City I Love

*Image from abramsbooks.com

A. Bibliographic Data: Hopkins, Lee Bennett. City I Love. Illustrated by Marcellus Hall. New York: Abrams Books for Young Readers, 2009. ISBN 9780810983274

B. Critical Analysis: Plot Summary: This is a wonderful collection of poems about living in a big, busy, full-of-life city. Lee Bennett Hopkins brings the sounds, sights and people of the city to life with her creative writing while Marcellus Hall complements the poems with impeccable illustrations. Readers from the city and country alike will love taking a trip to their favorite city with the help of these poems. This would be a great addition to any poetry collection!

Appeal: Many of these poems use rhyming words which provide readers with easy reading and natural rhythm. Rhyming poetry seems to be familiar to most kids (though they may not realize it) thus making this book very appealing to students. Many students will also be able to relate to life in the city, making the subject equally appealing to readers. The language used in these poems can be clearly understood but can also be used to enrich readers’ own vocabulary and linguistic skills. Imaginations will run wild while reading this book, taking readers back to their own city or encouraging mental journeys to new cities they’ve never been to before!

Meaning: I would describe this poem as having concrete meaning. Though the poems in this story often have funny twists and fictional characters, there are deep roots that can be tied to actual city life. Many poems contain possible elements of an actual occurrence or experience. This will provide readers with a great foundation of knowledge that can be used to compare and contrast with their own lives and draw inferences about the future. Readers will be able to build upon the knowledge gained with these poems to form their own ideas about city life and how it would feel to live in a big city.

Rhythm and Sound: Each poem has its own unique pattern and meter. This is what makes reading a collection of poems so interesting! Readers will be kept guessing about how the next poem will sound and feel! Hopkins uses endless sound devices throughout his poetry including: rhyme, assonance, onomatopoeia, alliteration, and consonance.  Some examples would be: “If you do, cities will sing back to you”, “Subway’s whoosh-my summer breeze”, “balance on beams dangle on derricks glide on girders sway on concrete slabs”, “pouring roaring gushing rushing water”, and “a razzle-dazzle razzmatazz”.

Language: Hopkins also uses great figurative language to increase readers’ enjoyment in reading his poems. Personification is most often used-giving life to people, places and things. Readers will enjoy imagining cities singing songs and the sun wearing a sweatband on a particularly hot day. This rich language will bring smiles to readers and listeners alike, making them perfect for reading aloud to friends!

Imagery: Hopkins depends mostly on his ability to bring sights and sounds to readers. This figurative language will also benefit readers by establishing connections between their mind and text. As mentioned before, each poem has a definite rhythm and cadence. The rhyming is very natural and easily noticeable to even the youngest of readers. Again, this makes sharing the poems fun and engaging! The ideas presented in these poems are also done in fresh ways, making Hopkins stick out among poets for his incredible use of language.

Emotional Impact: The tones used in these poems are relatively light-hearted and good natured. Readers will chuckle, smile and most often finish the poems with a sense of happiness. Though there are more serious poems sprinkled here and there, the overall mood and feel of the book is one of pleasure. As mentioned before, there are many outlets for students to respond to these poems. Readers that live in a city themselves will have fun finding similarities between their home-life and the experiences described with these poems; while other students will have fun imagining how different their lives could be should they ever move to the city. These poems have the ability to move students, provoke emotion and would serve as great writing prompts.  

Layout and Organization: The poems seemed to be organized in a certain way. For instance, the two poems about Taxis and Subways are placed one after the other, while the two winter poems are also placed together. As mentioned before the illustrations serve as great complements to the poems and effectively enhance the readers overall enjoyment of the book. Line breaks, spacing and poem formatting are also highly effective and add to the fun of seeing these poems on the page. The length of the poems and book itself is acceptable and not too overwhelming. Most poems were written in the 1970’s and have been republished with this book. Though this may seem outdated, the poems themselves seem relevant still, forty years later.  

C. Example: Poem:                         “Mother’s Plea”

Silence Sirens.

Hush all horns.

Quiet rumbling

traffic roars.

Please

city

have

some

pity.

Promise me

not

one

more

beep?

My newborn

pigeons

need

their

sleep.

Introduction: I would introduce this poem with the ending twist in mind. When I first read it, I thought the Mother’s plea was going to be from a human mother…not a pigeon! With writing journals in hand, I would read aloud the first four stanzas of this poem (ending at “not one more bee?”). From there I would give student a few minutes to guess what kind of mother is making the plea and why. Were there any clues in the poem that made you think so? The students would then be asked to share their predictions. After all students have shared, I will finish the poem, solving the mystery once and for all!  

Ideas for Sharing: I would begin by sharing this poem using the modeling strategy. I would then pass out the poem so students could see the poem, appreciate the spacing and placement. I also like the idea of sharing the poem in groups- allowing group one to read the first two stanzas, groups one and two read the third- “Promise me.”, and group two to read the last three stanzas. This will be a fun way to get all students engaged while honoring the poem’s natural breaks and message.