Pocketful of Nonsense Poetry Selection

 

Summary:

               The book I read was Pocketful of Nonsense, by James Marshall.  This book is a cute and fun collection of poetry for the young and old. 

Evaluation of genre:

               The genre for this book is poetry.  This book of poems is very good because it makes no sense but the rhymes are great because they are fun and lighthearted.  Children will remember them, as they grow older.  The illustrations are outlined and then brightly colored.  Every page has an illustration so that the young reader can see the author’s interpretation of his poems.  The words of the poems are not enough in this cute book illustrations are needed to convey the author’s silly humor.

Questions to Ask:

Have you ever sang or heard of any of these poems before now?

Which illustration did you like the best?

Have you ever made a silly picture?

Have you ever made-up a silly song?

Which poem did you like the most?

Which poem did you like the least?

Motivational activities for children:

                The children could make up a song to the book like:

“A Pocketful of Nonsense”, “ Pocketful of Nonsense”, “ Pocketful of Nonsense”

“Everyone Sing Along” Repeat first line again ,

A Pocketful of Nonsense”, “ Pocketful of Nonsense”, “ Pocketful of Nonsense”

“Everyone Sing Along”.

The children would sing along, as they get ready to read the silly poems in circle time.  The children know that this time is fun and silly so they will be ready for more fun poetry.

                The children could compare this poetry book with Zoo-Looking, by Mem Fox. They could see if there are any similarities and write a paper as to which book they like better and why they like the book they have chosen better.

My Thoughts:

                 I really enjoyed this book.  I remembered some of these rhymes from when I was child, it took me back to when I would jump rope singing “Cinderella kissed a fella…”  I though it was something that we just made up on the playground I did not realize it was an actual poem.

About the Author:

                 James Marshall died on October 15 in 1992.  He was a children’s illustrator and he would sometimes work under Edward Marshall.    Much of the characters he created were cartoonish and appealed to both children and their parents.  In this book, Pocketful of Nonsense, his characters are fun to look at.

References

Cullinan, B. & Galda L. & Sipe L. (2010) Literature and the Child. 7^th Ed. Belmont, CA. Wadsworth Cengage Learning.

Lambert, B. (1992). James Marshall, 50, an Illustrator And an Author for Children, Dies. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/1992/10/15/arts/james-marshall-50-an-illustrator-and-an-author-for-children-dies.html

Marshall, J. (1992). Pocketful of Nonsense. Houghton/Mifflin. Racine, WI.