Poetry- Haiti, My Country

The book I chose for the Poetry genre is called "Haiti, My Country" This book consists of 15 different poems written by 15 Haitian schoolchildren. The poems were written before the Haiti 2010 earthquake and it is also emphasized in the book that those children live in a remote area of Haiti far away from all the calamities of Haiti prior to the earthquake. The poems showcase their view of Haiti and we can see the beauty in how they see life.

As I evaluated the book and the poems written in the book, this book fits into the Poetry genre effectively for their great use of portrait illustration of each schoolchildren alongside the poem. The poems contains content that speaks to readers and provides imagery. The children also use language that enhances meaning of the poem.

When evaluating the book using the criteria for Elements of Social Justice, this book fits into the criteria of elements 1 and 2. The poems reflects the children's self-love, compassion, and respect for life in Haiti. As a result, readers reading the poems can connect with their thoughts and feelings.

If I were to use this book in my class, I would use it in a unit that discusses developing countries and perspectives. I would use this book with Grades 5 to discuss how we may perceive them to have very unfortunate lives but in this book, the poems shows the opposite in how the Haitians view their lives. This book helps students understand that each individual have different perspectives and we must not perceive others different too quickly.