Poem Stew

by William Cole, Karen Ann Weinhaus (Illustrations)

A feast of hilarious peoms about food written by such popular writers as William Cole, Odgen Nash, John Ciardi, and Shel Silverstein. Seasoned with Karen Ann Weinhaus's comical illustrations, these poems are sure to hit your funny bone and whet your appetite for more.

Genres: Poetry, School, Childrens

96 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1981

About the author

William Rossa Cole (1919-2000) was best known as an editor and anthologist. He was editor or author (or co-editor or co-author) of about 75 books, 50 of them anthologies. Three of his books were honored by the ALA: I Went to the Animal Fair in 1958, Beastly Boys and Ghastly Girls in 1964, and The Birds and Beast Were There in 1965. He was an editor for Simon & Schuster and Viking, and a columnist for the Saturday Review. He died in summer 2000, at the age of 80.

Reviews

[Beverly]

58 poems, most of which are downright funny by a variety of well-known poets. The humorous black and white illustrations adeptly illustrate each poem.

[Bella S]

This is a short collection of poems that share a common theme, food! This is a clever idea for a poetry book, and it highlights the use of rhyming words. This would be a fun poetry book to use in a classroom, because you could bring in snacks that accompany each poem for the students. This is written for beginning readers, so it would be perfect to use for a lesson on what poetry is. Cole uses descriptive language, and fun words to create his unique poems. These poems were created with the intent of entertainment and laughter, so it is a fun read for young students. Each poem has a unique plot and theme, so as a teacher, I could break down each poem for its elements.

[Blake]

I enjoyed the poems in the book and how many there were. I believe the target audience is kindergarten through 3rd grade, and it could be really useful when teaching rhyming or how some words have the same ending sound but are spelled differently. I believe this book can be valuable for elementary readers, as students can practice rhyming as they follow along and pick words with the same ending sounds but different spellings to talk about pronunciation.

[La Haynes]

Read to grands when together next

[Crystal]

Very few poems were good.
This is one of the best ones:

Mary had a little lamb,
You’ve heard this tale before;
But did you know
She passed her plate
And had a little more?

[Mary Dolce]

My younger kids choose this off the shelf for me to read to them on occasion. Its got fun poems , short ones to not too long, all about stuff relating to food....Here's a good one : On Eating Porridge Made of Peas -
Peas Porridge hot,
Peas porridge--hold!
Who eats peas porridge ?
Who is so bold ?

I know I never munch
Peas porridge for my lunch,
&, as for dinner,
Peas porridge is no winner.

Peas porridge ice cold,
Peas porridge tepid,
Who eats peas porridge ?
Who could be so stupid ?

Peas porridge nine days old - ugh !
I think I'd prefer to eat a rug.
Louis Phillips

[Nora]

Poem Stew is a humorous and happy collection of poems all about something we all love, food. It discusses everything from breakfast to dessert, and maintains a lighthearted and silly tone throughout. This book is a stew of different poems, and has a poem about stew. While these poems are fun and funny, the book invites little reflection or interpretation, the poems are very straight forward.

If I were to use this in the classroom, I would use it to invite students to write their own poetry. These poems are simple, and reading them might make the idea of writing poetry more accessible to students, especially younger ones. The teacher could ask students to continue on the same theme of food, and make their own classroom edition of Poem Stew. Teachers could also ask students what kind of theme they all want to write about and make their own classroom version of this book using that different theme.

[Amy]

I liked this book, but compared to the other two I read it didn't have as much variety in the types of poems. That being said, I thought that the author did a very nice job compiling poems from different authors and putting them into a cohesive arrangement.
I liked the pictures, and I thought that some of the poems were very funny, but I was also put off by a couple of them because I didn't think the rhyming scheme flowed very well.
Overall though, I think that this is a great starter book of poems for kids to experience, and I think that it is worth a read.

[Hannah Guerra]

This book is a fun compilation of poems that all, in some way, pertain to food. In that way, it is sort of a "poem stew." These poem are mostly just short and sweet - perfect for anyone in elementary school, possibly even stretching through junior high. It includes work from various different poets, some being Spike Milligan, Morris Bishop, Ogden Nash, and Wallace Irwin. It has themes of food and literacy.

[William]

i really enjoyed this book. it had alot of ryhming and stuff like that. i think if i was a journalist i would give this book a award for the best writers and award for most poetry about food ever lol. so thats what i think about this book.

[Dawn McNary]

Fun collection of poems for children. Older book so some of the language may have to be 'interpreted' into current phraseology, but the messages and imagery was totally conveyed via the poetry itself! Enjoyable..both for child and adult reading along.

[Catherine Cruz]

this book is all poems that u and every person in the WORLD could read the best poem i though was in the book was page number 9

[Krystal]

Love it! I enjoy reading this to my two boys!

[Bryan Spahr]

read for school in 3rd grade