Color Me A Rhyme

Abstract Poetic styling


Yolen, Jane. Color me a rhyme : nature poems for young people. / Wordsong/Boyds Mill Press, 2003.

Photographs: Jason Stemple.

ISBN-13: 978-1-59078-172-2

Poetry Review:
Jane Yolen first began writing poetry long before her career hit as a children's writer. And in this collection of poetry based on colors, Yolen explores the color of Mother Nature and the expression of colors created. Describing a color as "green" is just not enough, as there are many varying changes in tone and texture to describe a simple leaf as "green." These poems use many of the figurative languages to correlate to color in nature to send the reader on a journey through sight, sound, smell, and even taste. These poems describe colors and their richness of the world we live in, clear and clean.

Poetry Excerpt:"White"
A star fell from the sky one night
And landed in the forest, white
Against the green of a leaf and vine.
The star, through fallen, still was bright;
It cast its reel of brilliant light
The dark woods to entwine.

Moral:
If you should fall from such a height,
Do not despair about your plight,
Just rise-
and shine.

"Its fleece was white as snow...." - Mother Goose

color wheel: chalk, pearl alabaster, snow, bone

Poem Introduction to Children:
I find most children love colors and this would be a great book to review/introduce students to the color wheel of nature. As you begin reading this book, have color names mentioned in the book readily available for viewing and the names. We always try to teach students to use "colorful" words when writing, so having the names of colors related to the designated color will help. Depending upon ages you could have students write additional words using a thesaurus, students could tell you what color they think they are, or even their favorite color and the meaning behind these colors, that is always fun to do.