Paul Fleischman’s 1989 Newbery winning book, Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices, is a short book of poetry that conjures up the noise of summertime insects. Each page has two columns of text, one for each voice, mostly alternative and unison parts, although there are some parts where the two voices are saying different things simultaneously. I read the whole thing to my 4 year old in about 20 minutes by myself, and Jackson seemed to like the poems and looking at the illustrations by Eric Beddows. I imagine that hearing two voices read it would be cooler. There is a complete version up on YouTube that is set to music (composed by Stephen Tosh) that opera singer Louis Lebhertz and storyteller Judy Peiken perform and a version where the author and (I’m assuming his wife) Patty Fleischman read one poem “Moth’s Serenade”.
What I liked. I think this is an especially great book for summer. Wisconsin summers are filled with the sound of cicadas and lawn mowers. Sometimes from far away I have a hard time distinguishing the faraway drone of one from the other. I like how the visual illustration, the description within the poem, and then the form and cadence of the poem all combine to teach kids about nature.
What was interesting. The author, Paul Fleischman, is the son of Sid Fleischman who wrote The Whipping Boy which won the Newbery two years before. So far that is the only father-son winning team!
What were some limitations. I did have a hard time imagining the experience of children reading some of these poems on their own. These seem like a great set of poems for school, for kids to pair up and memorize and perform and study and explain. I am not sure about just your average fifth grader picking up and reading them (although they are very short). I really liked the one about the requiem for the praying mantis, but I’m pretty familiar with liturgical prayers, and I’m not sure kids would be.
Similarity to other Newbery winners . Overall, I probably do have a bias in thinking the Newbery should be awarded to the best novel for kids (just because that’s what I like to read), but while novels dominate the award, there are collections of poems (and more recently graphic novels!) that have won before, like A Visit to William Blake’s Inn. There are a few Newbery honor books that heavily feature insects (wonderful books like A Cricket in Times Square and Charlotte’s Web, that remind me of the British James and the Giant Peach or Disney Pixar’s Film A Bug’s Life.)
What it teaches me as a writer. As I get older, I have enjoyed trying to learn to identify more trees and flowers. But I am well aware of how most of the green leafy things outside in summer are beyond my ability to name. I know that a lot of kids probably have less botanical knowledge than I do (which is why Robert MacFarlane, one of my husband Evan’s favorite authors wrote The Lost Words), so I struggle to know in my writing if I should just mention trees by name, or if I should describe them. Especially in older works, there are many plants that authors throw around–like lady slipper, or cowslip, or hornbeam tree–that I don’t have a clear mental picture of, and probably just mentally put a generic image of a wild flower or deciduous tree. So I’m particularly impressed by the way that these poems (in content, form, and accompanying illustration) describe nature in a way that leaves the reader knowing more about the particular bug, but is more than just an encyclopedia entry.
Have you read Joyful Noise? What are your favorite poetry books for kids?
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I gave an online poetry workshop last week that included a choral reading of “Fireflies.” I still have lines running through my head!