NPM 2017 Day 7: Three F's for Poetry Friday

My book spine poem for NPM 2017:

She walks in beauty

A jar of tiny stars

Awakening the heart

Open the door

House of light 

Pass the poetry, please!

For day seven (and letter f) of my alphabet stroll for National Poetry Month, I dip into my poetry collection to share a haiku of three favorite poetry books.

Falling down the page

for the good of the earth and sun

firefly July.

• Falling Down the Page:  A Book of List Poems edited by Georgia Heard - An invitation from the introduction, "After you read a few of these list poems, I bet you'll feel inspired to write one of your own.  Think about your day.  Jot down what you notice.  And let your (list of) words fall down the page."
• For The Good of the Earth and Sun:  Teaching Poetry by Georgia Heard - From the back cover and Lucy McCormick Calkin's forward, "This book is deep and alive and important because it comes not from desk work and dusty theories, but from childhood worlds, love affairs, lifetime fears, long summers in a New Hampshire cabin, and Saturday mornings in sunny New York bookstores.  It has grown, layer by layer, out of all (of Georgia's) life."
• Firefly July:  A Year of Very Short Poems selected by Paul B. Janeczko and illustrated by Melissa Sweet - My much-loved copy was autographed by illustrator Melissa Sweet when she spoke at Western Washington University's 2016 Children's Literature Conference.  This anthology of poems features poems through the seasons, beginning with spring.  It includes poets writing today for children as well as poems by older poets who wrote mostly for adult audiences showing that good poetry has no age boundaries .  A delightful collection, my copy is filled with sticky notes that peek out the top and sides of the book.  

There's a lot to think and write about this month and I had totally forgotten that today is Poetry Friday.  

Head over to Irene Latham's blog, 

Live Your Poem for this week's

round-up of poetic goodness that includes

Irene's line for the progressive poem

and her Artspeak:Portraits poem.  

Thanks, Irene, for hosting this week!

NPM 2017 Day 5: Three D's

My book spine poem for NPM 2017:

She walks in beauty

A jar of tiny stars

Awakening the heart

Open the door

House of light 

Pass the poetry, please!

• The Dream Keeper and Other Poems by Langston Hughes  Most of us are familiar with the words "Hold fast to dreams..." from Hughes oft-recited poem "Dreams."  But if you've never read this book of his poetry with the exquisite scratchboard illustrations by Brian Pinkney, stop by your library or bookstore to pick up a copy today.  And here's a beautiful rendition by a sixth grade choir of "Dreamkeeper," the title poem of the book.   

• Daniel Finds a Poem by Micha Archer is a delightful picture book that I hope you've already discovered.  Daniel spends the week asking each of his animal friends, "What is poetry?"  And by week's end when it's time for Poetry in the Park, he has a poem.  The author Micha Archer's beautiful collage illustrations are a stunning accompaniment to Daniel's poetic journey.

• The Doors of Poetry - I remember when my daughter was introduced to these doors in middle school by Arlene Naganawa, her creative writing teacher.  Georgia Heard in Awakening the Heart (pgs. 50-56) explores five doors to poetry:  the heart door, the observation door, the concerns about the world door, the wonder door, and the memory door.  She concludes this section with these words:  "Finally anything that doesn't fit into one of the five doors creates a new door.  I hope that students will eventually know to write from, not just five but fifty doors - reflection, humor, dreams - the doors are endless."