Review for "BookSpeak" by Laura Purdie Salas

BIBLIOGRAPHY  

Salas, Laura Purdie. BookSpeak! New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2011.  ISBN 978-0-547-22300-1 

PLOT SUMMARY  

This books is a collection of poetry about reading and books. The poems in this collection advocate for reading and give books a voice of their own. Readers learn how books "feel" when they are ignored or shut. They also learn about valuable parts of a book, like the index or the bookplate. Readers are able to unlock their imagination and visualize what mischief the books might get in when the bookstore closes in the evening. 

  

CRITICAL ANALYSIS  

From the very beginning, readers will be drawn to this story because of the personalized voice the poems are told in. They will feel as if the main character or object in the poem is speaking directly to them. Readers will gain insight into different aspects of reading as they turn each page. Bookplates, indexes, illustrations, and book covers are all given a voice. In addition, many elements of a story are introduced through rhyme like conflict, plot, and cliffhanger. Some of the poems are informative, some imaginative, and others inspire critical thinking skills. Readers will also be introduced to different types of poetry. Some of the poems rhyme and others do not. Some are fairly short and others are lengthy and descriptive. Each poem is full of figurative language and literary allusions which makes this book a great teaching tool for language arts classes. 

The illustrations in this book are bright, detailed and beautiful. The illustrator provides mixed-media collages to represent the literary allusions in each poem. Some of the poems are written abstractly, but the illustrations help readers draw conclusions about what the author is trying to say. For example, in the poem "Skywriting" the black birds and ink splatters help the author to understand that the poem is comparing words to flocks of birds and paper to a white sky. Without the illustrations, most readers, especially students, would be very confused. The also pictures extend beyond the edges of each page, giving the reader an opportunity to imagine the rest of the image and encouraging him/her to turn to the next page. Children will be intrigued by the illustrations in this book and will continue to turn each page, gaining new insight into the literary world as they move from poem to poem. 

  

REVIEW EXCERPT(S)  

MINNESOTA BOOK AWARD 

NCTE NOTABLE BOOK 

LIBRARIAN'S CHOICE 

From School Library Journal:  "Well crafted and clever, covering a variety of aspects of books and reading...An appealing offering that will be especially popular with librarians." 

From Booklist: “With its mix of poetic forms and wry twists on language-arts terms, this is a natural choice for sharing in classrooms and young writers’ workshops.”  

  

CONNECTIONS  

Gather other children's poetry books to read such as:  

•                      Levine, Gale Carson. Forgive Me, I Meant to do it: False Apology Poems.   ISBN 978 0061787256 

•                      Prelutsky, Jack. A Pizza the Size of the Sun. ISBN 978-0062239518 

  

Gather other Laura Purdie Salas books to read such as:  

•                      If You Were the Moon. ISBN 978-1467780094 

•                      Water Can Be... ISBN 978-1467705912 

  

Use the poems to teach students the different parts of a book or story.  

Have students practice identifying literary allusions and devices within the poems.  

Use to introduce different types or poetry to your class.