Poetry

 

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Brown, Calef. 2006. FLAMINGOS ON THE ROOF: POEMS AND PAINTINGS. Ill. by  Calef Brown. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Company. ISBN: 0618562982

PLOT SUMMARY
This book is filled with poem after poem about unusual, off-the-wall topics. This book will fill young children with delight. Where most children listen for reindeer on their roofs during Christmas time in Brown’s world children hear flamingos on their roofs in December. 

  
CRITICAL ANALYSIS
 The book is an individual poet compilation. There is no theme for the book other than that all of the poems are silly and funny. I find the poems to be every unique such as the poem “Ten-Cent Haiku” I have never read a poem inside of a poem. I also like this poem because it introduces children to a different type of poem. Most children have never heard of a haiku, I know that I did not learn about haikus until I was a student in high school. Brown uses creative language in which the reader uses to build images within the audience’s mind. This is apparent in the poem “Weatherbee’s Diner” this poem is about a diner that serves not food but dishes made from the weather, “The thunder is wonderful, order it loud/with sun-dried tornado on top of a cloud”. I can picture these dishes in my mind and I know that children will too especially at the thought of ordering weather to eat.      

The illustrations are kooky and some of the pictures remind me of the work of Picasso. For me the most interesting depiction is that of the allicatter and the gatorpillar. I think that young children will enjoy the thought of an alligator that is a caterpillar that then turns into a butterfly.   

REVIEW EXCERPT(S)
“…The author's strong command of poetic form and his way with words make creating nonsense rhyme look effortless. Full-page, flat acrylic illustrations, most painted in harmonious jewel tones, face single-toned pages of text in a variety of colors. The style is abstract with a folk-art quality, often cartoonish, and always whimsical. The characters have humorous, stylized features and varied skin tones, ranging from pale blue to light green to burnt umber. Packed with amusing details, the paintings consistently expand upon the text….” – School Library Journal

“….Words and pictures manage to be both clear and weird, an enjoyable mix.” - Booklist

Honors

New York Times #1 Best Seller In Children’s Picture Books
Winner of the Myra Cohn Livingston Award for Poetry
A 2007 Children’s Book Council Choice

CONNECTIONS

Read the poems aloud to children and, then have the children write their own zany poems with illustrations that they have drawn to accompany the poems .

Flamingos on the Roof

Hallowilloween: Nefarious Silliness

Calef Brown