The Poet... The Artist

We visit local libraries once a week normally.  On one of our recent trips, we found a beautifully illustrated book of poetry by Langston Hughes.

As we read through some of the poems, my children were blown away by the images that Langston Hughes created for them.  We talked about how poetry, just like art, can paint pictures in the minds of readers.  Sooooo.... I asked them to each pick a poem, and draw/paint the picture that the poem brought to their mind.

They love reading.  Hizki decided to read his favorite poem artstically, like a poet.  He even  helped Afrikah read hers!






Here's Afrikah's:

Long Trip
The sea is a wilderness of waves,
A desert of water.
We dip and dive,
Rise and roll,
Hide and are hidden
On the sea.
Day, night,
Night, day,
The sea is a desert of waves,
A wilderness of water.





Afrikah decided to make a puppet show of this poem.

So, she drew her boat, a sun and moon, and puppet people to cut out and hot glue on popsicle sticks.

 

Then she made waves on a sheet of paper (different color waves) and cut slits in the paper so she could move her stick figures across the waves.

All of this was her idea, and I just let her creativity flow...









She was able to actually move her characters so that they dipped and dived, hid and were hidden on the waves... She even added a big fish to swallow up the people... and put tears in their eyes!

Hizki was fine with keeping to the task at hand... to make a painting:

F

There was a fish
With a greedy eye
Who darted toward
A big green fly.

Alas! That fly
Was bait on a hook!
So the fisherman took
The fish home to cook.

Hizki enjoyed a story about fish. He loves fishing, so it really interested him.  He noticed how the fish, the fly, and the fisherman (the poem's characters) all started with the letter F.  The poem was short, but it was packed with really interesting details.

He wanted to make orange paint, so we discussed something I learned in elementary school, ROY G. BIV. 

Alas!  His masterpiece!

Langston Hughes was a great author of his time.  His work continues to be an inspiration!  My children got to learn a little more about poetry today, and maybe next time, they will help another poet bring his or her imagery to life with paint and paper!