A journey through America in poems

Siebert, D. (2006). Tour America: A journey through poems and art. San Francisco: Chronicle Books.

         The poetry book Tour America: A Journey Through Poems and Art is a very unique collection of poems.  It is in a picture book format, with one or two poems per spread.  Each poem is the name of a city in the United States or a famous landmark in that city.  The poems, written by Diane Siebert, tell lots of interesting facts about the city or landmark.  Some describe what they look like, some tell the history of the place, and some evoke a feeling that you would get in each of the places.  Stephen T. Johnson illustrates the poems; he uses a true variety of media and styles to create the unique illustrations for each poem.

         This book would be good to use when teaching about different types of poetry.  The poems throughout the book contain many different elements of poetry. Most of the poems rhyme, but there are more elements that can be taught with each poem.  One of the first poems in the book is “Lucy the Elephant,” which is about the 90-ton elephant structure in Margate (near Atlantic City), New Jersey.  This poem intrigued me because I’ve actually been to see Lucy!  It was really neat to see her immortalized in print.  This poem is a lyric poem – it captures the scene of tourists visiting Lucy and is very descriptive.  “Lucy the Elephant” rhymes in a pattern of every other line in the stanza rhymes.  The artwork for this poem is watercolor and graphite pencil on paper.  It looks whimsical and you can tell it is watercolor when looking at it.  This would be a good example to show students of watercolor artwork.

Here is me and my sister in front of Lucy!

         The poem “Gargoyles” describes the water features on top of New York City’s tall buildings.  It is written in quatrains, with four lines of poetry in each stanza.  Like in “Lucy the Elephant,” every other line rhymes in “Gargoyles.”  Additionally, this is a great example of personification.  The gargoyles in the title are personified – they “see Times Square,” “hear the Philharmonic,” and “dream of Broadway.”  Johnson’s artwork is a mixture of photography and a digital collage.  It contains bright colors that pop off the page.  Another poem that includes personification is “Mount Saint Helens,” which personifies the volcano in Washington State.  This poem calls Mount Saint Helens a “sleeping lady.”  “Mount Saint Helens” also uses the element of onomatopoeia.  Words such as “KER-PLOW” and “KA-BOOM” show onomatopoeia.

         Two of the poems in this collection have interesting rhyming patterns.  “Mount Washington” has four lines in each stanza and the poem contains four stanzas.  Lines 1, 2, and 3 in each stanza rhyme.  The fourth line of each stanza rhymes with the other stanzas’ fourth line.  “The El,” about the elevated railroad in Chicago, has a rhyming pattern of lines 1 and 2 rhyming, lines 4 and 5 rhyming, and lines 3 and 6 rhyming.  The rhythm of “The El” gives the poem a fast and quick pace, mirroring the movement of the El in Chicago.  The artwork of “The El” is ripped paper collage.  It is made up of pictures of Chicago and souvenirs you would get from Chicago.

         Tour America takes the reader to unique places while giving examples of different forms and elements of poetry.  “Niagara Falls” is a poem that does NOT rhyme.  It is a free verse poem, and could almost be considered a concrete poem, since it looks like it is in the shape of the waterfalls that the poem describes.  “Badlands” gives an example of alliteration, where initial consonant sounds are heard the same line of poetry.  Examples of this are: “winds that whistle from the west,” “gush as gullies grow,” and “buttes and basins slowly born.”  This poem is also an example of repetition, as the first and last stanza in “Badlands” is the same.  “Roswell” is an example of a narrative poem, as it tells the story of the rumored alien crashes in the 1940s.  One that students in Kentucky will enjoy is “The Kentucky Derby.”  This is also a narrative poem.  It tells the story of the most exciting two minutes in sports.  Students who have ever watched the Derby on TV or in person will be able to make text-to-self connections about the Derby.

         As stated throughout this blog, there is a variety of artwork included in this collection.  “Old Faithful” is an oil painting with visible brushstrokes.  “Mount Rushmore” is a graphite and white crayon drawing of the mountain.  It is very recognizable as Mount Rushmore, but upon closer examination the reader can see the details that show it is a drawing.  “Roswell” takes a digital photograph and enhances it with pastels.  The artwork for “Las Vegas” is one of my favorites in the book.  It is a digital collage whose busyness embodies the spirit of Las Vegas.  It uses images of some of the iconic casinos from Las Vegas’ past.  It is very impressive that Johnson created all this different artwork.

         I don’t have any BIG QUESTIONS for this poetry book, but I do have a suggestion of how to incorporate the poems in this collection throughout your instruction.  As you teach about different regions and areas of the United States, you could select a poem about that region to share with students.  This poetry is a great resource to use with students to help them visualize these unique places in our country.