Hopkins Award Poetry: Review # 14

Pieces: A Year in Poems and Quilts

Hines, Anna Grossnickle. Pieces: A Year in Poems and Quilts. Greenwillow Books, 2001.

Critical Analysis:
This unique collection of poems comes to life in such a creative comparison: quilts and poetry.  Anna Grossnickle Hines grew up quilting and her love for quilts inspired her to take the seams and stitches of a quilt and encircle them with poems revolving around winter, spring, summer, and fall.  Poetry is an art and Hines has shown readers how the lyrical patterns and rhymes relate to life and the happenings in a year.  In the first poem, Pieces Hines tells readers of the patchwork pattern made up in a year.  This poem introduces the thematic concept of the relationship between the poems which detail seasonal events and the images of the real quilts squares that compliment them.  The poems encompass many poetic elements with rhyme and rhythm that flow freely like the nature of events they are describing, from a rainy day in March, to a lawn of Dandelions in spring.  Grossnickle has carefully chosen events that readers of all ages can relate to and the message in each poem is lighthearted and joyous.  She has detailed life and some of its most ordinary moments in poetry that is nothing but extraordinary.  The quilts which were handmade by Grossnickle and other members of her family serve as the perfect companion to the already elusive poetry.  This collection of poems is one that is sure to enlighten the life of any reader as it speaks to the mind and soul from the realms of the world that is ever changing around us.

POEM SPOTLIGHT

Good Heavens

Our lawn is astronomical

with dandelion blooms.

a green sky filled

with a thousand suns

and then

a thousand moons

that with a puff

of wind become

a hundred thousand stars.

Anna Grossnickle Hines

Analysis:

As I read through the poems in this selection I was reminded of many things that I myself recalled about the seasons.  The poem that seemed to speak to me personally was the poem Good Heavens.  The title of this poem and the disarray of quilt pieces scattered across the page it is on reminded me of stars even before I read the poem.  As I read and became absorbed in the language of the poem my eyes drifted to the quilt on the accompanying page.  Then….it all made perfect sense to me.  This poem and quilt fit together just as nice as the pieces of the quilt itself, but the meaning Hines set forth to share with readers was even more evident.  In just two sentences Hines was able to capture the heart and soul of her readers in a poem about a staple of spring: Dandelions.  Her creative use of imagery coupled with a powerful use of figurative language builds a bond between the poem and the reader.  The patchwork pattern she mentions in the beginning of the book is continuing as readers experience the changing of the dandelion from flower to seed.  Her comparison of to the sun and moon is one that readers can relate to as the rich colors found within the quilt bring to life the voice within the poem.  Hines has taken such a concrete experience and in a sense made it more abstract by having readers contemplate this act of nature on an entirely different level.  This poem evokes every element of quality poetry as it successfully portrays spring in only a few, powerful words.

Classroom Connections:

What child doesn’t love Dandelions?  Better yet, what child has not experienced firsthand a bunch of yellow blooms one day turn into beautiful white puffs days later?  This poem is a wonderful representation of the power of imagery and would be great to share in a lesson in which students visualize this feat of spring.  Before sharing this book or the poem Good Heavens with students, the teacher could bring a quilt into the class and spread onto the floor.  Students could sit on the quilt and discuss what makes a quilt special.  I think this poem would be best understood if shared in two readings, one with the eyes closed followed by one with the eyes opened.  If possible the teacher could enlarge the quilt that is used with this selection for students to see more clearly.  After the readings the teacher and students could discuss the imagery that is present, what came into their minds as they were just listening with their eyes closed.  Students could check to see if their mental images were similar to that of the images presented in the quilt.  Quilts are such a fun classroom activity.  The teacher could share other fun books based on quilts such as: The Keeping Quilt By: Patricia Polacco, The Name Quilt By: Phyliss Root, or Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt By: Deborah Hopkinson.  As a culminating activity students could work to create their own classroom quilt with each student making a square that resembles what makes them special.