NPM Day 30: Sharing Poems from My Apron of Many Pockets

 

I said goodbye to National Poetry Month with a visit to Robby's kindergarten classroom to share poems from my many pockets. It's not Poem in Your Pocket Day, but any day when you get to share poems with kids is cause for celebration! 

I also shared poems in Jack's 2nd grade classroom, but forgot to take pictures. He remembered that last year I let them keep the poem they selected. I didn't do that this year, but I came home and made a two sided handout of some favorites for them. Jack and his classmates knew about metaphor, simile, alliteration, and hyperbole. I love that Mrs. Wright has taught them so much about poems. She wasn't there to thank, but I'll send her a note. 

It was fortunate that daughter was out of town so I could step in for her regular story time in the boys' classrooms and share poems with these wonderful students. It's a joy to be with them and to share my love of poems!

NPM Day 29 & Slice of Life: Poems About Books

I bring you four delightful anthologies compiled by the king of poetry (crowned by me in my NPM project of 2017), Lee Bennett Hopkins. Reading always tops my list of hobbies and since poetry also figures on that list of diversions, poems about books combine both interests. 

Jumping Off Library Shelves: A Book of Poems is filled with poems to love. Charming illustrations by Jane Manning bring each poem to life. I couldn't narrow it down to one favorite, so I'll mention two, but really you'll want to read the entire book. Joan Bransfield Graham's "Librarian" (p. 18) captures the love of a reader for the librarian who becomes a friend.  Kristin O'Connell George captures the joy of reading with an animal buddy in "Reading with Riley" (p. 26).

Wonderful Words: Poems About Reading, Writing, Speaking, and Listening is filled with glorious poems from poets of today and dead poets (including Emily Dickinson and Carl Sandburg). Vivid illustrations by Karen Barbour accompany each poem. "I Am The Book" (p. 18) by Tom Robert Shields shows how books can be our friends through every season.   

I Am the Book (which also includes Shield's poem) has colorful illustrations by Yayo that invite us into each poem. My favorite poem in this book is by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater and is titled simply, "Book" (p. 29). If you don't know Amy's site, The Poem Farm, do not pass go or collect $200, simply go straight to this marvelous repository of all things poetic. (I crowned Amy the Queen of Poetry in my 2017 NPM Project.)

Here's a pic of Amy and me at NCTE 2018. In addition to being a great poet, 

she gives the best hugs ever!

Good Books, Good Times! is filled with poems about the joys of reading illustrated with Harvey Stevenson's watercolor paintings. The book opens with a favorite poem by Karla Kuskin, "Being Lost." The final four lines sum up any book lover's favorite place to be.

"I linger alone

In a place of my own

Lost

In a book." 

NPM Day 28: Another Catch-up Day (Days 25-28)

We finished a three-day sprint with three of our four grandsons (ages 8, 6, and 3 & three quarters). Not surprisingly, I fell behind on my poetry month project. Their parents are still traveling, but Aunt Ann arrived last night. I'll spotlight three favorite picture book anthologies by Paul B. Janeczko with three favorite poems from each book for days 25, 26, and 27..

NPM Day 25 - Dirty Laundry Pile: Poems in Different Voices, a whimsical collection of persona or mask poems with wonderful illustrations by Melissa Sweet. Stop by to read "The Vacuum Cleaner's Revenge" by Patricia Hubbell, "Old Elm Speaks" by Kristine O'Connell George, and "Maple Talk" by Lillian Moore.

NPM Day 26 - The Proper Way to Meet a Hedgehog and Other How-To Poems, so difficult to pick just three favorites from this book. The illustrations by Richard Jones enhance each and every poem. Check out these three: "Toasting Marshmallows" by Marilyn Singer, "How to Catch a Poem" by Irene Latham, and "How to Pay Attention" by April Halprin Wayland.

NPM Day 27 - Firefly July: A Year of Very Short Poems, another wonderful collection of poems, illustrated by Melissa Sweet. I like the mix of old and new in this book, from Carl Sandburg's "Fog" to Robert Frost's "Dust of Snow" (featured in our sixth grade anthology) to Joyce Sidman's "A Happy Meeting."

NPM Day 28 - One Today by Richard Blanco with gorgeous illustrations by Dav Pilkey features the inaugural poem for President Barack Obama's second presidential inauguration. I would love to have the final three lines (four lines in the book) and illustration in a poster form. You can read the poem here, but you really should buy the picture book.

NPM Day 24: Something Poetic - Haiku

After checking this book out of the library over and over, I finally broke down in 2017 and purchased my own copy. I love the seven keys for writing haiku provided in this book and used them with my students when I was teaching. After introducing the seven keys, the book  encourages readers to participate in several projects: your first haiku, your favorite season haiku, your haibun (story with haiku), your haiga (drawing and haiku), and your renga (linked poetry). These projects are broken down with step-by-step guidance. The book closes with specific haiku activities, a glossary of haiku-related words, a haiku resource guide, and an extensive bibliography. This is the book to purchase if you find yourself or a child in your life loving the world three lines at a time!

NPM Day 23: Something Poetic - Dictionary For A Better World

This book deserves a stellar spot on your bookshelf. For starters, I've met both poets. I wrote MISF grants so that Irene Latham and Charles Waters (at different times) were both visiting authors to our middle school. And they inspired our students to be writers too! 

The next thing I love about this book is the stunning artwork by Mehrdokht Amini. The front cover, the back cover, and every illustration in between will inspire you and move you to action to make our world a better place for everyone. 

The third thing I love are the quotes! Every word featured in the dictionary includes a memorable quote. You'll want to copy them all into your writer's notebook so you can savor them often.  

The poems are fabulous! Curious to learn who wrote each poem? Check the table of contents: Irene Latham wrote the poems with red titles, Charles Waters wrote the poems with blue titles, and the poets jointly wrote the poems with purple titles. 

Each featured poem has an anecdote about an experience they had related to the specific word. The anecdotes provide another clue to the author of each poem. Irene wrote the ones for her poems, Charles wrote the ones for his poems, and the jointly written poems have jointly written anecdotes.  

The poetic form utilized for each poem is listed at the end of the poem. You may be inspired to try out a new form after experiencing the many forms in the book. An alphabetical index of poetic forms is listed on page 116. I tried writing a golden shovel while reading this book during the pandemic. I was inspired by a sentence in Irene's anecdote about the poem "Compassion."

The Try It! is a call to action after each entry in the dictionary.  It encourages us to take a small step toward implementation in our individual lives.

I hope this list of things I love has inspired you to check out this inspiring book. Nelson Mandela sums up the message of the book with these words: "It is in your hands to create a better world for all who live in it." Let's all rise to the task before us.

NPM Day 22: Something Poetic - Earth Day

 

When I glanced over my poetry bookshelves, Forest Has a Song by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater, popped out as a perfect choice for Earth Day. This was Amy's first book, but certainly not her last. You can read about each of her books here. I was captivated by Amy's presentation the first time I heard her speak at an All Write conference. I love following her blog, The Poem Farm (with a carefully chosen theme each year for Poetry Month), and enjoyed sharing it with my students when I was teaching.

I told my three-year old grandson this morning that it was Earth Day. He asked, "What do we do on Earth Day?"  

"Maybe we should take a walk," I suggested, "and look for the beauty that surrounds us."

While sitting on their screened in porch, I encouraged Ollie to listen a bit. He pointed to the mama cardinal on their roof singing sweetly and exclaimed, "Music!" I love that he already identifies the song of the birds as music!

I hope you have a chance to spend some time outdoors celebrating with Mother Earth today. 

"Something poetic" every day is my commitment for NPM this year. 

I'll spotlight a favorite poem or book or poet or share a quote I love. 

Maybe I'll even stretch myself and occasionally write an original poem.

NPM Day 21: Something Poetic!

Immersed in Verse: An Informative, Slightly Irreverent & Totally Tremendous Guide to Living the Poet's Life by Allan Wolf and illustrated by Tuesday Mourning is my recommended book to share with the young poets in your life. I liked using Anatomy of a Poem, p. 47, to show how to annotate a poem. This analysis of George Ella Lyon's "Where I'm From" was a great introduction for motivating students to write their own "Where I'm From" poems.

Allan's book, The Blood-Hungry Spleen and Other Poems About Our Parts, was also a hit in my middle school sixth grade classroom. 

Two picture book titles by Allan Wolf were introduced to me via the book basket at the home of my three grandsons: The Day the Universe Exploded My Head: Poems to Take You into Space and Back Again and Behold Our Magical Garden: Poems Fresh from a School Garden. 

 If you have favorite books by the poet Allan Wolf, please leave a comment.

"Something poetic" every day is my commitment for NPM this year. 

I'll spotlight a favorite poem or book or poet or share a quote I love. 

Maybe I'll even stretch myself and occasionally write an original poem.