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The Calypso Alphabet
A poet and a Jamaican artist collaborate using the alphabet, rhythmical cadences, and vivid pictures to introduce the sights and sounds of Caribbean life
- GenresPoetry
28 pages, Library Binding
First published September 1, 1989
About the author
John Agard
118 books36 followersJohn Agard was born in Guyana and emigrated to Britain in 1977. He has worked as an actor and a performer with a jazz group and spent several years as a lecturer for the Commonwealth Institute, travelling all over Britain giving talks, performances and workshops. He has visited literally thousands of schools and enjoys the live contact and the joy of children responding although it can be hard work.
John Agard started writing poems when he was about 16 - some of these early efforts were published in his school magazine. Many of his poems now are composed while looking out of train windows.
"Try the best with what you have right now
If you don't have horse, then ride cow."
It is in his poetry that John Agard makes his greatest contribution to children's literature. Like the best authors, he brings something unique to children's experience - a view of the world tempered by his own childhood, a feeling for the rhythms and cadences of its language, and a sophisticated understanding of the advantages and limitations of several forms of English. That he can make the "standard" forms work superbly is evident from many of his poems for adults. For children, with whom he communicates more directly, the lyrical Guyanese forms serve his purposes to perfection.
Agard is not a literary poet but also a performing poet and has a strong sense of his audience. When he writes for children, he seems to see them sitting at his feet. He is more interested in the ideas and words he is delivering to them than in the creation of complex fictional characters with whom his readers might engage. He lives in Sussex and is married to Grace Nichols, a respected Caribbean poet and co-author of a collection of Caribbean nursery rhymes, NO HICKORY, NO DICKORY, NO DOCK.
John Agard started writing poems when he was about 16 - some of these early efforts were published in his school magazine. Many of his poems now are composed while looking out of train windows.
"Try the best with what you have right now
If you don't have horse, then ride cow."
It is in his poetry that John Agard makes his greatest contribution to children's literature. Like the best authors, he brings something unique to children's experience - a view of the world tempered by his own childhood, a feeling for the rhythms and cadences of its language, and a sophisticated understanding of the advantages and limitations of several forms of English. That he can make the "standard" forms work superbly is evident from many of his poems for adults. For children, with whom he communicates more directly, the lyrical Guyanese forms serve his purposes to perfection.
Agard is not a literary poet but also a performing poet and has a strong sense of his audience. When he writes for children, he seems to see them sitting at his feet. He is more interested in the ideas and words he is delivering to them than in the creation of complex fictional characters with whom his readers might engage. He lives in Sussex and is married to Grace Nichols, a respected Caribbean poet and co-author of a collection of Caribbean nursery rhymes, NO HICKORY, NO DICKORY, NO DOCK.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
December 7, 2021
This is good for young kids talking through the alphabet….
November 8, 2011
1. Alphabet book
2. This is a story about the alphabet and the exciting words of the Caribbean Islands. It is a rhythmic way to explain another country in a creative way.
3. a. This book retells the alphabet in a new and creative way.
b. What is good about this book is the eye opening way it can bring news about another country to students. It shows how other places have different names for the same thing in the country that the students live in. The bad thing is that it is helpful to know how to say the words in the caribbean language.
c. An example of a word that may be difficult to pronounce is "K for kaiso. Song with a sweet-sweet jump-up beat." Although helpful to understand it may be difficult to pronounce the words.
4. I think I would use this book to show students how other countries have different names for similar items in their own culture. How other students learn the alphabet. I could have the students create an alphabet which represents their own culture.
2. This is a story about the alphabet and the exciting words of the Caribbean Islands. It is a rhythmic way to explain another country in a creative way.
3. a. This book retells the alphabet in a new and creative way.
b. What is good about this book is the eye opening way it can bring news about another country to students. It shows how other places have different names for the same thing in the country that the students live in. The bad thing is that it is helpful to know how to say the words in the caribbean language.
c. An example of a word that may be difficult to pronounce is "K for kaiso. Song with a sweet-sweet jump-up beat." Although helpful to understand it may be difficult to pronounce the words.
4. I think I would use this book to show students how other countries have different names for similar items in their own culture. How other students learn the alphabet. I could have the students create an alphabet which represents their own culture.
February 2, 2015
This book uses each letter in the alphabet to show different words used in the Caribbean Islands. It introduces unfamiliar words that many may not know about. The pictures are fun and colorful. It helps you learn a little about their culture and how they interact with things and people. You could use this in a classroom when you're teaching a lesson about islands. Then when you read aloud the book you can have the children find books on a different islands. The they can make an alphabet book on their culture and language. By using words that start with the alphabet letters. Then they can draw a picture for each one and read it to themselves. This can be used for 1st-2nd grade. After everyone makes one you can have them get into groups and each can read and learn about the different cultures that their classmates worked on. This can be used as a beginning to read teaching the alphabet with words from a different culture.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews