A Stick Is An Excellent Thing: Poems Celebrating Outdoor Play (2012) - Plot & Excerpts
I read this poetry anthology as a memoir, filled with joyful poems about activities mostly outdoors that don’t often happen anymore, like playing jacks or hopscotch, at least not in my recent experience. I wish kids did play outside as much as the poems and illustrations show. Yet, there are joyful games that I hope some kids are playing, like double-dutch/jump rope, monkey in the middle/a basketball game, and playing hide-n-seek. The drawings are joyful depictions of each activity, placing the games in the neighborhoods as background. A favorite is about swinging, showing choices of “on your belly? On your seat?/Do you ask for a push?/Do you use your own feet?” And the book ends with a sweet poem about stargazing at day’s end. It would be great to read this aloud, and let the students write about a memory and draw a picture of that same memory. Sometimes with the allure of indoor games, it seems that playing outdoors is a thing of the past, and these 18 poems serve as a reminder of just how much fun those outdoor games can be. All it takes is a little imagination and a simple object or two, and youngsters may enjoy playing catch, jacks, jumping rope, or even rolling down a grassy hill. My favorite poem was the title poem "A Stick Is an Excellent Thing" because it points out all the possible uses for the perfect stick you might find and use in imaginative play. The pencil and ink illustrations have been colored digitally, and all of them show boys and girls--and even an adult or two--enjoying outdoor play.
What do You think about A Stick Is An Excellent Thing: Poems Celebrating Outdoor Play (2012)?
This book made me what to run outside and play! So many fun play ideas for kids and adults alike.
—HD12345
What a fun book of poetry to celebrate outdoor play! Makes me want to jump off some swings.
—melqhii
