This Is Just to Say by Joyce Sidman

Sidman, Joyce. 2007. This is Just to Say: Poems of Apology and Forgiveness. Ill. by Pamela Zagarenski. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. ISBN o618616802

This Is Just to Say is a delightful poetry collection. The fictional framework for the poems of apology and forgiveness is a sixth-grade class who is inspired by William Carlos Williams to write their own poems to people in their own lives. These poems are powerful--sometimes funny, often emotionally charged--and range in topic from an apology for dodge ball vendettas to an apology to a mother who is disappointed that her son doesn't win the spelling bee to a daughter apologizing to her father for not being perfect enough. One of the most interesting parts of this book is that during the second half of the book, the recipients of the poems of apology answer with their own poems.

The mixed media illustrations are whimsical and fun and appropriate for the theme of school (dictionary definitions are used as clothing, graph paper is the background of choice, etc.). The pages are colored in muted blues, reds, yellows and greens which tempers the often deeply emotional poems with a more playful illustration.

Teachers will love the different examples of different kinds of poems, but they will also love the free-form poetry which may free students to feel more confident in finding their own poetry voice.

AWARDS & REVIEWS:

2008-2009 Texas Bluebonnet Award

"While it is disappointing to realize that the authors of the poems are fictional, each poem still feels as if it were written by a child, expressing dismay at hurting a teacher's feelings or admiration to an older sibling who seems so much cooler than the author. The illustrations are reminiscent of drawings and doodles of children and manage to suggest that children had a direct hand in writing and illustrating the poems in the book."--Children's Literature

"Sidman's ear is keen, capturing many voices. Her skill as a poet accessible to young people is unmatched. Zagarenski's delicately outlined collage drawings and paintings are created on mixed backgrounds-notebook paper, paper bags, newspaper, graph paper, school supplies. This is an important book both for its creativity and for its wisdom." --School Library Journal

CONNECTIONS:

Teachers will find this book to be an extraordinarily helpful addition to their poetry teaching tools: it's full of different types of poem forms (haikus, pantoums, etc.) that could be used in minilessons to teach these poem forms. It is also a great source for finding figurative language to share with students.

Students can read William Carlos Williams' original "This Is Just to Say" poem. Students can then write their own poems of apology (or forgiveness) to people in their own lives based on either the form or the spirit of William Carlos Williams' original poem. They can ask the recipient to write a poem back in response.

With older students, this collection could be used as a framework for a response to a text: students could write poems of apology/forgiveness from one character in a novel or short story to another.