Poetry Picture Book: There's No Place Like School

Title: There's No Place Like School
Author: Jack Prelutsky
Publication: 2010

This book of poetry is very unique and thoughtfully complied. Prelutsky took poems about school and compiled them into a youthful, fun poetry book for kids. He opens up the book with a poem on school buses, then talks about recess, music class, cafeteria lunch, etc. - anything that involves a normal day at school. Reading this book brought back memories of my youth and the great times I had at school. He chose poems about some of my favorite times of school, and I can imagine for other students too. He also included poems about things students question or don't like about school, for example, hating math and liking spelling, or why one has to do homework, etc.

Overall, I think this book would be great to use on the first day of school. It would help students get the jitters out about school and that school can be a combination of fun, excitement and nervousness. I think this book would be a great addition to a classroom library because it could be read during any time of the year and could relate to a student's situation at school. It is also very useful because the book takes ordinary experiences and shows poems about them. This could help students involved in writing workshops better understand how to write poetry about day to day situations or normal occurrences.

Lastly, this book is an easy read and would be good for students who are just being introduced to poetry. The poems aren't super intense like some of the other books I've read. The best part about them, too, is that they are fun to read. For example, "My work's all done. I gotta run. Two minutes until recess. Clock, hurry! Hands, scurry! One minute until recess. Brrrrrrring! Dash! Gone in a flash!" (Dakos, 12). This is something we all experienced waiting for the bell to ring for recess. This poem helps show students how to take one's feelings and put them into an interesting, lively, and fun poem!!