HOPKINS COLLECTION

Hopkins, Lee Bennett and Chris Soentpiet. Amazing Faces. New York. Lee & Low Books Inc. 2010.

ISBN: 978-1-60060-334-1

Amazing Faces is a collection of poems selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins which reflects the diversity in our world. These poems give insight to cultures, emotions and feelings that we all have no matter what ethnic backgrounds we come from. All of us show emotion in our faces and the illustrations of the faces by Chris Soentpiet capture the spirit of the poems beautifully.

This book is appropriate for elementary students and up. With the increasing diverse cultures coming to the United States, this book will appeal to students of all ethnic backgrounds. The detail and quality of the illustrations will grab the students attention and keep it as they read poems to which they might relate to. Poems such as "I’m the One about a boy with no friends or "Hero" in which a boy makes the game winning touchdown.

The poems in this book are written by familiar poets such as Pat Mora, Nikki Grimes, Janet Wong and Lee Bennett Hopkins and others which are not so familiar. Mr. Hopkins has chosen these poems well and they are all suitable for the book’s purpose. Since the book consists of poems from different poets, there is a wide range of rhyme poetry to free verse. One of the poems entitled "ME x 2" by Jane Medina is especially rhythmic in nature and is written in two languages.

Each poem and its illustration span two pages. There are no access features such as a table of contents, index or page numbers, but this does not affect the appeal of the book. One of my favorite poems and illustration in this book is called A Young Soldier by Prince Redcloud. Being the wife of a veteran and the mother of two veterans, this poem which talks of a soldier returning home is especially poignant and will be for others who have family in the military.

SPOTLIGHT POEM

ME x 2

Jane Medina

I read times two.

I write times two.

I think, I dream,

 I cry times two.

I laugh times two.

I’m right times two.

I sing, I ask,

I try times two.

I do twice as much

   As most people do.

“Cause most speak one,

But I speak 2!

YO x 2

Leo por dos.

Escribo por dos.

Pienso y sueño

   Y lloro por dos.

Yo rio por dos.

Grito por dos.

Canto, pregunto,

    Intento por dos.

Hago mucho mas

   Que hacen todos ellos.

Porque yo hablo dos:

   Lo doble que aquellos.

ACTIVITIES:

To introduce this poem, I would begin a discussion on what it means to be bilingual. I would then have the students read the poem on their own and then discuss it. There will be students who can read both, students who will only be able to read the English words and those who will only be able to read the Spanish words. We would explore about what it felt like not to be able to read part of it and emphasize what some people go through when they come to our country or what we might experience when we go to theirs.