The Proper Way to Meet a Hedgehog Review

The Proper Way to Meet a Hedgehog and Other How-To Poems

Selected by Paul B. Jancko

Illustrated by Richard Jones

Bibliography

Janecko, P.B. (Ed.). (2019). The proper way to meet a hedgehog and other how-to poems (R. Jones, Illus.). Candlewick Press.

ISBN 9780763681685

Summary

The Proper Way to Meet a Hedgehog is a collection of 33 "how-to" poems that range from How to Tell Goblins from Elves to How to Make a Snow Angel. Some are straight forward instructions, others are more inscrutable, but all are fun to read. Jones's illustrations cocoon the poems in a warm haze of color that invites the reader in.

Analysis

Paul Janecko has created a clever collection. The theme of "how-to" is creative. It allows for a wide variety of poetry inclusion from a poem about space to a poem about how to play basketball. It also illuminates how prosaic, everyday events are beautiful and artistic. In How to Mix a Pancake, Christina Rossetti's repetition of "pancake," the onomatopoetic "pop it in the pan," and strong ending rhyme with a fun twist elevates the act of cooking into a heady rush of adventurous adrenaline (11). Kwame Alexander's strong verbs and superlatives in Basketball Rule #2, combined with the fast-break feeling of two words per line, propels a "random text from Dad" into the poetic version of a close basketball game (21). Jones's illustrations are very inviting. His illustrations are muted earth tones that are friendly and envelope the reader. His children are diverse (and adorable). The illustrations complement the poems very well.

Highlighted Poem

I chose this poem by Marilyn Singer because it hits my nostalgia for taking my daughter camping and captures perfectly that ultimate moment that happens when toasting marshmallows (10).

Toasting Marshmallows

It hinges on a second, an inch.

A shade too long, a hair too close,

        and perfect crisp brown

                turns to bitter charcoal,

        gentle melting

                becomes ooze.

And you lose the game,

        the marshmallow

                to the flame.

Use

Most grades have a "how-to" writing assignment. In kindergarten or first grade, students write instructions on how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. We will do something similar, but as a poem. Students will pick a food topic and pattern their instructions on the poem How to Mix a Pancake. They will repeat the noun, choose onomatopoetic verbs, and follow the rhyme scheme.