A Kick in the Head: An Everyday Guide to Poetic Forms

The creators of A Poke in the I give poetry a new kick!

Please
Open this book for something
Extraordinary.
Twenty-nine different poetic forms await you
Inside these pages. How many
Can you master?

From sonnets to double dactyls,
Odes to limericks —
Raschka and Janeczko (and a frisky mule)
Make learning the rules of poetry
So much fun!

In this splendid and playful volume, acclaimed poetry anthologist Paul B. Janeczko and Caldecott Honor illustrator Chris Raschka present lively examples of twenty-nine poetic forms, demonstrating not only the (sometimes bendable) rules of poetry, but also the spirit that brings these forms so wonderfully to life. Featuring formal poems, some familiar and some never before published, from the likes of Eleanor Farjeon (aubade), X. J. Kennedy (elegy), Ogden Nash (couplet), Liz Rosenberg (pantoum), and William Shakespeare, the sonnet king himself, A Kick in the Head perfectly illustrates Robert Frost's maxim that poetry without rules is like a tennis match without a net.

From the simplest couplet to the mind-boggling pantoum, the award-winning team behind A Poke in the I shows us the many fascinating ways poetic forms take shape.

"Janeczko and Raschka, on the heels of A Poke in the I, explain and sometimes bend the rules of 29 poetic forms, taking their title from a concrete poem of a stick figure punting a ball ('poetry jumpstarts my imagination.... poetry gives me a kick in the head'). By way of introduction, Janeczko asks, 'Why 17 syllables in a haiku?,' then points out the pleasurable rigors of poetic exercise: 'Can you do a good job within these limits?' The pages demonstrate compact forms like the couplet, tercet and quatrain, and proceed to the more complex roundel, triolet, villanelle (basically 'five tercets followed by a quatrain') and pantoum (a set of quatrains where, in the final stanza, 'lines 2 and 4 repeat lines 3 and 1 of the opening stanza. Whew!'). Janeczko emphasizes play, and gives definitions in unintimidating, perhaps too tiny gray print; his approachable examples range from an Edward Lear limerick and Shakespeare's 12th sonnet to an 'Ode to Pablo's Tennis Shoes' by Gary Soto and a comic epitaph by J. Patrick Lewis. Raschka marks each form with a witty icon: stacked rows of tulips (haiku, tanka), a bouncing ball (limerick), an urn (ode), a guitar (ballad). His multimedia collages feature fibrous, fuzzy-edged origami paper on a clean white ground; his sensuous brushwork alludes to Zen calligraphy, while his poppy reds, jade greens and brilliant yellows recall kimono designs or Matisse's tropical palette. Janeczko's disciplined but accessible examples, plus Raschka's spirited Asian-inspired images, add oomph to this joyful poetry lesson, sure to be welcomed by teachers and aspiring poets everywhere. Ages 8-11." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

In this splendid and playful volume, acclaimed poetry anthologist Paul B. Janeczko and Caldecott Honor illustrator Chris Raschka present lively examples of twenty-nine poetic forms, demonstrating not only the (sometimes bendable) rules of poetry, but also the spirit that brings these forms so wonderfully to life. Featuring formal poems, some familiar and some never before published, from the likes of Eleanor Farjeon (aubade), X.J. Kennedy (elegy), Ogden Nash (couplet), Liz Rosenberg (pantoum) and William Shakespeare, the sonnet king himself, A Kick in the Head perfectly illustrates Robert Frost's maxim that poetry without rules is like a tennis match without a net.

Acclaimed poetry anthologist Janeczko and Caldecott Honor illustrator Raschka present lively examples of 29 poetic forms, demonstrating not only the (sometimes bendable) rules of poetry, but also the spirit that brings these forms so wonderfully to life.

Paul B. Janeczko is a poet and teacher and has edited more than twenty award-winning poetry anthologies for young people, including STONE BENCH IN AN EMPTY PARK, LOOKING FOR YOUR NAME, SEEING THE BLUE BETWEEN, and A POKE IN THE I, which was an American Library Association Notable Book.

Chris Raschka is the illustrator of more than twenty highly praised books for children, including YO! YES?, a Caldecott Honor Book; CHARLIE PARKER PLAYED BE BOP; I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE; A CHILD'S CHRISTMAS IN WALES; and, of course, A POKE IN THE I, which was a NEW YORK TIMES Best Illustrated Book.