The brilliant combination of poetry and nonfiction is what drew me to Zoboi’s amazing middle-grade biography of author Octavia Butler. Telling the story of a life in poems requires such precision and artistry. Zoboi does this in a way that is seamless and spare and beautiful.
This is one of my favorite books for young readers that I’ve read recently. Zoboi acts as a sculptor—paring, shaping, and providing just the right detail in just the right words to deliver a poetic portrait of a powerful woman and commanding writer. This beautiful book recently won an Honor in the We Need Diverse Books 2023 Walter Awards.
Don’t miss it!
On Fridays, I love taking part in Poetry Friday when I can, where writers share resources about children’s poetry. This week, Marcie Flinchum Atkins hosts the Poetry Friday Roundup today at her blog. Check out the celebration of poetry there today!
On November 20, I will be joining a poetry party in England– and you can come too!
Back in 2016, I visited London and happened upon an enchanting holiday fair. It’s where I took this picture:
Years later, I wrote a poem called “Wintertime Fair,” and it was published on the children’s poetry website The Dirigible Balloon. Edited by Jonathan Humble and based in England, The Dirigible Balloon is a free website chock full of high-quality poems for children. It’s an amazing resource for kids, teachers, and parents– and anyone who loves poetry!
Editor Jonathan Humble
When Jonathan decided to publish an anthology of poems from The Dirigible Balloon, I was delighted that he chose “Wintertime Fair” to be a part of it. (My first trans-Atlantic publication!) The book, CHASING CLOUDS, is launching with a Zoom reading on November 20 at 7 p.m. in England (2 p.m. on the east coast of the U.S!). I will be a part of the reading, and I’ll get to hear the voices and see the faces of many poets I admire and follow as well.
For more information, or to attend the Zoom launch of CHASING CLOUDS, follow The Dirigible Balloon on Facebook or Twitter, or check my social media– I’ll be sharing the link!
On Fridays, I love taking part in Poetry Friday when I can, where writers share resources about children’s poetry. This week, poet Buffy Silverman hosts the Poetry Friday Roundup today at her blog. Check out the celebration of poetry there today!
WHAT IS A FRIEND? I am delighted to be a part of a new poetry book for middle graders that answers this question. It’s a collection of poems about all aspects of friendship– getting along, competing, trying out new ventures together. My poem, “Team,” is about a robotics team tinkering and figuring out together how to make things work. It’s dedicated to my friend Brian, who teaches Robotics in a high school on Cape Cod serving a very diverse and high-needs population. Here’s to all the robotics teachers, helping their students to “try, fail, adjust.”
WHAT IS A FRIEND? is edited by Janet Wong and Sylvia Vardell of Pomelo Books; it was chosen as a Children’s Book Council “Hot Off the Press” Selection for October! It would be a great gift for a teacher you know, or a young reader in your life. You can order it from Amazon or Bookshop.org. Thank you, Sylvia and Janet, for the dynamic and thoughtful poetry books for young readers that you put out into the world.
On Fridays, I love taking part in Poetry Friday when I can, where writers share resources about children’s poetry. This week, Sarah Grace Tuttle hosts the Poetry Friday Roundup today on her blog. Check out the celebration of poetry there today!
In the midst of this challenging winter, I’m trying to keep warm by surrounding myself with great poetry books.
Lion of the Sky– Haiku by Laura Purdie Salas
LION OF THE SKY: HAIKU FOR ALL SEASONS presents a delightful gift to teachers who want to introduce their young writers to poetry writing and haiku. Author/poet Laura Purdie Salas presents a raft of fun haiku, organized by the four seasons. Each illustrated poem is itself a riddle; it’s a haiku written in the voice of an object or place, making it a mask poem. Readers get to guess what the object is! Engaging backmatter invites young writers to try the form, which Salas calls “Riddle-ku.” Published by Millbrook in 2019, it’s perfect for a classroom library.
I love this book for its playfulness, the wonderful illustrations by Mercè López, and the way it deepens our appreciation of seasons and invites us to look closer. Happy Friday!
On Fridays, I love taking part in Poetry Friday when I can, where writers share resources about children’s poetry. This week, Mary Lee hosts the Poetry Friday Roundup today at her blog. Check out the celebration of poetry there today!
Two poets I admire are having a conversion today, and we can all tune in.
The ongoing LATINX KIDLIT BOOK FESTIVAL is happening on youtube, and poets Margarita Engle and NoNieqa Ramos will be talking about how poetry can convey emotion, tone, and drama. This is happening at noon EST. I will be at work at that time, but I am grateful that all of the dynamic presentations of the Latinx Kidlit Book Festival are available on youtube. I am looking forward to learning from these two women this weekend when I watch the recording, and my notebook will be at the ready!
Margarita Engle has written verse novels, picture books, and memoirs, and she was the Young People’s Poet Laureate in 2017-2019. Her poetry collection BRAVO! POEMS ABOUT AMAZING HISPANICS is one of my favorite poetry books. Then there’s the playful and dynamic picture book YOUR MAMA by NoNieqa Ramos, full of poetry and love and feminism and a kick-ass mother-daughter duo.
I can’t wait to hear these two authors in conversation! I hope you tune in, too.
On Fridays, I love taking part in Poetry Friday when I can, where writers share resources about children’s poetry. This week, Cathy hosts the Poetry Friday Roundup today at her blog. Check out the celebration of poetry there today!
Can you picture the house or apartment where you grew up? The texture of the couch, the sound of water in the pipes? Did the windows rattle, and what did the doorknobs look like? Can you draw a map of each room?
So many sensory images come flooding back to me as I read George Ella Lyon’s poetry collection MANY-STORIED HOUSE. She focuses on family, on small moments, on tiny details of her childhood home. Her poems about memory, relationships, and sense of place are beautifully specific and universal at the same time. She’s inspiring me to write about my first home, a two-bedroom apartment in a fourth-floor walk-up on a one-way street in the Bronx. The closet doorknobs were made of glass; the rumble of the subway was our metronome.
Lyon writes for both children and adults, and I’m looking forward to learning from her in an online workshop hosted by poet Georgia Heard in January. You can read about it here. Maybe I’ll see you there!
On Fridays, I love taking part in Poetry Friday when I can, where writers share resources about children’s poetry. This week, Michelle Kogan hosts the Poetry Friday Roundup today at her blog. Check out the celebration of poetry there today!
I’ve learned so much about what it takes to put together a poetry anthology by taking classes from Janet Wong and Sylvia Vardell. “Poetry PLUS” is one aspect of the art and craft of assembling an anthology that fascinates me as a poet and an educator.
We believe in “Poetry Plus”—poetry PLUS writing, poetry PLUS language arts mini-lessons, poetry PLUS curriculum connections for social studies and STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math), poetry PLUS mindfulness and movement, and poetry PLUS lots more fun!
Janet and Sylvia’s latest anthology, THINGS WE DO, is a beauty. I may be biased since I have a poem in this collection! THINGS WE DO is an alphabetic book of playful poems bursting with children in action– from Ask to Zoom! Each spread in this book features a vivid photo of a child doing something active, accompanied by a poem such as Invent, Dance, Fly, and Type.
But beyond those 26 poems, there’s more! This is where the PLUS comes in. There is a section for parents, caregivers, and educators called “Tips for Readers” that details “strategies for sharing poetry with children” such as using props and “echo reading.”
The “Fun Activities to Try” section features suggestions on extending the poetic experience with movement, learning letters, writing poetry, reading a poem at breakfast time, and sharing with special family members.
But there’s even more to the PLUS! So many gems are highlighted in the web resources, including Reading Rockets and We Need Diverse Books. And finally, there is an “About the Poets” section, with a tidbit of info about each of the poets.
I have a poetry collection out on submission now (fingers crossed!), and I included “Poetry PLUS” by featuring juicy facts, almost like side-bars, to add some nonfiction heft to each poem. That’s one way to add more “Plus” power to poetry. But THINGS WE DO has inspired me to consider other ways of adding to the poetry experience for readers.
What might you add to your poetry? Or what have you included? STEM connections, craft activities, maps, timelines, or something more? The possibilities are exciting! Thanks to Janet Wong and Sylvia Vardell for the inspiration.
On Fridays, I love taking part in Poetry Friday when I can, where writers share resources about children’s poetry.
It’s publication day for a very special poetry anthology for young children. THINGS WE DO is an alphabetic book of playful poems bursting with children in action– from Ask to Zoom! Each spread in this book features a vivid photo of a child doing something active, accompanied by a poem such as Invent, Kick, Jump, and Clap. Published by Pomelo Books, THINGS WE DO is now available by ordering from QEP Books, and will soon be available on Amazon. It’s perfect for PreK through first grade.
Many poets contributed to this A-Z collection, including some very well-known poets! My poem, “Type,” is inspired by my work as a K-2 Literacy Coach. Each day I get to see children making letters, then their names, then words… it’s a magical process that made its way into my poem. I can’t wait to share it with the first graders I work with each morning!
Poet Janet Wong and poetry expert Sylvia Vardell assembled this anthology, and they are a joy to work with. It was a revelation to be part of their Anthologies 101 and 201 classes and to watch how they encourage and guide poets in the creative process. Vardell and Wong are donating all the profits from THINGS WE DO to the IBBY Children in Crisis Fund. You can see their fun video about the book here (and you can also see why they are a delight to work with!).
THINGS WE DO is a beautiful and playful book of poems, perfect for the young child or teacher in your life. Be sure to add it to your holiday shopping list!
On Fridays, I love taking part in Poetry Friday when I can, where writers share resources about children’s poetry. This week, Jama Rattigan hosts the Poetry Friday Roundup today at her blogJama’s Alphabet Soup. Check out the celebration of poetry there today!
So begins “Tenth Month,” a poem about October by Irene Latham in the just-published 10-10 POETRY ANTHOLOGY. I found so many poems that would be perfect for a middle-grade English Language Arts classroom. In Irene’s poem, for instance, there is both playfulness and reverence for nature; plus it’s packed with great verbs!
Science teachers will find wonderful content in Janice Scully’s brief yet descriptive poem “The Floating Water Strider,” about how an insect manages to skate across the surface of water.
Poet Moe Phillip’s description of a tug-of-war competition will have children laughing in recognition– “Heels dig in, teeth are bared, toes to temples taut.” It’s brimming with juicy language that will inspire young writers!
Bridget Magee created THE 10-10 POETRY ANTHOLOGY around ten themes or prompts, including the words tentative, tenderness, and tenacity.
My poem, “Necessary In-Tent,” is included in this collection. It’s inspired by a memory of going camping for the very first time as a 12-year old (tentative!). I was used to city living and city sounds, and the nighttime woods were a bit scary for me! Many of the poets who I follow on Poetry Fridays and elsewhere are included in this collection, including Jay Brazeau, Linda Baie, Janet Fagal, Marilyn Garcia, Mary Lee Hahn, Michelle Kogan, Carmela Martino, Linda Mitchell, Aixa Perez-Prado, Laura Purdie Salas, Buffy Silverman, Eileen Spinelli, Linda Kulp Trout, Janet Wong, Tabatha Yeatts, and more!
There are many riches to explore in this anthology– and it would make a great gift for the teacher in your life.
On Fridays, I love taking part in Poetry Friday when I can, where writers share resources about children’s poetry. This week, Bridget Magee (editor of the 10-10 Anthology!) hosts the Poetry Friday Roundup today at her blog Wee Words for Wee Ones. Check out the celebration of poetry there today!
Every poem is a blow against silence. ~ Carlos Fuentes
***
“This is for the unforgettable…
the ones who survived America by any means necessary.
And the ones who didn’t.”
Kwame Alexander’s book THE UNDEFEATED is an ode to the African American experience, a book-length poem with illustrations by Kadir Nelson that will leave you breathless.
THE UNDEFEATED is both ageless and utterly of the moment, as we as a nation wrestle again and again with the worth of Black lives.
It’s impossible to turn the pages without names coming to mind: Daunte Wright, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd… and many more.
Stephen Fry writes in his book The Ode Less Travelled: Unlocking the Poet Within, “Deriving from odein, the Greek for to chant, the ode is an open form of lyric verse made Public Monument.”
Public Monument.
A monument, a history book, a cry of urgency and celebration, THE UNDEFEATED belongs on every bookshelf in America.
On Fridays, I love taking part in Poetry Friday when I can, where writers share their love of all things poetry. This week, Jama hosts the Poetry Friday Roundup today atJama’s Alphabet Soup. Check out the feast of poetry there today.
