Sidman, Joyce. THIS IS JUST TO SAY: POEMS OF APOLOGY AND
FORGIVENESS. Ill. by Pamela Zagarenski. Boston: Houghton Miffin
Company, 2007. ISBN 0618616802
THIS IS JUST TO SAY is an
imaginative poetry collection picture book about apologizing and
asking for forgiveness. The anthology is
cleverly divided into two parts, with the first half filled with poems that
express apologies and the second half including responses to each poem in part
one. The poems are authored by the
fictitious sixth grade class of Mrs. Merz and cover a range of topics that beg
forgiveness, such as accidently killing the class lizard, secretly loving a
fellow classmate and feeling remorseful for making fun of the teacher’s dress.
Joyce Sidman succeeds at
capturing the voices of an entire sixth grade class through her collection of
creative, short poems. Each page takes
on a new personality of different students, adults and even animals in the
book. Sidman’s anthology varies in
rhythm, sometimes flowing elegantly through a kind reprieve, such as the case
in “To the Girl Who Rubs My Nose.” Here,
the lucky stone statue on campus comforts a worried student, expressing “I was
a child like you. I used to run, I used to play/Now I am old, and cold,/and
frozen on my pedestal.” Other times,
Sidman uses a quicker rhythm, such as in “I Got Carried Away.” The series of descriptive words in this poem
connate the young author’s casual apology for playing too tough in dodge ball,
as he describes “Kids screaming and ducking/Coach bellowing/all those red
rubber balls/thumping like heartbeats/against the walls and ceiling.”
THIS IS JUST TO SAY will
also have an emotional impact on readers, who will feel the fear and sorrow of
a young boy who struggles with the decision of putting his dog to sleep. Sidman’s descriptive language in “It Was
Quiet” creates the image of a child feeling his beloved pet’s fur between his
fingers while the machines in the vet hospital slowly quiet their beeping. In “For Little Ruth,” Sidman evokes the
nostalgia and regret a mother feels for her grown daughter, who is no longer
the little girl that boisterously ran around the house, breaking crystal
figurines. Figurative language is
scattered throughout the collection of poems, with similes and repetition being
used frequently to create vivid and meaningful imagery.
Illustrator Pamela
Zagarenski enriches this poetry anthology with her whimsical mixed media
pictures. Through the use of paper,
canvas, wood and computer graphics, Zagarenski creates delicate collages on
each page that look as if the young students in the book cut and pasted them
into their own handmade poetry scrapbook. The
illustrations are colorful and quirky, portraying images such as an angel dog sketched
lovingly on a sheet of loose-leaf paper, two tumbling boys cut out of newspaper
scraps, and a forgiving teacher floating across the page on the clouds in her
dress. Zagarenski’s illustrations are
magical on the pages, perfectly complimenting the voices of each young poet and adding a special detail to the collection of poems. Additionally, THIS IS JUST TO SAY is printed
in a variety of fonts that also help express the emotion of each poem. Some poems are shown in a curvy handwriting
font, such as Lamar’s “Little Brother”, who writes his response by hand to his
younger brother. Others are printed in
dark block letters that fly across the page, such as the quick poem “Dodge Ball
Crazy,” in which a student scarcely has time to stop and write his apology.
THIS IS JUST TO SAY is an
enchanting collection of poetry for children and young adults. The book’s creative poems and pictures will
captivate students, while its message of forgiveness and compassion will stick
with them long after they put the book down.
SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL writes, “Sidman’s ear is keen, capturing many
voices. Her skill as a poet accessible
to young people is unmatched.” BOOK PAGE
notes the book as “original and entertaining,” while PUBLISHER’S WEEKLY
describes it as a “humorous and touching anthology.”
Awards and Honors for THIS
IS JUST TO SAY:
Claudia Lewis Poetry
Award
Cybils Poetry Award
Lee Bennett Hopkins
Poetry Award Honor Book
SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL
Best Book of the Year
NEW YOUR PUBLIC LIBRARY’S
“100 Titles for Reading and Sharing”
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Teachers and students
using THIS IS JUST TO SAY in their classroom or library will enjoy poet Joyce
Sidman’s website at http://joycesidman.com. Here, they can find a play adaptation for this
poetry collection and writing advice from Mrs. Merz’s class. The book can also be used to study figurative
language, such as similes. Students can
look for examples of similes in the poems and write their own descriptive poetry
using comparisons.
Other similar poetry
anthologies:
FORGIVE ME, I MEANT TO DO
IT, By Gail Carson Levine, ISBN 0061787256
BOOKSPEAK! POEMS ABOUT
BOOKS, By Laura Purdie Salas, Illustrated by Josee Bisaillon, ISBN 0547223005
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