Hey, You!: Poems to Skyscrapers, Mosquitoes, and Other Fun Things

by Paul B. Janeczko, Robert Rayevsky (Illustrator)

What would you say to a mailbox?
What would you say to your shoe?
To a sea horse?
A snowflake?
A bee?
A mosquito?
An octopus?
Light?
The faraway moon? What would you say to a poetry book?
Give it a Hey, you!

Genres: Poetry, Picture Books, Anthologies

40 pages, Hardcover

First published February 27, 2007

About the author

Paul B. Janeczko is a poet and teacher and has edited more than twenty award-winning poetry anthologies for young people, including STONE BENCH IN AN EMPTY PARK, LOOKING FOR YOUR NAME, SEEING THE BLUE BETWEEN, and A POKE IN THE I, which was an American Library Association Notable Book.

Reviews

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun apostrophe poems...so here is the backstory. I am reading a teaching book on using Heart Maps in your classroom. My students created heart maps of things they are grateful for throughout the month of November. I wanted to use their heart maps to create some type of writing and looking in the Heart Maps book, it suggested that they choose one item on their gratitude heart to address as they write an apostrophe poem. I didn't even know what an apostrophe poem was so I did some research and found that they are poems addressed to objects or people or animals...and I thought it might be fun to attempt writing some. So I began to search for some examples to share with my students and found a reference to this book. I shared some of the poems in the book with my 3rd graders and then they each wrote a poem (mostly free verse...and some were pretty good and some were very mediocre but it is our first attempt at poetry that doesn't have strict rules).

A few favorites from this book:

Hello, Moon! by Patricia Hubbell
I love these beginning lines:

"Moon,
your reflection
is a tambourine,
shaking
in the lake's ripples

You are the nightsong of the sun--
Sometimes a full round note,
Sometimes a high thin plink
plucked on a hidden guitar."

The Octopus by Ogden Nash
Tell me, O Octopus, I begs,
Is those things arms, or is they legs?
I marvel at thee, Octopus;
If I were thou, I'd call me Us.

Camel Question by Bobbi Katz
Humpy, bumpy camel
a sign tells me you bite.
You look so very friendly,
I can't believe you might.
Do you long for palm trees,
sand and an oasis?
I wonder if your hump is stuffed
with dreams of desert places.

I like that there are a variety of poems...silly poems and humorous poems, sad poems, serious poems. There are a variety of poets represented as well. And each poem is illustrated.

[Emily Cooper]

*Read for Poetry for Children and Young Adults class*

This anthology has poems by 20 different poets, all dedicated to some object or phenomenon. Some of the objects include skyscrapers and mosquitoes, as the title suggests, but also shoes, bees, and astronauts. Some of the poems worked better than others for me, but overall I found it be a fun, quick poetry book.

[Mary Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic collection of "poems of address" or apostrophe poems.

[Liz Hammet · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hey, You!: Poems to Skyscrapers, Mosquitoes, and Other Fun Things presents an array of poems. The selections of the poems were chosen by Paul B. Janezco. All of the poems are written to objects, insects and animals. One of the poems that was the most interesting to me was Bee, I'm Expecting You! by Emily Dickenson. It was a poem written in a curved design. The poem was about a letter written from a fly to a bee. The illustration of this poem was interesting and I thought the poem had a message of hilarity. I also really enjoyed the Hello, Moon! poem written by Patricia Hubbell. This poem is beautifully illustrated and the words appear in the shape of a moon. All of the illustrations are beautifully created by Robert Rayevesky. The illustrations help to identify the characteristics of the poem. The illustrations look like they are used with water colors. All of the poems are neat and catchy and composed by different writers. The book brings about a neat idea: writing poems to certain objects. This could create a good writing prompt for students and encouraging to write poems while learning about a poetry unit.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you want to teach, or write, apostrophe poems, this is a good book filled with examples from numerous well-known poets, gathered for much fun (see the title) by Janeczko. An apostrophe poem is when a poet talks to a person or a thing, and in this anthology, the poets write to “things”. One example is to a camel, by Bobbi Katz, when at the end, she asks “I wonder if your hump is stuffed/with dreams of desert places.” Another, “Light”, shares that it “scatters dark”, and in “Straight Talk”, Nikki Grimes says to the bees, “So leave me alone, drone.” It’s a book of poems worth finding and reading. The illustrations enhance each topic with such joyful action every time.

[Sarah Adamson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Poetry can literally be written about anything, and this book is a wonderful example of that truth. This gives a model to students who are writing poetry, while also making it fun and easy to do. Stepping away from the traditional rhymes and meters of poetry, this makes it accessible to all students.

[Kelly Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Poems about every day objects. I would have the children write their own poems about everyday objects after this book.

[The Reading Countess · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have learned a trusted name in poetry this year: Paul B. Janeczko. This one didn't let me down, though Youngest didn't find it as great as I did. I think it was his age and the hour we read it.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a fun poetry book about things that hardly anyone writes poetry for: a maggot in an apple, skyscraper, and camels!
My husband and I definitely laughed a lot during the reading of this.