Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices by Paul Fleischman

From Goodreads, 

"From the Newbery Medal-winning author of Seedfolks, Paul Fleischman, Joyful Noise is a collection of irresistible poems that celebrates the insect world.

Funny, sad, loud, and quiet, each of these poems resounds with a booming, boisterous, joyful noise.

The poems resound with the pulse of the cicada and the drone of the honeybee. They can be fully appreciated by an individual reader, but they're particularly striking when read aloud by two voices, making this an ideal pick for classroom use. Eric Beddows′s vibrant drawings send each insect soaring, spinning, or creeping off the page in its own unique way.

With Joyful Noise, Paul Fleischman created not only a fascinating guide to the insect world but an exultant celebration of life."

Goodreads - Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices

Awards and Nominations:

• Boston Globe-Horn Book Award Nominee for Fiction and Poetry (1988)
• Newbery Medal (1989)

I always keep a few books on my "Saved for Later" list on Amazon.  A while back I received a refund from Amazon and decided to select a couple books to go ahead and order.  This book was one of them.  When the book arrived a week later I was shocked by how small it was and wondered what made it so amazing to receive the Newbery Medal. 

This book is a series of poems that focus on insects found in nature.  All the poems are written so that two voices make them complete and give a certain rhythm and noise to them. 

This book was a quick read, but a difficult read because I am just one voice.  I was constantly having to bounce back and forth to try to get the entire poem since I only had one copy of the book and had no one else to read them with me.  Some of the poems were very melodic and interesting, while others I was ready to finish and move on.  However, as a teacher, I was very intrigued by this book.  I immediately started thinking of ways that I could incorporate this "two voice poem" idea into my classroom and my poetry unit.  I have heard poems like this before and thought they were really amazing and always of a moving topic.  I would love to partner students up and assign them a poem to learn and say with their partners.  It would work on their reading skills, their speaking skills, and their fluency and rhythm of speaking.  It would also be extremely interesting to let students write their own two voice poems and allow them to express themselves.  I think students would find it tedious, but also rewarding once they finally got it right.  

I'm still not sure how this book received the Newbery Medal in 1989.  It lacks a storyline and honestly requires two people to be able to read it.  You can read with one, but it is difficult.  I looked up the other nominees from 1989 and frankly, it looks like 1989 was a rough year for book nominations.  I give this 1 star, but I am definitely glad I could get some ideas out of it for my classroom.