Performance Poetry
Bibliography
Greenfield, Eloise. 2006. THE FRIENDLY FOUR. Ill. by Jan
Spivey Gilchrist. New York: Harper Collins Publishers. ISBN 9780060007591
Summary
Drummond, mostly known as Drum, begins to see his summer as
one filled with no friends and playing second to his baby brother. That is
until he notices new neighbors moving in down the street with a girl about his
size. He is soon introduced to Dorene and they become fast friends. Another
neighborhood boy named Louis later joins the duo. After a while, Dorene’s
cousin, Rae becomes a part of the summer gang. The children form a lasting bond
and call themselves, “The Friendly Four.” Their adventures range from
playground fun, board games, kickball, and even the creation of their own town,
Goodsummer. With summer vacation about to end and school to begin, the children
reflect on the friendships they have formed and upcoming adventures they will
have together again next year, no more bummer summers!
Quality and Appeal
The Friendly Four consist
of thirty-four poems separated into six sections, which are seen in the table
of contents at the beginning of the book. Sections one through four are
assigned to the four friends. With the introduction of each section a new
friend is introduced and added. For example section two is called “Drum and
Dorene,” section three adds Louis, and in section four we are introduced to
Rae. Section five belongs to the creation of their town, Goodsummer. Section
six is titled, “Goodbyes.” The book is written with speaking parts for each
child. Each child’s lines are color coded specifically for them. Drum is red,
Dorene is blue, Louis is green, and Rae is purple. When all four friends join
in verse together, the lines are black. The friends’ stories are told in
sequential order of the summer’s events.
Jan Spivey Gilchrist has created the watercolor
illustrations. Each poem’s mood is beautifully illustrated by brilliant colors
for playfulness or muted hues to depict the somber tone. In the poem, “We Did
It!” the colors shown are bright and cheerful, depicting the emotional
satisfaction experienced by the friends as they completed their make-believe
town, Goodsummer. In the poem, “Punished,” the illustrator relies on soft
pastels of grey and blue to capture the mood of each child’s consequence for
not listening to grown-ups. The illustrations enhance the imaginative play that
these four friends experience over one summer.
The poems, for the most part, are told in free verse. There
is the occasional poem that has the pattern of rhyme. One example of this rhyme
scheme can be seen in the poem, “The Fuss.” Dorene and Rae begin the poem with
the words, “One day we had a mighty fuss, every single one of us.” The next two
lines conclude with all four friends joining in, “We were kicking the ball and
everything was fine, until the ball went over the line.”
Sound is also evident with the addition of words that
reflect onomatopoeia. This element can be seen and heard with the words “Huffing,
puffing! Whew!,” “willy-nilly,” “Surprise!,” “Ahhhhh,” and “Hooray!”
Sense imagery and the figurative language element of
hyperbole are included in the poem, “Tall Tale.” Dorene is talking to Drum
about her previous home and embellishes her story with quite an imagination.
She says, “I slipped and fell, and I slid all to the way top of the hill and
hurt my leg, and the people tried to carry me down, but they all kept sliding
back up.” I enjoyed Drum’s response to her clever story. His response was an
emphatic “Uh-huh, sure right!”
Throughout most of the book, the mood is upbeat and
lighthearted. There are several poems that reflect a range of emotions. These
emotions include Drum’s jealousy over his new baby brother, Louis’s sense of
belonging and sincere love with his new adopted mother, Rae’s insecurity about
her mom’s illness, and sadness over the departure of Rae at the end of the
summer. Although these occurrences are relatively new for young readers to
experience, the matters are still relevant to our world. Children should be
able to grasp these concepts.
Eloise Greenfield has created a book that will appeal to
youngsters for its imagination and adventures experienced by the children in
the book. The color-coded dialogue is perfect for elementary students to
participate in choral reading or to be performed by individuals. The text
colors allow students to easily keep their place at the story progresses. The
dialogue allows for each child to put its own authentic voice to the character
assigned.
Spotlight Poem
The Friendly Four
Drum:
Didn’t I call this summer a
bummer?
All: Not anymore, not anymore.
Drum:
I was alone, and life was lonely.
All: But not anymore,
Drum:
‘cause were the Friendly Four!
Louis, Dorene, Rae: The Friendly Four?
Drum: The Friendly Four.
All: We’ll call
ourselves the Friendly Four.
Drum: Bummer’s gone and
lonely, too,
Louis: We showed them what good
friends
can do,
Rae: We sent them
flying out the door,
All: ‘Cause we’re
all here, and we’re
the
Friendly Four.
Connections
This poem lends itself to a great icebreaker at the
beginning of school.
As an introduction, the teacher can read the poem aloud.
Children can be given their own copy to read. Then, everyone can read the poem
together. Students can be grouped to create their own “Friendly Four.” Since
most children have attended school together for several years, make sure to
include new students with groups where common interest lie. There are several
interest inventories that can be found online or the teachers can create one
themselves. Once groups have been formed and time given to find their interest,
the groups can be assigned one poem to perform in front of the class. Each
member of the group must introduce another member and tell one thing they
learned about their new friend.
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