Lemonade Sun and Other Poems

By: Rebecca Kai Dotlich
Illustrated By: Jan Spivey Gilchrist

Publisher:  Wordsong   Copyright Date: 1998 ISBN: 1-56397-660-9

Genre: Children's Poetry    Format: Fiction

Major Awards Received:    

Recommended from the Poetry for Children Blog
Adventuring with Books: A Booklist for PreK-Grade 6, 12th Edition, 1999 ; National Council of Teachers of English; United States
Best Children's Books of the Year, 1999 ; Bank Street College of Education; United States

Summary: This book of poems is about things that children can participate in during the summer.  When school is out and you are looking for things to do, you can pick up this book and come up with a lot of activities to keep you busy and possibly make some money or enjoy a sweet treat. The author takes you from the beginning of the day with the sun coming up, to the end of the day, with someone reading you a bed time story.   

Personal response:  The pictures in the book go with the poems so well that it feels like you are there. I feel students can relate to this book because the poems are about things that they are familiar with.  I also like the fact that the poems are shorter and can hold the interest of younger students. 

Classroom connections:   In order for students to recognize different genres, before reading Lemonade Sun, I would introduce them to poetry by asking them what they think a poem consists of. To help my accomplish this, I would inform them that April is Poetry Month and depending on the grade level, I would assist them in completing some of the packet of information found at.  After completing some of this packet, I would read to them Lemonade Sun.  I would have students work in pairs take a word of interest from the poem and place it in the center bubble. They then fill in as many bubbles around the word with as they can with synonyms or related words. For example, if the word is "longing," students may write words in other bubbles such as, "missing, nostalgic, sorrow, homesick, desire, etc." Students can discuss how the poem would be different if one of the other words had been used. Pairs can share their word lists with other students and ask questions about new words they learn.  Working in pairs is a great way for ESOL students to be able to participate in all of the activities.