Joyce Sidman's "This Is Just to Say Poems of Apology and Forgiveness"

1.   BIBLIOGRAPHY

Sidman, Joyce. 2007. This Is Just to Say Poems of Apology and Forgiveness. Ill. by Pamela Zagarenski. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. ISBN 978-0-618-61680-0

2.  PLOT SUMMARY

 In this book of poetry, Joyce Sidman, has compiled poems from “students,” inspired by the great Williams Carlos Williams’s poem, This Is Just to Say. There are two parts to the book, part one and part two,  part I is the Apologies section, part II is the Responses to the Apology Poems. The poems throughout the book are incredibly witty, funny, emotional and profoundly relevant to students. The poems express and capture the message in a kid-friendly format.

3.  CRITICAL ANALYSIS

The format and layout of the poems that Sidman wrote, were very visually appealing. The illustrations done by Pamela Zagarenski go hand in hand, and assist in telling the poems’ stories. The illustrations in the book are appropriate for the age demographic which would be elementary students. Zagarenski’s illustrations are colorful, childlike and theatrical and compliment the poems in a creative aspect.

The introduction of the book was done by a character from the “class” and was rich in background history as to how the book came to be and its purpose. The poems really do play of from Williams Carlos Williams’s poem, and its thematic coherency is seen and evident throughout the book; the Apologies and Responses sections work very well together.

4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)

School Library Journal starred review: “Sidman’s ear is keen, capturing many voices. Her skill as a poet is accessible to young people is unmatched…”

Goodreads starred review: “In haiku, pantoums, two-part poems, snippets, and rhymes, Mrs. Merz’s class writes of crushes, overbearing parents, loving and losing pets, and more. Some poets are deeply sorry; some not at all some are forgiven; some are not. In each pair of poems a relationship, a connection, is revealed.”

5. CONNECTIONS

This Poetry Book can be used to introduce poetry, and students can use it as a foundation and guide on how to compose an apology poem, just like the great poets. The poems can have a thematic unit to make it more meaningful and can be displayed in the school’s library to promote Poetry!

Other engaging books with similar theme are:

Florian, Douglas. Comets, Stars, the Moon, and Mars: Space Poems and Paintings. ISBN 978-0152053727

Janeczko, Paul B. A Kick in the Head. An Everyday Guide to Poetic Forms. ISBN 978-0763606626