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Xanadu: The Imaginary Place
North Carolina children describe and draw their individual visions of a perfect place in which to live.
Hardcover
First published December 1, 1999
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December 30, 2020
This book is a less conventional poetry book, with all of the artwork and writing being done by children from North Carolina. They're all writing about Xanadu, an imaginary place that seems to be the definition of paradise. Each piece of writing and picture is captioned with the names of the children who created it, as well as their school, which adds a real personal touch, and makes you more closely interested in each of them.
There's a mix between the poems of content- some focusing more on the physical aspects such as the houses, the clothing, some focusing on the people and how they behave, and some focusing on social issues. This book would be a really good introduction to the idea of the world being imperfect, and being able to address with children that idea, as well as discuss how we can help to make the world a better place. One line in relation to this especially speaks to me; 'In a perfect world there would be forgiveness. forgiveness for mistakes'.
Due to the content being written by children, there are likely to be life-to-text connections everywhere throughout the book, no matter the child, as the only differences between the author and the reader would be cultural, with the authors being from the USA. So there'll be personal connections that can be made by any student, allowing them to connect with the book more, and create interest.
I also like that while this is a poetry book, the style of writing inside isn't necessarily all traditional poetry, with rhyming structures etc., which can help as a teacher to introduce the idea that poetry is creative, and doesn't have to fit a set boundary. This should hopefully foster more experimentation in the children's own writing, improving their imagination and ability to express creative ideas on paper. The children are likely to also be inspired by the fact that they're the same age as the authors, and may go through the book to find all of the children who are the same age as them. This could really encourage children too, as if we only show formal poetry by adults, they may believe it's a skill only adults have, which simply isn't true.
I really recommend this book for children, it's interesting, the drawings and poems are really good and interesting, and I think all children would be fascinated. It'd also serve as a good springboard for teachers, to encourage their classes to do their own Xanadu project.
There's a mix between the poems of content- some focusing more on the physical aspects such as the houses, the clothing, some focusing on the people and how they behave, and some focusing on social issues. This book would be a really good introduction to the idea of the world being imperfect, and being able to address with children that idea, as well as discuss how we can help to make the world a better place. One line in relation to this especially speaks to me; 'In a perfect world there would be forgiveness. forgiveness for mistakes'.
Due to the content being written by children, there are likely to be life-to-text connections everywhere throughout the book, no matter the child, as the only differences between the author and the reader would be cultural, with the authors being from the USA. So there'll be personal connections that can be made by any student, allowing them to connect with the book more, and create interest.
I also like that while this is a poetry book, the style of writing inside isn't necessarily all traditional poetry, with rhyming structures etc., which can help as a teacher to introduce the idea that poetry is creative, and doesn't have to fit a set boundary. This should hopefully foster more experimentation in the children's own writing, improving their imagination and ability to express creative ideas on paper. The children are likely to also be inspired by the fact that they're the same age as the authors, and may go through the book to find all of the children who are the same age as them. This could really encourage children too, as if we only show formal poetry by adults, they may believe it's a skill only adults have, which simply isn't true.
I really recommend this book for children, it's interesting, the drawings and poems are really good and interesting, and I think all children would be fascinated. It'd also serve as a good springboard for teachers, to encourage their classes to do their own Xanadu project.
Displaying 1 of 1 review