Paul B. Janeczko, Dirty Laundry Pile

Dirty Laundry Pile.  Janeczko, Paul B. Illustrations by Melissa Sweet. Harper Collins, New York, NY. 2001.

Dirty Laundry Pile  by Paul B. Janeczko and illustrated by Melissa Sweet is a compilation of poems by a variety of authors. Each poem is written in the voice of the object or thing the poem is about. It is so much fun to read a poem that lets you know what a  broom is thinking while sweeping, or what bacterium enjoys about lurking in your food.  It also puts these everyday objects on a new level, and makes you look at other "everyday objects" with a different perspective.

The poems vary from a slightly serious topic such as "The Cow's Complaint" to just plain funny and silly, like "Washing Machine".  Each poet creatively writes about their object in such a way that most people have probably never looked at that object, such as does dirty laundry know or even care that it begins to smell after sitting on the floor in a pile?   Or does a hippopotamus get tired or wallowing in the mud? Would it rather do something else?

I think this book could be used in different ways. It would be great for poetry  breaks, the poems are all short and fun and grab your attention right away.  It could also be used to demonstrate different ways to write poetry, that it does not have to be serious or "true", it can be make-believe or your own version of "true".   Many of the poems lend themselves to a fun way to introduce a new subject in the classroom,  an example would be "Crayon Dance" by April Halprin Wayland, what a fun poem to use in an Art class or art lesson.  What a wonderful poem to put on a poster and have displayed in the classroom.  For wintertime the poem "Prayer of a Snowflake" by Cynthia Pederson would be fun to share with the class, or even share it on a hot day to help everyone "cool off" a bit.

I enjoyed reading this book of poetry and feel it would be a perfect addition to any poetry collection.

Texas Bluebonnet 2004-2005

Lesson Ideas and connections by Suzy Red:  http://suzyred.com/2004dirtylaundrypile.html