Blog #14 Somewhere in the Ocean

The Ballad of Valentine

Written by Alison Jackson
Illustrated by Tricia Tusa
Dutton Children’s Books
2002
29 pages

Poetry

                I chose this book because not only was the cover captivating, but I knew it would be a good poetry book to use considering it has “ballad” in the title. This book is about a man who tries and tries to get a letter to his love interest Valentine. He tries everything from a homing pigeon to a bonfire, but every attempt is somehow ruined. Unsuccessful try after unsuccessful try leave the man feeling hopeless at the end of the book, but then there is a happy ending. I don’t want to spoil it for you so you’ll have to read it!

                The illustrations in this book look to have been made using watercolor and pen. The edges of the characters and objects are clearly defined with black outlines making the pictures crisp and easy to distinguish. The double-paged spread illustrations tell as much of the story as the words do in this book. They are so detailed and easy to understand that one could read the story purely through the pictures. The horizontal lines move in an up and down pattern across the page. The rolling mountains across every page represent the up and down feelings of the suitor trying to get Valentine’s attention then being unsuccessful. The colors are natural but saturated which again could reflect the suitor’s feelings toward Valentine.

                This is an excellent book to introduce for a poetry lesson around Valentine’s Day. This book could be used for practically any elementary aged group, but I would suggest using it with fourth grade and down. A fun activity that the teacher could have students do would be for them to write a rhyming stanza of the poem depicting another way the suitor could have tried to get Valentine’s attention. There are also many word sorts that could be drawn from this book; for instance, compound words are prevalent throughout the book.

To visit Alison Jackson's website, click on her name.