My America: A Picture Book Exploration
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When I discovered the book: My America: A Poetry Atlas of the United States by Lee Bennett Hopkins, illustrated by Stephen Alcorn, I could not resist! Poetry and geography blending harmoniously together? Say no more, I was sold. The rich texts of the poems, the stunning illustrations. This is a beautiful book that belongs on all home library bookshelves. Let’s explore this lovely picture book, and our country.
My America: A Poetry Atlas of the United States by Lee Bennett Hopkins, illustrated by Stephen Alcorn
This book is structured in a unique way that I found very enticing. Instead of the usual state by state category, it has been divided in eight regions making it an even more interesting tour of the country. Each region is introduced through a beautifully painted map. The map highlights the states in that region with brighter colors than the other states surrounding the region. Following the map are some highlights about each state: the basics such as capital and motto but it also includes a “Great Fact”. These fascinating facts are a wonderful highlight. Then you enter the world of poetry with a poem for each state, beautifully illustrated.
A rabbit hole…
Well, I have done it again… I have followed the White Rabbit and it has led me down quite the artistic rabbit hole. I was researching Stephen Alcorn, the amazing illustrator for My America: A Poetry Atlas of the United States. His website The Alcorn Gallery is a treasure trove of stunning art work from prints to paintings. I also researched specifically how our picture book was illustrated and in the Artist’s Note at the very beginning of the book it says that: “The images were painted in casein on paper”. What in the world is “casein”? I wondered… Well… now I have a new painting medium to research and discover. It seems from my preliminary research that casein, also known as milk paint, offers the best of both watercolor paints and oil paints. And I am super excited about it as you can use casein on so many different surfaces. I wonder how well it would look on peg dolls… Here is the basic casein paint starter kit that I am looking at purchasing. I’ll keep you posted!
Why marry poetry to geography?
I personally think that all “subjects” are intertwined and should be taught simultaneously. Of course, some more time should be spent on specifics such as a poetry technique, vocabulary, etc… But in general, in real life, everything is multifaceted and does not remain neatly in its own box. This picture book accomplishes the blending of poetry and geography beautifully. Each state and region has its own uniqueness, even if it is a small everyday detail. Poetry is the perfect medium to bring that to life.
Penmanship
Poetry is one of these beautiful mediums that can be used in incredible ways. The words are usually beautiful to read and trigger in us a desire to put them on paper in a visually beautiful way. As I have stated before, encouraging beautiful penmanship in our children is not always easy. Poetry facilitates this by triggering the desire and the need for beautiful penmanship. It is ok to take your time to copy a poem, to really apply yourself. It is often a better form of copywork as it is usually shorter and the lines do not appear as long. Beautiful words should be written beautifully. They can also be used for dictation as the language is so rich.
In your own words
Poetry allows us to describe something in our own words and to bring out its object’s true beauty. Following the examples of the different poets included in the book, choose one thing about your state that you would like to write about. It could be anything from food to landscape. It just has to be something special to your state. Maybe writing it in prose, just to put your words on the page then working it out in verse might be a good way to do it. Play with it, enjoy the process, there is no need to be rigorous. This exercise is meant to show that poetry is accessible to all and can have any subject possible. It does not have to always be cheesy love poems ;).
Art
Poetry can be transcribed into art, painting, photography, you name it. But art can also be transcribed into poetry. Some of my children truly dislike writing poetry but love to draw or paint. Sometimes it is a battle worth fighting, but at other times it isn’t. I almost always give them the option to create an illustration instead of writing a poem. Unless we are specifically focused on poetry. Haikus are also a great way to write poetry. And somehow my children always think it’s a shortcut, but it really isn’t. Often, for the reluctant poet but avid artist, I require an illustrated haiku and it’s always a great combination.
Road trip
Frequently, when we have lived in the same place for a long time we forget to explore it the way we would a new area or a travel destination. I am completely guilty of this! I have lived 2 hours from Rocky Mountain National Park for almost 25 years and I have never set foot there! Shameful! But we have a plan and we will go explore the Park at the end of this month! Finally! So pull out the map of your region and through the different poems you have read, decide to go explore one new place, within your state or your region, before the end of the year. Where will you go?
Pages and Places
For an in depth literary and geographical exploration of our country check out Pages and Places, a free grand tour of the USA! Pages and Places is a simple but very complete curriculum for the whole family as it is easy to scale up or down depending on the ages you are learning with. It is an open-and-go way to travel through the USA, especially on the eve of America250! What a perfect opportunity to discover our fabulous country!
Tea Time
Celebrate your home state with a State-ly Tea Party! Bring everything you love about your state to the table from your own poems and illustrations to your state dessert! Play your state song and decorate simply with your state flag, you could write your state motto in calligraphy on place cards. Hang paintings or illustrations of your state bird, flower and tree. The possibilities are endless. But mainly enjoy this time together as a family, maybe wait for a Saturday or Sunday so Dad can participate as well. Create memories that you will cherish for a long time.
Booklists
The November booklists will be up and ready for you tomorrow, October 15th. November always evoques a dreary month calling for blankets, comfy fires, cups of hot cocoa and books. Lots and Lots of books. So treat yourself to A Daily Picture Book booklist and delight in one new picture book every day of the month! From fliers to artists, November is a beautiful birthday month. So many new to me picture books! It was a delight to get these booklists ready and I cannot wait to share all these new picture books with my kiddos! So blow, wind; fall, rain. We will be inside by a cozy fire making new friends.
Love,
Mattie
