FLORIAN POETRY

SUMMERSAULTS

  

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Florian, Douglas. 2002. Summersaults. New York: Greenwillow Books.  ISBN 0060292679.

SUMMARY

This collection by Douglas Florian features a variety of poems all about summer.  Some poems focus on the delights and joys of summer, such as dandelions and swings, while others focus on things that are hated about summer, such as bees and the end of the season.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS

The Poet

Douglas Florian is a distinguished children’s writer and illustrator.  One of his best-known works, Beast Feast, won the Lee Bennet Hopkins Poetry Award. His poetry tends to focus on the natural world and carry a humorous tone that children enjoy.

Layout

Summersaults is a collection of twenty-eight poems about summertime.  A Table of Contents included in the beginning of the book makes it easy for readers to find poems in the book. The first poem, “Summersaults,” is a concrete poem that talks about the way in which summer vaults from spring and “tumbles into fall,” appropriately introducing the thematic content of this collection. The poems that follow range from topics such as birds in trees to seashells, providing a wide array of all things that have to do with this season.

Each poem appears on a two-page spread, giving Florian plenty of space to include his illustrations, which he is also well known for.  His distinct artistic design and style permeates through every page, adding a sense of whimsy and fun to enhance and intensify the humor in his words and poems. To accompany “Names of Clouds,” for instance, three personified cloud drawings appear on the opposite page, bringing a child-like quality to the poem.

Poetic Elements

Florian’s poems in this collection deal primarily with concrete meaning.  Each is an ode to an aspect that relates to summer, whether it is a summertime game like table tennis or an experience like a campfire.  Every poem is heavily loaded with rhyme, and most are written in rhyming couplets. “Dog Day,” for instance, follows an aabbccdd rhyme scheme while “Graze Days” uses an aabccbddeffe rhyme scheme. Florian’s poems vary in length, the shortest being three lines long and the longest being twenty-seven lines long. The poems included in this book do not have a consistent pattern; instead, they each have a flow that enhances the topic of a given poem. “Fireflies,” for example, uses monosyllabic words in some lines and 4-syllable single words in others, creating a rhythm that mimics a firefly’s movements.

Because most of the poems in this collection talk about nature, they lend themselves to poetic sound devices like onomatopoeia and consonance that help create sensory images for readers. In “Summer Night,” readers will visualize the “belch” of bullfrogs, the “chirping” of crickets, and the “buzz” of mosquitoes.  In “Lost and Found,” Florian uses consonance to describe “Five feathers from/A Seabird’s wings,” accentuating these found items and making them more memorable for readers.

Florian also uses figurative language in his poems to further bring them to life. 

Appeal

Florian’s short, rhythmic poems draw readers in and lets readers rejoice in the greatness of the summer season.  The majority of the poems in this collection rhyme, giving them a musical, sing-song feel that imitates the carefree feelings associated with summer.  Readers, especially young readers, will certainly relate to the experiences narrated through the poems, such as “The Swing,” which describes a person swinging, and “Double Dutch Girls,” which describes a jump-rope game in a short, highly rhythmic manner.  These are universal childhood experiences that readers of any age will connect to and that will keep readers wanting more.

Overall Quality

This collection by Florian showcases Florian’s large range as a poet.  All poems included in this book reflect a high literary quality that readers can appreciate and enjoy.  Each poem is carefully constructed to add to the overall theme of the collection, presenting not only the great things about summer but also the bad things about summer.  The poems have a nostalgic tone that is engaging and gives a warm, happy feeling and will have readers yearning for this wonderful season. 

SPOTLIGHT POEM AND ACTIVITIES

“Summerize” by Douglas Florian

June’s a bright blue butterfly.

July is brighter yet.

August is a purple one.

September is the net.

Although concise, “Summerize” packs a lot of poetic power that children can enjoy.  It brings in rich imagery through simple visual descriptions that readers will be able to imagine.  This poem also uses a familiar rhyme scheme, abcb, that readers may recognize from nursery rhymes like “Mary Had a Little Lamb.” Also, this poem creates a perfect opportunity to discuss the changes within a season as well as the months in a season.

I would introduce this poem by reviewing the months of the year and the four major seasons. I would do an “I have/who has” activity to have students sort out the months according to season. Then, I would tell students that we will be reading a poem about summer. Prior to reading, I would have students think about the four months of summer—June, July, August, and September—and associate a color and an item with each month. Students would then share their ideas with the class. During reading, I would have a picture slideshow play on a projector to help students follow along with the changes within the summer season. As an extension after reading the poem, I would have students create their own picture slideshow based on the ideas they brainstormed in the introductory activity. Then, I would have them write their own “Summerize” poem.