FIREFLY JULY: A YEAR OF VERY SHORT POEMS by Paul B. Janeczko

Janeczko, Paul B. 2014. Firefly July: A Year of Very Short Poems. Illustrated by Melissa Sweet. Somerville: Candlewick Press.  ISBN  9780763648428

Writer, poet, and anthologist extraordinaire, Paul B. Janeczko has put together another winning collection.  Being a kindergarten teacher, I was drawn to this book by its subject matter and bright, playful art work.  I do a unit each year about the seasons, and I believe I can hear my bookshelf whispering

    Buy

Firefly

   July

The table of contents has clear headings of Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter with 8-10 poems for each season to total 36 poems in all.  As the title suggests, each poem is short, as in two to  ten lines, but the poems with ten lines have fewer words than the poem with two lines!

As you would expect from an expert like Janeczko, each word morsel comes fortified with meaning. 

The poems he has selected are from classic poets as well as current ones.  Robert Frost, Emily Dickinson, and Langston Hughes are among the poetic mainstays.  The more well known current poets include Joyce Sidman, J. Patrick Lewis, and Alice Schertle.   Some poets like Robert Frost and Robert Morgan are considered poets for adults, while others like Charlotte Zolotow  and X. J. Kennedy are considered children’s’ poets. 

Some of the selections do not seem to be likely candidates for a particular season, but all make you think, and the accompanying art work helps make it feel seasonal.  The spreads used to distinguish the seasons are very subtle.  I had to go back and search for the hidden seasonal word for summer and fall.  This adds to the charm of the book and gives another excuse to look again.

“Playful” is a descriptor that keeps coming back to me, but there is plenty of richness in the selections that would be too heavy for youngsters but just right for adults.  For example, I don’t know too many children who would appreciate the figurative language in Joyce Sidman’s

A Happy Meeting

Rain meets dust:

soft, cinnamon kisses.

Quick, noisy courtship,

then marriage: mud.

Or this by Charles Reznikoff:

The house-wreckers have left the door and a staircase,

now leading to the empty room of light.

The word imagery in A welcome mat of moonlight/on the floor. Wipe your feet/before getting into bed. is Jim Harrison and Ted Kooser at their best along with What is it the wind has lost/ that she keeps looking for/under each leaf?.  Richard Wright’s haiku is vivid and biting:  A wild winter wind /Is tearing itself to shreds/On barbed wire fences.

Beyond the seasonal nature of this book, there is plenty to enjoy and learn.  Alice Schertle wrote a lovely poem that will introduce my next reading of Kevin Henkes’ Kitten’s First Full Moon.  This is so perfect:

In the alley, a

stray cat drinks the round white moon

from a rain puddle.

I hope you will treat yourself to multiple helpings of this smorgasbord of delectable delicacies.