Button Up!: Wrinkled Rhymes by Alice Schertle - Hopkins Award Poetry

Bibliography

Schertle, Alice. 2009. BUTTON UP!: WRINKLED RHYMES. Ill. by Petra Mathers. New York: Harcourt Children’s Books. ISBN 978-0152050504.

Review and Critical Analysis

            Alice Schertle’s book BUTTON UP!: WRINKLED RHYMES is an up-tempo, humorous collection of poems narrated by the clothing worn by the animal characters. Schertle utilizes the technique of personification throughout the collection very successfully. Every piece of clothing belongs to a different owner, and as such each of these fifteen narrative poems has a distinct voice which comes through clearly. The collection is not organized in any particular fashion, and one poem does not relate to another. Every poem stands alone; what unifies them is the fact that they are all about clothing and how children use and wear that clothing. Schertle includes a Table of Contents for quick reference to the poems.

          Schertle’s poetry is well suited to its young audience. The language she uses describes not only the clothing, but also the different situations in which the owners of the clothing find themselves. In VIOLET’S HIKING HAT the reader experiences a day in the life of Violet and her hat, which she never takes off. The hat describes being worn out on a hike, playing in the park, laying out at night and watching the stars, taking a bath with Violet and finally going to sleep with her. Young readers experience the hat’s day right along with the hat itself. In CLYDE’S COSTUME the reader is treated to a Halloween Trick-or-treating experience in conjunction with the gingham sheet Clyde uses to make a ghost costume. The sheet describes being “the hit of Halloween night.” Schertle’s language is very expressive of the clothing, the lives the clothing live and the emotions the clothing feel.

          Recognizable childhood activities abound in the poems JAMELIA’S DRESS-UP CLOTHES and BOB'S BICYCLE HELMET. JAMELIA'S DRESS-UP CLOTHES describes one of children's most loved pursuits, playing dress up. This is the only poem that has the voice of more than one piece of clothing. A swimsuit, shoes, tops and panty hose are all worn by Jamelia at one time, and the reader gets the impression that the clothes enjoy the activity of dress up just as much as Jamelia. BOB’S BICYCLE HELMET is a poem full of action. The helmet describes riding on Bob’s head as he “climbs hills,” “does wheelies” and “takes spills” while riding his bike. The helmet repeatedly makes the point that no matter what activity Bob decides to undertake it will protect him.

          Many of the poems employ various, very readable, rhyme schemes. In certain cases the second and fourth lines of a four line stanza rhyme, while the first and third do not. Another example is when Schertle employs alternating rhyme, or where the first and third, and second and fourth, lines of a four line stanza rhyme. Whether the poems have a discernible rhyme scheme or not, they all flow extremely well and would be perfect to use in any read aloud activity. One poem in particular that is well suited to a read aloud is THE SONG OF HARVEY’S GALOSHES. This poem has a very musical quality to it, utilizing onomatopoeia and also incorporating call and response. There are points in the poem where someone reading it would read a particular line, and then that line could be repeated back to them by the audience. An example would be the first line, “When it’s raining Harvey always puts us on, puts us on,” The italicized line would be the line the audience would repeat back to the reader.

          Petra Mathers’ watercolor illustrations add a whimsical element to this collection, primarily because she chose to depict animals, not people, wearing the clothing. Children will delight in seeing ostriches in sweaters, alligators in pajamas and cats in oversized blue jackets. The illustrations are brightly colored, humorous, and playful. Mathers skillfully depicts the emotions the author intended in these endearing illustrations. For example in JACK’S SOCCER JERSEY readers see Jack in various poses and emotional expressions. Mathers portrays concentration as Jack bounces the soccer ball off his knee, watchfulness as Jack lines up the ball to be kicked into the goal and jubilation when Jack scores a goal. Mathers’ illustrations help bring Schertle’s poems to life.

Poem Used to Support Critical Analysis and Follow Up Activity

WANDA’S SWIMSUIT

By: Alice Schertle

We like to be wet,

Wanda and I,

I’m Wanda’s swimsuit,

we don’t like dry.

Ready, set,  jump!

   Scrunch up small-

       Look out down below-

Everybody dry

just got wetter.

(Wanda and I

think wetter is better.)

          Schertle’s poem WANDA’S SWIMSUIT makes use of the stanza form and an alternating rhyme scheme. There are three stanzas in WANDA’S SWIMSUIT. In the first and third stanzas, the first and third lines rhyme, as do the second and fourth; however, the second stanza, with only three lines, has no rhyme scheme. This poem vividly describes a feat young children love to enact in swimming pools, jumping in cannonball style, spraying everyone in sight with water. The swimsuit narrator in this poem enjoys being wet more than anything and that comes across convincingly, as does the motion and activity that takes place in this poem. Readers can clearly imagine running and jumping into a pool in exactly the same manner as it is described by the swimsuit narrator. WANDA’S SWIMSUIT embodies the tone and personification found throughout Schertle’s collection. The swimsuit narrator speaks with a voice full of humor and excitement, making it easily relatable to young readers. Swimming is a childhood activity most young people enjoy, and they will take away a sense of fun and impish pleasure from this poem.

          An inventive follow up activity for students would be for them to write their own poem from the point of view of being a swimsuit. Questions like “Where in the world would they most like to swim?” “Do they like cannonballs, why or why not?” and “What color, shape and design would they be as a swimsuit?” would all help students think creatively about writing their poems. The poems would be written as concrete poems, meaning they could resemble the shapes of the swimsuits themselves, or something about the location the students discuss in their poetry. The locations the students pick would also be excellent segues into Geography lessons. Stress that there is no limit on their imagination. These poems are meant to be fun and exciting.