Sing {Poetry Friday}

When I saw the book Sing, last week I just knew I had to have it for my classroom and for the first day of school.  Sing is based on the lyrics and music written by Joe Raposo and the illustrations are done by Tom Lichtenheld.  If I could see you the tune, you might recall it from the TV show Sesame Street.  I loved Sesame Street growing up and loved singing right along.  I don't know how anyone could keep themselves from joining in.  I love the wordless beginning of the book.  Birds are together in a nest and they tweet a music note as they fly out of the nest.  Well, all but one can do this.  The one bird left behind is very sad until he hears a little boy strumming his guitar and singing a song.  With the encouraging words found in this song the little bird is able to fly from his nest, join his friends and sing along.  I wonder if my students will notice the color difference in the music notes to show who is singing.  The whole story is quiet moving as you view the illustrations set against a white background done in watercolor, pastel, colored pencils and ink portraying a gentleness within this story.  The book also comes with a CD, how perfect is that!

I learned in a note from Nick Raposo, Joe's son that this song was written about self acceptance.  I think it extends beyond that to not only accepting ourselves but accepting others.  Thus, making this a great read aloud/sing along for the beginning of the school year.

Songs can be a form of poetry and I wanted to share this book on Poetry Friday to make sure all my poetry friends knew about this new title.  We have students who may not consider themselves a poet.  We have students who like to write music.  This book could be a mentor text to connect the two disciplines for a child.

Thanks Keri for hosting Poetry Friday this week.