"Science Verse" by Jon Scieszka, Illustrated by Lane Smith

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Bibliographic Citation

Title: Science Verse

Author: Jon Scieszka

Illustrator: Lane Smith

Year of Publication: 2004

Publisher City: New York

Publisher: Viking Books

ISBN: 0670910570

Author Website: http://www.jsworldwide.com/

Illustrator Website: http://www.lanesmithbooks.com/LaneSmithBooks/Lane_Smith_Books.html

Media Used for Artwork: Collage, Oil and Acrylic Paint

My Top 10 Favorite Picturebooks for Older Readers

Awards

·         Golden Duck Award Picture Book Winner, 2005

·         Parent’s Choice Award Non-fiction, 2004

·         American Library Association’s Notable Children’s Book, 2005

Annotation

 A student is cursed by his science teacher to see the poetry in science.  Each poem teaches a different aspect of science, often times using the rhythm of well known poems.

Personal Reaction

                This picture book is a collection of poems that relates to different aspects of science, from evolution to the Big Bang.  The character becomes obsessed with finding the “poetry of science in everything” and begins to think in rhymes and stanzas.  Scieszka did a very creative job of finding ways to teach what could be a very difficult subject.  This book is good for older readers who are beginning to take more advanced science classes in school and need help memorizing.  The use of popular songs and poems that most readers would know allows for easy memorization.  For example, the poem “Scientific Method At The Bat” would be a very usefully poem to teach student’s about the scientific method and the different steps.

                The character of the story not only thinks about poems of science but also becomes involved in each poem.  His skinny body and rounded head (similar to “Hey Arnold”) pops up in every scene, showing the all encompassing nature of the teacher’s words.  Smith’s artwork is amazing.  There are so many layers and textures.  He worked and made an effort to make the image work layer by layer.  There are also changes in style, so each one works well with the corresponding poem.  Like the layered collage monster from “Gobblegooky” and the Picasso-inspired illustration from “The Senseless Lab of Professor Revere.”

Curriculum: Several of these poems can be taken from the book to use in the curriculum of several grades.  From teaching about the parts of the human body to understanding how the food chain works.

Grade 6: Students in this grade begin to learn about the steps of experimenting in science from asking a question, making a hypothesis, to making a conclusion.  The poem, “Scientific Method at the Bat,” would be useful for a science teacher to use when teaching the steps of the scientific method.  Using the poem will make it easier for students to remember; especially when they conduct they’re first lab experiment in class.

Use of Rhyme: Several of the poems use rhymes, making them easy to remember.

Example from “Lovely:”

“I think that I ain’t never seen

A poem ugly as a spleen.”

Use of Rhythm:  Rhythm is easy to create in this picture book.  Scieszka has used the basic bones of famous poems that any reader will already know, such as “A Visit from St. Nicholas,” “The Raven,” and “Paul Revere’s Ride.”  Knowing the rhythm of these famous poems makes the poems written by Scieszka easy to recite, knowing the different beats.

Example from “The Senseless Lab of Professor Revere:”

“Listen, my children, and you shall hear,

Of how loud noises go in your ear.”