This is a great book! When reading this book I learned that poetry too can be fun! It gives you actual dance moves you can do while reading the poetry and is great when talking about different alliteration sounds! Boom! Smack! Tap! I would recommend reading this book children around the ages 3-5 just because it would grasp their attention! ( )

In the past, poetry program books seem to lack the “coolness” to attract and keep the attention of kids. How can poetry be hip? Sara Holbrook takes her love of poetry and demonstrates how to use rhythm, movement, voice, attitude, movement, and other techniques to perform poetry alone or with a group. Her thirty or so inclusive poems range from silly to serious and give examples and instruction on how to put on a poetry jam. Though illustrations are not included in the programming book, it uses high-energy colors and multi-colored blocks to demonstrate the author’s upbeat tempo of the book. A useful resource for educators trying to reach kids ages 7-11. It would have been helpful to include tips to attract an older audience such as middle school or high school kids. That age range is more difficult to keep interested in poetry. Additionally, a little more explanation or instruction would have been advantageous; however, a better than most poetry programming book. Recommended ( )

Ever wondered how to do performance poetry? How about putting together a poetry jam? Sara Holbrook explains how to do both in this action-filled book. The entire book is filled with poems to perform, usually including guidelines for performing the poem. These poems carry the text of the book, as Holbrook uses them to illustrate her point and provide suggestions for having a poetry jam. Recommended for teachers and librarians. Ages 18+ ( )

Sara Holbrook’s book, “Wham! It’s a Poetry Jam: Discovering Performance Poetry” is a fun, silly new take on introducing poetry performance to the classroom. She provides suggestions and outlines for developing a poetry jam from beginning to end and includes dozens of poems students can utilize to start to get used to the idea of performing different words in different ways until they’re ready to start writing their own. She starts out with a few poems that encourage performers to get loud, get moving, and get over themselves. She recognizes that, at first, things may seem a little uncomfortable for students and so suggests that jammers begin with group poems, call and response, or trying to memorize a poem to make them feel more secure about performing it. Suggestions for conversations, questions, and exercises are provided in color boxes at the end of most poems. Some poems encourage performance to experiment with emotion contrast and different perspectives, lending excitement and versatility to the poetry jam. Towards the end of the book, Holbrook outlines the rules and regulations that will help create a successful performance and comes up with solutions to problems like, “What do you do when someone is talking too loud and hogging all the attention during a group poem?” and “What happens when someone goes over the time limit?” Holbrook is obviously very passionate about her work, but her language in the book can come across as childish and over-the-top (in her poems AND her professional voice) – maybe that's what makes for a great poetry jammer. Recommended for professionals looking to create poetry lesson plans for ages 9-11. ( )