April is National Poetry Month. Share your favorite children's poetry. I hope you'll join the discussion!
Earth Day is April 22nd.
Celebrate with this tour de force (and first picture book)
by former U.S. poet laureate Ted Kooser.
Author/Illustrator: Ted Kooser/Barry Root
Publisher/Date: Candlewick Press/2010
Genre/Audience: Fiction/Ages 5+
Themes: recycling, waste, landfills, reuse, interconnectedness, ecology
Opening: "One cold, windy morning early in spring, a bulldozer was pushing a big pile of garbage around a landfill when it uncovered an empty plastic bag."
Synopsis: (From Booklist)
"The life of a plastic bag in a landfill is extraordinarily uneventful and long—15,000 years, give or take a few millennia—but in this former U.S. poet laureate’s first picture book, a beige grocery bag serves an array of inventive uses in but a tiny sliver of that life span. Set against a barren plains landscape, Kooser’s circular story follows a plastic bag, “the color of the skin of a yellow onion,” as it travels in a chain of happenstance from landfill, to tree, to stream, and among the various citizens of a nearby town, including a young girl, a homeless man, and a shopkeeper. The muted, dappled colors of Root’s gouache and watercolor illustrations are a perfect complement to Kooser’s lengthy, meditative passages, which celebrate not only the virtues of economy and ecology but, moreover, the interconnectedness of all things. An excellent opener for discussions about creative reuse and recycling, the book concludes with an informational author’s note." --Kristen McKulski
Synopsis: (From Booklist)
"The life of a plastic bag in a landfill is extraordinarily uneventful and long—15,000 years, give or take a few millennia—but in this former U.S. poet laureate’s first picture book, a beige grocery bag serves an array of inventive uses in but a tiny sliver of that life span. Set against a barren plains landscape, Kooser’s circular story follows a plastic bag, “the color of the skin of a yellow onion,” as it travels in a chain of happenstance from landfill, to tree, to stream, and among the various citizens of a nearby town, including a young girl, a homeless man, and a shopkeeper. The muted, dappled colors of Root’s gouache and watercolor illustrations are a perfect complement to Kooser’s lengthy, meditative passages, which celebrate not only the virtues of economy and ecology but, moreover, the interconnectedness of all things. An excellent opener for discussions about creative reuse and recycling, the book concludes with an informational author’s note." --Kristen McKulski
Why I Love This Book:
Not much is lyrical about trash, but Ted Kooser found a way to make a humble plastic bag the centerpiece of a poetic story with an ecological angle. Not only is it a commentary on recycling, but Kooser also weaves sustainable practices, like gardening, and social issues, like homelessness, into his web. It has a lovely cyclical form and a handy author's note at the end.
Now go and celebrate Earth Day!
Resources:
Plastic Bag/Film Recycling Poster - Very helpful to see what can and cannot be recycled with your grocery bags
Interactives: Explore Recycle City and play the Dump Town game!
I love the sound of this book! I'm pinning it so I can remember to get it for next Earth Day!
ReplyDeleteThanks.
❀Barbara❀
Grade ONEderful
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Laura, this book sounds wonderful! It really is unique and interests me. Many of us reviewed books for Earth Day, and each one was very different. Love that we have a nice list of books. Great choice!
ReplyDeleteI saw this book the other day and was struck by the cover. I have it on my library list. Thanks for sharing it! Sounds like a great one for Earth Day!
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