Rainbow Soup: Adventures in Poetry

by Brian P. Cleary

Come romp with me amongst the words/Come play amongst the phrases/Swing and climb from pun to rhyme/And hop through versey mazes. Swim through rivers thick with thought/Rejoice from head to toe-etry. Beat your drums and shake your bums/And dance the dance of poetry. From the author of the best-selling Words Are CATegorical™ series, this playful poetry collection includes limericks, puns, palindromes, and more. Short annotations explain the various forms and terms of poetry used.

Genres: Poetry, Picture Books, Childrens

96 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Nancy Kotkin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Text: 5 stars
Illustrations: 3 stars

A children's poetry collection of varied forms and subjects. Poetic forms and terms are defined at the bottom of some of the pages. Poems are both playful and skilled, making them perfectly suited for children as both enjoyment and a learning experience. Excellent resource for a classroom poetry unit or children's poetry workshop.

[Brooke · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Rainbow Soup" is such a fun book about poetry. The poems are creative and entertaining to read, and some are surprisingly morbid (in a funny way) which makes it all the better for any adult to read. I'll definitely be saving this one for future reference when teaching my kids about poetry.

[Luann · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun little poem book with poetry examples and short bits of information about: trochaic meter, iambic meter, macaronic verses, puns, couplets, stanza, internal rhyme, palindromes, e.e. cummings, masculine rhyme, limericks, parody, concrete poems, haiku, personification, feminine rhyme, lantern poems, triple rhyme, acrostic, villanelle, rebus, alliteration, blues, sensory poems, spoonerisms, and simile.

I really like the giraffe concrete poem and the sensory poem about joy:

Joy looks like fireworks against a night sky.
Joy tastes like the first crunch into an ear of corn.
Joy sounds like the circus coming to town.
Joy smells like popcorn.
Joy feels like running home on the last day of school.

Not quite up to the poetry of Silverstein or Prelutsky, but offers some wonderful teaching opportunities for poetry units.

[Jocelyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very funny poetry and illustrations. Great explanations of poetry tools at the bottom of the pages.

[Krista the Krazy Kataloguer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great introduction to different forms of poetry.

[Summer D Clemenson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have written poetry since I was 9 years old. As much as I like writing poetry, I often don't enjoy reading it. However, I did get some enjoyment from this children's poetry and rhyme book. This book as 83 poems in it. It also includes notes and definitions of the different types of poems which I found interesting and inspiring. I also found the colorful blends of styles of art by Neal Layton to be fun and captivating.

[Dawn Laws · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book full of fun poems of all types.

I rated the book 5/5 because it has a wide variety of types of poetry and would be a good resource for students to look at for ideas to make their own.

[Keshia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book that not only has fun and interesting poems but also explains the different types of poetry. It also gives multiple opportunities for WH questions. This would be a great addition to a classroom library!

[Laura]

Fun filled book of poems and I love how the author took the opportunity to explain and teach about different kinds of poems. Adding this to our morning time for the next couple weeks before it's due back at the library!

[Lyndy Stein · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think that this would be an awesome book to have in the classroom when teaching poetry. Not only is this book full of clever poems and imaginative pictures, but Brian Cleary also includes the definition of key words that students need to learn when studying poetry. For example, Cleary provides the definition of meter, pun, stanza, limerick, haiku and many more words that are essential for children to learn when learning about poetry. This would be a wonderful resource to keep in the classroom even when students are not studying poetry. There are so many poems in this book that a teacher could read one a day and plan lessons and discussions around each poem.

[Noreen Hernan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delightful! Chock full of a variety of clever poems including many topics that will resonate with kids (e.g., report cards, parents, pets). Some filled with sentiment, most so clever that my cheeks hurt from smiling. Too many good ones to pick a favorite, but don’t miss, “English Lessons”: “If it’s true 'I sit' today, but yesterday 'I sat,' Could it be said ‘I bit’ today but yesterday ‘I bat’?…. and the wonderfully fun “My Cat Bytes.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Large poetry books aren't really my thing... it's hard for me to not read a book cover to cover, and these kinds of books really aren't meant to be read in such a way. Ok, so, put it down for a while, you say. Yes. But then I won't ever pick it up again... reading poetry isn't really my thing, again. This book had some cute ones, though.

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute, educational book about different types of poetry. I found it very informational, but I'm afraid I only enjoyed about half of the poems themselves. Very Silverstein-esque, though not quite as clever.

[Aden · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed how Brian Cleary used his poems to involve the reader and then also tell you about different types of poems. Even though I read this book for school, I enjoyed it more than I thought I would.

[Katie Lawrence · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a fun poetry book! This reminded me of Shel Silverstein or Jack Prelutsky, but had the added bonus of poetry explanations and instructions too. I think my students would love this and teachers can use it in a myriad of ways.

[10-11 Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was okay but I still liked I just didn't love it. This book
was filled with lots funny and weird poems but I still finished it.

[Steph · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute enough poems, but why do they have to throw things like "heck" in there? I can just imagine the issues over that one word!!!

[Lisa Nagel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Liked but didn't love this collection. I found it a bit uneven. I did like the various explanations of poetic form, and some poems were just plain fun, others fell flat for me.

[Sam]

i love it!!