IF YOU'RE NOT HERE, PLEASE RAISE YOUR HAND written by Kalli Dakos and illustrated by G. Brian Karas

Review by Christi De Leon

a.    BIBLIOGRAPHY

Dakos, Kalli. If You’re Not Here, Please Raise Your Hand: Poems About School. Ill. by G. Brian Karas. New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 1995. ISBN 9780689801165

b.    SUMMARY & CRITICAL ANALYSIS

If You’re Not Here, Please Raise Your Hand: Poems About School consists of thirty-eight poems for children sharing various experiences that take place in elementary school. Examples of poem topics include math, homework, lunchtime, fellow classmates, teachers, and much more.

Revolving around a school theme, this book of poems is fresh and fun to read. Just as with each new day at school, each page brings new and unexpected surprises. Readers will discover funny poems, many that are quite clever, and some that are sad. There are pages of excitement, struggles, wonderings, and more. Settings all around the school are included. Each of the poems is written in kid-friendly language. Some rhyme, while others do not. Short and longer poems are intermixed. The book includes a table of contents for finding individual poems, and a bolded title introduces each poem. The added pencil illustrations are a nice touch to many of the poems and are often humorous.

Poet Kalli Dakos has experience as a teacher and has spent a great amount of time in schools. Her familiarity to the school setting is evident in her poems. For adult readers, many of these poems are likely to bring back memories of their childhood. Although this particular book was not written recently, school-aged children of today can still relate to these situations. Several of the poems do not give off positive vibes. However, the happenings at school are not always picture perfect, nor do all students have the same perception of school. Perhaps this book of poems is intended to capture a bit of reality despite the negativity. Overall, this book definitely has something inside that everyone will enjoy.

c.    POEM TO SPOTLIGHT & SHARE

"Call the Periods
Call the Commas"

By Kalli Dakos

Call the doctors Call the nurses Give me a breath of

air I’ve been reading all your stories but the periods

aren’t there Call the policemen Call the traffic guards

Give me a STOP sign quick Call the commas Call

the question marks Give me a single clue Tell me

where to breathe with a punctuation mark or two

This unique poem is delivered in a manner that is entertaining for young people. The poem itself is written as if it is alive and in need of help, which is likely to capture the students’ attention. Rhymes are evident in the poem, but an organized format is lacking due to the point of the poem. Written without pauses, the overall sound of the poem is not entirely appealing, nor is it intended to be. The jumpy tone conveys a sense of panic showing children that writing with no punctuation needs to be fixed in order to sound pleasant.

Sharing this poem aloud would be a fun way of engaging students into a lesson on punctuation. A class discussion about the importance of punctuation could follow, bringing meaning to the learning that is about to take place. Students could also “help the poem” by helping to write the poem using punctuation, then reading it chorally. This allows students to see and hear the difference punctuation makes to a piece of writing along with accomplishing the task at hand.