Module 1: Hopkins Collection

Module 1: Hopkins Collection

I Remember: Poems and Pictures of Heritage

Ivana Marmolejo

Bibliography 

Hopkins, Lee Bennett, Kwame Alexander, Jorge Argueta, Joseph Bruchac, Nick Bruel, Margarita Engle, Douglas Florian, et al. I Remember: Poems and Pictures of Heritage. New York: Lee & Low Books Inc., 2019. ISBN: 9781620143117

Summary 

I Remember: Poems and Pictures of Heritage is an anthology of poems compiled by Lee Bennett Hopkins in 2019. The book includes fifteen poems written by fourteen authors and illustrations by sixteen artists. Two of the poems were written by Janet S. Wong. The anthology's theme focuses on the diverse backgrounds of all fourteen authors and their experiences of what it was like growing up in their culturally-rich environments. At the conclusion of the last poem, there is a section that allows readers to learn more about the authors and artists. A table of contents and page numbers would have been helpful to reference the poems. 

Analysis

The book is immediately visually appealing. The pictures are equally diverse as the poems and yet, somehow each picture seems to perfectly represent the corresponding poem. An initial concern was understanding who wrote which poem and who the artists were. Looking at a two-page layout, you have two names in blue. After studying a few pages, I was able to determine that the artist was named at the bottom of each illustration. Because the artwork was sometimes presented first, I thought the artist was the poet. Once I understood the layout, it wasn’t difficult to navigate through the anthology. One aspect of the book readers will enjoy is that all authors and artists were asked to write what poetry and art meant to them, respectively. Many of the responses were also poetry and beautifully crafted. These inserts were added gems to this book.

The book appeals to all age groups but especially young children trying to understand their place in the world that embraces their background. Readers can relate to hearing familial rumors, loving and fighting with siblings, grandma’s lessons and cooking, having to move from home, racism, financial hardship, etc. 

Regarding poetic elements, some poems rhyme, while others do not. Some poems have structured stanzas while a few are a single, lengthy stanza. Many poems have vivid imagery. Some examples are, “one hundred degree Sundays riding backseat in Dad’s caramel-colored Dodge Dart… after church, sweat clinging like static; our heads out the window trying to catch a breeze,” or “where we ate bright yellow egg custards/ and roast pork buns/ and lao po bing, flaky outside and sweetened/ with winter melon inside.” (Hopkins et al. 2019) The poems also include figurative language such as a metaphor, “As we’ll meet through true Story,” and personification, “How lonely the word PEACE is becoming./ She misses her small house under the olive trees.” (Hopkins et al. 2019)

Poem/Excerpt & Use

I loved that the poem below was represented as a conversation between a young teen and her parents. Students will be able to sense the vulnerability the girl has with her parents and how her parents are there to encourage her and reassure her about every concern she has. Students can have assigned parts that can be read in many different ways. Students can choral read the parts that the parents are speaking. Different students can read each of her insecurities to represent that it is likely that many teens have reservations about some sort of important celebration or milestone in life. As an extension, we could engage in a class discussion where students can tell of a time when they went to their parents about something they were worried about, unsure about, or feeling overwhelmed by. Depending on how students responded to the discussion, students could try and draft their own poem that reads like a discussion between parent and child.