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I Must Go Down to the Beach Again
Product Code: 91431 ISBN: 978-1-58089-143-1 Binding Information: Hardcover Ages: 8 - 11 Grade Highest: 6th Grade Lowest: 3rd Availability: In stock. Price: $14.95 Author Karen Jo Shapiro has taken 23 classic poems and given them a twist. Kid -friendly parodies of works by Blake, Shakespeare, Dickinson, Poe, and others will spark the imagination and tickle the funny bone of young and old alike.
Back matter includes a list of original poets, dates of publication, and author notes.  Congratulations fo the winners of the I Must Go Down to the Beach Again poetry contest! 1st Place: "Sweet Nightmares" by Rachel, grade 4 2nd Place: "Wilow Women" by Lucy, grade 6 3rd Place: "Boy" by Cécé , grade 5 Read your poems: Download an Honorable Mention Certificate. Listen to Karen Jo read from I Must Go Down to the Beach Again. Have fun with these activities: If you like this book, you'll like: Also Available As:
Binding Information: Paperback
ISBN: 978-1-58089-144-8 Availability: In stock. Price: $5.95 Reviews Kirkus Reviews - December 18, 2006
Shapiro follows up Because I Could Not Stop My Bike, and Other Poems (2003), illustrated by Matt Faulkner, with 23 more ingenious takeoffs on works from Emily Dickinson and similar renowned poets. Paying due homage to the originals with citations on the page and endnotes too, she artfully commandeers phrases and rhythms while steering the actual topics in wildly different directions. She transforms Poe's "The Bells," for instance, to "The Smells": "Use your nose and find the smells! / All the smells! / What a lot of different things your sniffing nose foretells!" Not all the entries are satirical, but Shapiro's at her best when poking fun, whether she's riffing on Blake's "Sick Love" ("Oh, Tummy -- you are sick! / I ate too much / of ice cream on a stick."), Lord Byron ("So, our noses we'll be blowing") or even Stevenson's "Requiem": "Under a polka-dotted sheet." Love's monochrome ink-and-wash illustrations feature a multi-racial cast of children in various forms of travail or postures of reverie, along with the occasional stinky sponge, spattered pet or interested-looking bird. Read these aloud, either just for fun or to add decidedly different angles to a poetry unit.
School Library Journal - February 1, 2007
Shapiro offers parodies of 23 classic British and American poems. In her introductory note, she states that “…though parodies are often written to make fun of something, these poems spring from deep respect.” It is clear in reading her selections that the author knows the sources through and through and that she is quite a good poet in her own right. She parallels John Masefield’s “Sea-Fever” with the verse: “I must go down to the beach again, where there’s water,/sand, and sky,/And all I ask is my red toy boat with a string to pull it by…,” matching rhyme and rhythm, if not tone. Love’s black-and-white pen-and-ink drawings underscore the humor in each selection. The book is a gold mine for teachers wanting to illustrate command of certain poetic elements, and Shapiro’s endnotes on her choice of poets and poems are most thoughtful. The only thing that would have strengthened the book’s usefulness, and underscored Shapiro’s clever wordplay, would be the inclusion of the original poems. A book to read again and again, hopefully with copies of the classic versions close by.
Booklist - February 15, 2007
Adults who remember the original poems well enough to appreciate the light parodies may be the prime audience for this collection of 23 illustrated verses. But some kids will like the silliness, and with adult encouragement, may want to find the originals. Whether it's the take on Lord Byron's "So We'll Go No More A-Roving" ("So our noses we'll be blowing / And we'll cough until we wheeze"), or the parody of Ben Johnson's "Song, to Cecilia" ("Kick at me only with your feet, / And I will start to whine"), the singing rhythms and rhymes show the fun of poetry, especially when the verses are read aloud. The favorite may be "Soccer Land," an action -packed poem about a ball game, based on a song from A Midsummer Night's Dream The black-and-white illustrations extend the nonsense.
The Midwest Book Review - July 1, 2007
Nicely enhanced with occasional black-and-white illustrations by Judy Love, "I Must Go Down To The Beach Again And Other Poems" is a compilation of very highly recommended and entertaining verse by Karen Jo Shapiro characterized by storytelling, whimsey, humor, and themes that every child can recognize and appreciate. Of special note are the little homages (each of which begins 'With apologies to') citiing the established poet and the poem used as a rhythmic template for Karen Jo Shapiro's delightful effort. 'About My Baby Sister' - With apologies to George Gordon, Lord Byron ("She Walks in Beauty"): She wakes up crying in the night,/ Which keeps us all up very late./ She screams for milk with all her might,/ Then spits up everything she ate./ Her diapers are a messy sight--/ So why does Mom insist she's great?
Library Media Connection - October 1, 2007
The 23 poems in this book describe disaster or triumph-with a chuckle. There are disasters: the dog eats a green magic-marker; baby sister screams every night; the writer has the "rotten, lousy flu." And there are triumphs: making a goal in soccer; eating dad's pancakes; having fun at the each. Judy Love's pen and ink drawings add emotion and wit to the narratives. Karen Jo Shapiro parodies lines from 23 classic poems by well-known writers, including Shakespeare, Longfellow, Dickinson, Poe, and John Masefield (as in the title poem). The author's notes list the poems whose lines inspired her and why she picked them, but does not quote the originals. Despite that omission, the book stands on its own as an inviting collection of poems for elementary children to borrow or have read aloud. The technique of writing a poem, based on someone else's, might inspire some creative writing classes.
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