MODULE 3: A WORLD OF WONDERS

BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Lewis, J. Patrick. 2002. A WORLD OF WONDERS. Ill. by Alison Jay. New York: Dial. ISBN 0803725795

PLOT SUMMARY:
A WORLD OF WONDERS is poetic, geographical, and biographical journey. The poem topics in this collection include famous explorers, MARCO POLO PILGRIM and famous or unusual geographic locations, ANGEL FALLS and ITALIAN BOOT. There are poems explaining geologic phenomena, HOW A CAVE WILL BEHAVE, and how the names of certain seas relate to their appearance, IS THE YELLOW SEA YELLOW? Riddles about famous European cities and other verses regarding unusual facts about the Earth and its land and people are included also. This collection is a trip through a Social Studies textbook (no passport required).


CRITICAL ANALYSIS:
A WORLD OF WONDERS is a single poet collection of Social Studies poems. Many of the poems could be a part of a school Social Studies curriculum. There is a balanced variety of poems, within the topical parameters. The poems are not organized by type or by specific topic. The varying poem type in each page makes this text an interesting read.
Most of the poems Mr. Lewis wrote for this collection are free verse. A few have a loosely flowing rhyme scheme while others have an ABAB rhyme scheme. However, most of the poems do not rhyme. These poems do have a rhythmic quality associated with them. As one reads, a tempo emerges. There is a page of riddles included (along with the answers). Mr. Lewis includes concrete poems. ANGEL FALLS is the most distinctive. The text starts out small and narrow, and it spreads as it moves down; it models the waterfall it is describing.
A WORLD OF WONDERS is an unusual type of poetry. It is educational. Mr. Lewis blends a need to know geography and historical information with poetry. The poems are relatively short but posses a wealth of information. They could also spark further research. A reader may not learn every tidbit about Marco Polo, but the information in the poem may spark further research.
Most of the poems in this collection are timeless. Information about Christopher Columbus is not going to change. The poems of unusual facts, DID YOU KNOW?, and trivia, 136°F, as well as the poems explaining a natural phenomena, AURORA BOREALIS.
However, some of the poems could lose their educational value over time. NEW NAMES, OLD PLACES and ONE SQUARE FOOT PER PERSON, PLEASE could become dated. If the names of the places changed once, it is possible that they would change again and the poem would become difficult to understand. Similarly, with ONE SQUARE FOOT PER PERSON, PLEASE, as the popular changes the length of the line would change. The overall meaning of the poems would be constant. Geographic names change, and the population is large. But some of the facts may be incorrect as time progresses. The topics chosen for poems are the traditional pieces of information associated with an elementary Social Studies program.
The illustrations in this book are fantastic. Each page is brightly decorated. The illustrations add to the meaning and understandability of the poems. Each illustration looks appears to have a crackle finish placed on it. The illustrations look like stereotypical explorer maps. The poems in this book are wonderful and they are made extraordinary by the illustrations added to the text.
This reviewer wishes she had known about the poem HOW TO TELL LATITUDE FROM LONGITUDE when she taught elementary school geography. This is a concept continually confused by students. This poem provides an excellent analogy of how to remember. The author uses an expanded font to display the “flatitude” of latitude and stretches the letters taller to show “longitude”. The poem explains that longitude lines rise like porcupine quills. The illustration is excellent. People are running across the lines of latitude and climbing up the lines of longitude. There is a porcupine sitting on top of the earth, with his quills extends. Another such poem that explains confused terms is HOW A CAVE WILL BEHAVE, which relays the difference between stalagmites and stalactites.
WALK LIGHTLY is a particular favorite poem of this reviewer. The poem covers the last two pages of the text. It is an admonishment to all of humankind to take care of the earth and the resources she contains. The illustrations show many of the different geographic features of the earth and her people. While they are simple in the detail they present, they are a profound display of how different the earth is as one travels around but how closely related everything is as well.
While students often dislike poetry and social studies, this reviewer believes that they were combined in such an awesome way for this text, that this book will be irresistible to children and young adults. The topics are brought to life using light-hearted poems and fantastic illustrations.

REVIEW EXCERPTS:
*From PUBLISHERS WEEKLY “A full-scale treat for the armchair traveler”
*From BOOKLIST: “still quite accessible--making an appealing package for children” Carolyn Phelan

CONNECTIONS:
Arctic Information:
Arctic - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Antarctic Information:
Antarctica - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Marco Polo biography:
Marco Polo and His Travels

National Geographic for Kids: facts, games, and videos for children
http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/

For the young cartographer: Maps of the World
maps of the world - Google Image Search

Official website of J. Patrick Lewis
J. Patrick Lewis Children's Poet & Author

Using the poem NEW NAMES, OLD PLACES, students could research several items. First, find other places throughout the world that have experienced a name change.
Second, research the reason that the names were changed.

Using examples from the poetry collection, students could select one exotic location or geographical topic. They would write one unusual fact about that place or explain the geography concept and provide an illustration.