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Last year I did a Poetry Friday post on an anthology of children’s poems that featured a book called Inner Chimes.   I excerpted a snippet of a poem I liked by British writer Eleanor Farjeon (1881-1965) and as a result became curious about her.  After reading her biography, I sought out her books.   Our local library did not have lot of her books available for loan.  Many are out-of-print and some, in fact,  were housed in the juvenile reference section which require special permission to view. One book, however, of her most famous hymn-poem “Morning Has Broken” was available in a picture book format illustrated by Tim Ladwig (Eerdmans, 1996)  I took it out and read it to my daughter, and then showed her a Youtube of Cat Stevens‘ famous rendition of the hymn.  It was a great way to enjoy the poem!    I was also able to take out Kaleidoscope (illustrated by Edward Ardizzone, Oxford University Pres, 1963.)  Kaleidoscope is a collection of short lyrical sketches about a young boy named Anthony and his childish but deeply poetic perceptions of the world.  In her Foreword, Farjeon explains how the character of Anthony was based on a poet acquaintance of hers who had grown up in the countryside.  As writers, they shared memories of their past childhood  — hers of a girl growing up in London and he as a boy in Somerset.   I was impressed by these prose sketches by Farjeon, seemingly lighthearted in tone, but profoundly perceptive at the same time.  She seemed to capture that essential childish awe and wonder that is of the nature of the poet, who perceives and then delights in words.   As old as the book is, it does not feel dated; the observations are not sentimental nor trite.  I enjoyed reading these sketches, mostly for myself although I did try reading a couple to my daughter.  If you can find Farjeon’s books in your library, I’d recommend seeking them out.  They are little treasures from the past, well worth savoring today.

This week’s Poetry Friday host is Laura at Writing the World for Kids.

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On walking my daughter to school this week, we went past this bare branched tree with a pink mitten on it.  “Oh look!” I said, pointing it out to my daughter.  “Yes,” she said excitedly, “it looks like a pink rose, Mommy!”  Taking this response as an opportunity to teach her about poetics, I replied, “Yes, it does look like a rose.  Do you know when you compare an object to another using the word ‘like,’ you are using what is called a simile?” I went on further.   The pink mitten looks like a rose, so you are right to say that, but you can also say ‘The pink mitten is a rose.’  That would be using what is called a metaphor.”  My daughter paused in her tracks, squinted at me hard and said,  “But the mitten isn’t a rose, Mommy.”  Ah, yes, perhaps the metaphor was a little too hard for her to grasp quite yet.

Thinking about poetics is part of my job as a creative writing teacher, so I was very glad that day when my daughter’s teacher lent me the book called Inner Chimes: Poems on Poetry, selected by Bobbye S. Goldstein with illustrations by Jane Breskin Zalben.  (Wordsong/Boyds Mills Press, 1992).   Inner Chimes contains poems about writing poetry.   Here’s an excerpt of a poem by Eleanor Farjeon that reminded me very much of my daughter’s poetic encounter with the pink mitten rose:

What is Poetry?  Who knows?
Not a rose, but the scent of a rose;
Not the sky, but the light in the sky;
Not the fly, but the gleam of the fly
Not the sea, but the sound of the sea

Not a pink mitten, but a pink mitten rose, I’d somehow like to add!  When I paused later in the day to take a picture of the pink mitten, my daughter put her green gloved hand over it and said, “And now it’s coming out of its bud — take a picture, Mommy!”  Well, despite her initial confusion over metaphor, she certainly picked up the notion of the extended metaphor pretty quick!

If you’d like to read more poems for kids about writing poetry, I’d certainly recommend Inner Chimes.   There are some thoughtful poems about the creative process and inspiration in this book.

This week Poetry Friday is hosted by Tricia at the Miss Rumphuis Effect.

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Had a lot of fun illustrating these two poems in the past week for School Magazine. Both are quite clever in different ways. 'The Quarrel' by Eleanor Farjeon is a poem about two stubborn brothers who have a really good argument over something that is long forgotten. The line that stood out for me was, 'the afternoon turned black' and I used this as the central idea for the illustration.


The other poem was very different. So many nonsensical elements which is generally the case in a Spike Milligan poem. I'm a huge fan of his brand of wackiness so illustrating 'On The Ning Nang Nong' was a nice challenge for me. I did my best to be as equally silly but it's a tough act to follow. Spike's just too damn crazy. At the very least I captured some of the poem's pervading madness. Hopefully.

Both illustrations were done primarily with collage. It's such a fantastically diverse medium. Over the years I have amassed a large collection of painted tissue papers, pattered art papers, interesting washes, old books, postcards & ads that I can use. It's a lot of fun working out what should go where.

Anyhoo, better get back to it I guess. Stay well peoples.

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