This Is Just to Say

Sidman, Joyce. 2007. This Is Just to Say: Poems of Apology and Forgiveness. Ill. by Pamela Zagarenski. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. ISBN 978-0-618-61680-0.

Summary

The students of Mrs. Mertz' sixth grade classed were asked to write poems of apology to whomever they chose and those poems received responses. Students wrote poems of apology of various topics as well as used different styles of poetry to convey their messages.  The poems of apologies and their responses contained emotions that made you laugh and cry, feel pain and joy.

Critical Analysis

Rhythm and Rhyme- There are various 'poets' in this book and each poet uses his or her own rhythm. Some poems use a free style in which they occur is full sentences or parts of a sentence that makes up each line. One poet uses the form called the pantoum to express his apology. The use of the various styles of poems helps each poet convey their stories and emotions behind the stories. Each poem is captivating in its own way and makes to want to read the response even before you finish reading the apology.

Language and Emotion- The various language used helps the reader to get a sense of the poet's personality. The reader can sense the emotion of the poet as they read the words used. One poet states, "I'm sorry" at the beginning of first lines but in parentheses, states, "but not really". This poet's use of language shows readers that he does not really care for forgiveness. On the other end of the spectrum, some poets use raw emotions in their poems to display their hurt.

"Please, please come back.
Don't leave me spinning alone,
like a slow, sad tornado."

"I'm so sorry we had to do this.
We wanted to save you some pain.
I hope we did the right thing."

Lines such as the above pulled my heart into the story and I could feel their hurt and pain through the simple words and lines that left me with tears in my eyes. I felt sympathy for the poets and their bittersweet/beautiful stories. There were moments of joy, triumph, sadness, and heartbreak throughout the book and I felt every bit of emotion that each poem offered. Each line was perfectly chosen and left me wanting more.

Imagery- Each poem used imagery to help describe the events of the poems. Some were more subtle than others.

"Your nose was still wet.
Your ears were still silky."

"his bright eyes turned to mud."

"a blazing ring"

 Not only were the lines beautifully written, the images next to each poem gave more visuals for readers to relate to each poem. In almost each picture, the illustrator uses the dictionary definition of apology as part of the pictures. They are hidden throughout the pages, some which are easily recognizable while others are small but not insignificant. And in many pictures, Zagarenski placed drawings on typical paper easily accessible to students such as notebook paper and graph paper. This element makes the book more believable to relating to children.

Each of my senses were left stimulated with the language used. I could see the hurt in the poet's eyes. I could smell the stolen brownies. I could hear the 'smashing of the garage windows'. I could taste the 'so sweet and so gloppy donuts'. I could touch the 'pale and smooth' of the statue. Sidman and Zagarenski's works in This Is Just to Say use poetry as an amazing way to tell stories of apology and forgiveness while giving the senses a stimulating ride.

Review Excerpts

Bluebonnet Award Nominee 2008
Prairie Pasque Award Nominee 2009
Young Hoosier Book Award Nominee 2009
North Carolina Children's Book Award Nominee 2010
Beehive Children's Poetry Book Award Nominee 2010

School Library Journal- Sidman's ear is keen, capturing many voices. Her skill as a poet accessible to young people is unmatched.

Publisher's Weekly- Zagarenski's (Mites to Mastodons) inventive mixed-media illustrations brim with items found in a classroom: a dictionary entry on "apology," for instance, becomes part of a student's clothing, and white hole reinforcements resemble a character's stolen doughnuts.

Connections-

• Have students connect to the poems by letting them create their own poems of apologies, recreating the book with their own stories.
• Use the apologies and responses by pairing students in groups and doing read-alouds to reinforce the power of poetry and discuss the differences between reading and hearing the poems and what feelings may arise.