Outside the Box: A Book of Poems by Karma Wilson and illustrated by Diane Goode is a wonderful new book of poetry!
I used this book the last couple of weeks with all our students, grades K-5, as a read aloud for poetry. The kids instantly think it is Shel Silverstein because of the black and white cover and the white pages with black text and black brush and pen and ink illustrations.
The poems are often humorous and quite witty. I started off my read alouds with “The Great, Big, Fat, Disgusting Lie.” The illustrations really bring this poem alive with the idea that a lie is a living, growing thing. And in the case of the illustrations the lie ends up as a vicious lion.
I also read “A Tragic Poem” which many students can relate to. Teachers ask them to write all the time, and they often can’t think of what to write, so this one was particularly relate-able.
“Stuck in My Head” was also a fun one to read and the kids could identify with this one too. I loved the play on word with “Garage Band” and many of the kids thought that having an actual band in the garage with rakes and trashcans was funny!
“Ick… Gross… Ew…” drew quite the reaction, especially from the younger kids. Many of the kids wrote down “You’re No Lady!” about an upset male lady bug for their poem for Poem In Your Pocket Day. “The Tattler,” “Gamer,” “The Problem With Bkaing Cookies,” and “Why I Avoid the Kiddie Pool” were all well received as well.
I wish I could have read the entire book to every class because it is really that good!If you are looking for a kid friendly, fun, poetry anthology then this is the book for you!
