A Plethora of TWO-VOICE Poems

 
I love two-voice poetry. It's my favorite form to write. I love creating a conversation between two objects or people with different perspectives. What would a zebra tomato say to dinosaur kale? How would two brothers trading baseball cards bargain with one another? (For the answers, check out these video readings of my own two voice poems.) 

It's also my favorite form to teach. Two-voice poems are meant to be performed out loud, so they readily engage students. They also reinforce important literacy skills like point of view and comparing/contrasting. See this post for two-voice lesson ideas. 

I'm not the only poet who loves writing two-voice poems. You can find two-voice poems in a plethora of children's poetry books. In this post, I've curated a list of my favorite two-voice poems and the books you'll find them in. Some of my fellow poets graciously granted permission to share their poems, so they are ready use as mentor texts. I highly recommend you seek out all of these books as resources for two-voice poetry and beyond.

"WILD DREAMS IN TWO VOICES"

by: Michelle Schaub (That's me!)
Summary: Join two friends and their canine companions as they discover the sights, sounds, smells, and of course tastes of the farmers' market.

"MY BROTHERS AND THEIR BASEBALL CARDS"

by: Michelle Schaub (Me again.)
Summary: When a child is given the class assignment to share her collection, she seeks inspiration from friends, family, neighbors, and even the mail carrier by discovering their favorite things to collect.

"SHOES FOR ALL SEASONS"

Found In: In the Middle of the Night 
Summary: What do the objects in your house do while you are fast asleep? Play, of course!

"WANT TO PLAY?" (Bilingual!)

Found In: SoccerVerse
Summary: Celebrate every aspect of soccer from scoring to sportsmanship. 

"FIRST GOOD SNAP, FIRST GOOD WHISTLE"

Summary: Growing up is exciting and this book celebrate many milestones big and small.


YOU'LL FIND MORE TWO-VOICE POEMS IN THESE POETRY BOOKS:

Two-Voice Poem: "Voice" 
Summary: From ACCEPTANCE TO ZEST, fifty poems that work their way through the alphabet with words and actions to inspire a better world.  


Two-Voice Poem: "Brother Raven, Sister Wolf" 
Found In: Winter Bees
Summary: Poems and facts about how animals prepare for the long winter. 


Two-Voice Poem: "HammerHead Shark" 
Found In: Slickety Quick
Summary: Fourteen shark species, from the utterly terrifying to the suprisingly docile, glide through the poems in this book.


Two-Voice Poem: "The First Explorers" 
Summary: From the Vikings to Lewis and Clark to Sally Ride, discover the spirit of exploration in sixty-two poems about intrepid explorers.


Two-Voice Poem: "What Webs We Weave”, “Spies”, “Sound Wars”, and “What is That?"
Summary: These poems capture the breathtaking moment when predator meets prey.


Two-Voice Poem: "Pluto and Charon Dancing With the Stars" 
Summary: A raucous romp through the universe through fanciful and factual poems.


Summary: This classic two-voice collection recreates the joyful noise of a variety of insects.


Summary: These poems explore the myriad sounds that animals make. 



THREE-Voice Poem: "Mouse Adventures: A Poem in Three Voices"
Summary: Classic nursery rhymes told from a new perspective.

THREE-Voice Poem: "The Middle's Lament: A Poem in Three Voices"
Found In: BookSpeak!
Summary: An imaginative look at what happens when the lights go out in a bookstore. 




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