Poetry: Summersaults: Poems and Paintings by Douglas Florian

Florian, Douglas. 2002. Summersaults. New York, NY: Greenwillow Books.
ISBN 0-06-029267-9

Critical Analysis: Summersaults is a whimsical celebration of the joys and pitfalls of summer presented through twenty eight poems that reflect the perspective of children. Employing rhythm, rhyme, sound, figurative language, imagery, and emotion, Florian presents poems that provide a glimpse into that very special time in a child’s life. In “Dog Day” the author uses hazy, lazy, clinging, singing, torrid, horrid, thrown and bone to evoke the physical manifestations felt during the dog days of summer. In “Some Summers” he employs a similar technique using blaze, haze, simmer, shimmer, sizzle, fizzle, and flame to show that no two summers are alike. Florian creatively places the words on the page to complement the poem, for example the title poem, “Summersaults” where the word ‘vaulting’ and the word ‘tumbles’ is placed on the page to evoke the feeling of vaulting and tumbling (similar to concrete poetry and evocative of E.E. Cummings or e.e. cummings).

Through the use of imagery in “The Summer Trees” (‘the winter trees are sparse”) the reader can almost feel the cold and see the barren limbs of the winter trees while anticipating the beauty of the summer trees, with their “flocks and flocks and flocks and flocks” of birds. The repetition of the word flocks at the end of the poem is a creative use of rhythm and sound to help the reader imagine the summer trees filled with birds. In “Three Words” a very short poem (seven words), he uses the words cruel and school to take the reader to the moment that truly represents the end of summer, “back to school”.

The watercolor paintings (by Florian) are simple and almost childlike, allowing the reader to imagine themselves as part of the poem. The simplicity of the paintings complements not only the poetry but also the innocence of youth and encourages the reader to take their summer memories and “pack them for a snow-packed day”.

Reviews:

Publishers Weekly: “From the playful initial poems What I Love About Summer and What I Hate About Summer to the final contemplation of a future snowy day, Florian's companion volume to Winter Eyes overflows with inventive verses celebrating the delights and discontents of summer.”

School Library Journal: “Florian's intriguing art and lighthearted facility with words make this offering a winner.”

Booklist: “Florian ably captures the freedom and exuberance of the season in bright, new greens, sun-baked browns, and images of leaping, grinning figures. The gleeful puns, wordplay, and creative grammar will charm youngsters.”

Connections:

Read other books by Florian such as A Pig is Big, Beast Feast, and In the Swim. Compare the poetry in those books with Summersaults. Discuss similarities and differences.

Lead a discussion using two poems, “What I Like About Summer” and “What I Hate About Summer”. Use cutouts of clouds, leaves, balloons, or butterflies. Give each child two, and have them write what they like on one and what they hate on the other. Invite them to share with the group (voluntarily) and then create two visuals of a summer scene, adding in the clouds, leaves, balloons, and butterflies with the children’s likes and dislikes.

At the end of summer, read the poem “Three Words”. Discuss the children’s feelings about the end of summer and the start of school. Have them create a “time capsule” of their summer – ticket stubs, a vacation photo, a journal entry (or if they are young children a drawing) - that describes their best summer day. The container can be decorated coffee cans or oatmeal boxes. Encourage them to open and look at their time capsule when it is winter and summer seems far away.

Use “Three Words” to encourage the children to anticipate their return to school with optimism. Brainstorm all the good things about school (seeing a favorite teacher, playing with friends, joining a sports team or club). Have them create their own poem about going back to school but encourage a positive outlook (of course if a student wants to write a negative poem that is OK too).