Avis HarleyAfrican Acrostics: A Word in Edgeways

If you are an animal lover, a teacher, or a lover of poetry, you should check out this book. The poems are very clever and well-written,and they are accompanied with gorgeous photographs. This book is one that my students clamor to read and share.

Great little book

We are enjoying using this book as we teach acrostics with an animal theme!

This was not what I wanted or expected. Thought it was an acrostic puzzle book. Did not meet my needs at all. Worthless.

I used this book to teach my students how to write more complex acrostic poems. This book elicited deep discussion about language and meaning. The students enjoyed it.

Harley invites readers to decode the hidden messages that appear in her eighteen animal-themed poems and learn a bit about the natural world while Noyes awes viewers with stunning photography. Of course you will find lions, elephants, giraffes, and hippopotamuses but this celebration of African wildlife also has some surprises. Kudus, bonobos, cape buffalo, bat-eared foxes, African wildcats, and hornbills find a place among the more familiar crocodiles and ostriches. One of my favorite poems is titled Moody Guy. This rhino-inspired work begins:Boulders for shouldersElegant horn --A pointed reminder of theUnicorn,Thick leg-pillars bruising tawnyYellow grass.Do you see the beginning of the message? When the first letter of each word is read vertically, the complete poems says Beauty In The Beast.Following the poetry, Harley provides information about acrostics and encourages readers to invent some of their own. Additional information about each of the featured animals is offered for further reading.A note from Noyes completes the book with a look at the life of a wild-life photographer and a discussion of where the photos were taken.Consider this book as an inspiration for student poetry and for cross-curriculum connections.

Many people are wild about puzzles, but this book is unique in that it mixes wild puzzles with wild animals. An acrostic is a poem that is created by using certain letters to form a message, or in the case of this book, the name, characteristic or something whimsical about a wild animal. This book not only contains simple acrostics but also double acrostics ("the first and last letters of each line"), the cross acrostic (read diagonally) and the multiple acrostic. In this book you'll visit with a crocodile, a rhinoceros, a kudu, a lion, a hornbill, an elephant, a stork, a zebra, a giraffe, a buffalo, an ostrich, an African Wildcat, a lioness, a bonobo, an impala, a hippopotamus, a bat-eared fox and a leopard. Let's look at an elephant . . .Eye to EyeEar-Sails flap in a breeze.Leather limbs in rhythmEvenly swaying in stepPlod slowly over Africa.Huge as a dinosaur, yetA tender soul from suchNobel mammoth alumni.There is a wonder abuzz,Staring into eyes so wise.This is the type of book that offers a novel experience to children and will encourage them to be creative. The results will probably be a surefire esteem booster and most likely even the parent, teacher or caretaker will be pleased with the results. The vibrant photographs were taken "in game parks and preserves in Namibia." If you haven't experimented with acrostics before, you'll probably be grabbing for some paper to try making unique ones all your own!

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