Grimes, N. (2015). Poems in the attic. Ill. by Elizabeth Zunon. New York: Lee & Low Books Inc. ISBN 9781620140277

PLOT SUMMARY

In Nikki Grimes Poems in the Attic, this young girl comes across her mother’s poems. She discovers who her mother was as a child through the poetry her mother wrote to cope with her constant moving due to her father being in the military.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS

In Poems in the Attic there were two forms of poetry used free verse and tanka.  The little girl may be using free verse because she is young and free as opposed to the tanka form used for the mother as a child to show structure and organization because of the military family/ background. The author uses personification as they find slim fish, “our flashlights found them” giving the discovery to the flashlight instead of her. She also uses a simile, “silver as new dimes” to emphasize the shininess of the fish.

REVIEW EXCERPT (S)

-HORN BOOK (2015) “Young poets (and their parents and grandparents) will be inspired to write poems for future generations; the author’s note and notes on the poetic forms will help them get started.”

BOOKLIST (2015) “A book about discoveries, this celebrates poetry and the quixotic life of a military family.”

SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL (2015) “Rendered in acrylic, oil, and collage, Zunon's warm, vibrant illustrations complement the text perfectly. Readers with an especially keen interest in the locations highlighted can look to a complete list of Air Force Bases appended.”

CONNECTIONS

Introduction to writing poetry: teaching tanka may be easier of the two forms. 

NELSON, MARY. HOW I DISCOVERED POETRY. ISBN 9780147510051

LAI, THANHHA.INSIDE OUT AND BACK AGAIN. ISBN 9780061962790