Poetry Book Review #4

Florian, Douglas. 1994. Beast feast. New York: Harcourt Brace & Company.

Douglas Florian’s poetry book, Beast Feast, was the winner of the 1995 Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award. His poems incorporate information about and characteristics of animals in fun and catchy ways. Through shape poems, rhyming lyrics and funny language, Florian captures readers’ imaginations. The poetry in this collection is humorous and through the use of inventive and creative language the words stay with the reader long after they have been read or heard.

Douglas Florian accompanies each poem with original paintings done in watercolor. Along with imaginative wording and unique structure, the illustrations reinforce and establish his authentic and strong voice.

The poems that comprise Beast Feast are universal and timeless- they can be read to go along with a science lesson or unit. It can be read aloud to younger children who are studying mammals or high school-aged students studying biology or zoology. The variety of animals portrayed in this anthology allow for the poems to be read individually, to be read as they fit into a category, such as sea creatures or insects, or to be read collectively. One of my favorites is titled, 'The Chameleon.'

The Chameleon

Although it may seem very strange,

The colors on a chameleon change

From mousy browns to leafy greens

And several colors in between.

Its very long and sticky tongue

On unsuspecting bugs is sprung.

It lashes out at rapid rates

On unaware invertebrates,

Then just as quickly will retract

With flabbergasted fly intact.

So bugs beware this risky reptilian-

The clever everchanging chameleon.

(p. 17)

This particular poem depicts the wonderfully clever vocabulary that Douglas Florian uses in his poetry. There are endless ways to share this with all ages of children. It would be a great way to model and practice using different strategies to figure out the meaning of new words. Also, educators can read this poem at the beginning and end of a unit on insects and/or reptiles and have students reflect on how their perception of the poem has changed since learning about and studying that particular topic.

I am fairly new to the poetry of Douglas Florian; however, the poems and books of his that I have read have left a lasting impression on my view of poetry and how it can be integrated into content area subjects in fun and creative ways.