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Friends and Foes: Poems About Us All by Douglas Florian

 



Friends and Foes: Poems About Us All written and illustrated by Douglas Florian. The book contains 25 poems. The book also contains a table of contents. The poems are about friendship the good, the bad, and the ugly, and people who we are not friends with. The poems highlight the experiences that children when dealing with the other children around them and their friends. These poems are relatable and could stir up emotions from past experiences. The language is understandable and relatable to the intended audience. The poems could be good points to start conversations on issues that might be happening to the reader. Most of the poems take up a two-page spread, although, some poems just take up one page and there is another poem on the page next to it. The poems are constant in quality.

The poems contain rhyming, repeating, imagery, and emotional impact. In I’m Better, a poem for more than one reader, the author uses rhyming words like “hiking” and “biking” and repeats “I’m better at” throughout the poem. For example, one friend says, “I’m better at hiking” and the other friend says, “I’m better at hiking”. In the poem Moved the author talks about what friends used to do before one moved away. This can create an emotional impact on someone who has been through this experience. In Friendship is a flower the author compares friendships to flowers and how they grow.

The illustrations are made from crayons and colored pencils on manila paper. They illustrate what is going on in the poems well. They are diverse in character. Some poems are made for more than one voice, and it is noted on the page where the poems are. The author integrates two different colors of text in that case. The illustrations have their own “bubbles” where they are typed out. The color of the “bubbles” match the color pallet of the illustrations however they are not the same color as the background. The backgrounds are not manila paper, they are colored using the same method as the illustrations.

Strangers (excerpt)
Once we two were strangers.
I found you somewhat strange.
But when I learned about you,
then things began to change.
                                               (Florian 2018)

This poem would be a great introduction to a school year. Or this would be a great poem for “Friendship Day” (June 30th). I would introduce this poem by talking about how we are strangers until we get to know one another. This would also be an appropriate time to talk about “stranger danger” so the children do not get confused and go up to random people on the street. I think the activity would be choosing one person that they did not know and then sharing a fun fact about them or depending on the age group just their name. In a school setting especially it might encourage children to meet other children that they did not know.

References:

Florian, Douglas. 2018. Friends and Foes: Poems about Us All. Simon and Schuster.



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