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This is my much-anticipated chance to share all sorts of great links and resources that I have encountered during my weekly Internet travels. I have all sorts of goodies for you today!
Celebrate poetry month with author Shel Silverstein! Get poems, activities, and fun all month long.
This site is so bright and colorful, it just makes me smile! And it has some great book ideas as well. Mrs. Wheeler’s First Grade Tidbits: Poetry Ideas
I adore these 28 Must-Share Poem images for Elementary School from WeAreTeachers! Of course, the Roald Dahl one is at the top of my favorites list:) http://stfi.re/jnaldb
Creekside Learning also had a wonderful poetry booklist for kids
What great poetry finds did you discover this week?
Before you go…
Do you know what Hans Christian Andersen liked as much as his fairy tales?
Paper! He was an addict to paper. He wrote on it, he drew on it and he use to cut in it. Just like a sculptor carves the figure out of stone, Hans Christian Andersen use to cut his stories out of paper. In fact he was a very popular paper cutter. (images courtesy of the Odense Museum)
In order to amuse his friends and their children, Hans made his very famous paper cuts. Wherever he would go he would carry his bag filled with paper and these very large monstrous scissors which he used to cut out the most elegant figures.
Would you like to create a very special item that is inspired by the paper cuttings of Hans Christian Andersen?
I’ve made a FREE off the shoulder felt story bag craft and tutorial just for this occasion! This simple craft is something the whole family can participate in creating it will make a delightful gift for the book lover in your life. I hope your little bag of tales holds as many wonders for you as ours has.
Click the image below and get instant access to this Hans Christian Andersen-inspired shoulder bag!
Today I have the honor of presenting a poetry symposium at the annual convention of the International Reading Association in Chicago-- along with J. Patrick Lewis, Marilyn Singer, and Jane Yolen.(Thanks to Lili DeSisto and Charlesbridge Publishing for their support in making this happen.) Here's the lowdown.
In our session entitled, "Using Humor to Engage Students in Poetry," we are discussing the use of humor and constructing humorous poems to introduce students to this often intimidating form of writing. Using a bibliography of humorous poetry, we hope to illustrate how a poem can tickle a child's funny bone, and lead to an interest in poetry, reading, and writing in general. We address the different kinds of humor one can find in poetry such as slapstick, puns, limericks, etc. Handouts with lists and activities that educators could use with students (such as poetry performance, which was also demonstrated during the session) and sample poems were provided.
Each poet shared poetry, poetry strategies, and participated in a Q&A discussion. Here are some of the questions I posed to them:
What is your favorite kind of humor? In life or in poetry!
What are some of your favorite funny poems? Or funny poets?
When did you start writing funny things or what inspired you to write humor?
Do you have favorite funny forms or topics you like to explore?
Is it easier or harder to write funny poetry (than “serious” poetry)? Why/how?
When you’re writing, do you plan for humor or does it catch you by surprise? Which happens when?
Are there tricks that will make a poem funnier? Like the surprise ending or the k sound...
Have kids ever surprised you with their reactions to a humorous poem? Or laughing at a serious poem? Care to share any funny stories of unexpected kid responses?
I spoke about humorous poetry for young people in general, citing some of my favorite poets and collections and involved the audience in performing many poems together. I provided a massive handout of material drawn from my new book, The Poetry Teacher's Book of Lists along with some new compilations, including a list of:
107 Humorous Poetry Books for Young People
PLUS lists of:
*Children’s Poetry in Audiobook Form: A Sampling (in case you don't have access to a "live" poet) *Song Tunes for Matching with Poems: A Sampling (along with a "live" demonstration of singing poems) *Poetry Books about Dogs: A Sampling (a popular topic in children's humorous poetry and a familiar place to begin in guiding children in writing poetry based on personal experiences-- same with cats) *Poetry Books about Cats: A Sampling *Halloween and Monster Poetry Books: A Sampling (another popular topic in children's humorous poetry and a good place to begin in guiding children in writing fanciful poetry) *Folk Poetry Books for Children: A Sampling (a good place to begin in bridging the gap from o
1 Comments on IRA Symposium: Using Humor to Engage Students in Poetry , last added: 5/3/2012
Sounds like a terrific session, Sylvia! Very much wishing I could have sat in. Thank you again for being such an amazing children's poetry advocate. I hope you're enjoying the conference and staying dry in this drizzly Chicago weather.
I have always been someone who enjoys poetry. From the time I was young and obsessed with Dennis Lee and Shel Silverstein, to my gothy teen years with Edgar Allan Poe, into adulthood and loving found poetry, poems have always been part of my life.
Many tweens are fans of poetry and often write their own. Here are some links to use during National Poetry Month (and beyond!) to get poetry into the hands of tweens!
Online Magnetic Poetry Tweens can drag words over to the "magnetic" board. They can either save their work or start over again!
Gotta Book's 30 Poets in 30 Days Come back daily to find previously unpublished works from poets such as Calef Brown, Arthur A. Levine, and Eileen Spinelli! Write A Poem with Jack Prelutsky Click through and have Jack Prelutsky guide you through the poetry process!
I’m teaching my graduate course in poetry for children this semester and we have all kinds of projects percolating that I hope to share soon-- including readers’ guides for many different poetry books. Toward that end, I created a mini-example readers’ guide for my students for Joyce Sidman’s Dark Emperor, a Newbery honor book this year. Let me first say that Joyce has several excellent resources for this book available on her own web site. I purposely created my guide before checking hers and there’s a wee bit of overlap, but together, we offer multiple ways to approach this wonderful book.
READERS GUIDE: Dark Emperor by Joyce Sidman By Sylvia Vardell
Sidman, Joyce. 2010. Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night. Houghton Mifflin. Recommended age levels 7-12
1. Summary of book This collection of poems about the forest at night—owls, moths, porcupines-- is the last in the trio of “ecosystem poetry books” that began with Song of the Water Boatman (pond) and continued with Butterfly Eyes (meadow). It also offers a parallel layout with beautiful linoleum prints in a double-page spread for each of 12 poems, alongside an accompanying prose paragraph. This marriage of lyrical poetry, science-focused topics, and beautifully executed art has become a Sidman (and collaborating illustrator) trademark.
2. Review excerpts/awards *Newbery Honor book *Booklist Editors’ Choice *Booklist starred review; “this picture book combines lyrical poetry and compelling art with science concepts” *School Library Journal; “it invites lingering enjoyment for nature and poetry fans” *Horn Book Fanfare *Bulletin Blue Ribbon *Chicago Public Library Best Book of the Year *NSTA-CBC Outstanding Science Trade Book *ALA Notable Book *Junior Library Guild Selection *Cybils Poetry Award finalist *Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award honor book
3. Questions to ask before reading Invite the children to discuss the following: *What is an “emperor”? Look at the book’s cover and speculate about the book’s content and the meaning of the word “emperor.” *Imagine what happens outside your home when you sleep at night. What animals might be active? What noises might be heard? *Which is easier to write—prose or poetry? Why? This book has both. Why do you think a poetry book might include prose paragraphs, too?
<
4 Comments on Readers Guide for DARK EMPEROR, last added: 3/17/2011
Hi, Jane and Joyce, Thanks for stopping by and for your kind words. I know there is a bit of overlap with your guide, Joyce, but I think the more, the better, when it comes to promoting poetry, right?! Sylvia
I’d like to plug the January issue of Book Links (now an ancillary publication with Booklist) and my “Everyday Poetry” column about poet and author Margarita Engle. This time last year in Book Links, Jeannine Atkins offered a fine introduction to three books by Margarita Engle-- The Poet Slave of Cuba, The Surrender Tree, and Tropical Secrets including research suggestions for the classroom. In my column, I followed up with more info and curricular connections. Here’s an excerpt:
Margarita Engle burst onto the scene only 5 years ago and has already garnered multiple Pura Belpre recognitions (another one THIS year!) and a Newbery honor distinction. Her work thus far is a unique amalgamation of spare and powerful free verse, unheralded historical subjects, vividly realized settings, and multiple contradictory points of view. She has fused history, poetry, and biography to tell authentic stories about real people from the past. Her work lends itself to cross-curricular applications in history, science, and language arts, in particular.
Her unique style provides opportunities for young people to connect with her work in a variety of ways. The use of many viewpoints lends itself to dramatic reading ala readers theater. (Her first three works are also available in audiobook form.) Her use of imagery and distinctive settings begs for artistic interpretation in drawing, painting, collage, etc. The history and geography nuggets may prompt further digging into nonfiction and web-based resources. Put it all together and students can create digital trailers using archival photos, period music, and evocative voiceovers to bring her works to life.
So far, Engle has authored five novels in verse beginning with The Poet Slave of Cuba: A Biography of Juan Francisco Manzano, illustrated by Sean Qualls. The life of nineteenth-century Cuban slave Juan Francisco Manzano is portrayed from multiple points of view in this complex and gritty poetry-story. Pair this book with other stories of enslaved peoples in studying the history of the Americas. It offers interesting parallels to Marilyn Nelson’s Fortune’s Bones or M. T. Anderson’s two The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing novels for older readers.
Her verse “
0 Comments on Margarita Engle in BOOK LINKS, plus as of 1/1/1900
Jame Richards’ first novel in verse, Three Rivers Rising, is a historical tale based on a true event weaving multiple story threads toward a vivid climax. It has already been nominated for the ALA Best Fiction for Young Adults 2011 list and you’ll find a downloadable reader’s guide for the book on Jame’s web site.
Here's just a snippet to give you a taste of the book. It's from the long opening passage from the protagonist's (Celestia's) point of view:
Now about me-- if I am not the fun-loving beauty, then I must be the serious one, the one who would toss the croquet ball back, wave and sigh, but be more infinitely more fascinated with my book than with the superficial cheer of the society crowd. The one who gets the joke but does not tolerate it. The one who baits the hook and guts the fish with Peter, the hired boy.
One of my favorite activities to use with tweens and teens is to discuss the possible adaptation of a book into film, particularly the casting of the main characters. It really helps them visualize the characters and discuss their attributes. So, I tossed the challenge to Jame, as the author of the book.
If they were to make a movie of THREE RIVERS RISING, whom would you want to cast in the leads?
Jame: Naturally when Hollywood calls they’re going to be on pins and needles waiting for me to help them cast the leads, right? How fun would that be—I can’t wait. I hope Hollywood has a time machine handy, though, because all my picks would be too old to varying degrees. So qualify all my choices as “in the vein of…”
I love when films are cast so that family members truly look similar. So for Celestia and Estrella, I picture Natalie Portman or Keira Knightley or young Winona Ryder in some combination.
Here are my questions: When writing in verse, how do you handle dialog? How did you go about the researching of the Johnstown Flood (which was an amazing and tragic disaster). How did you decide your line breaks? Sorry to miss NCTE, sounds like a great session.
My question: what would happen if we mixed up the ethnicities of the actors so that it wasn't so monochromatic? What would that do to the story? Would it make a difference? Better, richer, more universal or somehow not?
Three Rivers Rising is currently at the very top of my to-read pile, and now that I've read your post, I can't wait to dig in! (or maybe, more appropriately, jump in...or bail out...) Since you linked the book with Crossing Stones (a favorite) I am even more excited to read it! Can't wait for your NCTE session!
I just wanted to add two of my favorite verse novels set during WWII (my pet research subject right now) to put on your timelines: a lesser known, but beautiful, work by Karen Hesse ALEUTIAN SPARROW and Jennifer Roy's YELLOWSTAR.
Thanks for the questions---I'm working on them now!
You’ll see from her web site, that new poet Jame Richards grew up a reader. She wanted to be an artist as a child, but was told there was no job market for artists. Then she read Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great and so began her reading life and eventually her writing life. In 2008, she received the Susan P. Bloom Children's Book Discovery Award for emerging writers from PEN New England Children's Book Caucus for the work that became her first published book, Three Rivers Rising (published by Knopf, 2010). It’s the story-in-poems of the catastrophic Johnstown (Pennsylvania) flood of 1889. It’s a fast read and compelling story, a Titanic kind of love story about star-crossed lovers from different classes set against an actual disaster that occurred in Pennsylvania near the turn of the twentieth century. It’s already been nominated for the ALA Best Fiction for Young Adults 2011 list and you’ll find a downloadable reader’s guide for the book on her web site.
Be sure to check out Jame’s blog, too. One of my favorite features is her regular column of adorable “Frances-isms” capturing the clever, intuitive ways that children express themselves with their evolving vocabularies vis a vis her own young daughter. One example is: "A rhombus is a rectangle in a hurry."�
Jame will be one of our panelists at our upcoming NCTE session. She was kind enough to agree to a mini-interview. Here are her responses.
Can you tell us a little about yourself? Where you grew up? Your family? Where you live and work now?
I grew up in a small town in the Catskills along the Hudson River. My dad taught industrial arts at the high school and my mom coordinated an adult literacy program. I have two older sisters. Books were big in our house—every morning at the breakfast table was like an impromptu book club.
Because my dad was a teacher in our town, we had the same school vacations and used them to travel to just about every historic site, monument and museum in the great 48. I like to say I could walk into any restoration, slap on a bonnet and start carding wool…yeah, it gets into your blood.
I live in Southwestern Connecticut now and I like to torment my own two daughters in a similar manner. This summer we visited Hudson River mansions Wilderstein and Springwood, the FDR estate, what I like to call the Fala Tour. (Wilderstein was the home of FDR’s cousin Daisy who gave him Fala as a gift.) The next question is—Are they big readers like you were? You bet. They are happiest with a spilling-over armload of books. My husband, too, though he prefers nonfiction.
As a new
7 Comments on Featuring new poet Jame Richards, last added: 11/13/2010
Thanks for this post. I am a big fan of Jame's book... also Sandra Cisneros's Mango Street. I love the efficiency of poetry and how compressed emotion has such power. I hope Jame writes lots more novels in this format, and I hope publishers continue to recognize these works as the jewels they are.
Thanks to each of you for stopping by and sharing your comments. Alfred, I only link to writers of poetry for children-- but thanks for the compliment.
¡Hola! from the biennial YALSA Symposium (sponsored by the Young Adult Library Services Association, a division of the American Library Association) currently wrapping up in Albuquerque, New Mexico. I was honored to host a presentation here that included a panel of five fantastic poets who write wonderful works for young adult audiences. This included our focus poet Pat Mora, as well as Jen Bryant, Ann Burg, Margarita Engle, and April Halprin Wayland.
The Symposium theme asks, “Does today's young adult literature reflect the many different faces, beliefs and identities of today's teens?” And I would argue YES, that poetry for teens, in particular, reflects great diversity in both form and content, from art-based anthologies to novels-in-verse, by mainstream poets, as well as poets of color. It also offers an invitation to and model of self-expression that is especially appealing to readers in their teen years.
Since this Symposium is a smaller, more intimate gathering of some of the most cutting-edge YA librarians, we tried something a little different with our session. We spent half the session on a kind of pre-planned Q&A or mock interview, and half the session on a somewhat pre-planned “poetry improv.”
POETRY Q & A Here are the questions I gave our poets (in advance). Some answered one question, some another, some piggy-backed on each other’s responses. • What were you like as a teenager? • If you were to build a poetry timeline of your life, which poems, poetry books or poets most influenced you at which points in your life? • Describe your poem writing process. What is your favorite writing place like? • How do you know if you are writing a poem collection vs. a novel in verse? Why do you choose or prefer one format over the other? • If you were to pair your poetry with music, what music would you choose? With a movie? (An individual book or your body of work) • Tell us about the teens in your life. About teens who have responded to your work. • What are you reading right now? Writing right now? Listening to right now?
If you’re working with teens, these questions could be helpful as they reach out to their favorite poets or as they respond to favorite works of poetry or as they attempt their own poem writing. POETRY IMPROV PROMPTS Next, we had a poetry reading. I had the following prompts printed on individual slips of paper all jumbled in a jar and invited audience members to draw randomly from this selection of topics. The poets were then invited to share one of their poems (or novel-in-verse excerpts) that fit that topic in some way. Sometimes the topic connected with several poets and poems, sometimes only one. Sometimes one poem prompted another poem. • School sucks • The perfect Christmas gift • An awkward first date • My parents always argue • What am I good at? • My best friend “gets” me • No one “gets” me • The future s
3 Comments on Mora and YALSA, last added: 11/8/2010
If you're at NCTE in a few weeks, Pat Mora is speaking at an AAL session:Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort, Fiesta Ballroom, Salon 5 Disney's Coronado Springs Resort 1000 West Buena Vista Drive Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830-8403 Sunday, November 21, 2010 8:30 AM to 9:30 AM
Many poets writing for young people maintain rich andlively web sites. They offer interesting biographical information, current booklists, and ideas and strategies for connecting kids with poetry, even for promoting poetry writing. Plus, they have an appealing look that engages kids. Some even provide opportunities for interaction and communication with the poet. There are book covers, photographs, and even audiofiles. These sites help budding poets see how poets live and work. Conversely, they can also help the poetry-phobic (teacher or librarian) feel less intimidated about poetry. It seems so friendly on the web. Pat Mora has such an exemplary web site with many resources to support poetry sharing. Not only does she offer information about all her books (for all ages) including activities and lesson plans, but you’ll find a wealth of resources for educators and librarians, too. Her site has even been recognized as one of the "Great Web Sites for Kids" by the Association of Library Service to Children!
Plus her blog, ShareBookjoy, is a gem of inspiration and information—always new and updated. Check out the current interview with Jeanette Larson (fellow Texas and UberLibrarian) talking about her connections with Pat and with the growing El dia de los ninos/El dia de los libros movement, the annual celebration of children and books on April 30. Jeanette has a new book about this coming out with ALA in the spring: El día de los ninos/El día de los libros: Building a Culture of Literacy in Your Community through Día (ALA, 2011). Pat also mentions a brand new grant opportunity for public libraries that want to promote Día. Check it out!
And just in case you’re not familiar with Pat’s body of work, here’s a compilation of all her books for children and young adults. Each one has such a fond place in my heart—I have a “brown bag book report” for Tomás and the Library Lady that I think I have used a million times!
A Birthday Basket for Tia
A Library for Juana: The World of Sor Juana Inés
Abuelos
Agua, Agua, Agua
0 Comments on Pat Mora: On the Web and in Print as of 1/1/1900
As we dig deep into the oeuvre of Pat Mora, I’d like to offer just a sampling of activities centered around her work—which includes picture story books, picture book biographies, picture book folktales, picture book poetry collections, poetry for young adults, and works for adults, both poetry and resource books (Zing!).
For example, Mora has also created an anthology of poetry by other Latino/Latina poets in Love to Mama: A Tribute to Mothers (Lee & Low Books 2001). Fourteen poets write in both English and Spanish about the love, joy, and humor to be found in the bonds between mothers, grandmothers, and children. Children can choose a favorite poem to read aloud to a family member on Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Grandparent’s Day or a special birthday in English or Spanish.
Pat Mora reflects her own feelings and experiences growing up in the Southwest (El Paso) in her poems in This Big Sky (Scholastic 1998). She celebrates the people, the animals, and the landscape of the region. Follow up with her pictures books, Listen to the Desert - Oye Al Desierto (Clarion Books 1994) or The Desert is My Mother – El desierto es mi madre (Arte Publico Press 1994).
For young children, Mora has authored both alphabet and counting books with rhyming text which once again naturally incorporate Spanish and English words. This includes ¡Marimba!: Animales from A to Z (Clarion 2006) and Uno Dos Tres, One, Two, Three (Clarion 1996). Both tell engaging and even humorous stories, while also celebrating the gift of being bilingual.
Pat Mora’s Confetti is available in two formats, in English with Spanish words intermingled (Confetti, Lee & Low 1999), and entirely in Spanish (Confeti, Lee & Low 2006). If there are Spanish speakers in the community, invite them to participate in sharing these poems aloud in both Spanish and English.
Pat was kind enough to participate in my National Poetry Month (April) game of Poetry Tag. Poet Marilyn Nelson “tagged” her and Pat shared her poem, “Spanish,” a powerful, bittersweet poem. Don’t miss it.
Here's one more poetry book trailer-- just to show you the variety of possibilities one can consider. This one is created by Mary Luker and features Joyce Sidman's award winning poetry book, Song of the Waterboatman and Other Pond Poems (Houghton Mifflin, 2005).
0 Comments on A science poetry trailer as of 1/1/1900
Here's a clever "movie" trailer showcasing a poetry book. It features A Curious Collection of Cats by Betsy Franco (Tricycle Press, 2009) and incorporates music by Doris Day, voiceovers by children, and great cat images. Enjoy this creation by Diana Ellis, another awesome Texas librarian!
Thanks for stopping by and your lovely kudos for Diana. Her trailer is completely different from Betsy's book and yet captures the playful spirit of her book (and of cats)-- plus shows how a book can prompt a completely personal and unique response.
I’m trying something new with my children’s literature courses and my students have produced some amazing projects! I’ve encouraged them to create digital trailers or mini movies to promote interest in reading—a kind of video booktalk. I know these are gaining in popularity, particularly among teens and tweens, but I rarely find them made for works of POETRY. So… I’m happy to report I have some wonderful examples to share (with their permission) of original poetry book digital trailers. Here’s the first one created by librarian Shante Clark-Davis for the book, The Poet Slave of Cuba by Margarita Engle.
Isn’t it powerful and personal? With her own original voiceover chanting and storytelling, along with photos of her own family, Shante has captured the tension and spirit of Engle’s incredible novel in verse, while connecting with her own family history, too. Shante writes, “95% of the pictures I used are pictures of my family (My maternal grandparents, great grandparents, and my great aunt). My grandfather was a sharecropper turned fruit preservationist and the images are of his land. After reading THE POET SLAVE OF CUBA, I could remember my grandfather's stories. So, I ran to my photo album. I took the pictures of his land and my mother's old high school. (Other images of the plantation home, the young boy with his mom, and the statue are from Creative Commons.) … I've been brainstorming ideas for encouraging my students to create book trailers and projects of their own in relation to Texas curriculum.”
Go, Shante! I hope to share more student poetry trailers soon, too. Enjoy!
It’s my last post to showcase our Dear One contest—inviting you to comment about your favorite NCTE Poetry Award winners and win a chance to receive a fee copy of the book of poems commissioned especially for poet and anthologist Lee Bennett Hopkins, the 2009 recipient of that award. In case you missed it, check out my postings from the last 5 days for more info on the award, Lee, and his tribute book. (And congrats to previous posters, Marilyn Hollinshead and Mary Lee Hahn who have won their very own free copies. Contact me please at svardell at twu dot edu.)
And while we’re celebrating his receiving the award at our fabulous Poetry Party at the NCTE conference on Nov. 20, I’ll plug a clever picture storybook all about performing poetry, Barnyard Slam by Dian Curtis Regan, illustrated in playful watercolor cartoons by Paul Meisel (Holiday House, 2009). For fans of Click Clack Moo (and all the sequels), here’s what happens when a barn full of talking animals get together to share poetry out loud at their very own Poetry Party. It’s full of groan-worthy puns, as well as heaps of dialogue that is perfect for readers theater performance. “Yo Mama” Goose is the host and Charley Horse, Bovina Cow, Hog, Duck, Lamb, and a reluctant Turkey all take their turns sharing riffs on classic poems and other nonsense. It’s sure to inspire classroom imitations with more kids creating more animal parodies or staging re-enactments of this animal slam.
On this last day of the Dear One posts, I just want to let everyone know what an incredible collaborator Sylvia is. She is the ultimate blend of enthusiasm and optimism tempered by practicality and reason. This little book for Lee was her idea, and without her vast email database, great relationships with so many poets, and just-do-it attitude, it might've been a simple stapled 20-page photocopied handout. (I'm pretty enthusiastic, too, but sometimes I "envision" too much and allow myself to become discouraged by limitations.) There is no room for discouragement if you are doing a project with Sylvia Vardell...you just need to get it done!
I’m on a JPat roll at the moment, happy to share news of another contribution of J. Patrick Lewis. He has invented a new poetic form, the zeno! Tricia scooped the news at The Miss Rumphius Effect earlier this week, but I think it bears repeating. I know teachers enjoy introducing the form of poetry to kids, as they model for children the different ways a poem can look and sound. And kids often enjoy this aspect of poetry too—approaching it as a puzzle to solve and understand. And I know poets themselves approach the form and structure of poetry with great intentionality and I’m always curious about why a certain choice is made. Well… drum roll… you can see Pat’s past as a professor of economics in the roots of his new poem form, the zeno. He describes it so:
"I've never invented a new verse form... until now… It was inspired by the mathematical "hailstone sequence," simply explained here…. I call the form a "zeno," so named for Zeno, the philosopher of paradoxes, especially the dichotomy paradox, according to which getting anywhere involves first getting half way there and then again halfway there, and so on ad infinitum. I'm dividing each line in half of the previous one. Here's my definition of a zeno: A 10-line verse form with a repeating syllable count of 8,4,2,1,4,2,1,4,2,1. The rhyme scheme is abcdefdghd. Naturally,I don't expect it to displace the sestina, villanelle, triolet, et al.But it would be grand if they all moved over one seat and maderoom for it.”
Here are a few examples to illustrate the form:
Nature’s Art Gallery
By J. Patrick Lewis
Wind’s paintbrush strokes in streaks the trees,
a miracle,
ages
old,
it knows without
being
told—
Novembering
maples
gold.
Traveling by Armchair
By J. Patrick Lewis
You can take a trip by Greyhound,
motorcycle,
paddle-
wheel,
ocean liner
(package
deal)—
I prefer a
bookmo-
bile.
I think kids will love it—the math of it and the brevity. I know they enjoy list poems and this form suggests a list, but requires a bit more thought and planning. I hope they’ll give it a go. In the mean time, for teachers (and kids) who are looking for other poets who specialize in experimentation with form, look for the work of Paul Janeczko (Poetry from A to Z: A Guide for Young Writers and A Kick in the Head: An Everyday Guide to Poetic Forms) and Avis Harley (Fly with Poetry; An ABC of Poetry and Leap into Poetry: More ABCs of Poetry), among others.
And if you're interested in more poetry creation activities, check out poet David Harrison's blog. He is hosting a poetry writing contest each month based on a single word ("dirt" for October) with a chance to vote for your favorite-- and help select Hall of Fame winners, one per month. Next up, David will be posting the word for November on Monday.
Finally, it’s not too late to join the Poetry Friday round up hosted by Jennie at Biblio File.
I'm heavily involved with the local/global "1000 Verse Renga Project" which has included doing workshops/activities with whole schools in a day, or 60 children at a time in 60 minutes for a shisan renga poem. Phew! ;-)
The project is inclusive so renga versefiers have ranged from the age of 2 years right through to 11 years old in schools!
We've included maintenance staff and dinner staff as well as teachers!
All kinds of adults can still take part, so please send a renga verse to: [email protected]
We have had verses sent in from U.S. libraries to support the U.K. libraries I've been involved with.
We've had poets and childrens fiction writers the States, as well as haiku writers from Africa to Croatia, USA, Europe and elsewhere have sent in verses as well as the public at large.
If you are interested you could always do a few linked verses together and send them to me as a mini-renga that I can include as an internal renga within the larger renga.
How fantastic! I can't wait to introduce this new form to my school's 7th grade language arts teachers! What a perfect tie-in with the 7th grade social study's focus on Ancient Greece and 7th grade math's unit on fractions. Plus, Lewis has visited many of our Ohio district's elementary schools - slam dunk!
If you'd like to link to my three liner, fresh from tonight, please go ahead!
Just need a two liner verse after mine, then a three liner and so on from anyone else, and I can add it to the ongoing 1000 Verse Renga Project which is both local and international. ;-)
halloween takeout a ghost spine T-shirt boy gets his mom to order
I’m a big fan of riddles and love sharing them with kids. Riddles exercise those higher level thinking skills and stretch young minds to use logic, deduction, analysis, and problem solving skills. Plus, I’ll never forget when my son, age 4 (and now 21), first realized that riddles usually followed a regular formula: Pose a question, suggest attributes, offer clues, wait… and provide answer. Unfortunately, he didn’t realize that riddles also involve subtlety and indirectness—so he would pick an object in the room, describe it, and ask us what it was—all while staring at said object! It was hilarious!
Many poets have used the riddle format for creating clever and fascinating poems, too. Especially the brilliant J. Patrick Lewis. His latest contribution, Spot the Plot; A Riddle Book of Book Riddles(San Francisco: Chronicle, 2009), illustrated by Lynn Munsinger, is a terrific addition to this oeurve. It features a baker’s dozen collection of rhyming poems, each describing a much-loved classic work of children’s literature. (I won’t spoil it by listing those works—which are identified on the last page.)
Lewis’s clever use of language and wordplay is ever evident and the subtle humor is playful and fun. Double-page spreads highlight each poem against a story-like backdrop illustration provided by the talented creator of Tacky the Penguin, Lynn Munsinger. A boy in Sherlock Holmes attire and a girl in a trenchcoat skip through each poem-riddle looking for clues and participating in the visual story. So appealing and inviting. Even the bookflap content is a riddle poem! I asked Pat about his choices of poem forms and he shared this nugget:
“Prior to SPOT THE PLOT, I'd written four books of riddles on various themes. I love the form, the challenge of coming up with the obliquely perfect definition—telling the truth, but telling it slant. Riddles are inherently interactive, so they make great read-alouds at school visits. In SPOT THE PLOT, I was trying most often to tell the book riddle in as fewwords as possible, as in, “Her hair’s/The stairs.” Or, a new one, “This trail becomes/A trail of crumbs.” The fewer words, the better, that is, the cleverer, to my way of thinking. Just as often, though, I had to rely on a tercet or a quatrain to tell the tale, but with a hint of confusion, as in “Pre-teen plays/a starring role/as she surveys/ a rabbit hole.” But, you see, perhaps that “rabbit hole” gives too much away. Writing riddles, especially for children, which means making them all equally but not too perplexing, is damnably difficult.”
As usual, Pat makes it look easy and offers “book review” poems in a variety of poetic formats. Here’s just one that I know kids and grown ups alike will enjoy:
A magical telling,
a pig for the selling,
a spider is spelling
out words that amaze.
Do you know this spider,
this spiderweb writer?
The pig will delight her
the rest of her days.
From: Lewis, J. Patrick. 2009. Spot the Plot; A Riddle Book of Book Riddles. San Francisco: Chronicle.
I’m so struck by what a teaching tool this could also be for teachers searching for a fresh approach to book reports: challenging kids to describe their favorite books via riddle poems. And if you’re looking for more examples of riddle poems, here’s a list you may find helpful. (Please let me know of any others you know about.)
Poetry Books with Riddle Poems
Calmenson, Stephanie. 2005. Kindergarten Kids: Riddles, Rebuses, Wiggles, Giggles, and More! New York: HarperCollins.
Dotlich, Rebecca Kai. 2001. When Riddles come Rumbling: Poems to Ponder. Honesdale, PA: Wordsong/Boyds Mills Press.
Ghigna, Charles. 1995. Riddle Rhymes. New York: Hyperion Books for Children.
Lewis, J. Patrick. 2002. Arithmetickle. San Diego: Harcourt.
Lewis, J. Patrick. 1996. Riddle-icious. New York: Knopf.
Lewis, J. Patrick. 1998. Riddle-lightful. New York: Knopf.
Lewis, J. Patrick. 2004. Scien-trickery: Riddles in Science. Orlando: Harcourt.
Lewis, J. Patrick. 2009. Spot the Plot; A Riddle Book of Book Riddles. San Francisco: Chronicle.
Livingston, Myra Cohn. 1990. My Head is Red, and other Riddle Rhymes. New York: Holiday House.
Morrison, Lillian. 2006. Guess Again!Riddle Poems. Little Rock, AR: August House.
Nims, Bonnie Larkin. 1992. Just Beyond Reach and other Riddle Poems. New York: Scholastic.
Shannon, George. Busy in the Garden. New York: Greenwillow.
Sidman, Joyce. Butterfly Eyes and Other Secrets of the Meadow. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
Spires, Elizabeth. 1999. Riddle Road: Puzzles in Poems and Pictures. New York: McElderry Books.
Spires, Elizabeth. 1995. With one White Wing: Puzzles in Poems and Pictures. New York: McElderry Books.
Swann, Brian. 1998. The House with No Door: African Riddle- Poems. San Diego: Harcourt.
Swann, Brian. 1998. Touching the Distance: Native American Riddle-Poems. San Diego: Harcourt.
Swenson, May. 1993. The Complete Poems to Solve. New York: Macmillan.
A variety of electronic tidbits have crossed my desk recently, so I thought I might gather them all here to share. It's a hodge podge of blog world news, best lists, book plugs, and downloadable readings. Check it out!
Poet David Harrison has launched a new blog and is featuring a "Word of the Month Poetry Challenge" (along with links for young aspiring poets). He joins the likes of Tricia Stohr-Hunt, Elaine Magliaro, Greg Pincus, among others, in helping nudge along the poetry writing process for those who care to join in.
So many poets writing for young people have joined the blogging fray with fascinating contributions for all who are looking for creative ways to connect kids and poetry. I love Douglas Florian's cafe, don't you? It has his usual punny way with words and images. Calef Brown's newish blog is full of visual treats including poem videos and slide shows. And Charles Ghignauses his blog to launch a new poem each Sunday for teachers to have on Monday to share with kids. Cool concept, huh?
The Morgan Library in New York has just opened a new show featuring the art and work of William Blake. And just for this show, award winning actor Jeremy Irons recorded a reading of Blake's poem, "The Tyger" which is absolutely wonderful. Download it here.
Speaking of award winning actors, Julie Andrews has just released her own anthology of poetry for young people in collaboration with her daughter, Emma Hamilton. There are nearly 150 poems-- some written by Julie and kids as part of a lovely family tradition-- and the book includes a CD of original music with 20 poems read by the authors. The two women were on early morning television recently plugging the book and I was pleased to see Ms. Andrews be such an advocate for reading poetry aloud with kids, HEARING the music of the words (and the poetry of song lyrics) and soft-pedaling her own poems in favor of those by more prominent poets. Let's see if I can link to the clip. I know she has written and edited several books for kids, including her own imprint, but I was still very pleased to hear her hit "all the right notes" when it comes to selecting and sharing poetry with kids in natural, inviting ways. Poetry for young people needs every advocate it can find, don't you think?
P.S. I'm sure I've omitted a ton of other wonderful things that poets and poetry advocates are up to for which I apologize. Please comment if you have more tidbits to share!
Check out the rest of Poetry Friday hosted by poet Laura Purdie Salas, who keeps a pretty terrific blog of her own rolling along!
Posting by Sylvia M. Vardell c 2009. All rights reserved.
Image credit: cscs.ch
3 Comments on e-poetry news, last added: 10/17/2009
Thanks for including me. I'm still new at this blogging business so encouragement helps a lot!
I'm also pleased to see so many poets accept the challenge of writing poems stimulated by a single word. This month's word, dirt, has produced some fine dirt poems but none of them are dirty.
Author and poet Susan Taylor Brown has a contest for kids to check out. She has teamed up with a local non-profit organization to offer a $1,000 scholarship for kids ages 13-18 who create a book trailer for her novel-in-verse, Hugging the Rock(Tricycle Press, 2006). You’ll find the details here: http://tinyurl.com/rocktrailer
Rules
Create a video book trailer
U.S resident only between 13 and 18 years of age (as of the close of the contest)
30 seconds to 2 minutes in length and in a standard video format (.wmv, .mov, .avi, .mp4)
Your own creation, NO copyrighted material
Include a brief description of the process you followed
The judging will be completed by Susan (the author), Laura Mancuso (Marketing & Publicity Manager, Tricycle Press, a division of Random House) and Naomi Bates (Northwest High School Library). Judging will be based on the following criteria.
Creativity (50%)
Consistency with the book (25%)
Fit and finish (25%)
The deadline is Dec. 15, 2009, so get rolling… The award will be announced in January.
Hugging the Rock was an ALA Notable children’s book (2007) and is a powerful story of a young girl and her father coping with the mental illness and departure of their mother and wife. Like Sonya Sones’s verse novel Stop Pretending, What Happened When My Big Sister Went Crazy (HarperCollins, 1999), Brown doesn’t shy away from sharing difficult emotions in spare and gripping poems. Fellow blogger Jen Robinson wrote (at Jen Robinson's Book Page), “This book packs a lot into relatively few words. Susan Taylor Brown offers insights into life with a mentally ill parent, how fathers parent differently from mothers, how personally kids take any parental rejection, how 'sometimes dads are better moms than moms are,' and how, ultimately, people adapt to changing circumstances. Hugging the Rock is beautifully written, and I give it my highest recommendation."
I know that making book trailers is a HUGE trend right now, but I'm not aware of too many created for books of poetry, so I love that KIDS have this opportunity to dig into poetry and technology. I hope their entries will be posted and shared somewhere, so we can all enjoy them!
This is a great idea! My blog is sort of the opposite, it explores poetry in bar environments. All the baggage and excitement that people bring to bars needs to be written about. Check it out @ www.baretry.blogspot.com
My fall semester is starting today, so I have been busy with getting it ready to roll. Still, I don’t want to neglect my poetry postings, so here’s a short note about poetry books to watch for. Good news! There are a few older poetry books that are being reissued as paperbacks this year. I’m always excited to see that happen because it means they’ll be available a little while longer (since books go out of print so very fast, especially poetry books) and it means that more KIDS may buy them since paperbacks are even more affordable and portable for young readers. So… here are a few notices I’ve encountered, I hope readers will comment on other poetry titles they know are coming out in paperback.
Marilyn Singer—Monster Museum (Disney-Hyperion)
X.J. and Dorothy Kennedy (compilers)—Talking Like the Rain (Little, Brown)
Wouldn’t it be great to see some of Karla Kuskin’s work reissued? I’d vote for Near the Window Tree… or how about some Myra Cohn Livingston gems?
PLUS, there are a few more new hardback poetry books to anticipate this fall:
Walter Dean Myers—Looking Like Me (Egmont)
Tony Mitton--Gnash, Gnaw, Dinosaur! Prehistoric Poems with Lift-the-Flap Surprises! (Kingfisher)
I’m sure you’ve also seen the notice about the new special edition of Shel Silverstein’s A Light in the Atticcoming out from HarperCollins. Here’s a newsy nugget from Publisher’s Weekly Children’s Bookshelf, “First published in 1981, Shel Silverstein’s A Light in the Attic was the first children’s book to reach the New York Times bestseller list, where it appeared a total of 182 weeks….The reissue will include 12 previously unpublished poems and 10 new drawings by the author, who died in 1999. To help promote this new edition, due with a 250,000-copy first printing, the publisher will add new features to the Shel Silverstein Web site and will launch additional online initiatives…. including creating a free iPhone app… and distributing animated videos of Silverstein poems on YouTube and Facebook…. A Light in the Attic continues to be one of HarperCollins’s top-selling children’s books and has sold more than five million copies in North America.”
With Silverstein’s birthday coming up on Sept. 15, it’s a good moment to revisit his kid-friendly, irreverent work—not that he needs any help from me in reaching his audience! Still, here’s one of my favorite poems from A Light in the Attic. I have used it countless times in poetry performances with kids and it’s always a hit. Ask for volunteers for individual lines (while you read the N = narrator parts). There are 20 “Whatif” lines, so a whole class can participate. The poem has a humorous tone, despite the list of worries, but it takes on deeper shades of meaning when children voice the lines. Try it—it may be a good icebreaker for the beginning of the school year when children do have many worries about how the year will go.
WHATIF
by Shel Silverstein
NLast night, while I lay thinking here,
NSome Whatifs crawled inside my ear
NAnd pranced and partied all night long
NAnd sang their same old Whatif song:
1Whatif I’m dumb in school?
2Whatif they’ve closed the swimming pool?
3Whatif I get beat up?
4Whatif there’s poison in my cup?
5Whatif I start to cry?
6Whatif I get sick and die?
7Whatif I flunk that test?
8Whatif green hair grows on my chest?
9Whatif nobody likes me?
10Whatif a bolt of lightning strikes me?
11Whatif I don’t grow taller?
12Whatif my head starts getting smaller?
13Whatif the fish won’t bite?
14Whatif the wind tears up my kite?
15Whatif they start a war?
16Whatif my parents get divorced?
17Whatif the bus is late?
18Whatif my teeth don’t grow in straight?
19Whatif I tear my pants?
20Whatif I never learn to dance?
NEverything seems swell, and then
NThe nighttime Whatifs strike again!
Afterward, put out a shoe box inviting kids to contribute their own anonymous “whatif” worry lines and then combine them into a new “Whatif” poem to read aloud. It may be reassuring for kids to see that their worries may be shared by others.
I nominated YOU for a Kreativ Blogger Award, because I like what you do for our shared artistic community! Check out my blog to claim the logo, http://scotticohn.livejournal.com/29175.html, and keep up the amazing work.
I’m off to Chicago for the annual conference of the American Library Association. My daughter (a budding librarian herself) is joining me and I am excited to share the conference experience with her. Plus, the fabulous Poetry Blast is Monday night and I will be there with bells on. Look for a future post about that event featuring Carmen T. Bernier-Grand, Rebecca Kai Dotlich, David Harrison, Bobbi Katz, Laura Purdie Salas, Jon Scieszka, Joyce Sidman, Marilyn Singer, Hope Anita Smith, Susan Marie Swanson, and Joyce Carol Thomas. Won’t that be a treat?! (Are you a Blast fan on Facebook?)
In the mean time, I would also like to plug Book Links magazine and it’s final “stand alone” issue which is chockablock full of poetry goodies. (Beginning in October, Book Links will be bundled with Booklist, another ALA publication.) This July issue of Book Links includes:
A Poetry Book of their Own by Denise B. Geier (on making handmade poetry books) Talking with Carole Boston Weatherford by KaaVonia Hinton Talking with Ashley Bryan by Dean Schneider Biographies of Poets by Barbara A. Ward and Terrell A. Young Connecting Picture Books and Poems by Susan Stern and of course Everyday Poetry: The Art of Poetry by Yours Truly
Isn’t that an amazing line up?
Here’s an excerpt from my column including a wonderful pantomime-worthy original poem by Douglas Florian that appears alongside it.
Everyday Poetry: The Art of Poetry We know that poets create pictures with words, but some even use pictures to prompt the words or they create the art that accompanies their own poetry. Art and poetry go hand in hand and it can be fun to explore poetry books based on art, poetry books illustrated by the poets themselves, and poem picture books that feature single poems reinterpreted through art.
Ekprhastic Poetry Poems written in response to art are called “ekphrastic” poetry, the unifying thread in Jan Greenberg’s anthology, Heart to Heart: New Poems Inspired by Twentieth-Century American Art and its recent companion, Side by Side: New Poems Inspired by Art from Around the World. Greenberg includes a helpful introduction and map locating poem sources, poems in multiple languages, biographies of poets and translators, and poetry from more than 30 different countries. Other anthologies that pair fine art and poetry are also cited along with follow up activities.
Poet Artists There are many poets who also produce the illustrations for their own poetry collections. They are known for their art, as well as their writing…. Douglas Florian creates distinctive paintings+collages that are instantly recognizable (Dinothesaurus, Comets, Stars, the Moon, and Mars; Handsprings).
For more examples of paintings and poetry, check out the work of Calef Brown who employs wordplay alongside inventive acrylic and gouache (Polkabats and Octopus Slacks, Flamingos on the Roof, Soup For Breakfast), or Kurt Cyrus who creates nature poems and watercolor paintings (Oddhopper Opera, Hotel Deep), or Adam Rex who produces outrageous cartoon monsters and poem parodies (Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich; Frankenstein Takes a Cake)…. and the iconic photography of Charles R. Smith, Jr., (My People, If) or the cut-paper collages of Hope Anita Smith (Mother) or the textured quilts of Anna Grossnickle Hines (Winter Lights, Pieces) and Sue Van Wassenove (The Seldom-Ever-Shady Everglades).
Poem Picture Books Many picture books have rhythmic and even rhyming text, but a true “poem picture book” features a single poem as the book’s complete text, a poem that can stand on its own without the illustrations. This gives us the opportunity to see the poem through new perspectives and can serve as a model for homemade picture books that kids can create for their favorite poems. It can also be helpful for older students who may be familiar with a classic poem, but haven’t found it moving or meaningful until they see it as a visually rich experience. Specific examples and activities are also provided.
I’ve written about poet Janet Wong and her work many times in the past, but she alerted me to a wonderful tidbit recently. Another reader took her “poetry suitcase” idea and tried it out with her own children—who are only 2 and 3 years old. Their responses were AMAZING! She reports that they were able “to listen to me read poetry for 90 minutes!” [Note that they also asked to read the poem again… and again… and again. I don’t think we repeat and reread poetry nearly often enough, IMO.] Here's the link to Minerva Canto’s blog posting at Mama Without Borders.
The secret? She made poetry physical, touchable, kinesthetic. She had the actual objects that were named or described in the poems, tied with twine to a copy of the poem itself. Poem + object x tied together = I get it! This concrete approach is just what young children need since they learn so much by touching. What a great display this could also make for a desktop or library. And I think it would be wonderful to get kids involved in choosing their favorite poems and selecting or even creating the corresponding objects. I even like the idea of a physical suitcase to hold it all. Minerva writes about a beautiful container that she creates herself covered in her children's art work—which is terrific—but I am also a fan of scavenging for old suitcases at thrift stores and garage sales. In any case, this use of poetry props is something worth revisiting—even with older kids who might be intrigued by finding objects for more abstract “grown up” poems. For example, what object would you tie to “Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening”? A bell to jingle? A toy horse? A paper snowflake? And why?
For Poetry Friday, I’d like to mine a gem from Janet’s book, A Suitcase of Seaweed (Simon & Schuster, 1996). This is one of my favorite books, with poems organized in three categories reflecting the three cultural strands of her background: Korean, Chinese, and American. She manages to express her own cultural conflict/celebration while channeling emotions and experiences that anyone with dual or multiple heritage can relate to (like me with my German and American identity). Grab a fork and a pair of chopsticks and tie them together with this poem:
Albert J. Bell by Janet Wong
Forty years of friendship with my grandfather, and still Uncle Al cannot eat with chopsticks.
Forty years of friendship with Uncle Al, and still my grandfather forgets to offer him a fork.
p. 17
[Link this poem with the picture book How My Parents Learned to Eat by Ina Friedman and illustrated by Allen Say (Houghton Mifflin, 1984).]
For more physical, hands on poetry+object connections, look for these poetry books, in particular (although MANY books lend themselves to hands-on connections, of course!):
Adoff, Arnold. 2000. Touch the Poem. New York: Blue Sky Press. Frank, John. 2008. Keepers: Treasure-Hunt Poems. New York: Roaring Brook. George, Kristine O’Connell. 2005. Fold Me a Poem. San Diego, CA: Harcourt Brace. Hopkins, Lee Bennett, comp. 1996. School Supplies: A Book of Poems. New York: Simon & Schuster. Schertle, Alice. 1996. Keepers. New York: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard. Worth, Valerie. 1994. All the Small Poems and Fourteen More. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux.
Join the rest of the Poetry Friday round up at Carol's Corner. See you there!
I love this, Sylvia. It underscores the idea that poems come alive most when their subjects are taken from the real, physical world. It's not as effective when a poet tries to make a poem's subtext (abstractions like "freedom" and emotions like "love" or "grief") be the subject, when the real job is to come at subtext indirectly - by making the subject of the poem "touchable." Thanks for talking about this today!
Janet Wong said, on 6/19/2009 6:09:00 PM
Thank you, Sylvia, for your post! I think it would be really neat if families worked together this summer to fill a poetry suitcase with poems tied to basement/closet junk and old toys. That suitcase could then be given as a "Back to School" gift for a teacher or the librarian--a great way to start a new school year (and clean out the basement and closets)!
One of my favorite poem/prop pairs: Tie a dish and spoon to "Taradiddle" from Alice Schertle's HOW NOW BROWN COW (out of print, I think, but you can find it at your library). The poem ends with the line: "They never found the dish and spoon."
Thanks, Julie and Janet for your input and ideas! It's so fascinating to hear the poet's point of view, particularly regarding the tension between the abstract and the concrete.
And I love HOW NOW BROWN COW so much, Janet-- thanks for that mention-- maybe we can help nudge it back into print. :-)
Sylvia, Thanks so much for writing about our version of Janet's "poetry suitcase." I'm glad I found your blog so I can mine it for more inspired ideas to share my love of reading with my kids. Warmly, Minerva
What a great idea! With the release of my new book, The Angry Thunderstorm, our readers are making different crafts to go along with the book. One scout master created a thunder could pencil topper. One little girl created thunderstorm smooshies out of cosmetic sponges. One reader created finger puppets. Adding these elements make reading the book a lot more fun.
It’s time to catch up on a variety of poetry news items that I’ve been saving up.
FIRST, from Children’s Bookshelf at Publishers’ Weekly: Mary Ann Hoberman, who was appointed Children’s Poet Laureate by the Poetry Foundation last fall, is taking poetry to the masses via the Internet. The Children’s Poet Laureate Presents is a video-podcast series in which Hoberman reads from both her own books and from classic works of children’s poetry. The series can be viewed at the Poetry Foundation’s Web site. In the first three podcasts, Hoberman reads from William Jay Smith’s Laughing Time, The Collected Nonsense of Edward Lear and Hoberman’s own I Like Old Clothes.
Also at the Poetry Foundation: the Poetry Out Loud Project. The National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation have partnered with State Arts Agencies of the United States to support the expansion of Poetry Out Loud, which encourages the nation's youth to learn about great poetry through memorization and performance. This exciting program helps students master public speaking skills, build self-confidence, and learn about their literary heritage. About:
SECOND: Carol Ann Duffy has been named British poet laureate, the first woman to receive that honor. Her children's collections include Meeting Midnight (1999) and The Oldest Girl in the World (2000). Fun fact: we share the exact same birthday, she and I (day, month AND year!).
THIRD: Thanks to Jenny Schwartzberg at the Newberry Library for information about a special online poetry exhibit. The BBC online has 6 pictures of illustrations from the exhibit at the British Library on 400 years of children's poetry.
FOURTH: The International Youth Library in Munich, Germany is holding a poetry forum on June 25-26 in celebration of its 60th anniversary. During the two-day international forum, writers, illustrators, publishers, literary critics, and specialists will discuss the importance and the enduring quality of children’s poems and the challenge of illustrating them. The aim of the conference will be to present different variants of current children’s poetry, to become acquainted with several approaches and perspectives, and to analyze the interaction between text and illustration. In addition to the talks, a kaleidoscope of poems and images will be presented to the audience. Presenters include German poet Jutta Richter, British poet Andrew Fusek Peters, Dutch poet Ted van Lieshout, Austrian poet Gerda Anger-Schmidt, and French poet Lionel Le Neouanic. I’ll thrilled to say that I’ll be attending and presenting about poetry in the U.S.!
FIFTH: Help spread the word about Reading Is Fundamental's (RIF) 2009 Read with Kids Challenge, aimed at bringing attention to the importance of adults reading with children. Check it out. This year they have raised their goal to 5 million minutes read with kids, over 3 months. Honorary team captains include children's book authors Mo Willems, Sandra Boynton, Al Roker, and others. Follow the Read with Kids Challenge on Twitter @rifwebhttp://twitter.com/rifweb Use hash tag #readwithkids
SIXTH: Check out the Teachers' Domain at WGBH, a digital library of free media resources which features an online Adolescent Literacy Collection targeting struggling readers in grades 5-8, as well as a poetry collection based on the PBS series Poetry Everywhere.
SEVENTH: If you’re attending the ALA conference in Chicago in July, DO NOT MISS the annual ALSC Poetry Blast #6on July 13, 5:30-7:30 p.m. The line-up of poets sounds fantastic: Carmen T. Bernier-Grand, Rebecca Kai Dotlich, David Harrison, Bobbi Katz, Laura Purdie Salas, Jon Scieszka, Joyce Sidman, Marilyn Singer, Hope Anita Smith, Susan Marie Swanson, Joyce Carol Thomas. Check out the web page and become a “friend” on Facebook!
I think that's awesome, kids reading poetry. They need something with substance. My newly released book; Poetry in Motion or Speedbumps of Life is a book for all ages.
It’s May 1! Woo hoo! I promised a book-review-a-day for National Poetry Month and I can’t believe I delivered! That was exhausting and rewarding. And if you’re looking for info on new poetry for kids, here’s a summary of the poetry books I reviewed last month (followed by a poem by a nine-year-old from Poland!). Of course, I'll keep reviewing as I get my grubby paws on more new poetry books, but in the meantime, here's April in review(s):
April 30, 2009— Wright, Danielle (Ed). 2008. My Village; Rhymes from Around the World. Wellington, NZ: Gecko Press. April 29, 2009— Katz, Bobbi. 2009. More Pocket Poems. Ill. by Deborah Zemke. New York: Dutton. April 28, 2009— Carter, James and Denton, Graham. 2009. Wild! Rhymes That Roar. Ill. by Jane Eccles. London: Macmillan. April 27, 2009— Myers, Walter Dean. 2009. Amiri & Odette: A Love Story. Ill. by Javaka Steptoe. New York: Scholastic. April 26, 2009— Salas, Laura Purdie. 2009. Stampede! Poems to Celebrate the Wild Side of School! Ill. by Steven Salerno. New York: Clarion, p. 4-5. April 25, 2009— Luján, Jorge. 2008. Colors! Colores! Translated by John Oliver Simon and Rebecca Parfitt. Ill. by Piet Grobler. Toronto: Groundwood. April 24, 2009— Schmidt, Amy. 2009. Loose Leashes. Ill. by Ron Schmidt. New York: Random House. April 23, 2009-- Salinger, Michael. 2009. Well Defined; Vocabulary in Rhyme. Ill. by Sam Henderson. Honesdale, PA: Wordsong/Boyds Mills Press. April 22, 2009-- Ruddell, Deborah. 2009. A Whiff of Pine, A Hint of Skunk. Ill. by Joan Rankin. New York: Simon & Schuster. April 21, 2009-- Argueta, Jorge. 2009. Sopa de frijoles/ Bean Soup. Ill. by Rafael Yockteng. Toronto, ON: Groundwood. April 20, 2009-- Shahan, Sherry. 2009. Fiesta!; A Celebration of Latino Festivals. Ill. by Paula Barragan. Atlanta, GA: August House. April 19, 2009-- Hoberman, Mary Ann. 2009. Strawberry Hill. New York: Little, Brown. [Not-poetry by a poet] April 18, 2009-- Mecum, Ryan. 2008. Zombie Haiku. Cincinnati, OH: How Books. April 17, 2009-- Oelschlager, Vanita. 2009. Ivy in Bloom. Ill. by Kristin Blackwood. Akron, OH: Vanitabooks. April 16, 2009-- Florian, Douglas. 2009. Dinothesaurus. New York: Simon & Schuster. April 15, 2009-- Agee, Jon. 2009. Orangutan Tongs; Poems to Tangle Your Tongue. New York: Disney-Hyperion. April 14, 2009-- Lewis, J. Patrick. 2009. Countdown to Summer: A Poem for Every Day of the School Year. Ill. by Ethan Long. New York: Little, Brown. April 13, 2009-- Hopkins, Lee Bennett. (Comp.) 2009. Incredible Inventions. Ill. by Julia Sarcone-Roach. New York: HarperCollins. April 12, 2009-- Greenfield, Eloise. 2009. Brothers and Sisters: Family Poems. Ill. by Jan Spivey Gilchrist. New York: Amistad/HarperCollins. April 11, 2009-- Hughes, Langston. 2009. The Negro Speaks of Rivers. Ill. by E. B. Lewis. New York: Disney-Hyperion. April 10, 2009-- Hughes, Langston. 2009. My People. Ill. by Charles R. Smith Jr. New York: Simon & Schuster. April 9, 2009-- Katz, Alan. 2009. Going, Going, Gone!: And Other Silly Dilly Sports Songs. Ill. by David Catrow. New York: Simon & Schuster. April 8, 2009-- Wilson, Karma. 2009. What's the Weather Inside? Ill. by Barry Blitt. New York: Simon & Schuster. April 7, 2009-- Fehler, Gene. 2009. Change-up; Baseball Poems. Ill. by Donald Wu. New York: Clarion. April 6, 2009-- Maddox, Marjorie. 2009. Rules of the Game. Ill. by John Sandford. Honesdale, PA: Wordsong/Boyds Mills Press. April 5, 2009-- Smith, Hope Anita. 2009. Mother; Poems. New York: Henry Holt. April 4, 2009-- Lewis, J. Patrick. 2009. The Underwear Salesman: And Other Jobs for Better or Verse. Ill. by Serge Bloch. New York: Simon & Schuster/Atheneum. April 3, 2009-- Zimmer, Tracie Vaughn. 2009. Steady Hands: Poems About Work. New York: Clarion. April 2, 2009-- Franco, Betsy. 2009. Curious Collection of Cats. Ill. by Michael Wertz. San Francisco, CA: Tricycle Press. April 1, 2009-- Heard, Georgia. 2009. Falling Down the Page; A Book of List Poems. New York: Roaring Brook.
However, it’s not Poetry Friday without an actual poem, so allow me to share another nugget I gleaned from that amazing trip to the Bologna Children’s Book Fair in Italy in March. I met a woman named Jet Manrho (based in the Netherlands) whose life’s work-- Poem Express-- is traveling the world conducting workshops with kids to promote poetry appreciation, poetry writing, and creating posters in response to poetry. AMAZING! She regularly publishes a full color poster-size book of their work, featuring original poems by kids from around the world. Each page is a poem poster with an original poem written by a child along with the art she/he creates to go with the poem. Each poem appears below the art in four languages (Dutch, English, French, German). It’s a collection of real quality and ingenuity.
I have Volume 15 which includes 110 poem posters in fourteen languages from 29 countries. I’d like to highlight this somewhat snarky poem by a 9-year-old Polish boy. I love the attitude!
Al span ik me nog zo in, toch kan ik voor geen goud een gedicht verzinnen.
No matter who hard I tried, even if you paid me, I could never write a poem.
J’ai beau essayer meme pour tout l’or du monde je n’arriverai jamais a inventer un poeme.
Auch wenn ich mich noch so anstrenge, fuer kein Geld der Welt kann ich mir ein Gedicht ausdenken.
by Piotr Sochaczewski, age 9, Poland (Here is Piotr with his poster and poem!)
Poem Parade 1992-2006; Poster Book Poems by Children. ISSN 0926-3985; ISBN 90-73657-64-4, p. 16.
There are more opportunities for kids to continue participating on the Web, as well as more information about this very ambitious project! I thought this might be a particularly fun choice for today since our Poetry Friday Host is Allegro, an 11 year old poet herself. Thanks for hosting, Allegro.
I have another Latino poetry collection to share-- this one has the added advantage of being bilingual in English and Spanish: Jorge Argueta’s Sopa de frijoles/ Bean Soup, illustrated by Rafael Yockteng.
This book really snuck up on me and I just have to share it with everyone. It’s a long segmented poem spread out across 14 pages of text (always on the left) accompanied by rectangular paintings framed in white (always on the right hand side). This pleasing, predictable format makes it easy to read either or both the Spanish and English poems (with the Spanish poem placed immediately above the English poem—a subtle thing I really appreciated). The paper is thick and creamy and the little boy pictured in every scene is an engaging “everyboy.”
Add to this the fact that this is truly a recipe with instructions for cooking. All contained in a poem full of metaphors and similes. Here’s just a “taste.” (I’ll post both the Spanish and the English version for this page of the poem.)
El aguita hierve y canta.* Los frijolitos bailan unos con otros. El aguita se ha vuelto morena como el color de la Madra Tierra.
Tu casa está olorosa como la tierra en las primeras lluvias de invierno.
+ + +
The water boils and sings.* The beans dance together. The water has turned brown the color of Mother Earth.
Your house smells wonderful like the earth after the first winter rains.
Argueta, Jorge. 2009. Sopa de frijoles/ Bean Soup. Ill. by Rafael Yockteng. Toronto, ON: Groundwood.
*A note at the beginning of the book alerts us to the fact that “all stages of the recipe that are marked * require the participation or supervision of an adult.” Smart move! Very essential for safety when cooking with kids and completely unobtrusive to the poem.
I love that Argueta has written BOTH the Spanish (first) and the English versions of the poetry. It is SUCH a challenge to capture the music and magic of poetry in ANY language, much less in TWO languages, but he clearly has a gift for it and knows his own intentions better than anyone in providing the translation.
I was familiar with Salvadoran poet Jorge Argueta’s previous poetry book, A Movie in My Pillow/Una película en mi almohada (Children’s Book Press, 2001) which I really enjoyed. But I didn’t realize that he has also authored another collection in the interim that I have missed:
Talking with Mother Earth/Hablando con Madre Tierra (Groundwood, 2006) [Have you noticed how many smart and wonderful poetry books Groundwood publishes? Particularly from many countries around the world?]
And for more Latino poetry about food and foods, look for: Ada, Alma Flor. 1997. Gathering the Sun. New York: Lothrop, Lee, and Shepard. Alarcón, Francisco X. 1997. Laughing Tomatoes and Other Spring Poems/Jitomates Risuenos y Otros Poemas de Primavera. San Francisco, CA: Children’s Book Press. Mora, Pat. 1998. Delicious Hullabaloo/Pachanga Deliciosa. Houston, TX: Pinata Books. Mora, Pat. 2007. Yum! Mmmm! Que Rico!: America's Sproutings. New York: Lee & Low.
And of course, you absolutely, positively HAVE to make bean soup after reading this book. You can almost smell and taste it as you read the poetry and the directions are amazingly clear and easy to follow. The book flap calls bean soup “comfort food for many”—a good reminder and a worthwhile discussion to have with kids as they experience it firsthand.
I am already starting to think about summer and daydream about what I want to do (and not do!). It’s the perfect moment to highlight a new book coming from the always wonderful J. Patrick Lewis:Countdown to Summer: A Poem for Every Day of the School Yeardue out this fall.
This potpourri of poetry runs the gamut from serious to silly, from thoughtful to topical, for every conceivable occasion and just for fun. There are 180 poems and I love how they are numbered beginning with #180 and counting down to #1 (“School’s Out!”) with a big black dot encircling each number on every page. Kids will love this actual counting down of the school year (and most school years are about 180 days long). I didn’t actually map each poem day to the corresponding day/month (Poem #180 to Sept. 5, for example), since the start of school varies across the country. However, as a former classroom teacher, it seemed to me that the poems jived nicely with holiday and seasonal happenings across the calendar year. That is such a fun construct. Go, Pat!
The poems themselves also represent an amazing menu—which is key if you are sharing a poem every day BY THE SAME POET. If anyone can pull off this breadth and depth, it’s our buddy Pat. Not only does he tackle a plethora of topics, but the poetic forms are extremely varied, too—the perfect springboard for mini poetry lessons that grow organically out of poem sharing. Riddles, limericks, haiku, acrostics, rhyming narratives, free verse, list poems, rebus poems, concrete poetry, and on and on.
You know how I collect poems about libraries and librarians and I hit the jackpot here with FOUR, count ‘em, four wonderful libro-poems. (And there are even more book-related poems than these.) Save them all for next year’s National Library Week.
#174 The Librarian #116 Library Fine #89 New York Public Library #66 The Hippopotabus (A Book-Boat)
Here’s just a sample to whet your appetite:
#66 The Hippopotabus (A Book-Boat) by J. Patrick Lewis
A bookmobile, extremely large, A floating minibus That travels like a steaming barge Of hippopotamus,
Holds fables, facts, tiptoe tall tales, Bookshelves of derring-do, And poetry that never fails To hippnotize the crew.
Turn any page. First port of call On RIVER LONGAGO! “We’ve reached,” says Book-Boat’s Admiral, “The town of MAYBESO,
“Whose lovely tribe, the BRARIANS, Keepers of verbs and nouns, Will introduce you to WORDGRRRS, The literary hounds.
“So this trip promises to be Wordplayfularious, A bonbon bon voyage to sea By Hippopotabus!”
Lewis, J. Patrick. 2009. Countdown to Summer: A Poem for Every Day of the School Year. Ill. by Ethan Long. New York: Little, Brown.
I love the idea of a BOAT of books and I think kids would have fun envisioning this, drawing it, and perhaps constructing one! It also reminds me of Margriet Ruur’s book, My Librarian is a Camel (Boyds Mills Press, 2005), a terrific nonfiction picture book about all kinds of unorthodox libraries all around the world (including actual book boats). The wordplay (“wordplayfulariousness”) in this poem is also fun and kids will enjoy picking up on that and coining their own words like “the town of MAYBESO.”
In fact, the learning and activity connections for these poems just bubble up with a multitude of possibilities. For example, #98 “A Monthly Calendar” is a visual way to represent all the months poetically and could be a great bulletin board or door sign. Or the poems could serve as an addition to the morning announcements made at many schools every day. Start reading the poems out loud every day and the kids will have plenty of ideas of their own.
Finally, let me not neglect to mention the LOOK of the book. Illustrator Ethan Long has provided pen and ink cartoons for every single page and it gives the book visual verve and energy and makes it even more browsable. The bug-eyed characters and mini-comic-stories move across the bottom third or quarter of each page (and beyond) in appealing ways that complement the poems perfectly. I know the book will be published in hardback (which is great for a longer shelf life), but I loved the flippable newsprint paper format of my ARC which felt so handy, friendly, and bendable.
I’ve been working on my own long-term poem-a-day project, so I know what a challenge it is to create this kind of comprehensive anthology. Lee Bennett Hopkins’ has a terrific companion resource, Days to Celebrate: A Full Year of Poetry, People, Holidays, History, Fascinating Facts, and More (Greenwillow, 2005), along with many, many other holiday and school topic-based collections that teachers (especially) will also find helpful. These could form the perfect framework for regular poem sharing—and then you can build upon this by seeking even more poetry books to link with these, day by day.
Posting (not poem) copyright Sylvia M. Vardell 2009
2 Comments on Time to Countdown to Summer, last added: 5/11/2009
Sounds like a terrific session, Sylvia! Very much wishing I could have sat in. Thank you again for being such an amazing children's poetry advocate. I hope you're enjoying the conference and staying dry in this drizzly Chicago weather.