I have never heard of this book before, but I thought it was very creative and perfect for teaching many different concepts all in one. It Introduces poetry in a fun way and can get students interested in it. It also touches on bullying and teasing for Stanza liking poetry and then it turns all around. The pictures were cute too and represented the story well. The rhyming really helps with reading this and makes it entertaining. ( )

This is about Stanza, a dog who people think is just a bully, just like his brothers, but secretly, he loves to write poetry. Stanza spends each night writing all forms of poems, including haiku's, but doesn't share this secret with anyone. Until he decides to enter a contest for writing a jingle about the neighborhood's favorite snack: Snappers!. Stanza enters the contest and eventually wins 2nd place, but his brothers tease and taunt him for enjoying poetry. Stanza learns to stand up for himself, what he loves and what he's good at. He shares his winnings (Snappers! snacks) with the neighborhood and shares his poems and songs.

This book could be used for 1st-3rd graders because it shares poetry in a story form with words that rhyme, but with large and possibly unfamiliar vocabulary that can be used to build students' exposure to unknown words. Because of the vocabulary in this story, I think consulting a reference from several sources to determine word meaning would be a great strategy while using this book.

Also, this picture book has exciting and silly illustrations that help paint the picture of each stanza in the book. Stanza shows students that not being afraid of what you like and who you are is important to being happy with yourself. The poems are presented in a manner that reads like a story so that students can experience poetry in a fun, less traditional way. I would use this story to encourage students to write their own poetry and use it as part of a unit of study to include all types of poetry. Allowing students freedom to write poetry in their own way and to experience books that show it in different ways helps them become better writers and to share their creativity. ( )

Stanza struggles with feeling unaccepted and scared to be himself. In the end he inspires others to be themselves too. I think a lot of kids can identify with this story. ( )