Naomi Shihab Nye, ed.
pictures by Ashley Bryan
Cover by Barnes & Noble |
Nye, Naomi Shihab. Salting
the Ocean: 100 Poems by Young Poets. Ill. Ashley Bryan. New York: Greenwillow
Books, 2000. ISBN: 978-0-688-16193-4.
Poetic Elements
This
anthology is chock full of poetic elements, all a testament to the teachings of
Naomi Shihab Nye, who collected these poems over a period of twenty-five years,
while teaching poetry workshops to children in various school systems around
the country. Similes, alliteration, assonance, and personification abound in
the poem “Monday Mornings”: (On Monday mornings I feel like/ a miserable mouse,
more miserable/ than a monkey on Monday mornings.) and (On Monday mornings I
feel like / a miserable millionaire, more miserable/ than money, more miserable
than/ midnight). Others, although simple, reveal the truth and pain a young
poet is feeling: (The mean is on me./ The family is on me./ The eyes of a
dragon are on me./ The scream of my brother is on me./ The smoke of the chimney
is on me./ The school is on me./ The wall is on me./ Well everything is on me,
I don’t know/ why. Anyway I’m gonna get/ on them too, like they got on me./ I’m
gonna scream on them./ I’m gonna be mean on them./ Well I’m gonna do everything
/ they did to me.) The age or grade level of the individual poets with a short
note about their life or chosen profession at the time the book was published
would have been a nice addition to this anthology. In Nye’s afterword, she only
reveals that the poet of “Patterns” became a dentist.
Appeal
Although
this collection is mostly free verse, it includes many poems with graphical
elements such as “Whispers”, in which the word “waving” is shaped as to imitate
the “whisper of a flag/ waving/ in the wind.” There are also a few shape poems
such as “For My First-Grade Teacher”, whose lines will stimulate the emotions
of readers and prod them to reflect back upon their own first-grade
experiences: (I remember the time when you made/ me and some/ other kids/ stand
in/ front/ of the / class/ But now it doesn’t matter at all/ because/ I/ don’t
see/ you/ anymore). Although Salting the
Ocean is recommended for grades three through eight, it may be better
suited as a teacher’s resource rather than reading for pleasure. With that
being said, many young readers may gather confidence and be inspired by seeing
published works by poets their own age.
Overall Quality
The
poems are as consistent in quality as one might expect from one hundred
different school children ranging from grade one through twelve over a span of
twenty-five years. However, they could be the perfect tools in which to spark a
young poet’s imagination, and give them the confidence they need to write their
own poetry.
The Poet
This anthology is a collection of poems by one hundred different poets
never previously published, nor famous. They were selected from over
twenty-five years of classroom led poetry workshops Nye conducted in many of
the fifty states. The poets are now dentists and dancers and teachers and
students and construction workers, and still others-- Nye was never able to
reach. Nye is a poet, songwriter, novelist, and anthologist who has won many
awards and fellowships, among them four Pushcart Prizes, the Jane Addams
Children’s Book award, the Paterson Poetry Prize, and many notable book and
best book citations from the American Library Association.
The
illustrator, Ashley Bryan, earned a degree in philosophy at Columbia University
after studying art at Cooper Union in New York City. He has created more than
thirty books for young people and earned numerous awards, including several
Coretta Scott King Honors and a Fulbright Scholarship. Bryan currently resides
in Islesford, Maine.
Layout
At
the front of the book, a note about the poems reveals the circumstances
surrounding the manner in which Nye selected the poems, categorized into four
groups:
·
The Self and The Inner World
·
Where We Live
·
Anybody’s Family
·
The Wide Imagination
The
three part introduction was lengthy with the first titled “To Anyone, and to a
Couple in Nova Scotia” with personal information about the author and the
kindness a couple showed her in Nova Scotia. The second is advice to teachers,
librarians, parents, and other friends who may pick up the book. The third
introduction is basically a thank you to the young poets along with further
encouragement for them to write. Bryan’s bold, vibrant, tempera-paint
illustrations spice up the young poets work at the beginning of each section,
and lend a generous helping of multicultural imagery. Salting the Ocean
concludes with an “Afterword, Acknowledgements, Suggestions for Further
Reading, Index to 100 Poems, and Index to 100 Poets.”
Spotlight Poem
My
Mind Is an Empty Jug
by Alex Lagunas
I
wonder where it went.
In
the morning I felt like
an
empty jug so I felt
my
pillow it was not wet
but
my mind was empty
I
wonder where it went.
Poetry Break
Introduction: Introduce this poem by displaying a large
empty jug in full view, and asking for a few guesses at what it could
represent.
Extension Activity: After reading the poem a few times,
suggest a topic and have students write ONE line of poetry relating to the
topic onto a strip of paper and drop it into the jug.
Afterwards, for fun, display the lines of poetry and let
students arrange them into the most logical order to write a class “Jug Poem.”