Overview
Troy Thompson's Excellent Peotry Book follows Troy Thompson, a Grade 6 student, in his efforts to understand the art of peotry (poetry). It's a rocky but endlessly amusing road for Troy, as he stumbles over the Japanese form of ‘Haiku', the ballad, the limerick and the sonnet. At the end of the year, Troy's poetry has well and truly improved and his respect for Ms Kranke, his teacher, has grown too! Troy Thompson's Excellent Peotry Book is a highly entertaining introduction to poetry for school children, which can be read as a narrative as well as an easy-to-follow classroom guide for teachers. It is divided into assignments for the reader to follow and participate in and is peppered by Troy's doodles and margin comments to his teacher, sure to produce many laughs. Ms Kranke obviously has quite a soft spot for this cheeky young student, and encourages him on his way, whether writing of his love for his school sweetheart, Kylie, or revealing the heroic and moving death of his policeman father.Author Biography: Queensland author Gary Crew has an outstanding reputation as a writer of young adult fiction and innovative picture books. His numerous prizes and awards include CBC Book of the Year: Older Readers for Strange Objects and Angel's Gate (1991 and 1994); CBC Picture Book of the Year shortlisting for Lucy's Bay (1993); CBC Picture Book of the Year for First Light (1994) and CBC Picture Book of the Year for The Watertower (1995). Gary was editor of the After Dark series and author of the picture books First Light, The Lost Diamonds of Killiecrankie, Bright Star, The Viewer, Troy Thompson's Excellent Peotry Book, Troy Thompson's Radical Prose Folio, Memorial and Leo theLion Tamer. His previous Lothian YA Fiction titles are Mama's Babies and Dear Venny, Dear Saffron.
About the Illustrator: Craig Smith has an excellent track record as a children's book illustrator. The more recent of his awards include Shortlisted CBC Book of the Year: Younger Readers for Billy the Punk (1996), Shortlisted CBC for Not Again, Dad by Thurley Fowler (1995), Shortlisted CBC for The Giant's Tooth by Gillian Rubinstein (1994), CBC Honour Book for Where's Mum by Libby Gleeson (1993), Honour Book Chicago Book Clinic for The Monkey and the Crocodile by Colin Pearce (1991) and CBC Book of the Year: Younger Readers for Sister Madge's Book of Nuns by Doug McLeod (1986). Craig has also recently illustrated Paul Jennings titles: The Cabbage Patch FIB and The Cabbage Patch War.
Synopsis
Troy Thompson's Excellent Peotry Book follows Troy Thompson, a Grade 6 student, in his efforts to understand the art of peotry (poetry). It's a rocky but endlessly amusing road for Troy, as he stumbles over the Japanese form of Haiku', the ballad, the limerick and the sonnet. At the end of the year, Troy's poetry has well and truly improved and his respect for Ms Kranke, his teacher, has grown too! Troy Thompson's Excellent Peotry Book is a highly entertaining introduction to poetry for school children, which can be read as a narrative as well as an easy-to-follow classroom guide for teachers. It is divided into assignments for the reader to follow and participate in and is peppered by Troy's doodles and margin comments to his teacher, sure to produce many laughs. Ms Kranke obviously has quite a soft spot for this cheeky young student, and encourages him on his way, whether writing of his love for his school sweetheart, Kylie, or revealing the heroic and moving death of his policeman father.
Author Biography: Queensland author Gary Crew has an outstanding reputation as a writer of young adult fiction and innovative picture books. His numerous prizes and awards include CBC Book of the Year: Older Readers for Strange Objects and Angel's Gate (1991 and 1994); CBC Picture Book of the Year shortlisting for Lucy's Bay (1993); CBC Picture Book of the Year for First Light (1994) and CBC Picture Book of the Year for The Watertower (1995). Gary was editor of the After Dark series and author of the picture books First Light, The Lost Diamonds of Killiecrankie, Bright Star, The Viewer, Troy Thompson's Excellent Peotry Book, Troy Thompson's Radical Prose Folio, Memorial and Leo theLion Tamer. His previous Lothian YA Fiction titles are Mama's Babies and Dear Venny, Dear Saffron.
About the Illustrator: Craig Smith has an excellent track record as a children's book illustrator. The more recent of his awards include Shortlisted CBC Book of the Year: Younger Readers for Billy the Punk (1996), Shortlisted CBC for Not Again, Dad by Thurley Fowler (1995), Shortlisted CBC for The Giant's Tooth by Gillian Rubinstein (1994), CBC Honour Book for Where's Mum by Libby Gleeson (1993), Honour Book Chicago Book Clinic for The Monkey and the Crocodile by Colin Pearce (1991) and CBC Book of the Year: Younger Readers for Sister Madge's Book of Nuns by Doug McLeod (1986). Craig has also recently illustrated Paul Jennings titles: The Cabbage Patch FIB and The Cabbage Patch War.
The Washington Post
Aussie sixth-grader Troy Thompson does his best to keep up with Ms. Kranke's assignments on, variously, the haiku, the ballad, the limerick, the sonnet, occasional poems, concrete poetry, the ode and the acrostic. Ms. Kranke's encouraging instructions are juxtaposed to hilarious effect with Troy's scatological word lists, wild illustrations and manful efforts to actually write poems. — Elizabeth Ward
Editorials
The Washington Post
Aussie sixth-grader Troy Thompson does his best to keep up with Ms. Kranke's assignments on, variously, the haiku, the ballad, the limerick, the sonnet, occasional poems, concrete poetry, the ode and the acrostic. Ms. Kranke's encouraging instructions are juxtaposed to hilarious effect with Troy's scatological word lists, wild illustrations and manful efforts to actually write poems. — Elizabeth WardChildren's Literature
What would inspire an eleven-year-old Australian male to become a poet? Answer: the prize of a computer for the best poem in a contest sponsored by the local Farmer's Auxiliary. Troy Thompson's teacher, Ms. Kranke, assigns poems in a variety of forms from haiku to sonnet, with ballads, limericks, hymns, and odes in between. Troy pastes each effort into his poetry notebook and illustrates it enthusiastically. Poor Ms. Kranke responds to each in red ink, always hoping that Troy will modify his language (his favorite word is "poop") and paint clothing on any unclad female form he includes. Since she also offers encouragement and sympathy along the way, we learn a good deal about Troy as he learns about "peotry" (he has some trouble with spelling). A darker note sounds when Troy's ballad tells the story of his policeman father's death, but is balanced by his funky ode to girfriend Kylie. In the end, Troy's sonnet for Ms. Kranke wins the computer: "But whatever you're thinking, Ms. Kranke, please know / That you taught me, Troy Thompson, to grow." Gary Crew has done a terrific job of evoking the concerns, joys, and creativity of a pre-adolescent, while Craig Smith's exuberant recreation of Troy's notebook, done with ink, gouache, collage, pencil, and computer-generated images, is a delight to peruse. Adults and kids alike will thank Kane/Miller for bringing us this marvelously insightful, instructive, and hilarious look at the life and art of Troy Thompson from Australia. 2003, Kane/Miller, Ages 10 to 14.— Barbara L. Talcroft