Before you get excited about this book it is from 2002 and so it is long out of print. I was lucky to spy it at a recent charity book sale. In fact I very nearly hid it because it was priced at AUS$4 and I thought it might still be available on Sunday (today) for half price - and YES it was. It seems this book did not appeal to the hundreds of people who were at the fair and who flicked through all the numerous children's book boxes. Lucky me!
Is it too much to combine winter with the alphabet and then also employ that very overused poetry form of the acrostic? No it is not. This book is a delight and it also has linocut style illustrations which are very appealing. At first glance I thought this book might be Candian - they do produce fantastic books in Canada but it is not - Steven Schnur is from the US. I have discovered this book is one from a series one for each season (see below). Leslie Evans is a printmaker and illustrator located in Watertown, Massachusetts. Sea Dog Press is the letterpress studio where she creates her illustration and hand pulled prints.
Here are some brief teachers notes to use if you do find a copy of Winter: An alphabet acrostic.
The acrostics in this book are well written (by an adult) and so fit the subject matter perfectly but I do caution against using this form as the only way to inspire students to write their own poetry.
Take a look at this article from a teacher about moving children on from using acrostics:
As soon as I start talking about their writing this poem, it is usually followed by the question “Can I just write an acrostic poem?” It takes time, energy, effort, strong mentor texts, and exposing students to great poetry to create a classroom of poetry writers who stretch themselves beyond the acrostic poem.
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