Underneath My Bed: List Poems

Gr 2–5—With polish and wit, Cleary has come up with a title for educators, homeschoolers, and young poets on how to create and read a list poem. Clustered around topics that would be of interest to the elementary set, poems take on home, school, sports, and camp. The school-themed poems tackle subjects such as the lost and found and the school microwave. Jump rope skippers will appreciate the iambic beat of "Alison's a chatterbox. Ben is always crying./Chloe smells like chicken soup, and Dylan's often lying." The themes of the pieces on home and family include the discovery of forgotten and unusual items from under the bed, the glove box, and the pockets of cargo shorts. One poem, "Yellow," has an accompanying yellow illustration and the rhyme "Butterscotch and bumblebees,/ears of corn and mac and cheese." There are many embellishments on the poetic form, such as rhyming couplets, internal rhymes, and alliteration. This selection will have students writing list poems in no time. Cute, cartoon-style illustrations support the images within each poem.