Module 5-Hopkins Award Poetry/LS 5663-20

Florian,Douglas. Beast Feast. New York: Scholastic, Inc., 1994. ISBN 0-590-13158-3
What is the animal that you like the most? Which animal scares you? These are the questions that triggers responses of excitement, fear and fascination. Douglas Florian has created fun and exciting poems about several feared “beasts” .
This book was the recipient of the Lee Bennett Hopkins Award. The criteria for winning this award is that it must be accessible to children and its presentation must serve the poems in an attractive and appropriate manner. Beastfeast was the recipient of the Lee Bennett Hopkins Award in 1995.
Each of the poems are appealing to children and are full of fascinating and interesting details. The details included in each of the poems will stimulate the emotions felt when reading about or even seeing the animals featured in the book. Students will want to share information about each animal and most students will have a story or two to share gleaned from a show on television or on the computer. This book could be used in conjunction with many different areas of thematic study, such as the rainforest, a study of bugs, or a study of ocean animals.
Each of the poems are consistently high in quality and reinforce the purpose of allowing the reader to view the animals in a more meaningful way. The poet uses very descriptive language and students may be encouraged to expand their vocabulary after reading the poem. In the following poem, a lobster is described as an underwater mobster with two claws to catch and crush.
The Lobster
See the hard-shelled
Leggy lobster
Like an underwater
Mobster
With two claws
To catch and crush
Worms and mollusks
Into mush
And antennae
Long and thick
Used for striking
Like a stick.
So be careful
On vacation
Not to step on
This crustacean.
I would use this poem when studying a thematic unit on the Ocean and Marine Life. Students are fascinated by animals that are unique. As an extension for this activity, I would have students view pictures of lobsters and other crustaceans. After viewing the pictures, I would have the class brainstorm describing words. Depending on the grade level of the students , the class could create an acrostic poem for different crustaceans or create a poem similar to ones written by Douglas Florian.