Module 14: Fold Me a Poem

Summary:
A young boy uses his imagination, a lot of brilliant, shiny papers, and a his oragami skills to create beautiful animals. The poems on each page highlight his creativeness and different uses for his oragami animals.

Bibliography:
George, K.O. (2005). Fold me a poem. Orlando: Harcourt.

Reviews:
Phelan, C. (2005, March 15). [Review of Fold Me a Poem]. The Booklist, Vol. 101, No. 14.
Gr. 1-3. From morning until night, a boy spends his day folding squares of colored paper into animals. The opening poem, "Origami,"follows the five-seven-five-syllable haiku form while defining the magic of the paper-folding art: "Square sheet of paper-- / folded, suddenly wakes up. / Good morning, Rooster."While many of the other poems have the terseness of haiku, they follow their own syllabic patterns. Each appears on a single page or a double-page spread along with a large-scale painting of the boy making his animals, playing with them, observing them, or, in one case, repairing them after a cat attack. In "Hungry"he comes to a realization: "All afternoon / the paper cows / have been eyeing / the green paper. Oh. / Grass!"Warm in colors and often large in scale, Stringer's acrylic paintings capture the world of the boy's imaginative play as well as the intricately folded paper figures that inspire and inhabit it. Unusual, handsome, and good for reading aloud.

My Impressions of the Book:
I love this book because it shows creativity at its best. There's no need to sit and watch television or play video games when one can create beautiful, artistic paper projects. I like how even a paper bag is used to create this paper art. The animals almost take on a life of their own and have personalities in this fun book. The poems are simple, yet descriptive.

Uses in a library:
This book would be great to read during poetry month. Students could even fold an oragami animal themselves. The project could be extended by having students write their own short poem that goes along with their oragami. Artwork and poetry could be displayed in the library.