{"id":30254,"date":"2019-01-11T00:07:30","date_gmt":"2019-01-11T04:07:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=30254"},"modified":"2019-01-11T00:07:30","modified_gmt":"2019-01-11T04:07:30","slug":"review-of-wet-cement-by-bob-raczka","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=30254","title":{"rendered":"Review of Wet Cement, by Bob Raczka"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Wet Cement<\/p>\n

A Mix of Concrete Poems<\/em><\/p>\n

by Bob Raczka<\/p>\n

Roaring Brook Press, New York, 2016. 44 pages.
\nStarred Review<\/p>\n

Bob Raczka explains what\u2019s going on in this book in a note at the front:<\/p>\n

I like to think of poems as word paintings. A poet uses words like colors to paint pictures inside your head.<\/p>\n

In concrete poems, or shape poems, the words also paint pictures on the page. The poet arranges words in the shape of the thing the poem is about or in a way that emphasizes the poem\u2019s meaning.<\/p>\n

But here\u2019s what\u2019s really cool: by cleverly arranging individual letters, you can also paint a picture on the page with a single word. In this case, the letters become your colors.<\/p>\n

In this book, I\u2019ve done both. In the title of each poem, I\u2019ve created pictures with letters. In the poems themselves, I\u2019ve created pictures with words.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Besides showing kids what concrete poems are, this book gets the reader looking at things in new ways. I love the title example of calling the book of concrete poems Wet Cement<\/em> and having the words pictured coming out of a cement mixer.<\/p>\n

An example I can easily explain is his poem \u201cHopscotch.\u201d In the title, the nine letters of \u201cHopscotch\u201d go up the page in place as if in a hopscotch grid. On the next page, the twelve words of the poem go up the page in the same format.<\/p>\n

The title of the poem \u201cClock\u201d places the letter L inside the letter O looking like a clock. The poem has these words in a circle like the numbers of a clock: \u201cThe clock on the wall says it\u2019s five \u2018til three but\u201d<\/p>\n

Then the hands of the clock, appropriately placed, use the words: \u201cthe kids in my class say it\u2019s five \u2018til free.\u201d<\/p>\n

There\u2019s lots of cleverness here. The poems are short and sweet and don\u2019t look difficult. They\u2019re at least not difficult to understand, but get you looking at the objects in new ways.<\/p>\n

This book will definitely spur kids to try to create their own concrete poems. They may discover it\u2019s harder than it looks!<\/p>\n

But I like the way the ending poem, \u201cpoeTRY,\u201d invites experimentation (and these lines are centered):<\/p>\n

\npoetry is about taking away the words you don\u2019t need
\npoetry is taking away words you don\u2019t need
\npoetry is words you need
\npoetry is words
\ntry\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

mackids.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Buy from Amazon.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Find this review on Sonderbooks<\/a> at: www.sonderbooks.com\/Childrens_Nonfiction\/wet_cement.html<\/a><\/p>\n

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.<\/p>\n

Source: This review is based on a library book from Fairfax County Public Library.<\/p>\n

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.<\/p>\n

Tweet<\/a>