new posts in all blogs
Viewing: Blog Posts Tagged with: Childrens poetry, Most Recent at Top [Help]
Results 1 - 25 of 154
How to use this Page
You are viewing the most recent posts tagged with the words: Childrens poetry in the JacketFlap blog reader. What is a tag? Think of a tag as a keyword or category label. Tags can both help you find posts on JacketFlap.com as well as provide an easy way for you to "remember" and classify posts for later recall. Try adding a tag yourself by clicking "Add a tag" below a post's header. Scroll down through the list of Recent Posts in the left column and click on a post title that sounds interesting. You can view all posts from a specific blog by clicking the Blog name in the right column, or you can click a 'More Posts from this Blog' link in any individual post.
Guess what came in the mail a couple of days ago? A copy of a great new poetry anthology titled One Minute Till Bedtime: 60-Second Poems to Send You Off to Sleep. The poems were selected by former Children's Poet Laureate Kenn Nesbitt and the illustrations were done by Christoph Niemann. The anthology includes more than one hundred selections--many by some of our most respected children's poets, including Nikki Grimes, Jack Prelutsky, Ron Koertge, Lee Bennett Hopkins, J. Patrick Lewis, Rebecca Kai Dotlich, Marilyn Singer, Mary Ann Hoberman, Julie Larios, X. J. Kennedy, Pat Mora, Nancy Willard, Jane Yolen, Janet Wong, Joyce Sidman...and Kenn Nesbitt. There are so many other poets whose works are included that I just can't list them all!
I am so happy to tell you that one of my poems is included in this wonderful book—which has already garnered three starred reviews!
* "These pithy poetic observations and Niemann's engaging illustrations prove at once antidote and anodyne for the sleep-averse child demanding just one more....A dreamy collection of bedtime poems and witty illustrations that's anything but sleepy."�Kirkus Reviews, starred review
* "With a broad range of voices and sentiments, the collection delivers poems to meet any mood."�Publishers Weekly, starred review
* "Exuberant for the most part (with some serious musings to lend ballast) and in perfect harmony with its cartoonish, color-washed illustrations, this sleepy-time volume is just the thing for the rhyme-loving child who has graduated from Mother Goose."�School Library Journal, starred reviewOne Minute till Bedtime is due for release on November 1, 2016.
It would make an excellent holiday gift for parents of young children...and for kids who love poetry. I'm planning to order several more copies to give as baby and Christmas presents.
NOTE: Not all the poems in this anthology are about bedtime. They touch on various and sundry topics. Titles of some of the poems:
A Hard Rain,
The Dandelion,
Our Kittens,
Skateboard Girl,
The Tadpole Bowl,
A Visit to the Forest,
Me and My Feet, and
Armadillo.
The poems are divided into six sections--each of which begins with a poem by Nesbitt.
The first poem in
One Minute till Bedtime is
Whew!, Nesbitt's list poem in which a child tells us all the things he/she has to before being able to enjoy reading a book.
Here is how the poems ends:
Telephonedmy gramps and grammas.Changed into my soft pajamas.Fluffed the pillows. Got my Ted.Said my prayers.Climbed in bed.All that's done;at last I'm freed.Finally,it's time to read.And here is my contribution to
One Minute till Bedtime:
Chirping in the dark, their song
Resonates
In the still air. A
Chorus of summer night strummers in concert with
Katydids
Entertaining warm evenings with
Their
Symphony of wings.
***************
<!--[if gte mso 9]>
Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 <![endif]-->
<!--[if gte mso 9]>
Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 <![endif]-->
The weather can change fast in September in New England where I live. One day it may be hot and humid with the temperature rising into the mid to high eighties. The next day, the temperature can dip into the low sixties...or fifties.
I love this time of year in New England—especially as summer gives way to autumn and the leaves begin to change color…and the days are drier and cooler.
Yesterday, I was reading through some of my old poetry files that I hadn’t looked at in a long time. That’s when I found the following “tidbit” of a poem titled September. I have no memory of ever having written it. I thought I’d post it today.
SEPTEMBER
Summer sighs
as it grows old.
The brassy sun
is not so bold.
Nights start to entertain
the cold.
Here is an autumn list poem that I wrote years ago:
AUTUMN
Crickets sighing
Birds goodbying
Pumpkins growing plump and round
Apple picking
Football kicking
Chestnuts thudding on the ground
Bright leaves falling
Wild geese calling
Honeybees huddling in their hive
Trick-or-treating
Turkey eating
Winter’s waiting to arrive
**********
Here is an excellent book of autumn poems written by Douglas Florian, which I am happy to say, is still in print:
AUTUMNBLINGS
poems and paintings by Douglas Florian
Greenwillow Books, 2003
Autumnblings is the third in Douglas Florian’s series of seasonal poetry collections. The twenty-nine poems in this book touch on a variety of autumnal topics: apple picking, Indian summer, pumpkins, falling leaves, the first frost, the migration of geese, and Thanksgiving. Readers will find a plethora of short, light-hearted poems that speak about animals and the changes in nature that take place during this season.
As in Winter Eyes, Summersaults, Handsprings and Florian’s collections of animal poems, including Insectlopedia, Beast Feast, Mammalabilia, and In the Swim, there’s also plenty of clever wordplay in Autumnblingsto delight old and young readers alike. The book contains poems with the following titles: HI-BEAR-NATION, AWE-TUMN, and SYMMETREE(Autumn is the only season/The leaves all leave./Call it tree-son.) In his poem BRRRRRRR!, Florian writes about Octobrrrrr’s cold, Novembrrrrr’s chill, and Decembrrrrr’s freeze. In TREE-TICE, Florian speaks of the number of leaves falling from trees--one leaf…then two…then three…and so on. It’s, according to the author, A tree-tice on/Arithmetics.
Autumnblings includes a few shape poems and several list poems with the following titles: What I Love about Autumn, What I Hate about Autumn, The Wind, Birds of Autumn, The Owls, The Colors of Autumn, What to Do with Autumn Leaves, Thanksgiving, and Autumnescent.
The collection concludes with NAUGHTUM, a poem that relates how The trees are bare./The birds have flown…./The leaves fall down/And then get burned,/As autumn slowly gets winturned.
Florian’s illustrations done in watercolor and colored pencils add just the right touch of color and humor to this collection that is a “must have” for elementary classroom library collections.
**********
<!--[if gte mso 9]> Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 <![endif]-->
She wished to swing on a rainbow into a sky painted blue, where the stars slept at night and angels flew. And when the sky turned black from day to night, she would dangle from a star like the string on a kite.
What would it be like if her wish did come true, what would it be like, if only she knew.
Ann Clemmons
I'm working on my final draft of a children's manuscript, so I thought I would just write a short post today.
Thank you for stopping by A Nice Place In The Sun and have a spectacular Saturday!
Forgotten Language, by Shel Silverstein
Once I spoke the language of the flowers,
Once I understood each word the caterpillar said,
Once I smiled in secret at the gossip of the starlings,
And shared a conversation with the housefly
in my bed.
Once I heard and answered all the questions
of the crickets,
And joined the crying of each falling dying
flake of snow,
Once I spoke the language of the flowers. . . .
How did it go?
How did it go?
http://www.famouspoetsandpoems.com/…/shel_silve…/poems/14830 
By: James Preller,
on 3/31/2016
Blog:
James Preller's Blog
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
Jack Prelutsky,
children's poetry,
Current Events,
Bob Dylan,
Lee Bennett Hopkins,
Wolf Erlbruch,
Matthew Cordell,
Jigsaw Jones,
Around the Web,
Madeleine Comora,
Ta-Nehisi Coates,
Interviews & Appreciations,
Between the World and Me,
The Courage Test,
10 Things I Love,
Carry Me Home Diane McWhorter,
David Bromberg Sammy's Song,
Embrace of the Serpent,
The Barkley Marathons,
The Case from Outer Space,
Add a tag
-
Blogs are dead, everybody knows it, the tweet spread the news long ago. Nobody reads blogs anymore. These days it’s all Twitter and Instagram and Facebook and short, short, short.
I get it, I do. We’re all feeling the time squeeze.
But because I’m childishly oppositional, I refuse to give up my blog. And I’m keeping my 8-Tracks, too. I started this blog back in 2008, so we’ve become attached. I like to have readers, but I’m not sure I really need them. It wouldn’t stop me from writing. There’s something about the open-ended blog format that offers room to spread out and say things, however long it takes. Whether anyone listens or not.
My pal, illustrator Matthew Cordell, used to blog with enthusiasm. One of his recurring features was his monthly-ish “Top Ten” lists, where Matt randomly listed some of his recent enthusiasms. It could be a song, a book, a movie, or a type of eraser (Matt was weird about erasers). It was always fun to read.
So I’m stealing it.
Here are ten things I’ve recently loved:
THE ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME AND MUSEUM
I visited Cleveland with my son, Gavin, to check out Case Western Reserve University. The following day, we headed over to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which was spectacular in every way. (Except for: The Red Hot Chili Peppers? Really?) I’m a huge music fan, so it was perfect for me. I found the museum strangely moving in parts, my heart touched. I could see that rock music was big enough, and diverse enough, to offer a home to people from every walk of life.
CARRY ME HOME by Diane McWhorter
Amazing, fascinating, and at times brutal Pulitzer Prize-winning book that’s stayed with me long after the last page. It provides a dense, detailed account of the civil rights struggle centered in Birmingham, Alabama. Martin Luther King, the Klu Klux Klan, Fred Shuttlesworth, George Wallace, J. Edgar Hoover, Bobby Kennedy, Bull Conner, and more. One of those books that helps you understand America.
FAN MAIL . . . WITH ILLUSTRATIONS!
I’ve been ridiculously fortunate in my career, in that I’ve received a lot of fan mail across the past twenty years. But I have to admit, I especially like it when those letters include a drawing. There’s just something about children’s artwork that slays me, every time. This drawing is by Rida in Brooklyn.
BETWEEN THE WORLD AND ME by Ta-Nehisi Coates
This book has been on my list almost since the day it came out — the buzz was instantaneous, and huge — but on a tip from a friend, I waited for the audiobook to become available through my library. Here, Ta-Nehisi Coates gives a powerful reading. It’s poignant to listen to an author reading his own words, particularly since this book is essentially a letter to his son.
“WINTER RABBIT,” a poem by Madeleine Comora
“
We’re not here to bash Jack Prelutsky. Because, after all, Jack Prelutsky is hilarious. But, but, but. There are times when I worry that too many people think children’s poetry begins and ends with Mr. Prelutsky. That a poem for kids always has to be bouncy and fast and slight and funny, i.e., Prelutsky-ish. Well, here’s a poem I came across while reading Oh, No! Where Are My Pants? and Other Disasters: Poems, unerringly edited by Lee Bennett Hopkins. I admire the heartfelt, beautiful sorrow of Comora’s poem. “I thought of his last night alone/huddled in a wire home./I did not cry. I held him close,/smoothed his fur blown by the wind./For a winter’s moment, I stayed with him.” The illustration is by Wolf Erlbruch. Click on the poem if your eyes, like mine, need larger type.
EMBRACE OF THE SERPENT
I’m so grateful that I live near a cool, little movie theater that makes room for small foreign films such as this, a mind-blowing look at life on the Amazon, spectacularly filmed in black-and-white. Click here for more details.
THE AMERICANS
My wife Lisa and I don’t watch hours of TV together, but we do like to have a show we can share. We’ve been a loss for a few months, but recently discovered season one of “The Americans” on Amazon Prime. We’re hooked.
DAVID BROMBERG: “SAMMY’S SONG”
We have tickets to see Bromberg this coming weekend. He’s an old favorite of mine, first saw him in 1980 on Long Island. I’ve just rediscovered “Sammy’s Song,” which I haven’t heard in decades. What a chilling coming-of-age story, brilliantly performed. Oh, about that harmonica part? That’s Dave’s pal, Bob Dylan, with an uncredited guest turn.
JIGSAW JONES
I just finished writing my first Jigsaw Jones book after a long time away. For many years, Scholastic had allowed the series to die on the vine, with book after book slowly going out of print. It’s been a crushing thing for me to stand by helplessly and watch. But with the help of my agent, I got back the rights, and now Macmillan has plans to relaunch the series. I am thrilled. There are more than 10 million copies of those books out there in world, and it seems like every second-grade classroom in America has a ragged copy or three. Writing the new book, The Case from Outer Space, was such a pleasure. It felt like being home again.
THE DAY THE ARCS ARRIVE
For an author, it’s a special day, always, always. That book you’ve been toiling over for months, years, finally arrives in book form. Uncorrected, unfinished, but for the first time you can hold it in your hands — a book! — and think, “I did that!” Note: Arc = Advanced Reader’s Copy. The Courage Test, a middle grade novel, will be out for real in September.
BONUS SELECTION . . .
THE BARKLEY MARATHONS
I love documentaries of almost any nature, but I can’t recommend this one highly enough. A pure joy, with twinkling mischievous wit and surprising heart, too. If you like running at all — or not! — see this movie. About the toughest, wildest, and weirdest race in the world. Catch it on Netflix Instant!
LULLABY & KISSES SWEET
Poems to Love with Your Baby
Selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins
Illustrated by Alyssa Nassner
Abrams Appleseed, 2015
I haven’t written a poetry book review in ages! Actually, I haven’t been buying many children’s books since my husband and I downsized when moved into our new place—right next door to my daughter, son-in-law, and two granddaughters. It took soooo long to move all my books—many of which are children’s poetry books—to my new abode. It also cost a lot of money to have custom-made bookcases built and installed in my new library/slash office and upstairs hallway so my books would be easily available when I wanted to get some to read to my granddaughter...or myself. I thought it best to cut back on book purchases. In addition, my favorite children’s bookshop closed its doors in June 2012. The owner—who is a good friend—couldn’t compete with big businesses like Amazon. I so miss visiting her store, browsing through the books there, chatting with her and getting her advice.
In the past week, though, I splurged and ordered a couple dozen children’s books from Barnes and Noble. First, I needed some baby gifts. (I always give books to new parents.) Second, I wanted to give Julia some picture books for her fourth birthday. Third, I wanted some new children’s poetry books for myself!
When I saw that Lee Bennett Hopkins had recently published a book of children’s poetry titled Lullaby & Kisses Sweet: Poems to Love with Your Baby, I knew I HAD to get three copies—two for the grandsons of a good friend and one for my five-month-old granddaughter Allison. When Julia saw the two copies that I had put aside for my friend’s grandchildren, she wanted one of them. I told her that they were gifts for some other children. She looked at me and said, “I want one for MY baby!” I asked, “Who is your baby?” She quickly replied—quite emphatically—Allison! So…I fetched the copy that I had gotten for HER baby—and we read it while we sat side by side on the sofa. Then Julia took the book and “read” it by herself.
I’m so glad that I had found out about Lullaby & Kisses Sweet on Lee’s journal. My granddaughter Julia loves the book…and it’s a wonderful baby gift.
The book is divided into five sections: Family, Food, First, Play, and Bedtime.
- FAMILY includes poems about Mama, Dad, Grandma, and Grandpa.
- FOOD includes poems about sitting in a high chair, eating spaghetti, and snack time.
- FIRST includes poems about a baby taking its first steps, getting its first tooth, and saying its first word (Ma-ma).
- PLAY includes poems about building with blocks, painting pictures, and playing in a sandbox.
- BEDTIME includes poems about bath time, reading books, and a night light.
Lullaby & Kisses Sweet is a perfect little package—a padded casebound board book that contains thirty delightful short, rhyming poems, which toddlers will enjoy having read to them at any time of the day. Many of the poems are brand new—and I assume—were commissioned for this collection.
The poets whose works you’ll find in Lullaby & Kisses Sweetinclude: Rebecca Kai Dotlich, Lee Bennett Hopkins, Marilyn Singer, X.J. Kennedy, Laura Purdie Salas, Kristine O’Connell George, J. Patrick Lewis, Alice Schertle, and Amy Ludwig VanDerwater.
Alyssa Nassner's uncluttered illustrations are a fine complement to the poetry. The babies and parents and grandparents are depicted as cats and bears and bunnies and lions and foxes--all with friendly rounded faces.
The collection opens with Rebecca Kai Dotlich's poem Morning, which begins:
Sun woke up,
So did I.
Good morning, Mama.
Good morning, sky.
The book ends with Michele Kruger's poem Lullaby, which begins:
Let the world grow dark
and spin.
It's time to tuck
sweet baby in.
If you're friendly with young parents who have a newborn, this would be a special little gift to give to them. It would be an excellent book to introduce toddlers to poetry.
My author/illustrator friend, Nina Laden, posts the most delightful pictures of what she gathers, grows and cooks on Lummi Island (WA). Last week she shared a photo of two halves a giant porcini that weighed in at over one pound! … Continue reading →
By: JOANNA MARPLE,
on 4/28/2014
Blog:
Miss Marple's Musings
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
children,
Interview,
children's books,
poetry,
adults,
Cancer,
children's poetry,
Edna St. Vincent Millay,
Gwendolyn Brooks,
Lee Bennett Hopkins,
J. Patrick Lewis,
Dorothy Parker,
Job Loss,
Kane Press,
Donna Marie Merritt,
poet interview,
A Caregiver's View,
A Fury of Motion by Charles Ghigna,
A Journey in Poetry,
Byrd's Books,
Carl Sandberg,
Her House and Other Poems,
Hickory Stick Bookshop,
Job Loss; Cancer,
Love That Dog by Sharon Creech,
Robert Hayden,
Sailing Alone Around the Room by Billy Collins,
Stairwell Books,
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath,
Too Tall Tina,
What's Wrong with Ordinary? Poems to Celebrate Life,
Add a tag
Aside from my picture book review of HI, KOO, last Friday, I haven’t been very active in poetry month this year. Before May is upon us, I wanted to rectify this and highlight a poet on the blog. Today’s interview … Continue reading →
Happy Monday, Everyone!
**Warning!**
I have made up a poem!
(Yes, I realize I'm playing it fast and loose with the term "poem" :))
(And yes, I have a reason for this gross departure from sanity. I didn't just go off the deep end :))
Anyone whose sensibilities may be injured by my attempt at poetry should leave immediately!
Those of you who are brave enough to stay, prepare yourselves.
You may need some cake to fortify you.
 |
| Alligator cake by Courtney |
Are you ready?
Here we go:
Boy's Best Friend
Daddy said, "A boy like you
Should really have a dog.
A parrot, an iguana, or a happy, hoppy frog."
I answered, "Thank you, Daddy, but on this my heart is set.
I want an alligator for my one and only pet!"
Thank you. Thank you very much :)
Now. About that reason. The lovely and talented Catherine Johnson, author of
Weirdo Zoo (buy your copy
HERE), has a new book out!
It's called The Everglades (hence the alligator themed "poem") and she describes it as a collection of poetry for children who are old enough not to mind the odd arm hanging out of an alligator's mouth :) Seriously. How can you resist that? :) She says, "Half the poems are serene, and half are snorty." And she drew the illustrations herself!! Such talent!!
She is celebrating on her blog
HERE and running a giveaway, so scuttle on over as fast as your little alligator legs allow and join in the fun!
Should you happen not to be lucky enough to win a copy, you may buy one
HERE!
Now, before you all go marching off to your magnificent Mondays, I'd like to clarify a couple things about the March Madness Writing Contest.
You will recall the contest guidelines:
The Contest: Write a children's story, in poetry or prose, maximum 400 words, that is a fractured fairy tale. Feel free to add a theme of spring, or mix in one of the spring holidays if you like - St. Patrick's Day, April Fools Day, Easter or Passover, Arbor Day, Earth Day... Have fun with it ! The madder* the better! :)
*as in wild and wacky, not angry :)
I want to clarify three things (because a few people have asked.)
1. You do not have to include spring - that is optional.
2. The story can be a picture book or a short story - whatever you like.
3. If it's a picture book, you may NOT include art notes, because we get into a weird area of whether that's fair in terms of word count and added description etc. So if you write a picture book that's wonderful, but make sure art notes aren't necessary to understand it.
The other thing I want to add is a full description of the prizes!!! (So you'll all be very motivated to think up stories! :))
- 1st Prize is a read and critique by Karen Grencik of Red Fox Literary!!! (Unless for some reason you don't want a read and critique by an agent, in which case you may swap for any of the other prizes)
- 2nd Prize is a picture book manuscript critique (for rhyming mss only) by
Lori Degman, author of 1 ZANY ZOO and the forthcoming COCK-A-DOODLE-OOPS!
OR a picture book manuscript critique (for non-rhyming mss only) by
Cori Doerrfeld, author/illustrator of LITTLE BUNNY FOO FOO and PENNY LOVES PINK as well as illustrator of many others.
- 3rd Prize is personalized signed copies of THE THREE NINJA PIGS and GOLDI ROCKS & THE THREE BEARS by
Corey Rosen Schwartz PLUS a $25 Amazon Gift Card
- 4th and 5th Prizes are your choice of any two of the following picture books PLUS a $20 Amazon Gift Card:
- THE THREE LITTLE WOLVES AND THE BIG BAD PIG by Eugene Trivizas
- CINDY ELLEN: A WILD WESTERN CINDERELLA by Susan Lowell
- LITTLE RED WRITING by Joan Holub
- THE THREE LITTLE PIGS AND THE SOMEWHAT BAD WOLF by Mark Teague
- THE PRINCESS AND THE PEAS by Caryl Hart
- THE WOLF'S STORY: WHAT REALLY HAPPENED TO LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD by Toby Forward
- GOLDILOCKS AND THE THREE DINOSAURS by Mo Willems
And don't forget, all you illustrators out there, we're going to have an illustrator contest immediately following the writing contest! (Details coming soon... :))
Now then! I hope that fills you with inspiration and fuels the muse!
Have a marvelous Monday, everyone!! :)
Happy February! Hope you all enjoyed Valentine's Day and maybe even heard of or took part in
International Book Giving Day, which happened on February 14th as well. I celebrated by donating a copy of the picture book
Rachel Carson and Her Book That Changed the World (by Laurie Lawlor and Laura Beingessner) to the library of a local elementary school named after Rachel Carson herself. It felt really good to be able to match a great picture book biography with a school that could truly appreciate it.
Jodie at
Growing Book by Book is hosting another fun activity on February 25th that I'm going to take part it. It's a blog hop called "Booking Across America," in which Jodie has rounded up educational and children's literacy bloggers representing all 50 states. Each blogger will be posting about a picture book that is related in some way to his or her state and will provide an educational activity to go along with it. I'll be representing Maryland! Stay tuned...
But, before all the fun starts later this month, I wanted to publish the official call for submissions to the February Read & Romp Roundup here on my blog. If you have a recent (or even not so recent) blog post that involves picture books or children's poetry AND dance, yoga, or another form of movement, leave your link in a comment on this post. I'll round up all the links and post about them together in a few weeks. I'd love to hear from you!
Submissions are open until Thursday, February 28, 2013.
Declaration of Interdependencewould be an excellent book to use in a middle grade classroom to spark a discussion about this year’s presidential election, voting and voting rights, electoral votes, and choosing a candidate—and a great way to integrate poetry and social studies! Here’s one of the poems from the book:
Make Your Ballot Count
By Janet Wong Darken the circles completely
(neatly, not outside the lines). If you don’t know what to do
ask the helpers (follow the signs). When you punch the holes, be firm
(no worm-like hanging chad). When your vote is done,
your vote is gone. A wrong vote? That’s too bad.
A wasted vote: so sad.
BOOK GIVEAWAY: I have three copies of Declaration of Interdependence (kindness of Janet Wong) to give away. If you’d like to have a chance to win a copy of the book, all you have to do is to leave a comment on this post. I’ll enter the names of all those who comment into a drawing and announce the names of the winners next Friday.
About the blog: This community is dedicated to exploring topics raised in DECLARATION OF INTERDEPENDENCE: Poems for an Election Year by me (Janet Wong). In this book, you'll find topics such as liberty, the election, voting rights of kids, how to choose a president, the electoral vote, and more. Thanks for stopping by, and please jump in with your comments. Whether you're 9 years old or 90, we want to know what you're thinking!
By:
Aline Pereira,
on 8/24/2012
Blog:
PaperTigers
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
Poetry Friday,
children's poetry,
e-books,
Janet Wong,
Poetry Books,
Sylvia Vardell,
p*tag,
e-books for children,
multicultural e-books for children,
The Poetry Friday Anthology,
Add a tag
Author and educator Sylvia Vardell has just announced some exciting news on her blog Poetry for Children! She and her friend/author Janet Wong have collaborated on another wonderful project: The Poetry Friday Anthology.
The Poetry Friday Anthology is a new anthology of 218 original poems for children in kindergarten through 
fifth grade by 75 popular poets including J. Patrick Lewis, Jack Prelutsky, Jane Yolen, Margarita Engle, X. J. Kennedy, Kathi Appelt, Guadalupe Garcia McCall, Georgia Heard and Nikki Grimes and many more.
The book includes a poem a week for the whole school year (K-5) with curriculum connections provided for each poem, each week, each grade level. Just five minutes every “Poetry Friday” will reinforce key skills in reading and language arts such as rhyme, repetition, rhythm, alliteration, etc.
Thanks to the lovely blog world of the “kidlitosphere,” I’ve been a fan of “Poetry Friday” since the beginning (in 2006). The idea of pausing for poetry every Friday is so appealing to me, maybe because Friday has always been my favorite day of the week. I think it is a natural fit for busy teachers and librarians who can build on that Poetry Friday tradition by incorporating a weekly poetry break into their regular routines. That’s the first “hook” in our book– the idea of sharing a poem every Friday! (More often is even better, but Friday is the hook!)
The other hook is the call for connecting with the new Common Core standards (and in Texas where the Common Core was not adopted– don’t get me started– connecting with the TEKS, Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills). We’ve always had curricular standards of one kind or another, but poetry hasn’t always been an explicit component. It is now! Of course this worries me a bit as poetry may also be abused and butchered in the name of test preparation. But the challenge is to provide guidance in sharing poetry that respects the integrity of the poem, celebrating the pleasures of language, while reinforcing the necessary skills. That’s the second book “hook”– we’ve tied every poem in The Poetry Friday Anthology to the Common Core standards (and TEKS standards in Texas) for poetry.
This book is first and foremost a quality anthology of 218 original poems for children written by 75 of today’s most popular poets. Children in any state (or country) can enjoy, explore, and respond to these poems. However, we have also come to realize that educators, librarians, and parents are looking for guidance in how to share poetry with children and teach the skills within the curriculum as well. Thus, this book offers both. It’s part poetry collection and part professional resource guide– quality poetry plus curriculum-based suggestions for helping children enjoy and understand poetry more deeply.
You’ll find more information about the book at the PoetryFridayAnthology blog here. Our official launch date is Sept. 1 when we hope to offer an e-book version of the book as well– projectable and searchable! But the print version of the book is available NOW to help jumpstart the school year with poetry. I’ll also be posting a few nuggets from the book here in the near future– as well as more about our new joint publishing venture, Pomelo Books.
This week’s Poetry Friday is hosted by Dori Reads so head on over and see what treasures are in store.
Is it really the middle of July already? Time is flying by! I had so many ideas for posting this month, and I haven't gotten around to any of them yet! But... I at least can't let my monthly roundup pass by.
This is the official call for submissions for the July Read & Romp Roundup. If you have a recent (or even not so recent) blog post that involves picture books or children's poetry AND dance, yoga, or another form of movement, leave your link in a comment on this post.
Maybe you read a picture book about yoga that you'd like to share. Or maybe you read a poem that made your students want to get up and dance. All ideas are welcome! I'll round up all the links and post about them together in a few weeks. Can't wait to hear from you!
Submissions are open until Monday, July 30, 2012.
By:
Joe Sottile,
on 3/9/2012
Blog:
Joe Silly Sottile's Blog
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
Seneca Falls,
kid friendly poetry,
book reviews,
blog,
kids,
poetry,
school,
children's poetry,
Waiting to See the Principal and Other Poems,
visits,
Add a tag
Here are four new book reviews that were written last month after I visited the Elizabeth Cady Stanton Elementary School in Seneca Falls.
“A greatbook! Fun and engaging poetry for children.” Fourth grade teacher, Michele Marconi, Elizabeth Cady StantonElementary School
“This book[Waiting to See the Principal and Other Poems] really hits the hearts of the youngand the ‘young hearted.’” Michael Pucino, teacher, Elizabeth Cady StantonElementary School
“I love thepoems in the book. Very kid-friendly.” Melissa Caswell, teacher, Elizabeth CadyStanton Elementary School
“The poemswere very kid-friendly, and the addition of the illustrations only adds to thepoems. I like how many of the poems adds multiple perspectives in a veryaccurate way!” Kate Smithler, Elizabeth Cady Stanton Elementary School
2012 is a big election year. Television news programs are filled with reports and discussions about the state of this country, the incumbent President, Republican presidential candidates and their debates, state primaries, caucuses, and straw polls. Nearly every day, we’re informed about new survey polls and which candidate seems to be most popular with voters.
All these election year subjects make for excellent classroom discussions in the months prior to the November elections. Wouldn’t it be great for teachers to have a book of poems that could spark those discussions?
I’m happy to announce that my good friend Janet Wong, a well-known children’s author and award-winning poet, has just published a collection of poems titled Declaration of Interdependence: Poems for an Election Year.
In her Author’s Note, Wong talks of how our civil liberties “give us voice.” We have freedom of speech in this country. We can speak out. We can demonstrate. We can picket.Following is a description of Janet’s book that was posted on the website of Richard C. Owen Publishers. This limited-edition paperback version of Janet Wong's Declaration of Interdependence: Poems for an Election Year features 20 political poems for young people about a wide variety of topics, including kids' rights as voters, the election process, presidential debates, and more. Many of the poems are humorous and can be shared with children as young as second grade, while still being engagin
I spy a present under our tree.
The gift tag says THIS ONE'S for me!
It piques my curiosity.
I shake the box. What can it be?
It whispers, "I'm a mystery."
by Elaine Magliaro
GIFT TAG
28 holiday poems by 28 poets
an anthology compiled by
Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong
photos taken or selected by
Sylvia Vardell
2) They had to write about what popped into their minds
By:
Aline Pereira,
on 11/28/2011
Blog:
PaperTigers
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
children's poetry,
Eventful World,
Poetry Books,
Francisco X. Alarcón,
Jorge Argueta,
El Salvador,
Cultures and Countries,
Talleres de Poesia,
children's poetry festival,
children's literature events in El Salvador,
Margarita Robleda,
National Library of El Salvador,
Holly Ayala,
Add a tag
The 2nd Children’s Poetry Festival was celebrated in El Salvador, November 16 – 18, 2011. Talleres de Poesia hosted the event at the National Library in San Salvador where a number off well-known poets including Jorge Tetl Argueta, Francisco X. Alarcon, Margarita Robleda, and Holly Ayala worked with Salvadoran children, youth and teachers in a blend of poetry readings and workshop presentations. The theme of the workshops this year was the importance of reading and significance of peace for Salvadoran children and youth. The event was a resounding success; check out the smiles on the participants’ faces and the video of the event.
By:
Aline Pereira,
on 11/27/2011
Blog:
PaperTigers
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
Brian D'Arcy,
children's books about Chinese New Year,
children's books about Kwanzaa,
children's books about multicutural celebrations,
children's poetry,
Pablo Neruda,
Poetry Books,
festivals and celebrations,
Debjani Chatterjee,
Valerie Bloom,
Shirin Adl,
children's poetry festival,
Stories from Around the World,
Week-end Book Reviews,
Add a tag
Edited by Debjani Chatterjee and Brian D’Arcy,
Let’s Celebrate! Festival Poems from Around the World
Frances Lincoln, 2011.
Ages 5-11
Let’s Celebrate is an effervescent anthology of diverse poetry put together by poets Debjani Chatterjee and Brian D’Arcy. It invites young readers to share in the exuberance of a wide array of festivals celebrated around the world. Starting with “The Chinese Dragon” bringing in the Chinese New Year, ending with “Kwanzaa” in December, and visiting different cultures, countries and religions in between, the book takes children on a journey whose unifying thread is the happiness that each of the festivals awakens. Children will likely find poems relating to festivals that are familiar to them, and their curiosity will be aroused to find out about the rest. Endnotes about each festival give relevant background; and again, children may want to know more after reading them.
The poems themselves come in a variety of forms – some with regular patterns of rhyme and meter, others in free verse. There are choruses that just have to be chanted aloud, like “Carnival! Carnival! Everybody shout out – Carnival!” in Valerie Bloom’s wonderful poem “Carnival”. There are also translations, like the selection of Japanese “Cherry Blossom” haiku; “Dance, Dance: A Poem for Rangali Bihu” from Assam; and extracts from Pablo Neruda’s “Ode to Tomatoes”, used to commemorate the Spanish Tomatina Festival. Illustrator Shirin Adl’s exuberant splashes of red paint certainly get the message across here!
In fact, the illustrations are a joy throughout. Adl uses an effective blend of painting and paper/fabric/photographic collage (I especially love the seeds, pulses and herbs illustrating Chatterjee’s acrostic “Diwali”). Plenty of authentic contextual detail helps to bring the celebrating to life, and lots of happy children and their families are an open-armed invitation for young readers to join in the celebrations too, whether it’s helping to scrape pancakes off the ceiling while “Tossing Pancakes” (by Nick Toczek), running to “get your skates on” for the “Ice Festival” (by D’Arcy), or counting out the significance of each candle for “Hannukah” (by Andrea Shavick).
So yes, let us indeed celebrate – you can’t help but be caught up in the joyous spirit of this anthology. And with every day being a festival somewhere in the world, as Chatterjee and D’Arcy point out in their introduction, if there isn’t a poem for their particular festive day (or indeed, even if there is), Let’s Celebrate! will doubtless inspire young readers to compose one of their own.
Marjorie Coughlan
November 2011
If you want something for young children that’s full of zing and just a little bit different on the poetry front, then Anything But A Grabooberry is exactly what you’re looking for! First published by the wonderful Tara Books in 1998, it still feels as innovative as it was then.
Anushka Ravishankar’s nonsense poem that fills the book is based on the premise that I’d rather be anything else apart from a Grabooberry… The examples that make up that “anything else” will have young readers laughing aloud, as well as letting imaginations fly with what the dreadful grabooberry might be. And Rathna Ramanathan has incorporated the words into the book’s design, creating a visual treat in red and green through her exuberant combination of the words’ meanings and physical appearance.
As you read, you find yourself having to slow down over each page to savour the design. This in turn encourages deeper pondering of the meaning – thereby intensifying the enjoyment of reading nonsense! Choosing favorite bits is difficult, but here goes:
i want to be an elephant or a packing trunk
- I love the juxtaposition of elephant and trunk, and you can see these pages on this post from a Japanese blog, which also reproduces the book’s blurb in English;
i think i’d like to be sneeze
flying through the sky
- where “sneeze” and “flying” fizz across the pages and some of the letters are spun at angles – the “i” in “flying” becoming, appropriately enough, an exclamation mark; and
the sun, the moon or sixteen stars
any planet, even ours
Anything But A Grabooberry is perfect for getting children chuckling aloud, and both they and the adults they share it with will appreciate the book’s visual wit and sophistication. Do read this article by Rathna Ramanathan for some fascinating insight into the book’s creation – I especially liked what she said about children’s feedback on early drafts, and Gita Wolf’s comments:
I tested the pages out on several friends’ kids – their reading aloud of the typographic text on the page was an invaluable input. It gave the bee many more ‘e’s, and the grabooberry more ‘ooo’s… [...] As Gita Wolf, publisher at Tara Books explains, ‘We found that children enjoy figuring out words like puzzles, since they have no pre-conceptions about this. Adults are not necessarily faster at comprehending it.’
This week’s Poetry Friday is hosted by Tabitha Yeatts: The Opposite of Indifference – head on over…
By:
Joe Sottile,
on 11/15/2011
Blog:
Joe Silly Sottile's Blog
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
blog,
blogging,
fun,
poet,
children's poetry,
writing,
inspiration,
learning,
blogs,
ideas,
students,
poems,
Shel Silverstein,
inspired,
children,
Add a tag
During my 33-year career as an elementaryschool teacher in Gates, NY, I also became a poet. I became a poet partly becauseI loved the poetry of Shel Silverstein, especially Where the Sidewalk Ends, and also I wanted to sharemy ideas and sense of humor with my own students. So I started writing poemsfor them and my two daughters. Writing lots of poems not only made me a betterwriter and a better poet, but it also inspired my students and my own childrento express themselves through writing poetry.
Learning to write poetry--that is, carefullyselecting a few words to express an idea--not only helps a child express whatis in his soul, but it also helps him learn to think precisely. So I encourageall parents to help their kids write poetry.
One way you can help your child write poetry isto encourage them to write poems by using a "recipe" for the poem, orsimply by completing sentences in an organized manner.
0 Comments on HOW TO HELP YOUR CHILD WRITE POETRY as of 11/15/2011 8:23:00 PM
Hallowilloween: Nefarious Silliness
Houghton Mifflin, 2010
Kids enjoy reading poems about scary things that "go bump in the night"�and they
LOVE Halloween. What better way to celebrate the spooky holiday at the end of October with children than to share with them the poems in Calef Brown’s
Hallowilloween? The collection contains fourteen poems about the usual “Halloween” suspects—including a werewolf, witches, the grim reaper, a shrunken head, and a mummy.
Brown’s poems brim with whimsy and humor and wordplay.
From
Jack:
Jack is a rare wolf.A covered with hair wolf.A crouch in the doorwayto give you a scare wolf.A big as a bear wolf.A devil may care wolf.A constantly burpingand fouling the air wolf. From
Lone Star Witches:
The witches of Texas,with cackles and hoots,are doing a two-stepin lizard-skin bootswhile filling a cauldronwith truffles and newts.A sinister potionis brewing in Austinto fire up the feudwith the Witches of Boston.There are poems about someone having dinner with the grim reaper, a poltergeyser at a national park, and a baseball umpire who’s a vampire. The “vumpire” only works night games—as would be expected. In one poem, a mummy complains about how badly its mummification was botched:
Who do I sue?I’m completely unraveling!No more vacations.Forget about traveling.All of my wrappingsare ragged and ripped.I slipped up and trippedon the edge of my crypt.Brown’s stylistic acrylic paintings are saturated with color�
The following three poetry collections take us through the year month by month:
A Child’s Calendar
Written by John Updike
Illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman
Holiday House, 1999
The first edition of
A Child’s Calendar—illustrated by Nancy Ekholm Burkert—was published in 1965. This newer edition—illustrated by Hyman—received a Caldecott Honor Award. I’d say deservedly so. Hyman’s evocative paintings portray events, activities, and scenes that are representative of each month. Children are shown making valentines in February….flying kites in March…enjoying a family picnic in July…trick-or-treating and jumping in piles of leaves in October. Hyman’s illustrations extend Updike’s text. They take readers through the year hand-in-hand with his poems.
November
The twelve poems, written in stanzas of rhyming quatrains, are crisp, concise, and filled with imagery, personification, and figurative language:
In January, the sun is “a spark/Hung thin between/The dark and dark.In March, “Shy budlets peep/From twigs on trees…In April, “The sky’s a herd/Of prancing sheep…”In June, “The live-long light/is like a dream,/And freckles come/Like flies to cream” In September, "The breezes taste of apple peel."In October, “Frost bites the lawn./The stars are slits/In a black cat’s eyes/Before she spits.”In November, “The stripped and shapely/Maple grieves/The loss of her/Departed leaves.”December
Updike made small changes to some of the poe
Poetry Suggestions for Kids
Poets love to play with words and take the ordinary and make it special. Poets love to tell little stories with as few words as possible. Poets are dreamers. Poets don't always make sense. Do you know a few Nursery Rhymes? This is one that I like. "Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall.
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the king's horses and all the king's men
Couldn't put Humpty together again!"
I like the sound of "Humpty Dumpty" and it's repeated in the second line. I enjoy saying it twice. The poem usually comes with an illustration. So I know he's a rather large egg. And he must have been important because all of the king's horses and men tried to put him back together again. Such a silly story inside a poem! But why do you remember it? The end words rhyme — wall and fall, men and again. The rhyme helps you remember the "story" in the poem. So what have you discovered so far? 
- It's okay to be silly in poems and rhyme words.
- Poems can tell mini-stories. You can do that in your poems!
- Poets don't always make sense. Don't worry too much about what your poem really means. Just have some fun with words.
- Repeating words in a poem is fine, as long as it sounds good.
- To make sure you poem is good, you will need to read it aloud again and again to yourself.
In the poem, "The Wheels on the Bus," we are told eight times in the first four lines that the wheels go 'round and 'round, but that's okay. It just makes the poem more fun. Many songs can be written down on paper because they are really poems set to music — just like "The Wheels on the Bus." In my poem "Dad Says He's King of the Castle," I have mom laughing "tee-hee-tee-hee" nine times. And when I vi
By:
Joe Sottile,
on 8/7/2011
Blog:
Joe Silly Sottile's Blog
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
Joe Sottile,
peotry,
Debra Ross,
children's contest,
Build Myself a Winning Poem in Rochester,
KidsOutAndAbout.com,
kids,
literature,
poet,
children's poetry,
poems,
kid poetry,
Add a tag
Honorable Mention
The Theater
by Rebecca, age 12
Penfield
The Auditorium Theater is the place to go
When you want to see an amazing show
When I was little I saw “Blue’s Clues” and “Bear”
Then I saw “Wicked” and “Lion King” there
My friends were a part of the “Wizard of Oz” cast
All who watched surely had a blast
“Lion King” was really great
I hope to see it again at a later date
“Wicked” is my favorite, I saw it three times
Sorry, I can’t think of any other good rhymes
My mom helps us get tickets really cheap
She makes sure we don’t go to shows sure to put us
asleep
0 Comments on Honorable Mention: Rochester Auditorium Theatre as of 1/1/1900
<!--[if gte mso 9]> <![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]> Normal 0 false false false EN-AU X-NONE X-NONE <![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]>
View Next 25 Posts
Even though I really hope spring shows up soon, here's my submission for the roundup about snow! http://mariasmovers.com/2013/02/01/twirly-whirly-snow-dance/
Thanks for reaching out to me on twitter, Kerry. I am very happy to be included in your February roundup, with a review of a super new app of PRANCING,DANCING, LILY by Marsha D Arnold: http://joannamarple.com/prancing-dancing-lilly-app-recommendation/
Thanks, Maria. I'm sure there will still be more snow in some places this winter :)
Thanks so much, Joanna! I think I am going to have to buy this App :)
Kerry, I love the theme of movement. And its fun to see the roundup of different types of movement! This comes a little late, but would love to share the story of Jumping Jenny:
http://www.stackingbooks.com/?p=1546
This book also encourages a social cause!
Thanks for hosting the roundup!
-Reshama
www.stackingbooks.com