America's Other Poet Laureate

I loved reading Shel Silverstein as a kid. His poems stirred my imagination more than anything else I remember reading back then. Sure they could be a little creepy:

But this afternoon by the lion's cage
I'm afraid I got too near.
And I'm writing these lines
From inside a lion,
And it's rather dark in here.

But that was part of the fun. For many in my generation (and quite a few other generations), Silverstein's work was our introduction to poetry, and he made a great first impression. He made us want to come back and revisit the art.

The Poetry Foundation seems to understand the importance of that first impression. They named Mary Ann Hoberman the new children's poet laureate this past week, and I think her philosophy of children's poetry is dead on:

"Poetry is pleasure. I don't like it when a four-line poem of mine is in a teacher's manual, and there are three pages on how to use it across the curriculum and it's analyzed to death. That's not what poetry is for. It's for joy."

And how could a kid not love a book called All My Shoes Come in Twos. That makes me smile.

Hoberman will serve a two year term as the laureate. At 78 years old, she's had a very prolific career, having written more than 45 books. One of them, A House Is a House for Me, won the National Book Award. Here's an excerpt:

A hill is a house for an ant, an ant.
A hive is a house for a bee.
A hole is a house for a mole or a mouse
A house is a house for me.

Hoberman's predecessor as children's poet laureate, Jack Prelutsky (the first person to hold the position) while similarly embracing joy, is more fantastical. He has some obvious similarities to Silverstein though Prelutsky has downplayed the comparison: "He tended to be a little grosser than me. He went for the jugular." You need only read some of "Ballad of a Boneless Chicken" to see how he, like Silverstein, engages the imagination.

I have feathers fine and fluffy
I have lovely little wings
but I lack the superstructure
to support these splendid things.

It's terrifically silly. And here's one of my favorites, "Mother Ogre's Lullaby":

Hush baby ogre, stop raving and rest,
Slumber, sweet savage impossible pest.
Stifle your tantrum, no kicking, don't bite.
Close your red eye...baby ogre, good night.

On his website , Prelutsky says that as a kid he "developed a healthy dislike for poetry due to a teacher who 'left me with the impression that poetry was the literary equivalent of liver. I was told it was good for me, but I wasn't convinced.'" It isn't surprising, then, that Prelutsky's poems are unfailingly fun. Elsewhere on the site, he offers up his three tips for making a funny poem:

1) Exaggerate
2) Make the Ordinary Special
3) Absurd Conclusion

It's sort of like being a political pundit.

In an interview with the Seattle Post Intelligencer, Prelutsky pointed out that while children's poetry isn't generally taken seriously by the poetry establishment, it sells a lot better than adult poetry. If the poetry establishment paid more attention to promoting poetry in schools, that might not be the case. The poetry foundation's establishment and support of the children's poet laureate position is a good move in that direction.

Comments

[westcoastsc]

Is this the same John Lundberg I knew from Santa Cruz? The poet who wrote Peacock Feathers? The same one with whom I used to drink? The one who knew Rene? I'm surprised you're alive. If it is I would love to talk to you again. Please, write me at me [e-mail]. This is John Blyth.

[HandsomeDon]

When my oldest daughter Erika (someone you know) was much younger, my Mom gave her a copy of "A House Is a House for Me." It became one of favorites, joining A.A. Milne's "When We Were Very Young" and "Now We Are Six."
windstream.nettream.net

[salinger]

Thanks for posting on the importance of poetry in school. I agree with Mary Ann Hoberman that poetry need not be analyzed to death - but I take issue with poetry being merely used for "joy".

Poetry is an engaging and effective tool to teach literacy and comprehension skills to our youth. It can be successfully used across the curriculum as a means to an end. That end being a more thoughtful citizenry who make connections through critical thinking. Discounting this role relinquishes the genre to a “when we can get to it” status in many a classroom which helps to ingrain the concept that poetry is that “other” kind of writing that almost nobody understands.

We’ve got enough MFA programs and academic backslapping poets promoting this concept with adults. Kids need more reasons to embrace poetry not fewer – a notion I am sure Mr. Silverstein would agree with. Where is the joy in this scenario?

My partner in rhyme and I work with thousands of youth a year doing just this.
www.michaelsalinger.com

[saraellen]

Congrats to Ms. Hoberman! Fantastic.

I too write lots of fun poetry for kids -- but I think it is important to let kids know at the earliest ages that poetry is also something to turn to during tough times. True, a lot of kids' poetry expresses joy, in fact the poetry books are shelved with the joke books in the school library. Still, many kids have other things on their minds and they want to write poems about everything from the environment to child labor to justice and the fact that big brother drinks too much and it makes mom cry. They need the fun stuff, but they also need models for writing about real life issues. This is why we owe such a debt to Langston Hughes whose poetry was the first to suggest that kids can get the blues.

Feelings, fantasy, birds and bees, rocks and trees -- poetry is intrinsically cross-curricular. If teachers are using Mary Ann's poetry in science class instead of confining it to language arts, that is something to celebrate. And because of what Prelutsky rightly refers to as the "liver" factor that may also have tainted the poetic appetites of many teachers, they may need some guidance on how to put that four line poem to good use. Not a bad thing. Really.

Love your columns BTW. Keep up the good words.

sara holbrook