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National Poetry Month is held every April in Canada and the USA to celebrate poetry and its vital place in American and Canadian culture. Schools, literary organizations, communities, businesses and more celebrate National Poetry Month with a plethora of events including poetry readings, festivals, book displays, and workshops. The kidlitosphere is sure to be active with bloggers celebrating the month – and one blog that you definitely don’t want to miss out reading is Sylvia Vardell’s Poetry for Children!
Last April, to celebrate National Poetry Month, Sylvia played a game of Poetry Tag on her blog. Poets shared original poems, tagged another poet who shared a poem connected with the previous poem, and on and on. It was such a success that it led her and author Janet S. Wong to compile an anthology of 30 e-poems by 30 e-poets called PoetryTagTime. This first ever electronic-only poetry anthology for children has new poems by many top poets writing for young people, and can be purchased for 99 cents here.
For this year’s National Poetry Month celebrations Sylvia says :
I’m sticking with my “tag” th
0 Comments on April is Poetry Month! Celebrate by visiting Sylvia Vardell’s blog Poetry for Children! as of 1/1/1900
A couple of days ago I wrote a post about Mongolian writer and literacy advocate Dasdondog Jamba. Although at first glance his blog may seem unfathomable to those of us who don’t understand Mongolian, hooray – we are in luck! He does have one category devoted to his poems in English.
Here’s the beginning of a lovely children’s poem, evocative of the Mongolian Steppe and with a whiff of the promise of spring:
Five Colors
“Lambs, lambs, how come
you’re pure white?”
“We were born when the snow had fallen,
so we have to be pure white”
“Little goats, little goats…” Read the rest of the poem here.
Do enjoy a read of these joyous poems – and they’d make a great classroom resource too. Also, take a look at this reprint from IBBY’s Bookbird journal, With the Mobile Library Through the Seasons, in which Dashdondog charts one of his amazing journeys with the Mongolian Mobile Children’s Library.
I served as a member of the 2010 Cybils Round I Panelist. I think 2010 was a banner year for children's poetry. Our group nominated seven titles. There were other fine poetry books that didn't make our list of finalists.
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The 2010 Cybils Poetry Finalists
Borrowed Names:
Poems about
Laura Ingalls Wilder,
Madam C. J. Walker, Marie Curie,
and Their Daughters
Written by Jeannine Atkins
Henry Holt
Dark Emperor & Other Poems of the Night
Written by Joyce Sidman
3 Comments on The 2010 Cybils Awards to Be Announced Soon!, last added: 2/13/2011
Professor and author Sylvia Vardell has posted a veryinformative interview with Lee Bennett Hopkins, master poet and anthologist, about the future of children’s poetry. Cut and paste the site below for thisenlightening discourse.
Last November in San Salvador, El Salvador, Talleres de Poesia hosted the hugely successful First Children’s Poetry Festival. Award winning Salvadorian poet and children’s book author Jorge Tetl Argueta (who now resides in San Francisco, CA, USA) co-organized the event with Manlio Argueta, Director of the National Library of El Salvador, and two committees of volunteers from the San Francisco and San Salvador areas. The festival featured a number of well-known poets including Francisco X. Alarcon, Margarita Robleda, and Rene Colato Lainez who, for three days, participated in this unique and wonderful event giving the Salvadoran children, youth and teachers a blend of poetry readings and workshop presentations. Stay tuned as event organizers hope to make the Children’s Poetry Festival in El Salvador an annual event.
0 Comments on Video clip from the First Children’s Poetry Festival~ El Salvador as of 1/1/1900
Hip, hip, hooray! A children’s poetry book received a Newbery Honor Award this year!!! The book was Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night by Joyce Sidman, illustrated by Rick Allen, published by Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Welcoming her readers into the “wild, enchanted park” that is the night, Joyce Sidman has elegantly crafted twelve poems rich in content and varied in format. Companion prose pieces about nocturnal flora and fauna are as tuneful and graceful as the poems. This collection is “a feast of sound and spark.”
Here are the poetry books that made the list this year:
In the Wild. By David Elliott. Illus. By Holly Meade. Candlewick, $16.99 (9780763644970). A joyful collection of brief poems paired with dynamic woodblock prints celebrates favorite animals from every continent.
Pocketful of Posies: A Treasury of Nursery Rhymes. By Salley Mavor. Houghton, $21.99 (9780618737406). Familiar and lesser known nursery rhymes, illustrated with superb needlework and appliqué, create a charming dollhouse of a book.
Guyku: A Year of Haiku for Boys. By Bob Raczka. Illus. by Peter H. Reynolds. Houghton, $14.99 (9780547240039). Six haiku for each season of the year, celebrating the interaction of boys and nature, combine with loose, expressive cartoons to make a winning combination.
Ubiquitous: Celebrating Nature’s Survivors. By Joyce
2 Comments on A Pocketful of 2010 Children's Poetry Books, last added: 1/14/2011
There were certainly some great poetry books published in 2010. Thanks for posting this roundup of winners, and I'm touched you slipped in Borrowed Names as one of your favorites. I'm happy it's on your list -- and Lee's!
Saturday, December 11th, 45 Main Street, Brockport, NY at Liftbridge Book Shop, "Local Children's Book Author Holiday Extravaganza," — Come See Many Local Authors, and invite Joe to your school! He will visit, and everyone will have fun!
0 Comments on See Joe on Saturday, December 11th at Liftbridge Book Shop! as of 12/8/2010 9:07:00 AM
Just two weeks ago at the NCTE Annual Convention in Orlando, the NCTE Excellence in Poetry Committee--of which I am a member--presented a session titled Poetry for Children and Teachers at Its Best: The 2009 Notable Poetry Titles. We read from and shared impressions of our favorite children's poetry books of last year, offered suggestions for incorporating poetry in the classroom, and talked about some of the best new titles of 2010. We even did some choral reading with the audience.
**********
Members of the NCTE Excellence in Poetry Committee: Barbara Ward (Chair), Rebecca Kai Dotlich, Jonda McNair Mary Napoli, Terrell Young, and Elaine Magliaro
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Here are our 20 Notable Poetry Books of 2009. I have provided links to review of the books.
Thank you so much for this, Elaine! After the panel, I ordered a few of these that we didn't have. Delight! Thank you, too, for all you do on this committee! A.
Can you tell us how and when you first got hooked on children’s poetry?
I first learned the impact poetry can have on children when I began teaching sixth grade.
When did you publish your first anthology? What was the subject of that anthology? My earliest collection was Don’t You Turn Back: Poems by Langston Hughes.
Do you have a favorite among all the poems/poetry books you have written? I still marvel at my creating Been to Yesterdays: Poems of a Life (Boyds Mills Press) published over fourteen years ago…so long I almost forget writing it. The book received great national attention including being an SCBWI Golden Kite Honor Book and winning the Christopher Medal which was presented to me by James Earl Jones! But – I couldn’t attend the affair in NYC due to a prior commitment to a friend who had asked me a long time prior to speak at a dinner meeting in South Carolina! As I was eating spaghetti all I could think of was Mr. Jones. My agent, the great-late Marilyn E. Marlow accepted the award for me…and never let me forget the moment!
Is there anyone in the world of children’s poetry whom you consider to be your mentor? Langston Hughes and Carl Sandburg were my silent mentors. Their work spoke to me loudly and clearly.
You’ve included the work of many “new” poets in your anthologies. How do you learn out about the poetry of writers whose work is not well-known? Many ‘young’ poets seek me out. It’s not hard to find one these days!
When you were a teacher, you first began using poetry as an aid in the teaching of reading. Is that the reason you’ve compiled a series of I Can Read Poetry books for young children? No. I began the I Can Read Poetry Series because I felt there was a need for such work nationwide.
What advice would you give to educators about how to approach the teaching of poetry in the classroom? I’ve written extensively on this subject, particularly in my professional book, Pass the Poetry, Please! (HarperCollins). I learned so much about poetry from reading Myra Cohn Livingston’s book Poem-Making: Ways to Begin Writing Poetry. Unfortunately, it is now out of print. Are there other books that you’d recommend to teachers as excellent poetry-writing resources? I highly recommend Sylvia M. Vardell’s Poetry People: A Practical G
10 Comments on PASS THE POETRY, PLEASE!: A Wild Rose Reader Interview with Lee Bennett Hopkins, last added: 11/5/2010
Fabulous interview, Elaine and Lee. Thank you for sharing how you got started writing it, Lee. As many interviews with you (and books created by you) as I've read, I don't think I knew that's how you began writing children's poetry.
By the way, Sharing the Seasons is one of the most beautiful anthologies/collections I've read this year...
OK, here's my question: When you write a poem, what do you focus on first? The meaning you want to express, emotion, the word choices, rhythm, imagery, the way it sounds read aloud...something else entirely? What is the aspect you start with? Or is it all so interwoven that it comes out of a piece?
I really enjoyed the interview with Lee. I've used Pass the Poetry, Please with my students for many years. I actually wore my first copy out and had to buy a new one! : )
My question: Once you've gotten your first draft down, do you go back and think, "Hmmm, where can I add a metaphor or some other poetic element, or do you not just allow it to happen naturally?"
Thanks Elaine and Lee!
Anonymous said, on 11/2/2010 1:44:00 PM
Laura: The SUBJECT comes first - then words. Thanks for mentioning SHARING THE SEASONS. I love David Diaz' artwork in this book.
Linda: After a first draft I do back and back again and again to find the right word, phrase and cutting out useless words such as 'the' and 'and'. I think of a poem as a piece of sculpture where one has to constantly mold until it is a finished piece. A hundred words might come down to 50 or less. In poetry, less is more, I feel.
So nice to hear about your love for Langston Hughes' work. His poems captivated me from the start. The first book of poetry I ever bought was a collection of his work.
Poetry is so different from fiction and general nonfiction. I know you've been advocating that the ALA offer an annual award for poetry comparable to the Caldecott or Newbery. It seems that such an award would raise poetry's status and arouse more interest in writing high quality poems for children. Has any progress been made on that front?
Lee and Elaine, I love learning this history, and love the photo, and love the generous spirit of this q and a with everyone already asking such great questions. Here's mine: do you have a favorite writing prompt for children you're willing to share?
What a wonderful interview, Elaine. I'm thrilled that I'll finally get to meet both you and Lee at NCTE!
Here's my question. What makes a good anthology and how do you put one together? (Okay, that's really two questions.) I'd love for Lee to discuss how he approaches putting one together and how he selects the pieces that make up the final product.
Thank you for the references. I'm always in search of more to read about poetry and how to bring it alive in the classroom. I'm always looking for ways to help jump-start poetry writing lessons with first graders. Do you have any good ideas that I could try?
Really enjoyable exchange! I especially like the idea of "silent mentors"--we all have them, I guess, and they play a different role to the "talking mentors" we may also have.
I have a question about the "useless words." I too believe that less is more, but I often struggle to reconcile what you might call pithifying the draft with maintaining the rhythm that the poem calls for. I wonder how you handle that, Lee, since it sounds like you still have to go back and carve those empty words out?
On the poetry award, maybe it would help if someone enormously wealthy endowed it, like George Lucas or the Gates Foundation or JK Rowling. The winning poet would get a (relatively) fat cash award to make up for all the lean years of dedication to poetry for children!
Births ofHistorical Importance: 1944* Joe (aka) Silly Sottile 1945,Jhon Lithgow, actor. 3rd Rock From theSun. Events on this day in history: 1781, Cornwallis surrenders at2PM, the fighting is over. 1845, Wagner's opera"Tannhauser" is performed for the first time. 1853, First flour mill in Hawaiibegins operations. 1874, The Ivy League establishesrules for college football. 1968, Golden Gate Bridge chargesa toll for South bound cars only!
*A Legend in his own mind! LOL!
0 Comments on A Legend in His Own Mind as of 1/1/1900
The Cybils nomination process has ended. It is now time for the round one Cybils panelists to get to work reading. I am serving as a Round One Panelist in the Cybils Poetry category.
StephenExley has written a very interesting article, “Children's Poetry Poised forRevival, Say Researchers”. Here is the introduction. For the whole articleclick below.
Apoetry revival among children is on its way, say Cambridge University researchers.
A new book argues that, having long been sidelined as a “Cinderella subject” inschools, children’s poetry is poised to reclaim the hearts and minds of a newgeneration of younger readers.
Cambridge academics believe that internet and television campaigns, scientificand psychological studies, and work done by poet laureates to promote poetry,mean an upturn in fortunes is coming.
Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night Written by Joyce Sidman Illustrated by Rick Allen Houghton Mifflin 2010
Well, Joyce Sidman has done it again! She has written another topnotch collection of nature poems. This time her focus is on the flora and fauna of the woods. This time she examines her subjects through the lens of night. She brings the dark forest to life with her words and imagery. In her poems, Sidman illuminates the nocturnal actions of the snail, primrose moth, great horned owl, orb spider, baby porcupette, cricket, oak tree, mushrooms, eft, tree bat—and provides insight into the moon’s thinking. Dark Emperor is a "must have" book for teachers who enjoy connecting science with poetry/literature--and for kids who are budding naturalists!
Joyce Sidman explains how this book started . . .
I used to be just the teensiest bit afraid of the dark. I loved the concept of the nighttime, its mystery and dark beauty, but the reality was a different story. For us humans—diurnal, sight-oriented creatures that we are—the darkness is alien and forbidding, especially in the woods (which already have dark, mythic undertones). But there are all sorts of creatures that prefer the dark, that thrive in the dark. Why? And how? This book is my exploration of those questions. And you know what? Now that I know so much about these fascinating night creatures, I'm not as afraid of the dark anymore!
Welcome to the Night
Welcome to the Night, the first poem in the collection, is a poem of address. In it, Sidman speaks to woodland creatures and invites them to immerse themselves in their habitat and to use their senses to experience their world after dark:
Come feel the cool and shadowed breeze, come smell your way among the trees, come touch rough bark and leathered leaves: Welcome to the night.
To be sure, Sidman is also welcoming readers to immerse themselves in her poems. She takes readers on a sensory field trip. We experience night in the woods along with the flora and fauna. Sidman even has certain animals, an oak tree, and the moon relate their poetic tales in their own voices.
A young porcupine describes its life after the sun has set:
From I Am a Baby Porcupette
I am a baby porcupette. I cannot climb up branches yet. While mom sleeps in the trees I curl beneath a log till sun has set.
I am a baby porcupette. I nibble in the nighttime wet: a sprig of leaves, a tuft of grass, in hidden spots I won’t forget.
In Cricket Speaks, the winged insect expresses its desire to sing “till the branches tremble/and life/swells/to a single/searin
6 Comments on Book Review: Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night by Joyce Sidman, last added: 9/11/2010
I think Oak After Dark is my favorite, but I don't know, the mushroom one is in a close second place. The illustrations are wonderful. Swirl by Swirl sounds great, too. Thanks for the heads-up!
Wow! is all I can say. Another tour de force from Joyce. Love all the sample poems you shared, and the linocuts are simply gorgeous. I'm especially looking forward to reading this because I live in the woods, and always marvel and am curious about all the creatures. Thanks for the fabulous review, Elaine! I am in love ♥...
Excellent review, Elaine. This book will be mine soon. All of Joyce Sidman's books are going to be mine, mine, MINE! She is so good. Great illustrations, too.
Messing Around on the Monkey Bars and Other School Poems for Two Voices Written by Betsy Franco Illustrated by Jessie Hartland Candlewick, 2009
This collection of nineteen poems touches on many different aspects of a typical school day—including a “wild” bus ride, writing animal reports, library class, recess activities, looking through “weird” stuff in the lost and found, pencil tapping, lunch money, homework, and a new kid at school. The lively rhyming poems, written for two voices, would be perfect to use in a choral reading activity in an elementary classroom. Franco even provides suggestions for “adventurous ways to read the poems” in the back matter of the book.
Here are excerpts from a few poems to give you a taste of this school-themed collection.
From New Kid at School
Where did you come from?
Far away.
Miss your friends?
Every day.
Where do you live?
Maple Street.
What’s your name?
Call me Pete.
From Animal Reports
I might do mine on the great blue whale. I’m thinking about the valley quail.
Or maybe I’ll try the spitting spider. There’s always the yellow-bellied glider.
I might look up the lazy sloth. My mom said, Do the luna moth.”
From Messing Around on the Monkey Bars
Time for recess! Here we are,
messing around on the monkey bars!
Hand over hand, fast or slow,
calling to our friends below.
Franco uses straightforward language to capture the essence of an elementary school day from the morning bus ride to the final bell in her lighthearted verse. Hartland’s humorous childlike gouache illustrations add to the fun of this collection that is sure to appeal to young children.
In Jeff Bullas’ essay “50Ways To Optimize Your Blog” here are points 3 to 5:
3. Customers PainPoints – Write posts that provide solutions for your customers problems
4. Customers successes– Write up a case study about a client’s successful project.
5. What not to do – highlightingwhere something hasn’t worked (the names shall remain anonymous of course).
Point 3…I don’t write solutions to poetry problems on my blog. Soundslike a good idea, eh? If you want to sell something, you are supposed to tellhow the product will really help the buyer. So that it certainly worth thingabout.
On the other hand, my website, www. joe-sottile.com, features a monthlypoetry contest for kids. I encourage kids to send me samples of their bestpoetry. They might be the lucky winner. You never know. And in the “recipe”area I offer suggestions on how to write poetry. Some
0 Comments on Optimizing You Blog (Points 3-5) as of 1/1/1900
An exciting event is being planned in San Salvador this coming November and celebrated Salvadorian poet and children’s author Jorge Argueta has kindly sent us the following details:
From November 8 -10, Talleres de Poesia and the National Library of El Salvador will be presenting the 1st Annual Children’s Poetry Festival at the National Library in San Salvador.
The theme of the festival will be the importance of reading and significance of peace for Salvadoran children and youth. Renowned poets will be conducting writing workshops to Salvadoran children and youth. Attendees will also have the opportunity to enhance their writing skills and learn techniques on how to write their experiences through poetry. Confirmed poets include Jorge as well as Francisco X. Alarcon, Margarita Robleda, Rene Colato Lainez, Ana Ferrufino, Jackie Mendez, and Jeannette “Lil Milagro” Martinez-Cornejo
Jorge is c0-organizing this wonderful project with Manlio Argueta, Director of the National Library of El Salvador, and two committees of volunteers from the San Francisco, USA and San Salvador areas. When I asked Jorge how the idea for a children’s poetry festival in El Salvador came about, he replied:
I’ve been coming frequently to El Salvador for the last 2 years…I began to do school presentations as well as adult poetry readings where I had the opportunity to meet teachers, librarians and other writers. Having worked many Poetry Festivals in the USA, it occurred to me that a festival would be a positive, creative opportunity for the children in El Salvador. It is also my way to contribute back to my country. I was thrilled when many of my old and new friends supported this idea and project.
Producing a children’s poetry festival in El Salvador has always been in my heart and mind. I grew up without books in El Salvador, however I always understood the beauty and the great success that comes from reading. Today, unfortunately there is a lot of violence in El Salvador – our hopes are that this festival will give children and young adults the opportunity to express themselves creatively on the issue of living in peace and their dreams for a positive future.
As you can imagine this is a huge undertaking and organizers are asking for help in making this event a success. Donations are greatly appreciated and can be made directly to:
Talleres de Poesia
Account # 0006696
Mission Federal Credit Union
3269 Mission St.
San Francisco, CA, USA 94110
or you can mail a check to:
Talleres de Poesia
90 Bepler St.
Daly City, CA, USA 94014
Fundraising events are underway in cities throughout the USA and well-known artists and children’s book a
0 Comments on 1st Annual Children’s Poetry Festival to be held in El Salvador, Nov 8 – 10 as of 1/1/1900
Reading Baby Wants Another New Award: Poetry Time! at A Fuse #8 Production last week reminded me of Children’s Poetry and the Cinderella Syndrome—the first posts that I wrote for Blue Rose Girls in October of 2006 before I became one of the regular contributors to the blog. In Baby Wants Another New Award, Betsy Bird discusses the idea of an ALA/ALSC award especially for poetry.
I thought it might be a good idea to re-post Children’s Poetry and the Cinderella Syndrome this Friday as a number of us in the kidlitosphere are considering the idea of a new poetry award. Read it and Baby Wants Another New Award and the comments people—including a number of children’s poets—left at Betsy’s post.
Let’s continue the discussion. Should there be an ALA/ALSC Award for Poetry? What do YOU think?
CHILDREN’S POETRY AND THE CINDERELLA SYNDROME, Part 1
Poetry is the Cinderella—pre-fairy godmother—of children’s literature. It is often a neglected genre in the school curriculum. It is usually relegated to the servants’ quarters of education. Schools do not purchase multiple copies of poetry books for teachers to share and discuss with children in reading groups. Many teachers—and, sad to say, librarians—are unfamiliar with the names of some of our most accomplished children’s poets and their works. And most administrators consider poetry a frill, as literature to be shared with children—if shared at all—when there is that rare free moment in the school day.
Alas! Children’s poetry usually doesn’t get invited to the royal ball either. It is seldom honored with the “big” award. To my knowledge, just two poetry books have been recipients of the Newbery Medal since 1922: Nancy Willard’s A Visit to William Blake’s Inn in 1982 and Paul Fleischman’s Joyful Noise in 1989. Surely, there have been other poetry books published over the years worthy of acknowledgement. Am I mistaken to infer that the people who are most knowledgeable in the world of children’s literature also perceive poetry as a genre that is less important than fiction and other nonfiction? Why are there so few Prince Charmings willing to squire Cinderella Poetry around town unless she’s all dolled up for a special event? If I were Rodney Dangerfield, I might opine on the state of poetry for children: It don’t get no respect.
Furthermore, one is likely to find few poetry books written by authors other than Jack Prelutsky or Shel Silverstein on the shelves of chain bookstores. Methinks children’s poetry is in need of a very aggressive fairy godmother! Well, I hope it will have a mentor with magical powers in the person of Jack Prelutsky himself. Prelutsky was recently named our first Children’s Poet Laureate by the Poetry Foundation. Maybe he will be able to wave a wand and do what no one has ever done before: Bring children’s poetry into the spotlight where it can shine and shimmer and have an abundance of positive attention bestowed upon it. Maybe he will raise the profile of poetry so it will no longer be treated like the stepchild of children’s literature.
CHILDREN’S POETRY AND THE CINDERELLA SYNDROME, Part 2
I am a passionate proponent of children’s poetry. I want to spread the word about the importance of sharing ALL kinds of poetry with our children. Too often their exposure to the genre
5 Comments on Children's Poetry and the Cinderella Syndrome --Redux, last added: 8/6/2010
Wonderful, Elaine. Thanks for bringing this article forward again. I, too, linked to Betsy Bird's blog from my blog today. I'm going to link to yours via Facebook. Thanks again, and enjoy your weekend.
Elaine, thanks for re-posting this, and for the wonderful work you did as a teacher. I love teachers who combine creative reading and writing, and poetry is particularly well suited to this. Instead of reading a poem and only talking or writing about it, it's good to write one yourself.
I loved sharing and writing poetry with my elementary students. I connected poetry and other literature to all of our subjects. I especially enjoyed using poetry during our units of study in science.
I worked as a school library media specialist for 21 years (I retired in June) - one who loved poetry. I tried to read a poem to every day to each class and offered copies of the poems to share. I also shared the books with them. After I began incorporating poetry into my library class, my students started taking out more poetry and I made sure our shelves were well stocked. The kids do indeed love the word play, the rhythm and joy of poetry. Too many teachers relegate poetry to National Poetry Week or a unit instead of incorporating it into their daily curriculum.
Poetry does indeed deserve a separate award if it's to reach more children. We need to encourage promising poets to continue to write great poems for children and an award on par with the Caldecott and the Newbery would do poetry's cause great justice. I agree with Betsy.
Today I am delighted to welcome brilliant poet and friend Lorraine Marwood, who is here as part of her blog tour to celebrate the release of her new poetry collection, A Ute Picnic. As a poet myself, I wanted to explore how Lorraine (and her publisher) went about putting the collection together.
Welcome Lorraine. Tell us a bit about the collection. What can readers expect to find?
Now that's
6 Comments on Lorraine Marwood's blog tour, last added: 8/5/2010
Really enjoyed the post, Sally and Lorraine.<br /><br />Love the new blog look, Sally and fascinating to hear how you put the collection together, Lorraine.<br /><br />Dee:-)
Thanks Sally for hosting me- as I type in answers its really revealing to examine one's writing history. Its been special to share the journey of a "A Ute Picnic". Thanks Dee! Lorraine
Interesting blog, Lorraine and Sally. I've thoroughly enjoyed reading this collection.<br />To we newbies in the world of poetry, your skill with turning words into poems is like 'alchemy of the senses'. :)
Such an interesting post. And it's so heartening to see more poetry being published. I can't wait to read A Ute Picnic. Thanks Lorraine and Sally---may it sell like hotcakes!
This is another piece of writing that came across the Internet. I've seen it before, but I still like it. It's written in capital letters, and it is screaming good advice at you about friendship. If you're working on stone, maybe it's easier to write in uppercase letters. And thanks ahead of time to the friends that drop by and read this.
STONE TWO FRIENDS WERE WALKING THROUGH THE DESERT . DURING SOME POINT OF THE JOURNEY, THEY HAD AN ARGUMENT; AND ONE FRIEND SLAPPED THE OTHER ONE IN THE FACE
THE ONE WHO GOT SLAPPED WAS HURT, BUT WITHOUT SAYING ANYTHING, WROTE IN THE SAND ,
TODAY MY BEST FRIEND SLAPPED ME IN THE FACE .
THEY KEPT ON WALKING, UNTIL THEY FOUND AN OASIS, WHERE THEY DECIDED TO TAKE A BATH
THE ONE WHO HAD BEEN SLAPPED GOT STUCK IN THE MIRE AND STARTED DROWNING, BUT THE FRIEND SAVED HIM.
AFTER HE RECOVERED FROM THE NEAR DROWNING, HE WROTE ON A STONE:
Books to the ceiling, books to the sky. My pile of books are a mile high. How I love them! How I need them! I'll have a long beard by the time I read them.
I love this photo, and if had started reading at his age, maybe my whole life would have been different. As it was, my life is more complicated than I ever thought it would be. That is, because I wear many hats in my so-called "retirement."
We all wear different hats in life, especially as weget older. My hats include those of a husband, father, grandparent, uncle,friend, teacher, essayist, instructor, tutor, performer, golfer, biker,children’s poet, and an adult poet.
Over the pastthree decades I have written many children’s poems. During that time, I sometimes have playedthis recording in my head, “Someday I am going to get more serious aboutwriting adult poetry and join an official writing group.” Now I feel old enough, and I have taken theplunge. I am more than willing to share my poetry for adults and chase aroundfor publishers.
I feel passionately about poetry, whether it’swritten for children or adults. Exactly how passionately? Well, I have strongbeliefs about the value of poetry. I am working on a poetry handbook forhomeschoolers, and what follows is an excerpt from the introduction:
“Poetrycan help you understand the world better and yourself better. Poetry canprovide an avenue for you to untangle mixed-up feelings. Poetry can make youlaugh and encourage you to take problems in stride. Poetry can give you wordsof courage to remember in times of stress.
Poetrycan be a friend that goes wherever you go. Poems can be tucked into your bookbag or your brain matter, and taken with you on any journey, short or long. Inother words, poetry can play an important part in your life as a road map tocourage, compassion, laughter, fun, success, and self-knowledge. This willbecome clearer as you read on.
0 Comments on Will the Real Joe Sottile Please Stand Up? as of 1/1/1900
Humor is the affectionate communication of insight. Leo Rosten
My grandson, Ricky, was going to the Senior Ball, and this was photo opportunity time on the front lawn for two of his grandparents. A neighbor yelled, "Get away from the garage sale sign!"
Then I yelled, "No, stay there!" And he did. Ricky and I both had the same insight at that moment. This would make a rather silly photo. I didn't ask him to lean on the sign, which made it an even better photo. Who would ever wear a tuxedo to a garage sale? Shop for bargains in a tux?
Humor is the instinct for taking pain playfully. Max Eastman
Ricky has gone through a lot of medical procedures in his life, but he has a rich sense of humor. I think that is partly due to all of the pain that he has experienced.
If you could choose one characteristic that would get you through life, choose a sense of humor. Jennifer Jones
What a lovely name for an anthology of poetry – Rainbow World: Poems from Many Cultures (Hodder Children’s Books, 2003). Edited by Bashabi Fraser and Debjani Chatterjee, and illustrated by Kelly Waldek, it brings together more than 80 poets, focusing “on the voices of Black and Asian poets from Britain, the Caribbean, Australia, New Zealand and the continents of Aisa and Africa”. The poems are divided into different sections – I’ve chosen extracts today from poems in the first and last “chapters” – firstly, from ‘Who’s Who – race, culture and identity’, part of the poem “a ‘coloured’ girl, I sleep with rainbows” by Lucinda Roy:
I am black. I am white.
I am the colour of the sun at noon.
I breathe with the sea.
For coloured girls who sleep with rainbows
there is light in the spittle of strangers.
My father, as black as brown can be;
my mother as white as the half-moons in his nails.
I am their tangible kiss.
And, from ‘The Last Word – peace and harmony’, part of a poem called “The Unknown You Have Made Known to Me” by Rabindranath Tagore from India, translated by Debjani Chatterjee:
I fear to leave a place I know of old,
Who knows what the future will unfold?
I forget the simple truth that within
The new, you are the familiar.
You have brought the distance near, my friend,
And made a brother of the stranger.
To read the rest of these poems, get hold of this superb anthology – mine came from my local library. It’s chockablock with poems that are soul-searching, identity-searching, thought-provoking, whimsical, catchy and just plain fun.
Poetry and science are two of my passions. When I was an elementary teacher, I loved connecting poetry with the different science units I taught. I was always looking for poems to integrate with my units on trees and soils, astronomy, animals, and the life cycle of butterflies. I suppose that’s one of the reasons why Joyce Sidman is one of my favorite children’s poets. She is able to weave her knowledge of nature and science seamlessly into her extraordinary poetry. I was thrilled when I heard that Joyce was publishing a collection entitled Ubiquitous: Celebrating Nature’s Survivors this year—especially after I watched the trailer for the book.
Ubiquitous: Celebrating Nature’s Survivors Written by Joyce Sidman Illustrated by Beckie Prange Houghton Mifflin, 2010
Joyce Sidman explains how her book Ubiquitous started at her Web site:
My sister is a biologist who works with insects. One day, on an impromptu nature walk, she snagged a beetle, held it in her hand, and remarked about how successful beetles are--how many species there are in the world. She went on to explain that they had mutated from flies; their forewings had become hardened and armored, allowing them to survive better than flies under extreme conditions. This discussion started me thinking about what allows one group of organisms to stick it out here on earth, while others become extinct. Boy, was it ever interesting to find out! I did more research for this book than any other; but I learned more, too--I basically ended up studying evolutionary history.
I emailed Joyce to ask if she could give me further information about the book. I wrote: “I also saw in your book's acknowledgments all the different scientists you thanked. I was wondering if you'd care to provide me with any other information about the time it took you to complete this book and/or how much research you had to do in evolutionary history.”
Joyce responded:This book took a long, long time to write, because I really had to feel my way. I am not a scientist, and the further I dug into research, the more science seemed to be involved. I started thinking about the idea about eight years ago. I thought it would be fun to find lots of "survivor" organisms to wri
5 Comments on UBIQUITOUS by Joyce Sidman & Beckie Prange: A Poetry Book Review, last added: 4/30/2010
Thabks for reviewing, Elaine! I look forward to this new book by Joyce. I've only recently discovered her and have a couple of her older books checked out to enjoy ("Butterfly Eyes" & "Song of the Water Boatman").
I'm in awe of Joyce's abilty to write so many exceptional collections of children's poetry. There isn't a mediocre book in the bunch that's she's published to date.
Elaine, I am always humbled by your reviews of my books. Wish I could have been in your classes when I was a kid. I bet all your students had a wonderful appreciation for poetry!
National Poetry Month is held every April in Canada and the USA to celebrate poetry and its vital place in American and Canadian culture. Schools, literary organizations, communities, businesses and more celebrate National Poetry Month with a plethora of events including poetry readings, festivals, book displays, and workshops. The kidlitosphere is sure to be active with bloggers celebrating the month – and one blog that you definitely don’t want to miss out reading is Sylvia Vardell’s Poetry for Children!
People: A Practical Guide to Children’s Poets (Libraries Unlimited, 2007), and Children’s Literature in Action: A Librarian’s Guide (Libraries Unlimited, 2008). She is co-editor of Bookbird, the journal of international children’s literature, co-editor of the annual review guide Librarians Choices and is also the poetry columnist for the American Library Association’s Book Links magazine.
12 Comments on 2009 NCTE Notable Poetry Books for Children, last added: 12/5/2010
What a lovely name for an anthology of poetry – Rainbow World: Poems from Many Cultures (Hodder Children’s Books, 2003). Edited by 
What a fabulous post, Elaine - thanks for all the CYBILS love!!
Looking forward to it!
Elaine, as usual we're indebted to you for your enthusiastic support for Cybils. Thanks so much for joining us again this year!
-Anne Levy, Cybils