Dirt on My Shirt by Jeff Foxworthy, Illustrated by Steve Bjorkman

Who knew that Jeff Foxworthy writes books, let alone poetry? I was surprised to find his name on the shelves as I was browsing at the library, but sure enough, it was him. As the largest-selling comedy-recording artist in history, I had high expectations for this book with the main expectation being that I would laugh and find it funny. Dirt on My Shirt didn't disappoint. I found the title, Dirt on My Shirt, to be very appropriate for this book. Ths book gets into the nit and grit of what it means to be a kid. What do kids think? What do kids like to do? Who do these kids like to spend time with? Poems in this book address each of these questions with poems ranging from playing pretend, experiencing nature, making friends, to spending time with loved ones.

The pictures add even more humor of the story. Steve Bjorkman's illustrations support Foxworthy's poems. With a cartoon-like feel in all of his pictures, this book made me consider some of those common childhood experiences every kid goes through. For example, Lost Hat describes the experience of a boy looking all over and destroying his house in the process of finding his hat. Of course, it turns out to be on his head. I think kids can relate to this by thinking about a time when they too thought they had lost something only to find that it was exactly where they had left it (maybe even on their head). Foxworthy's poems and Bjorkman's pictures also transported me back in time to recalling some of my favorite summer memories. Playing hide-and-seek, going on a family vacation my sister and me chanting, "Are we there yet?" every few minutes, and finding that harmless roly-poly on a hot, summer day. Kids can easily releate to many of these experiences.

I also enjoyed how Foxworthy wrote several poems about different family members. I think every kid and adult has a bit of an eccentric family. No family is 100% 'normal' (whatever normal is in the first place). All families have their quirks and their family stories. Often relatives are known for one distinguishing feature perhaps a physical characteristic as in the poem Uncle Moe where Uncle Moe has a long mustache, or perhaps a talent that family member has such as eating corn really fast as told in Uncle Keith. Whatever the case, Foxworthy captures the admiration and affection kids have towards their relatives and how they often think in different terms than adults. It's interesting to note what kids recognize.

This book offers kids a variety of ideas for topics to write about. Perhaps students can write about a favorite activity, perhaps they can write what they like about being a kid, or perhaps what they like doing with their grandpa or grandma when go visit them. When kids are stuck and at a loss for words on the page, especially during a poetry unit, I would suggest this book to them. It can provide a solid jumping off point for students. Before I close this post, I can't help but mention two of my favorite poems in this children's poetry book, Dirt on My Shirt, because again, it's something every child faces. Remember when you lost hold of a balloon, and it floated away-then read the poem Escape? Remember when you were up wandering around at a time of night you should have been asleep? Just take a moment now and think about yourself as a kid...Oh, the good ol' days!