Poetry - C IS FOR CITY

Bibliography
Grimes, Nikki. 1995. C IS FOR CITY. Lothrop, Lee and Shepard Books. New York, New York. ISBN 0688118089

Plot Summary
C IS FOR CITY depicts life in New York City through an alphabet poetry book. The book uses good vocabulary for the city life. Many of New York’s most noted features are depicted in this picture book.

Critical Analysis
In C IS FOR CITY the illustrations are bright and colorful. They are full of activity just as the streets of New York City are. One of my favorite verses of poetry is “T is for turnstile and trains full of tourists, for tough-talking boys with steel taps on their shoes. T is for taxi and two-story town houses next door to temples with hard, wooden pews.” This page is illustrated with a subway scene including crowds, a subway, turnstiles, and a musician playing. Each illustration is chalked full of items that start with the letter featured on the page just as the free verses of poetry are written with many words starting with the featured letter.

Review Excerpt(s)
School Library Journal: “Illustrations in vivid, neon colors suggest the electricity and brashness of a loud city with its hard edges as well as the teeming population.”
Booklist: “The rhymes themselves are quite clever and packed with vocabulary-expanding images. Each illustration is a hearty slice of urban life, with all its intersecting dramas and scenes within scenes.”


Connections
*This book could be used to teach the difference between city, rural, and urban communities. This is a skill that second and third grade teachers have to teach in Texas.
*This book could be used to start a class writing assignment of making an alphabet book about their own community.
*This book could be used to introduce students to poetry found in alphabet books.
Winters Productions. HOW COMMUNITIES ARE ALIKE AND DIFFERENT (DVD). ISBN 1585412732
School Videos. CITY, SUBURB, AND RURAL COMMUNITIES (VIDEORECORDING). ISBN 1585412007
Roop, Peter and Connie. A FARMING TOWN. ISBN: 1575721279
Roop, Peter and Connie. A SUBURB. ISBN: 1575721309