WHEN GREEN BECOMES TOMATOES: POEMS FOR ALL SEASONS written by Julie Fogliano and illustrated by Julie Morstad

Review by Christi De Leon

a.    BIBLIOGRAPHY

Fogliano, Julie. When Green Becomes Tomatoes: Poems for all Seasons. Ill. by Julie Morstad. New York: Roaring Brook Press, 2016. ISBN 978159643852

b.    SUMMARY & CRITICAL ANALYSIS

This poetry book progresses through the four seasons, beginning and ending with the date of March 20^th. The collection contains 48 poems written in the format of a poetry diary. Days with entries are at random, but in order throughout the year.

When Green Becomes Tomatoes shows the journaling of poems sharing the splendor of nature throughout a year’s time. Although comprehensive, this is not a typical poetry book about seasons. For instance, a variety of moods are captured in each season making the poems more realistic and personalized. Each day within a season has its own unique set of physical details, similar to what readers might observe day to day in real life. There are poems in this book that readers at nearly any age could enjoy. Some poems even have the potential to bring back memories for adults. Regardless, each one is naturally written and appealing. Many poems are free verse, but others have a rhyming pattern of some kind. Overall, this book is a great example of journal writing with poetry.

The illustrations enhance the text on each page by laying the foundation for the poems. Each illustration seems to fit to the poem. Much of the artwork is simple, yet some is quite detailed. These illustrations consist of gouache and pencil crayons. Diversity is evident in the illustrations as children are shown taking part in various activities. Most poems call attention to the reader’s senses along with the visual scenes. Examples of this include sniffing lilacs on “May 10” and tasting the slightly salty peanut butter sandwiches at the beach on “July 12.” Each poem begins with the bolded date that it was written on, and the placement varies throughout the book. Each season is labeled as it occurs, and the layout is arranged appropriately to present the journal entries.

c.     POEM TO SPOTLIGHT & SHARE

“August 30”

By Julie Fogliano

if you could take a bite

out of the middle of this morning

it would be sweet

And dripping

like peaches

and you would need a river

to jump in

before a bee comes along

and calls you

a flower

This poem, “August 30,” starts out with figurative language as connections are made between mid-morning and peaches. As mentioned in the analysis, many of the poems in this collection also evoke sensory images like this one. The descriptive language used by the poet may bring out the reader’s sense of taste when referring to the peaches. Likewise, the feeling of jumping into a river may also be imagined. Overall, this poem is a great example of how this collection in its entirety is impressively written.

One possible way to share this poem with kids is to give them each a slice of a peach to eat while listening to the poem being read aloud. To make this and all other poems in this collection even more meaningful, poems can also be read on the date they were originally written. As a follow-up activity, students could choose a day that is not included in the book and create a poem that relates to the particular season based on their experiences.