LS5663 - Module 4 - Biographical Poetry - Book Review

Lewis, J. Patrick. 2006. Blackbeard, the pirate king. Washington, D.C: National Geographic. Illustrations by various artists. ISBN 9780792255857.

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I love vacationing in North and South Carolina, and they have lots of activities and places to visit related to pirates. I chose Blackbeard, The Pirate King for just this reason. I have heard his name lots, but I realized that I didn’t know that much about him. This book is full of information. There is a note from the author in the back that discusses that History does not really know much about this “larger than life” pirate. Much of the information we do have is based on hearsay and embellishment, along with the vivid imaginations of writers and illustrators. But, there is a good effort given to provide as much accurate information as possible. There is a time line of Blackbeard’s life in the back, along with maps of the Carolina coastline where his adventures took place.

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The artwork in the book is incredible! There are various artists’ interpretations of Blackbeard with each poem. Obviously, he lived long before photography, so artists had to rely on stories, myths, documents, and their own imaginations to depict Blackbeard’s likeness. The art is bold, colorful, and dramatic. It is a great accompaniment to the real treasure of this book, which is the poetry.

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J. Patrick Lewis has easily become one of my new favorite poets, and I was not disappointed by this book. As is the artwork, the poems are also, brave, audacious, and daring. Boys are going to be quickly drawn into this book, because of the “fighting” and “dueling,” and “weapons” and “roguish guy behavior.” It is just fun!

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Many of the poems rhyme with an alternating line style, and almost all of them are less than one page. They also have short lines, and stanzas, with lots of white space on the page. A reluctant reader should not feel intimidated by what they see and read in the book. There are a few French words in the poetry, along with some vocabulary words the students may not immediately understand, especially if they are reading this alone. But with the teacher or librarian doing an oral reading of the poetry, followed by a discussion of the artwork and history contained on the same pages, the students will start to quickly get the idea of pirates and their lingo.

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One of my favorites is:

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The Brethren of the Coast

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Down Caribbean shipping lanes,
Where buccaneers held court,
The pistol, blade,
And cannon made
Their treachery blood sport.

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“The Brethren of the Coast,” pirates
No country could contain,
Loved stealing gold
And seas patrolled –
To a man they hated Spain.
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But of all the thieves of the Seven Seas,
No one would ever reach
The height and might
Of the roguish knight
Of the Black Flag, Edward Teach.

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These poems lend themselves very well to choral readings and dramatic interpretations. Students will very much enjoy taking a poem from the book and organizing how the lines should be presented to an audience. That same poem could be acted out by other students, perhaps even using simple costumes and props. This would make for a great poetry break, to simply enjoy another fun poetry book. Or it could also be used to supplement a history unit about the early days of the U.S. colonies and the Caribbean islands.

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Kids will enjoy and remember this book, but I think boys most especially.