Children's Literature

FLORIAN POETRY

Poem Depot: Aisles of Smiles

Florian, Douglas. Poem Depot: Aisles of Smiles: Poems and Drawings. 2014.

ISBN: 978-0-8037-4042-6

Poem Depot: Aisles of Smiles, written by award winning poet Douglas Florian, is full of silly, funny, nonsense poems sure to delight young children.  The repetition and alliteration, blended with Florian’s use of rhyme, will have children chiming in and repeating these poems over and over. 

The poems are arranged in “aisles,” thus the subtitle Aisles of Smiles, however the poems did not seem to fit any particular theme within these subdivisions.  The aisles seem merely a way to divide the poems into smaller sections.  The table of contents contains only the name of the aisle, while individual titles are listed in the index found at the end.  This would be helpful when searching for a particular poem, as Florian has included over 150 poems in this collection.

These are not poems to study and analyze (except for, perhaps, a rhyme pattern); these are poems meant to tumble off the tongue and be enjoyed simply for what they are – fun.

"My Mother Has Two Voices"

by Douglas Florian

My mother has two voices,

One delicate and dainty.

One loud as an atomic cloud,

So strong it makes you fainty.

When answering the telephone

Her voice is full of mirth,

But how her tone when off the phone

It’s heavy as the Earth.

If company should come and call,

Her voice is soft and sweet.

But if we misbehave at all,

It sounds like elephant’s feet.

My mother has two voices,

One sweet as baby chicks.

My mother has two voices,

One like a ton of bricks.

Before reading the poem:

Share the title of the poem with students.  Allow students to share in small groups what they think it means.

            Allow time for sharing with the whole group.

            Read the poem aloud.

Follow-up:

Divide the class into four groups.  Assign stanzas and allow time to practice.  Perform a choral reading as a class.