Joyful Noise - Poems for Two Voices

Poetry for two voices mimicking sounds and characteristics of bugs.

This book has some very good poems about insects and bugs. It's a quick read.

poems: Grasshoppers / Water Striders / Mayflies / Fireflies / Book Lice / The Moth's Serenade / Water Boatmen / The Digger Wasp / Cicadas / Honeybees / Whirligig Beetles / Requiem / House Crickets / Chrysalid Diary

Though I read this alone (and, for the most part, silently), I could well imagine the

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effect of two people reciting the lines alternately by turn and in unison, as Fleischman intended. This Newbery Medal winner is a very brief collection of verse both humorous (e.g., "Book Lice") and thoughtful (e.g., "Chrysalid Diary"). And I have to admit, I almost got teary over "The Digger Wasp." (Who'd've thought it?)

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Paul Fleischman knows how to create beautiful, informative poetry that entertains both the reader(s) and the audience. This is one of my favorites to read aloud with a friend. Fleischman makes each poem a fun and doable choral performance for any level and any voice.

These poems are meant to be read aloud by two readers at once, and they recount stories from insects' points of view. We hear the moth’s serenade of “porchlight, hear my plight.” The whirligig beetles round robbin reading that makes your head spin. There are book lice who pass through Agatha

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Christie novels.

Kids will love voicing the ideas of an insect. This could connect to a science lesson on insects or serve as a writing prompt where students could write poems from an animal or insect point of view. Fun!!!

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There are about 14 poems in here that are meant to be read aloud by two readers. Each poem is about a different insect - Water Boatmen, Digger Wasps, Whirligig Beetles, Crickets, Grasshoppers, mayflies and more. One of my favorite poems is 'Fireflies', where the chant-like rhythm and one syllable

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words portray so incredibly well the quick lightning flashes of a firefly. Both readers say 'LIGHT',then one has a line. Then both readers say 'NIGHT', then the other reader has a line. This is but one example of how Fleischman so artistically uses words as if he were painting with them. My absolute favorite poem is 'Honeybees'. In this comical poem two honeybees tell about their life - although they have two completely different views. One is a pessimistic worker bee who is sick of the daily grind, and the other is a pampered queen bee who is 'loved and lauded and outranked by none'. This magical book is a delight to read with any age group!

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Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices is a very interesting book of poetry. It is designed for two people to read their own part, as in many songs. The poems are about bugs, such as grasshoppers and wasps. They are somewhat informational as they do give some insight to the life of each.

Once I got used

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to reading the two voices by myself I really enjoyed this book. It has unusual topics that are presented in an interesting and odd manner. I believe that this book would be great for fourth grade and above, boys and girls.

This book would be wonderful in the classroom as an excentric example of poetry in a language arts lesson. Also, it is a good tool to incorporate in a biology lesson that may discuss some of the bugs discussed in the book. I may also use this book to describe the various insects and then have the students pick one and draw a picture of it based on the poem.

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I listened to this on audiotape, then I read the poems, and then I listened to the audiotape again. It’s amazing to hear the poems read aloud, in two voices, converging, diverging, making a strong statement by reading a line in unison. The poems are all about insects. The illustrations are lovely

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pen-and-ink drawings. I want to get the audiobook for my library and find a way to use it with the students.

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This slim volume of poetry is dedicated entirely to insects. Sounds like it could be gross, but it’s not. Various insects take on different roles, but nearly all are sympathetically portrayed. In fact, some even seem to take the role of the tragic hero. All are accompanied with black-and-white

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illustrations, which are realistic but also somehow make the insects look inviting. The poems are all written “for two voices” with each page having a right column for the first reader and a left column for the second reader. These columns sometimes contain contrasting lines, complementing lines, or even on occasion the same line. This method of poetry serves better for some poems than others. For instance, the book lice poem is the story of a couple, while the honeybees poem contrasts a worker bee’s life with a queen bee’s life, so the choral reading style works well for both of these. On the other hand, the digger wasp poem is clearly narrated by one being, so having two voices does not make sense here. Of course, another downside with the poems for two voices is that they do not make for the best reading material when waiting in a doctor’s office by yourself (which is when I read this book), so this book works better if you have a partner and are able to read aloud. Overall though, I would recommend this as a short and sweet volume extolling the virtues of nature that can be enjoyed at any age.

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Poetry can be read in many ways, aloud, to yourself, with a friend or with two voices. This author, Eric Reddows has a collection that we can read together. He actually wrote it so two people could make a melody out of the words in his poems. All of them have the joyful sounds of insects. Beautiful

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sounds jump of the pages of this amazing collection of poetry for two readers. It can be used as part of science when studying insects or as part of a study with poetry. Kids can practice together and also use them as reader’s theater. I love reading this with kids!

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Read alouds can be fun with this musical duet-style of poems about insects (companion book to "I am Phoenix"). Students can take turns reading text from top to bottom or at times simultaneously. Well done and detailed drawings accompany each poem, giving the bugs some beauty. Connections: science,

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art.

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Newbery winner. Poems for two people or groups to recite. Written in two columns for ease in speaking the right part at the right time.

What a wonderful little book of poetry this is. These poems about bugs are a delight to read and are meant to be read a loud with a partner. My daughter and I tried them out and we might do one for Festival of the Arts next year. Very nice.

Joyful Noise is a group of poems designed for two voices. The book describes various bugs daily activity. For example, "Grasshoppers are hatching out Autumn-laid eggs." is one of the many analogies the author uses.

These poems about bugs is a great way to introduce poetry to children. Also,

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children will love the catchy phrases.

A great activity to do with this book since its designed for two voices, would be to have half of the class read one part and the other half read the other half. Also, you can give a lesson on metaphors and have class locate them throughout book.

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Having got it out of the library originally, I actually went and bought a copy of this book. I love it! The concept of poems written to be read by two people simultaneously is really cool, the poems are so much fun to read aloud, and the illustrations are beautiful – anthropomorphized insects

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that manage to be still buggy and not too cute. Some of the poems are quite a challenge to read aloud – you need good rhythm, some practice, and a sense of humor. He did two other books of poems for two voices, and I want them, too. (pannarrens)

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Great book to use in a classroom setting.

Written to be read aloud by two voices — sometimes alternating, sometimes simultaneous — this is a collection of poems that celebrate the insect world, from the short life of the mayfly to the love song of the book louse. Funny, sad, loud, and quiet, each of these poems resounds with a booming,

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boisterous, joyful noise.

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This unique collection of Newbery Medal-winning poetry is intended to be read aloud by two readers at the same time. The lives and habits of several different types of insects are described. Would work well in a readers theater setting.

The poems in this collection are whimsical and evocative of the insects described. Perhaps the most important thing to note about these poems is that they should be read aloud by two people - the full effect of the sound and combination really requires it. These poems would offer a perfect choice

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for short performances.

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This 1989 Newbery Medal winner is a joyous celebration of insects. The poems are, as the title states, to be read by two voices. Alas, I didn't read them aloud or with anyone, but I enjoyed the play on words and the sheer creativity of Fleischman's work.

There are 14 delightful poems. Here is part

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of my favorite:

Book Lice

I was born in a fine old edition of Schiller

While I started life in a private eye thriller
We're book lice who dwell
in these dusty bookshelves

Later I lodged in
Scott's works -- volume 50

While I passed my youth in Agatha Christie

We're book lice attached
despite contrasting pasts
One day, while in search of a new place to eat
He fell down seven shelves, where we happened to meet

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This wonderfully illustrated book is cute, delightful, charming and quickly perused, leaving smiles on the face of the reader.

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A collection of poems about all sorts of insects. It is written to be read by two people—either taking turns or at the same time, as in a musical duet.

I actually used this book for my Teaching and Assessing Reading class when we tutored third graders in reading. It was a really fun way to read

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together as opposed to taking turns by paragraph or page.

Since each poem is about a different insect, students can be divided into pairs to read a poem and research that particular insect. You could also have students pair up to write their own two-person poems.

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A lovely collection of poems and the Newbery Award winner of 1989, this book is made to be read aloud by two people as in a musical duet to "verbally recreate the booming/boisterous/joyful noise of insects". This one was recommended by Linda (Whisper1), who said it was just as fun to read alone,

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and I have to agree with her. The book is illustrated with beautiful pencil illustrations by Eric Beddows throughout and is a companion to [I Am Phoenix] by the same team, also for two voices, which "celebrates the sound, the sense, the essence of birds."

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A compilation of two-voiced poems about nature. Excellent book for performance of poetry. Great to use in the classroom for teaching about call and response poetry.

This book of poetry is a great way to practice reading and poetry. Two readers are meant to read each poem together, sometimes reading the same words, sometimes reading different words that will sound interesting when read together. Students can practice reading fluency through these lyrical poems.

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They also can learn about personification and other poetic devices. Overall, this is a very interesting way to experience poetry, but it has interdisciplinary benefits as well, especially in sciences (because the poems are about insects.

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