Giant Children/MODULE 6/ FREE CHOICE POETRY

Broad Bagert Illustrated by Tedd Arnold.2002. Giant Children. New York. Dial Books for Young Readers. ISBN 0-8037-2556-6.

Giant Children is written by Brod Bagert and illustrated by Tedd Arnold.  Children will love reading these poems; they are based around the peculiar things that will happen at school and to children. The classroom hamster opens this poetry collection when he sees the children as giants.  I am sure the children always look like giants coming from a little hamster’s point of view. The poems all flow along in an enjoyable rhyme, touching on subjects that appeal to younger children.  There is a chocolate mania, monster trucks, a ball game in space, and a dinosaur canary. There is even one poem that comes with a warning that it should never be recited to grown-ups, which will automatically make any child want to read it. 

All these poems have meaning to children as they can relate to the feelings and subjects that the poems are written about.  The rhythm and sound of these poems make them just flow off of your tongue and makes them great read alouds for everyone.  Certain poems will stimulate emotions such as sibling fights, pets, and the tooth fairy.  These poems will defiantly stimulate imagination of all children.  They can picture themselves as giants or imagine playing ball in space.  There is one poem per page accompanied by wonderful illustrations done by Tedd Arnold.  Tedd Arnold is an amazing and famous artist that children love to see.  His bug-eyed characters done in watercolor and colored pencils bring all these poems to life and raise children’s imagination to a whole new level.  These illustrations accentuate the humor in the poems. 

These poems are age appropriate for the intended audience and children will want to read them over and over again.  They represent a variety of moods, from happy to mad.  These poems are not at all sentimental but will have children rolling on the ground with laughter through the entire book. 

The poem that I am sharing with you is the first one in the book.  It was so funny reading this poem from the hamster’s point of view.  The one thing that really makes this poem is the illustrations so I hope that all of you will get a chance to look at this book and see the illustrations in it.                     

GIANT CHILDREN

Psst! Listen very closely,

There’s something you should know.

It’s all about a giant school

Where giant children go.

Pages turn at giant speed

As giant children learn to read.

And giant brains are really quick

When working on arithmetic. 

They pound the beat on giant drums

And finger paint with giant thumbs,

Sing giant songs with giant lips

And boogie-dance with giant hips. 

Giant shoes on giant feet

And giant giggles when they meet.

I watch them hour after hour,

Giant kids with giant power. 

I’m just the classroom hamster

But I promise you it’s true-

This is the school where giants go,

And the giant kids are YOU. 

Classroom/Library Connection

Recommended audience: Ages 4-8

Before reading: Before reading this poem I will have the children draw the silliest thing they can think of.  Ask them what inspired them to draw and how did they come up with that idea.      

During reading: I would read the poem slowly so they can truly appreciate the poem and notice the rhyming and see if they can tell who is actually telling the story…(the hamster).    

Reread the poem: I would then discuss the poem with them and we would talk about all the silly things that happened in this poem.  We would discuss what it would be like if we were giants and how school would look to us.    

After reading: I will have each child draw a picture of them as a giant and what they would be doing if they could be a giant for one day.