Poetry. Not really in my wheelhouse. I appreciate good poetry and applaud those who write it, but it’s not a genre that I feel very comfortable in.
The other day, I came across a type of poetry I’d never seen. It isn’t written, but chosen and arranged using the titles of books. Check out the remarkable work of Nina Katchadourian:
I can get into this. Below is my children’s book attempt:
Want to give it a try?
Snap a picture of your book spine poem and post it on your site, or email it to me at scopenotes@gmail.com. If there are some takers, I’ll post a gallery of your work on the next Poetry Friday.
Be sure to visit Teaching Books for the Poetry Friday Roundup.
20 Responses to Poetry Friday: Spiny
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Travis Jonker is an elementary school librarian in Michigan. He reviews children's books for School Library Journal and is a member of the American Library Association. You can email Travis at scopenotes@gmail.com. He's also on...
Brilliant. Made me laugh aloud!
You are a true poet! This is an excellent form of poetry – but one that is far beyond my capabilities. I hope to see more, though!
I’m off to the bookshelves to see what I can find! Fun fun fun!
I think you’ll have fun with it. It’s pretty cool how you can’t go in with an idea of what you want – it comes as you try different books. Thanks for giving it a go – I’m looking forward to what you come up with!
The Toothpaste Millionaire! I forgot all about that book! Thanks for the reminder.
What a hoot! I had heard of “found poems” before, but never using a book spine. Thanks!
Laura
That’s fantastic! I just love it!
I LOVE this! Thanks for the wonderful idea!
[...] stumbled upon book spine poetry through Travis Jonker’s children’s literature blog, 100 Scope Notes. Travis borrows the idea from Nina Katchadourin, who has some wonderful compositions in her [...]
What a wonderful idea! Here’s my first attempt: http://lightairspirit.wordpress.com/2010/03/06/book-spine-poetry/. I can’t wait to try it with middle schoolers and YA titles.
That turned out great!
Ha! I am going to have to try this one. I love reading the spines of books.
Oh, this is fun! I’ve written centos before (poems made of book titles), but with some extra words added, too, as transitions. Here’s one I posted: http://laurasalas.livejournal.com/35494.html
I guess if I tried this book spine method, I’m not gonna be able to cheat and add words!
Travis,
Great job. You are doing spine tingling poetry and Cindy is doing reversos. I am feeling the pressure! My students are at a special and this is my planning time–can’t wait to get home to check out all the hidden poems hiding on my shelf. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm maybe I will have to try to do a reverso with spines. That will take some backbone. Back to work!
Can’t wait to try this at school tomorrow. I also have to do some digging. Somewhere I have a found poem I made from catalog cards before we automated. If I find it I’ll post it.
Thanks for giving it a shot. The card catalog poem has me intrigued.
[...] decided to share it on my children’s literature blog, 100 Scope Notes, and challenge others to give it a try. There [...]
LOVE it — and now I have both an April display AND student participation activity. Thanks for passing the idea along.
Let me know how it goes! Feel free to send some examples, and I’ll add them to the gallery.
I did it! The post with my first effort is at http://reticulatedpithon.blogspot.com/2010/03/poetry-on-edge.html