Stanza by Jill Esbaum illustrated by Jack E Davis

Tuesday Treasure

"Stanza prowled through the streets ... "  "Folks called him 'Bad doggy!" and other awful names. Stanza may have looked like his rotten brothers - Dirge and Fresco - but looks can be deceiving. At night, out of sight, Stanza liked to write poems.  He wrote about snow, birds and the nearby fire hydrant. He wrote haiku, and sonnets but he worried that one day his brothers might discover his secret passion.

One day, while Stanza is "ripping through town, nipping bottoms and knocking pedestrians down in his usual reckless, unmannerly way" he spies a poster.  Snappers (we discover later this is a brand of dog food that tastes like chicken pot pie) need four rhyming lines for their advertising. The prize is cash.  Stanza is so excited and "his paw fairly tingled just itching to write." Stanza spends the whole night writing his jingle. Finally, after a long wait, the winners are announced. Oh no, Stanza came second and to make matters worse his jingle is on display for anyone to see - including his brothers. Stanza arrives home to find them destroying all his work.

Luckily second prize arrives - a truck load of Snappers. Stanza is happy to share his prize but there is a condition. His brothers have to show off their talents - painting and jazz piano. A wild evening of celebration makes for a happy ending. Make sure you check out the tee-shirts worn by Dirge and Fresco and of course the name 'stanza' is perfect for our poet hero.

Snappers! make my tummy happy,

make my paws go tippy-tappy.

Chewy morsels! Crunchy bits!

Life without them is the pits.

by Stanza

Here is a list of books by Jill Esbaum.  Jill is also the author of some excellent non fiction titles many of which are in our school library. Here are a set of teaching notes.

Here are some of the interesting words used in this book: prowled, scoundrel, haiku, sonnets, stanza, merciless, flabbergasteded,  astounded, dirge, fresco, jeers, exceedingly, boogied, dumbfounded

Here are a few discussion questions:

Why does Stanza keep his talent a secret?

Why did Stanza bully people like his brothers did?

Do you think Stanza was proud of getting second place? Why or why not?

This book is great example of the way text and illustrations should work together. The real energy of this story comes from the wild pictures. Stanza was published in 2009 and it was sadly recently culled from my former school library. If you find a copy in a library or a book sale grab it with both hands - this is a book to treasure.

Here are some other books illustrated by Jack E Davis:

Stanza is the perfect spokesperson for National Poetry Month. He represents all those closet poets who are afraid to strut their stuff for fear of being ostracized or ridiculed.  Jama's Alphabet Soup