A Poke in the I: A Collection of Concrete Poems

by Paul B. Janeczko (Editor), Chris Raschka (Illustrator)

Even kids who don’t know they like poetry will love this playful, visually accessible collection of thirty concrete poems—illustrated by a Caldecott Honor artist!

Concrete poems startle and delight the eye and mind. The size and arrangement of words—or even just letters on the page can add or alter meaning, and poems can take the shape of crows and fly off the page. Or become a balloon filled with rhyme drifting away from outstretched hands. Or fourteen exuberant lines can become "Joy Sonnet in a Random Universe." Here in a single extraordinary volume are thirty poems from some of the world’s finest visual poets, including John Hollander, Emmett Williams, Maureen W. Armour, and Douglas Florian—a spirited "poke in the I" brought to you by the very talented Paul B. Janeczko and Chris Raschka.

Genres: Poetry, Picture Books, Childrens, Humor, Nonfiction, Middle Grade

48 pages, Hardcover

First published March 5, 2001

About the author

Paul B. Janeczko is a poet and teacher and has edited more than twenty award-winning poetry anthologies for young people, including STONE BENCH IN AN EMPTY PARK, LOOKING FOR YOUR NAME, SEEING THE BLUE BETWEEN, and A POKE IN THE I, which was an American Library Association Notable Book.

Reviews

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I chose to read A Poke in the Eye by Paul B. Janeczko, illustrated by Chris Raschka because of its unique layout and presentation. Upon opening the book and paging through my son was excited by the visual effects of the text and illustrations. Once we began reading the poems, it held my attention easily, but not my son’s. I found the book and poems entertaining and creative, however, they are somewhat wordy and challenging for a young child to keep engaged in. This book is a great way to demonstrate creativity in literature and I find it most appropriate for middle school ages and up.

[Ethan Rock · Rating 4 out of 5]

A poke in the I written by Paul B. Janeczko is a collection of concrete poems, also known as an anthology. At first, the poems may look confusing, but once you get the hang of reading them, they seem pretty simple. I love how the theme of them is that the poems are written in the shape of an item that they are representing. I love how some of them have characters that interact with some of the poems.

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book offers an interesting and unusual collection of concrete poems, some of which only consist of one word, some merely taking the shape of the theme of the poem, others comprised of nonsensical words.

The poems are fun to read aloud and the watercolor, ink and torn paper illustrations really complement the poems nicely. We enjoyed reading this book together.

I would recommend this book for older children, as they can more fully appreciate the interaction of the shape and flow of the poem along with the words.

I've read this book a couple of times and I like that it can serve as inspiration for children to create their own concrete poems.

[Charlie Beck · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of children's "concrete poetry" poetry that includes a visual element- words arranged a certain, specific fonts and sizes, etc.

[Mitchell Thacker · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't necessarily like poetry books. I think this one is for littler kids ages somewhere between 5-7. But, if I was that age I would probably like it a little more.

[Anne Veronica · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great collection of concrete poetry! For many of these, the written phrases are poetic themselves, but also the positioning of the words on the page add to the poetry and help the readers to experience it for themselves in their minds. Readers can taste, see, and feel the popsicle as it drips down the stick and their hand in the sun in one included poem called POPSICLE by Joan Bransfield Graham. The poem EASY DIVER by Robert Froman positions the words in a way that follows the movement of the pigeon as it dives off the roof and lands gently on the ground. A poem by John Hegley that reads "I NEED CONTACT LENSES like I need a poke in the eye" is written in lines that get smaller as you go down, as if the reader is reading letters on a screen at an eye appointment. Some other poems in the book are only one word or one line, such as eyeleveleye by Ronald Johnson which is the same backwards as it is forwards, and VISUAL SOUNDPOEM by Edwin Morgan, which features the word "gong!" with the "ng!" larger than and separate from the first two letters. The loops around the word seem to increase in size and the reader can almost hear the loud sound of the gong and can see the sound waves emanating from it.

This book is great for stimulating the imagination and the senses. It can be used to teach readers about different aspects of poetry and how the readers can help give other readers more realistic experiences with their word choices as well as design choices. It is an entertaining book for kids that, through verbally and visually interesting poetry aided by cute collage illustrations, shows them how playful and fun poetry can be.

[Sophia Lawrence · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is 2nd-4th grade level for age appropriateness. It is a poetry book by a few different people that are a little different than normal. They include poems that are better read upside down or the books needs to spin in order to read all the words. There is a poem about light and the words are in the shape of a lightbulb. The book has some pretty simple art but it is paired with the simple poems well. Sometimes a poem in this book is just one word like the page "eye level" replaces the eyes on some people and that is all that it says.

I could use this book in my classroom to show students many different, oddball types of poetry. Maybe after first teaching the traditional rhyming scheme of "aabbccddee" or "ababcdcdee" or haiku poetry I could use this to open students eyes about other types of poetry and how the words don't always have to be in stanza they could be all over the place like these ones. I could see this being a creative resource that I bring into the classroom and is kind of funny for kids because it is so different than regular poems.

[Caitlin Mayer · Rating 4 out of 5]

1. This book demonstrates many different kinds of poetry. For example, shape poems and sound poems. Some of the poems are straight forward and others are left open for interpretation. The illustrations support the text and can guide the reader to understanding.
2. The illustrations not only support the text, but are visually stimulating and interesting for the viewer. Introducing students to the creativity that poetry brings helps them in writing their own.
3. I would pair this book, with a book that is the opposite, one where poems are written in more of a traditional fashion. For example, Beneath The Blue Umbrella.
4. I would use this book when teaching poetry to my students. I would use this book to demonstrate the creativity that can be done with poetry. For example, making it into shapes, using only a few words, etc.

[Ale Godoy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summary:
Concrete poems are shaped just like the topics they are discussing. Did you ever think you'd read a balloon in the shape of a balloon or a light bulb? Open up this book and read a collection of 30 different concrete poems!

Review:
Concrete poems are a type of poem that MUST be seen! This collection of poems range from topics of tennis, merging traffic and a swan and its shadow. These poems will do doubt inspire students to create their own!

Paired Books:
Wet Cement: A Mix of Concrete Poems by Bob Raczka
A Dazzling Display of Dogs by Betsy Franco

Quote:
"His head is so far above his legs he probably can't see his adorable toes or anything else below his knees and elbows" -Giraffe

[Natalie Marshall · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Poke in the I is a great example of a descriptive children's book as discussed in Schneider's ch 10 of Inside Outside and Upside Down of Young Children's Lit. In "Popsicle" I love the repetition of "sicle" using descriptive visual and auditory language, like licksicle, dripsicle."Easy Driver" mirrors the motion and urgency of the pigeon diving off the building and pulling its wings out to float down gently. I would still say this is a picture book because it not only creates images with the words, but they work in tandem with the other painted images to create the story.

[Ashley Bartholomew · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this book is age appropriate for the primary grades. It is a collection of different poems about all sorts of things. Something interesting about this book is that the words are arranged in a way that helps you imagine the poem better. I could use this book in my classroom to read aloud to introduce my students to different forms of poetry. Something that could be dangerous about this book is that the people are drawn in all different colors such as, red, blue and black. This could make students feel like their skin color is being made fun of.

[Irma Gonzalez · Rating 5 out of 5]

"A Poke in the I: A Collection of Concrete Poems," is a book full of various styles of poems each created by different authors. Surprising funny as the illustrations match the humor of the poems. Some of the poems tell the obvious, but they do it in a way that's so unique no one would think to make a poem in the shape of that object they are explaining. This book is full of ideas that teachers can use for children to experiment with and who knows, maybe a child will end up loving one these styles of poems.

[Delaney Howerton]

A Poke in The I is such a fun and interactive book for students to read! It has many different fonts and ways that we read the words, bright colors and illustrations! This is something that I would love to read to my future classroom! It is poetry, but I feel as if students would love the different ways that the words are being shown! This shows the diversity of the ways poems can be written! It also involved vocab words on each page, for example, CAT is on page 6. This is a fun way to introduce new words!

[Hailey Koyne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Looking for a book of poetry to read to your students in a not so traditional way? Look no further! This book is incredibly unique, and one that will surely have your students engaged. There are loads of fun bright colors and shapes throughout every single page. The way the text is organized is super fun as well. This is definitely more of a time filler read with your students than an instructional read. But it is engaging nonetheless. I highly suggest that this book makes its way onto your library shelves.

[Ashtin Swann · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Poke in the I: A Collection of Concrete Poems by Paul B. Janeczko is such a fun and creative poetry book. The poems are "concrete," meaning their shapes and layouts reflect their meanings. One poem has the word "stowaway" inside of a drawing of a ship, for example. It makes poetry feel fun as well as visually interesting, and even people who don’t usually like poetry might enjoy this one. The mix of different poets keeps it fresh, and the illustrations add another layer of humor and movement to the words.

[Chris Calzolaio · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an illustrated book of concrete poems written by a variety of authors and illustrated by Chris Raschka. The poems are arranged according to subject. For example, pages 28 and 29 both have poems about zoo animals, pages 16 and 17 have poems about popsicles.

I liked some of the poetry in this book, but I didn't really love the book as a whole. A couple poems really stand out to me though. I liked "queue" but I really loved "Tennis Anyone?" That was really a fun poem to read!

[Allison Wilbanks · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is such a great and fun book full of concrete poems. They are all so colorful and fun to read. I really think young children would love reading through these poems and try to figure out what they are talking about. I really like how he explains what a concrete poem is. The illustrations were great and gave the book so much life. I definitely recommend using this book at home or in the classroom to teach students about the different types of poetry.

[Peyton · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was so fun! I definitely wouldn't recommend it for leisurely reading, but the collection of poems are astonishing. I think this book could be used as a great tool for expanding peoples knowledge on poetry as a whole. Although some of the poems in this collection are rather difficult to read, i makes more an enthralling experience into the vast waters of literature as a whole. Adding this book to your shelves will only serve to add to your palate as a consumer!

[Amy]

This is a collection of poems that are short and describe experiences both through the words and the position of the words on the page. This book is perfect for lower elementary because the poems are short, fun, and interactive and can be used as a read aloud as well as an introduction to poetry in the younger grades.

[Cathy Sheetz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book of concrete poems plays with words and illustrations all at once, from the Skipping Rope Spell where the words spiral as the poem turns to Forsythia shaped like a forsythia bush to a dandelion poem written in the shape of a dandelion. It's a fun read.

Good for teaching different forms of poetry to 1st through 6th graders. Classroom library 1st through 6th grade.

[Debbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

As with any collection of poems or short stories, some are better than others. As a collection of concrete poems, I can give this a 3 star rating - it's a nice selection, with varied subject matter and fun illustrations. Some poems I thought were more clever than others, but there are enough here that you can be well-inspired.

[Carrie G · Rating 4 out of 5]

TOO FUN! A book filled with whimsical concrete poems and beautiful illustrations. "Easy Diver" and "Merging Traffic" were easily my favorites! Can't wait to share some of these with students for National Poetry Month!

[Angelica Rios]

This could be a really good book for kindergarten and up because it would really help them get the hang of poetry and what it's all about. I would use this book to teach a 6th grade class about the different types of poetry and have them create their own poem.

[Kelsey Kitchen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I dont know if I like this book. I like the poems I just dont like thw way that they wrote them. They are kind of hard to read and you are always turning the book to read it. I think kids will like the poem but I do not think that they can read it on there own.

[Ann Hackworth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This would be a great book of poems for second grade to third grade aged children. I say this because it may be confusing to children who are still learning print awareness because the text is scattered around the pages into different shapes. This book would be a great inclusion for poetry month!!

[Audrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection showcases a variety of concrete poems all unified with Chris Raschka's collage art. I liked how creative the poems were and how they played with space. I particularly loved "Cat Chair" by Chris Raschka, "Stowaway" by Robert Carola, and "Tennis Anyone?" by Monica Kulling.

[Katy · Rating 3 out of 5]

These concrete poems are a delight to the "eye" as well. Another book to inspire to concentrate on a year-long poetry writing unit for my August class

[Michelle Albrecht · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book holds a collection of concrete poems by different authors. This book can be used for all ages. This is a great style of poetry that can help get reluctant readers interested in poetry.

[Janai Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book won the Notable Children's Books award. This book takes poems and brings them to life through concrete poetry.

[Naomi Ruth · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was great. Love it.