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A Primer About the Flag
What is a flag? Noted poet Marvin Bell and award-winning illustrator Chris Raschka offer a whimsical investigation.
We see all sorts of flags every day. But why do we have them, and what are they for? In a book at once playful and thought provoking, Caldecott Medalist Chris Raschka illustrates Marvin Bell’s "A Primer about the Flag," a short poem that raises as many questions as it does flags. Whether brandishing flags that spell out an entire maritime alphabet or little flags that pop out of a gun and say BANG, whether displaying bed-and-breakfast banners or flags on the moon, here is an exploration that may inspire children who are creating their own flags, along with poetry fans and inquisitive minds of all ages.
We see all sorts of flags every day. But why do we have them, and what are they for? In a book at once playful and thought provoking, Caldecott Medalist Chris Raschka illustrates Marvin Bell’s "A Primer about the Flag," a short poem that raises as many questions as it does flags. Whether brandishing flags that spell out an entire maritime alphabet or little flags that pop out of a gun and say BANG, whether displaying bed-and-breakfast banners or flags on the moon, here is an exploration that may inspire children who are creating their own flags, along with poetry fans and inquisitive minds of all ages.
- GenresPicture BooksPoetry
32 pages, Hardcover
First published March 8, 2011
18 people want to read
About the author
Marvin Bell
67 books59 followersMarvin Bell was born in New York City on August 3, 1937, and grew up in Center Moriches, on the south shore of eastern Long Island. He holds a Bachelor of Arts from Alfred University, a Master of Arts from the University of Chicago, and a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Iowa.
Bell’s debut collection of poems, Things We Dreamt We Died For, was published in 1966 by the Stone Wall Press, following two years of service in the U.S. Army. His following two collections were A Probable Volume of Dreams (Atheneum, 1969), a Lamont Poetry Selection of the Academy of American Poets, and Stars Which See, Stars Which Do Not See (1977), which was a finalist for the National Book Award.
Since then, Bell has published numerous books of prose and poetry, most recently 7 Poets, 4 Days, 1 Book (Trinity University Press, 2009), a collaboration with six other poets, including Tomaz Salamun, Dean Young, and Christopher Merrill, and Mars Being Red (Copper Canyon Press, 2007) , which was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Award.
Bell’s other collections include Rampant (2004); Nightworks: Poems, 1962-2000 (2000); Ardor: The Book of the Dead Man, Volume 2 (1997); A Marvin Bell Reader: Selected Poetry and Prose (Middlebury College Press, 1994); The Book of the Dead Man (Copper Canyon Press, 1994); Iris of Creation (1990); New and Selected Poems ( Atheneum, 1987);
He has also published Old Snow Just Melting: Essays and Interviews ( University of Michigan Press, 1983) , as well as Segues: A Correspondence in Poetry with William Stafford (Godine, 1983).
About his early work, the poet Anthony Hecht said, “Marvin Bell is wonderfully versatile, with a strange, dislocating inventiveness. Capable of an unflinching regard of the painful, the poignant and the tragic; but also given to hilarity, high-spirits and comic delight; and often enough wedding and blending these spiritual antipodes into a new world. It must be the sort of bifocal vision Socrates recommended to his drunken friends if they were to become true poets.”
Later in his career, Bell created the poetic form known as the “Dead Man poem," about which the critic Judith Kitchen has written: “Bell has redefined poetry as it is being practiced today.”
Beginning in 2000, he served two terms as Iowa’s first Poet Laureate. His other honors include awards from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, The American Poetry Review , fellowships from the Guggenheim and National Endowment for the Arts, and Senior Fulbright appointments to Yugoslavia and Australia.
Bell taught for forty years for the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, retiring in 2005 as Flannery O’Connor Professor of Letters. For five years, he designed and led an annual Urban Teachers Workshop for America SCORES. Currently he serves on the faculty of Pacific University’s low-residency MFA program. He has also taught at Goddard College, the University of Hawaii, the University of Washington and Portland State University.
Bell has influenced generations of poets, many of which were his students, including Michael Burkard, Marilyn Chin, Rita Dove, Norman Dubie, Albert Goldbarth. Robert Grenier, Joy Harjo, Juan Felipe Herrera, Mark Jarman, Denis Johnson, Larry Levis, David St. John, and James Tate.
Marvin Bell also frequently performs with the bassist, Glen Moore, of the jazz group, Oregon. He and his wife, Dorothy, live in Iowa City and Port Townsend, Washington.
source: http://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poet/ma...
Bell’s debut collection of poems, Things We Dreamt We Died For, was published in 1966 by the Stone Wall Press, following two years of service in the U.S. Army. His following two collections were A Probable Volume of Dreams (Atheneum, 1969), a Lamont Poetry Selection of the Academy of American Poets, and Stars Which See, Stars Which Do Not See (1977), which was a finalist for the National Book Award.
Since then, Bell has published numerous books of prose and poetry, most recently 7 Poets, 4 Days, 1 Book (Trinity University Press, 2009), a collaboration with six other poets, including Tomaz Salamun, Dean Young, and Christopher Merrill, and Mars Being Red (Copper Canyon Press, 2007) , which was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Award.
Bell’s other collections include Rampant (2004); Nightworks: Poems, 1962-2000 (2000); Ardor: The Book of the Dead Man, Volume 2 (1997); A Marvin Bell Reader: Selected Poetry and Prose (Middlebury College Press, 1994); The Book of the Dead Man (Copper Canyon Press, 1994); Iris of Creation (1990); New and Selected Poems ( Atheneum, 1987);
He has also published Old Snow Just Melting: Essays and Interviews ( University of Michigan Press, 1983) , as well as Segues: A Correspondence in Poetry with William Stafford (Godine, 1983).
About his early work, the poet Anthony Hecht said, “Marvin Bell is wonderfully versatile, with a strange, dislocating inventiveness. Capable of an unflinching regard of the painful, the poignant and the tragic; but also given to hilarity, high-spirits and comic delight; and often enough wedding and blending these spiritual antipodes into a new world. It must be the sort of bifocal vision Socrates recommended to his drunken friends if they were to become true poets.”
Later in his career, Bell created the poetic form known as the “Dead Man poem," about which the critic Judith Kitchen has written: “Bell has redefined poetry as it is being practiced today.”
Beginning in 2000, he served two terms as Iowa’s first Poet Laureate. His other honors include awards from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, The American Poetry Review , fellowships from the Guggenheim and National Endowment for the Arts, and Senior Fulbright appointments to Yugoslavia and Australia.
Bell taught for forty years for the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, retiring in 2005 as Flannery O’Connor Professor of Letters. For five years, he designed and led an annual Urban Teachers Workshop for America SCORES. Currently he serves on the faculty of Pacific University’s low-residency MFA program. He has also taught at Goddard College, the University of Hawaii, the University of Washington and Portland State University.
Bell has influenced generations of poets, many of which were his students, including Michael Burkard, Marilyn Chin, Rita Dove, Norman Dubie, Albert Goldbarth. Robert Grenier, Joy Harjo, Juan Felipe Herrera, Mark Jarman, Denis Johnson, Larry Levis, David St. John, and James Tate.
Marvin Bell also frequently performs with the bassist, Glen Moore, of the jazz group, Oregon. He and his wife, Dorothy, live in Iowa City and Port Townsend, Washington.
source: http://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poet/ma...
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
April 12, 2011
A flag, any flag stands for something Bell supplies the introduction for the commencement while Raschka illustrates it's beauty.
Just as it's title suggests A PRIMER ABOUT THE FLAG is a poetry book that is appropriate as an introduction to the concept of the flag for young children. I found it to be good those in preschool through first grade. I don't think a child over the age of six would find this book of much interest. A thought inspiring book for a parent to read to a child and explain as they go along what these flags in the book can mean. This is a poetry book to poke and prod a child into conversation, communication and to bring on questioning from a child. Each page brings fourth black and white illustrations with colorful flags that have no significant meaning in general except for the story teller and listener. The flags are not of any countries, not Russia, not Poland not even the United States. I found this books main idea to be, that whatever may be on a flag has meaning to someone, somewhere. Whether a parade or a ship, a flag, any flag is something to notice, something tangible that people tend to associate with. When you read "If you want to have a parade," in the book. It would be a perfect time to ask a child what their flag would look like if they were in a parade. So make up your own flags as you read along with A Primer About The Flag, it is a sure way to evoke feelings and memories during that special reading time with a child.
Just as it's title suggests A PRIMER ABOUT THE FLAG is a poetry book that is appropriate as an introduction to the concept of the flag for young children. I found it to be good those in preschool through first grade. I don't think a child over the age of six would find this book of much interest. A thought inspiring book for a parent to read to a child and explain as they go along what these flags in the book can mean. This is a poetry book to poke and prod a child into conversation, communication and to bring on questioning from a child. Each page brings fourth black and white illustrations with colorful flags that have no significant meaning in general except for the story teller and listener. The flags are not of any countries, not Russia, not Poland not even the United States. I found this books main idea to be, that whatever may be on a flag has meaning to someone, somewhere. Whether a parade or a ship, a flag, any flag is something to notice, something tangible that people tend to associate with. When you read "If you want to have a parade," in the book. It would be a perfect time to ask a child what their flag would look like if they were in a parade. So make up your own flags as you read along with A Primer About The Flag, it is a sure way to evoke feelings and memories during that special reading time with a child.
December 28, 2015
This book was read for Wesley’s summer reading club. Wesley is my (soon to be five year old) son. This review is what we used for his reading club.
***
Wesley says that he wants to look for flags now. Haha!
***
I was not impressed with this book. It was different than what I expected and seemed to be aimed at an older reader than Wesley's age, despite the fact that it is a picture book.
***
Wesley says that he wants to look for flags now. Haha!
***
I was not impressed with this book. It was different than what I expected and seemed to be aimed at an older reader than Wesley's age, despite the fact that it is a picture book.
December 10, 2014
I love flags, so I thought this book would be great fun and interesting....um, it really wasn't! The pictures have WAY TOO MUCH BLACK in them. I was thinking it would be about the American flag because the title says "A prime about the flag" it should be a "Primer about flags" It talks about all sort of flags but not a nations flag, or a mariners flag, or a business flag, I like the geometric shapes of the flags but not anything to rave about.. so...anyways not a favorite...
January 14, 2012
A concept book about flags written in poem form. The idea for this book is unique and creative and I liked it, but I am an adult who already understands the concept of a flag. Young children might have a hard time establishing the characteristics of a flag from this book.
I loved Raschka's illustrations, his work intrigues me.
I loved Raschka's illustrations, his work intrigues me.
July 28, 2012
This first children's book by poet laureate Marvin Bell has an ending needing intrepretation. I believe the audience is limited by it does have potential as a writing prompt. I picked this up for the illustrations done by Chris Raschka which are also open to interpretation; wondering why he colored certain flags as he did.
April 9, 2011
I'm not sure what to make of this book. Who is the audience? It's poetry that doesn't feel like poetry, especially to young readers who probably have different expectations of poetry than older folks! I love Chris Raschka's illustrations, but it's a strange book.
April 27, 2017
Yay to Chris Raschka for the amazing 5 star illustrations!! I really enjoyed your style of art with the story. The story was just lacking information about flags, for a book that was supposed to be an informative picture book about flags.
November 22, 2011
The title says this is a primer about the flag, but it’s really a poem about flags, a meditation on flags, with fun illustrations.
“There are flags on the moon, flags in cemeteries, costume flags.
There are little flags that come from the barrel of a gun
And say,
BANG.”
“There are flags on the moon, flags in cemeteries, costume flags.
There are little flags that come from the barrel of a gun
And say,
BANG.”
July 31, 2012
Awesome pictures, but poetry text is a little out there for, especially to be called a "primer." Then again, it's poetry, so maybe it would appeal to those who love the genre? I can't imagine an audience for which it would be a perfect fit.
June 25, 2013
A book about a variety of flags. From state flags to flags that hang from the barrel of a gun and say Bang! poetic text combined with gouache and ink encourages readers to think of the many places and situations in which they encounter flags. PreK-2.
February 11, 2011
Reviewed for LMC Magazine.
March 19, 2011
Simple, thoughtful, provocative. Great illustrations.
March 22, 2011
no clear audience and destined for low circulation, but a good book anyway.
Read
August 23, 2011I must have read a review somewhere (Parent Wise: Austin probably). It was okay. My boy is 6 and he wants to know about real flags. Maybe better for a younger child.
May 3, 2011
What a peculiar book.
May 14, 2011
I just don't really get into Chris Raschka stuff much. Or Marvin Bell, I guess.
December 19, 2016
No review.
July 28, 2011
The illustration in this book earned it an extra star from me. The book is a poem about flags, that in my opinion misses.
May 21, 2012
Eh. Sorry, I can't imagine ever needing to share this with anyone. I like Raschka's illustrations, but his projects are sometimes meaningless to me.
November 24, 2013
It's a poem written about flags. It is broken apart to become this picture book and it somehow is missing something. I was expecting more based on the title.
May 10, 2014
Notes:
brief text with weird ending -- if you carry a tree??
art felt sloppy and hard to look at
not very helpful in our study of flags
brief text with weird ending -- if you carry a tree??
art felt sloppy and hard to look at
not very helpful in our study of flags
July 12, 2016
This book is as about as exciting as its title; so, pretty much -- not at all. The illustrations were the most interesting thing about the book, and I didn't especially like them.
January 12, 2017
megan winter reading 2017, children's book, picture book, flags, prek, kindergarten
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 24, 2019
Confusing. Kept thinking the book was missing a first page as it starts off "Or certain ones" then I realized that you must need to read the title as part of the first sentence. Strange choice of flags highlighted and it ends with a tree.
October 4, 2023
Poetry
K-1st
This book was ok. I thought it was too short and didn't clearly explain what it was trying to and got rather confusing at points. The illustrations were good and were done in a unique style. The content of the book just doesn't match very well with the title.
K-1st
This book was ok. I thought it was too short and didn't clearly explain what it was trying to and got rather confusing at points. The illustrations were good and were done in a unique style. The content of the book just doesn't match very well with the title.
December 18, 2019
bizarre and nationalistic
“enemy flags are not supposed to be beautiful or long-lasting”
“you usually have to have a flag for people to line up behind”
??
what is this propagandistic bullshit?
“enemy flags are not supposed to be beautiful or long-lasting”
“you usually have to have a flag for people to line up behind”
??
what is this propagandistic bullshit?
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews