Poetry in the Science Class: Mammalabilia

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Florian, Douglas. 2000. Mammalabilia. Orlando, FL: Harcourt. ISBN 9780152050245

CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Douglas Florian presents 21 witty poems about mammals in Mammalabilia. Each poem offers facts about physical appearances, instincts, or learned behaviors of the spotlighted animal. The predictable rhyme and flowing rhythm will have readers begging for encores. 

These brief yet exciting poems lend themselves to be read aloud in a variety of formats: single voice, small groups in unison, four voices dividing up the lines, etc. Readers will appreciate even the shape of the poems in the book. For example, “The Porcupine” (p.44) is shaped like the creature’s quills. “The Bactrian Camel” (p.8) resembles camel humps.

The look and the sound of Florian’s mammal verses appeal to readers in part because of their brevity as well as their clever play on words. Animals are a high-interest topic for children. These light, fun verses will inform readers as well as entertain. 

Florian writes about some familiar mammals, but more impressively, he introduces readers to less well-known and unusual mammals. Readers will learn about the lynx, the tapir, the rhebok, the ibex, and many more fascinating mammals! Rather than bogging readers down with overwhelming facts, Florian provides factual information in a creative way that will encourage readers to create their own original poems about a favorite species.

Mammalabilia presents readers with Florian’s signature rhyme and pun-filled poems. As readers read each poem, they will feel at home with the distinctive style; this reader did.

Florian provides readers with features that allow easy access to single poems. The pages are numbered, and a table of contents is located in the front of the book. The poems are not arranged alphabetically, by size, or habitat. Thus, the table of contents is the most efficient way to locate a single desired poem.

The illustrations that accompany each poem are original paintings by Florian himself. At the end of the book, he describes the medium used: gouache on primed brown paper bags. The playful paintings nicely complement the spirited poems. Instead of overshadowing the verses, the paintings extend readers’ understanding of each mammal. 

POETRY SPOTLIGHT

Mammalabilia would be an ideal text to introduce or reinforce a study of inherited traits in a science class.

“The Zebras” (p.18)

How many zebras

Do you see?

            I see two zebras.

I see three.

            I see three, too.

I see four.

            I see four, too.

I see more!

To introduce the poem, display the illustration using a projector. Use two voices to read the poem aloud: the lead voice beginning and the second voice reading the indented lines.

Ask readers how many zebras they see in the illustration? Allow a couple volunteers to point to the zebras they see. Discuss how the zebras use their stripes as camouflage in the savannah. 

As a follow up activity, students will use watercolors to create a scene in nature showing how other animals use their physical characteristics to blend in with their environment. Examples include the praying mantis, chameleons, leopards, polar bears, turtles, snow owls, vine snakes, and lizards. Display the paintings with the title caption, “Can You See Me Now?” or "Hide and Seek."