A Poke in the I - by Paul B Janeczko (Paperback)

About the Book

Here, in a single extraordinary volume, are 30 poems from some of the world's finest visual poets, including John Hollander, Emmett Williams, Maureen W. Armour and Douglas Florian. Includes tips, guidelines, and inspiration for writing one's own concrete poems. Full color.

Book Synopsis

"These aren't poems to read aloud, but to look at and laugh at together, with young children and especially older readers, who will enjoy the surprise of what words look like and what can be done with them." -- Booklist (starred review)

Concrete poems startle and delight the eye and mind. The size and arrangement of words and letters can add or alter meaning -- forming a poem that takes the shape of crows that fly off the page or becoming a balloon filled with rhyme, drifting away from outstretched hands. Here, in a single extraordinary volume, are thirty poems from some of the world's finest visual poets, including John Hollander, Emmett Williams, Maureen W. Armour, and Douglas Florian. Tucked inside the front cover are tips, guidelines, and inspiration for writing your own concrete poems.

Review Quotes

Raschka's restrained collages of calligraphic watercolor lines and torn paper leave most everything to the poems. He and Janeczko provide an uncluttered, meditative space for the picturesque language.
--Publishers Weekly (starred review)

This book's playful vision that 'the arrangement of letters or words on the page, the typefaces chosen, and the way space is used, add meaning to the poem beyond that contained in the actual words' never wavers.
--The Horn Book (starred review)

These aren't poems to read aloud, but to look at and laugh at together, with young children and especially with older readers, who will enjoy the surprise of what words look like and what can be done with them.
--Booklist (starred review)

Every one of these poems is a winner, and each stimulates a kind of mental acrobatics that is as exhilarating as the exuberant art, and as refreshing and fun as the poems themselves. Truly a tour de force.
--Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

. . . kids will have little trouble figuring out what they are all about, or trying out their own. Beautiful and playful, this title should find use in storytimes, in the classroom, and just for pleasure anywhere.
--School Library Journal (starred review)

About the Author

Paul B. Janeczko (1945-2019) was a poet and teacher who edited numerous award-winning poetry anthologies for young people, including A Poke in the I, A Kick in the Head, A Foot in the Mouth, and The Death of the Hat, all of which were illustrated by Chris Raschka; Firefly July, illustrated by Melissa Sweet; and The Proper Way to Meet a Hedgehog and Other How-To Poems, illustrated by Richard Jones. He also wrote Worlds Afire; Requiem: Poems of the Terezín Ghetto; Top Secret: A Handbook of Codes, Ciphers, and Secret Writing; Double Cross: Deception Techniques in War; The Dark Game: True Spy Stories from Invisible Ink to CIA Moles, a finalist for the YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults; and Secret Soldiers: How the U.S. Twenty-Third Special Troops Fooled the Nazis.

Chris Raschka is the illustrator of more than twenty highly praised books for children, including Yo! Yes?, a Caldecott Honor Book; Charlie Parker Played Be Bop; Arlene Sardine; and Ring! Yo? He says, "Concrete poetry is the yoga of words. Like feeling your breath and your bones, you begin to notice what words and sentences actually look like. It's just like the feeling you get after a fifteen-minute handstand. And you don't even have to put on loose-fitting clothes!" Chris Raschka lives in New York City with his wife and son.