting to dog-earing the book's pages.
I cannot say that these poems held enough humor to do more than quirk my lip or raise an eyebrow occasionally. However, they are not geared to the adult palette. They are geared to the grammar school set for which to be funny is to a little rude, a little crude and yes even quite often outright gross.
The humor however is innocent and if it makes a kid giggle or even outright bellylaugh is a good thing.
But, keep in mind, this is also not a collection of poems which stand up to the test of time as they are unlikely to still appeal to your youngster once they have left grade-school behind.
However, this book might serve as a good introduction to poetry for kids who think that poetry is "lame" or "dull" as the works are truly irreverent. Additionally, as with any poetry compilation my hope would be that it would show them that any subject can turn into a poem and that they
can just as easily be funny as fancy.
"Call a doctor
Call a vet
I've just been bitten
by teacher's pet"
by Colin McNaughten
(and enhanced with the sketch of a little girl gnawing on the leg of a little boy)
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Mr. Lansky's autobigraphy
http://www.gigglepoetry.com/autobiography/autobio.html
The full text of "Sick"
http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/16480
