Synopsis "Bird Guy: Wally Karr's Poems about Birds"
In his new anthology of poems for young adolescents in the Middle Years of school, David Booth creates images and stories of the mystical yet natural world of birds. In his writings, these winged creatures, large and small, leave the pages and appear on nearby branches, window sills, parking lots, and feeders, sometimes filling the skies and the dreams of prowling cats everywhere. Using a variety of poetic forms, Booth paints his word pictures with detail and whimsy, sadness and delight, and represents the ecological power of these feathered beings. The sketches by Maya Ishiura, illuminate the poems, and remind us of the complexity of capturing the momentary magic inherent in spotting these freed-from-earth creatures. Perhaps as they read, young people will recognize that they, too, are part of these poems, that their responses may reveal their own attitudes and feelings about life's issues, generated by the feathered words flying by. We stare in wonder at these dozens of birds pictured in the poems, until we realize that others of them may be listening, just outside the window. This anthology, part poems, part science, part memoir, tells the story of Wally Karr, an ninth-grade student, who had to create a year-long integrated unit for his science teacher, Mr. Moore. Wally was encouraged to spend his year observing actual birds as a bird watcher would, and to record his observations as poems. You will come to recognize Wally's passion for both birds and poetry, his unique attitude, and his talent, all under the watchful eye of the bird master, his teacher W. H. Moore, and all through the poems he has written. The author, David Booth, has crafted his poems and narratives in the voice of a ninth-grade student, and readers will discover valuable information about the world of birds, alongside discovering Wally's own world. As well, the sketches by Maya Ishimura add a feathered personality to each bird depicted. Readers will find ideas and styles in these poems to support their own writings about topics that interest them. This book weaves together information about many birds, both familiar and strange, along with a variety of poetic structures that will work as mentor texts for writing. Seventh, eighth and ninth grade adolescents will recognize their own school lives in Wally Karr's observations about his year-long school project, and connect to the emotional revelations that emerge about his personal world at school and at home. This book may motivate young people to begin to notice their natural surroundings, especially in urban environments, and to consider the implications of our treatment of this natural resource in an always changing world.
