Dirty Laundry Pile: Poems in Different Voices

Bibliographic Information: Janeczko, P. B. (2001). Dirty laundry pile: Poems in different voices. New York, New York: Harper Collins Publishers.

Annotation: A collection of poems told from the creative viewpoint of household objects and their view of the world.

Genre: Poetry

Grade Level: K-3

Readers Who Will Like This Book: Readers of all ages. The humor and creative view of the objects telling a story is an unusual approach for poetry.

Personal Response and Rating: I rate this book a 3. The unique perspective of poems told with humor and from an object's point of view should appeal to a wider audience than some of the traditional poetry written in language not easily understood by a young audience.

Prereading Question: What household object would you be and why?

Reading Strategy Connection:

A. Reading Strategy - Journals; Double Journal

B. Description of Strategy - The student folds a piece of paper in half the long way and writes down a passage from the reading he or she found meaningful on the left side of the page. Directly opposite on the passage on the right side of the page the student records his or her response to the passage. For younger students, the teacher could record students' choices and their responses.

C. Rationale - Poetry is an excellent venue in which students can be challenged to reflect and try to relate to a perspective other than their own. The double journal allows students to pick something they feel is significant or has meaning to them and record a personal response to their chosen passage or idea.