LS 5663 Spring 2012



Module 2  NCTE Award Poetry


Bibliographic information:

Hoberman, Mary Ann, and Jane Dyer. Whose garden is it?. Orlando: Gulliver Books/Harcourt, 2004. ISBN: 0152026312

Review:

Whose Garden Is It? by Mary Ann Hoberman is a sweet conversational poem written in a storybook format about all the characters involved in the growth and success of a neighborhood garden. Hoberman won the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) award for poetry in 2003. She has published over thirty books and won the National Book Award in 1978 for A House Is a House for Me. Whose Garden Is It?  is an example of her talent for writing concrete poetry in prose form. It is highly descriptive and rhythmic in its use of rhyme and alliteration. The characters’ voices are most appealing as readers are introduced to the predictable inhabitants of the garden as well as some critters that may not be as well known. The mood of the poem seems to change as characters defend why the garden is theirs. Illustrator Jane Dyer uses bright watercolor images to help develop the tone and personality of each character.

Highlighted Quotes from Poem:

“Not so!” sighed the worm. “Why, I make the soil fine, and that’s why I’m put here. This garden is mine!”

“It’s mine,” buzzed the honeybee. “You’re just a pest here. I pollinate flowers. It’s easy to see this garden would not even be without me!”

“It is mine,” smiled the sun, shining down on the tree. “I bring heat. I bring light. Nothing lives without me.”



Introduction/Activity:

1st grade: point of view/perspective

Before reading the book, ask students what they would expect to find in a garden. After sharing the entire book, re-read the above quotes to students. Ask students: How does each character help the garden to grow? Why do the characters feel that the garden belongs to them? Who is right?