New Gooney Bird Greene
I am a die hard fan of Gooney Bird Greene. I loved Lois Lowry’s first book and used it a lot in my classroom for writing workshop. Her newest book, Gooney Bird is So Absurd, is wonderful. Gooney’s teacher, Mrs. Pidgeon, begins each day reading poetry to her second grade classroom. She introduces her students to couplets, limericks, haiku, free verse, and poems for more than one voice. What makes these poems extra special, is that they were written a long time ago by Mrs. Pidgeon’s own mother. Her students then get to try all of these poems during their writing time. Gooney Bird, always a little different from the rest of the class, wears green ruffled underpants on her head (calling them a two-ponytail hat) to keep her brain warm. It must work, because she always comes up with some good poems.
You get the idea that Lowis Lowry has spent some time in the classroom. Each of the students in Mrs. Pidgeon’s class is recognizeable as a student in my own room. There’s the kid with marker all over his hands, the little Japanese-American girl with a lisp because she’s missing her 2 front teeth, the boy who shouts out, the extremely studious child, and many more.
Lois Lowry uses a lot of wonderful vocabulary that I can see adding to my “Interesting Words” chart- words like “savor” and ”slurping through the slush.” I also think that my students will find the antics of Gooney Bird and her classmates hilarious. It is evident that both Lowry and Mrs. Pidgeon have respect for the students in this classroom. Catastrophe strikes when a not-so respectful sub appears one morning. A master story teller, Lowry creates a tug-at-your-heart ending that is very poignant. I don’t know if kids will have the same reaction, but adults reading the book will understand the impact of the last poem. It’ll be a great conversation to have with your students, especially the message that our best writing comes from our hearts.
