Bibliography

Alarcon, Francisco X. Animal Poems of the Iguazu. Illus. by Maya Christina Gonzalez. San Francisco: Children’s Book Press, 2008. 978-0892392254

Review

Animal Poems of the Iguazu has poetry that displays both concrete and abstract meaning. “Better Fun” (Alarcon, p. 22) clearly describes people floating down a river on a tubing boat, while the “River Turtle” depicts the Southern Hemisphere being carried on the turtle’s back as an allusion to old myths that the Earth rode on the back of a turtle.

The poems contain short lines that usually each contain two to five syllables. Many poems have lines with differing lengths of syllables that contrast each other, yet allow the poem to easily flow. Although the poetry in Animal Poems of the Iguazu rarely display rhyme, there is a presence of repetition. An example of this is on pg. 9 in “Hummingbird” when Alarcon uses “flit, flit, flit” or “pick, pick, pick”. This poem also shows the use of the “fl” sound among words such as “flit”, “flowers”, and “flower-picking”.

Similes are in abundance throughout this lovely book of poetry. In ”Red Earth” the poet describes the Earth’s color “like ground dried chiles and peppers…like cinnamon and chocolate powder” (Alarcon, pg. 26). The ants on pg. 21 describe the tourists “like giant ants” creating an interesting contrast between busy humans and these insects (Alarcon). Not only are similes used to enhance these poems, but metaphors are created, as well. Butterflies are painted as “multicolored flowers of the air”, which creates an image of beautiful colors flowing through the sky (Alarcon, pg. 16).

Sense imagery is crucial to Alarcon’s poems in depicting the Iguazu clearly. Foods are used to describe animals such as the “papaya slices” for a toucan’s beak (Alarcon, pg. 6) and “cinnamon and chocolate powder” to describe the earth’s soil (pg. 26). Sound is an intense and startling element in “What a Pest!” when helicopters are described as “big mosquitos” by nesting birds (Alarcon, pg. 20). This puts human like objects into the perspective of an animal in a rainforest, as a huge mosquito would be quite annoying and terrifying to a human.

The poetry in this book truly creates an impact on the reader. The tone is light and cheerful when introducing many animals, but in the middle of the book the mood is overshadowed by the affects of humans on these animals’ habitats. The last few poems move away from animals’ opinions of humans in the Iguazu to more meaningful and powerful poems. I believe this book of poetry does a phenomenal job of bringing awareness to the Iguazu National Park and allowing people to understand and appreciate its natural beauty.

Poetry and Connection

Butterflies

We are

the multicolored

flowers of the air

(Alarcon, p. 16)

Take different colors of tissue paper. Fold in half, draw one side of the butterfly and cut it out. Once each child has a butterfly, have groups recite the poem and at the end toss their butterflies in the air and watch them flutter to the ground. Each group will take a turn reciting the poem and tossing their butterflies.