All About Lewis Carroll

Poetry for Young People: Lewis Carroll

Edited by Edward Mendelson

Illustrated by Eric Copeland
Sterling Publishing, 2008

48 Pages

Poetry

          I chose this book because I tend to choose books geared toward lower elementary students, and this compilation of poetry is more geared towards the older elementary school reader. The poems are longer, and in true Lewis Carroll fashion full of ridiculous characters and wild ideas. Throughout the book, Mendelson includes definitions of words that the students may not understand. I found this to be very beneficial to reading the poems since they were written in a different time period. Along with the definitions, Mendelson also added a brief description of when Carroll wrote the poem and if was included in any of his other works of literature. 

          Copeland uses several types of illustrations throughout the book. He uses double page, single page, and vignettes to bring the book to life. The book includes informal text placement highlighting the text most often in the negative space of the book. Copeland uses paint possibly watercolor and acrylic for his illustrations. In the majority of the illustrations, he uses dull colors and little detail; the lines are very smooth and lack definition. 

          I would use this specialized poetry book with older elementary students, probably fourth, fifth and sixth graders. This book could be used to introduce a new time period in history, the 1800s, and how writing and English have changed from then to now. Language arts could be incorporated by having the students create a Venn diagram and then write about how writing and English have changed. Students could also write their own wacky and ridiculous poem. The teacher could compile the poems into a class poetry book.This book has not received any awards.