Mod 14: A Kick in the Head An Everyday Guide to Poetic Forms by Paul Janeczko

Summary:

A Kick in the Head is a book of poems collected by Paul Janeczeko featuring illustrations by Chris Raschka. The book begins with an introduction in which Janeczeko explains that the purpose of this book is to demonstrate 26 different poetic styles with examples and brief explanations of the rules for each style. The styles he covers are: Couplet, Tercet, Quatrain, Haiku, Senryu, Tanka, Cinquain, Clerihew, Limerick, Roundel, Double Dactyl, Triolet, Sonnet, Villanelle, Opposites, Riddle Poem, Ode, Acrostic, Concrete, Epitaph, Elegy, Found Poem, Persona Poem, Poem of Address, Ballad, Blues Poem, List Poem, Aubade, and Pantoum. He also includes a section with notes on each form. Each form includes one or two examples of each form along with some fine print notes and colorful illustrations.

Janeczko, P. (2005). A kick in the head. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick Press.

My Impressions:

A fun book with simple and easy to understand poems with notes about how they were created. I found the notes espeically helpful as I am not a big poetry person, and many of these forms I had never heard of. Before, such as a “Clerihew”.

Reviews:

Janeczko writes, "Knowing the rules makes poetry--like sports--more fun, for players and spectators alike." This smart new collection, assembled by the creators of A Poke in the I (rev. 7/01), beautifully introduces the rules of poetry on a variety of literary playing fields. The poems--ranging from light verse ("Kitchen crickets make a din, / sending taunts to chilly kin, / 'You're outside, but we got in'") to a Shakespearean sonnet (number twelve) and an accompanying parody--are arranged by form, with tercet, haiku, acrostic poem, limerick, roundel, double dactyl, epitaph, and aubade among the twenty-nine included. Each poem appears along with a small pictorial mnemonic (there's an urn for ode, a pair of birds for couplet) up in one corner of the page, an unobtrusive sentence describing the form, and a bright, full-color illustration that decorates but never dictates meaning. The back matter consists of expanded notes on and explanations of each form. The title poem (an example of concrete poetry, by Joan Bransfield Graham) proclaims that "poetry jumpstarts … imagination"; this book shows how that's done.

Carter, B. (2005). [A review of the book Kick in the Head by P. Janecczko]. Horn Book Magazine, 81(3), 337-338. retrived from https://libproxy.library.unt.edu:9443/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=brd&AN=518478637&scope=site

Usage in a Library Setting:

This book could be used as part of a poetry program to introduce different forms of poetry to the group. Obviously you couldn’t go through the whole thing, but maybe pick some of the shorter forms, introduce them and the rules with this book and then have the group create their own.