Things to Do If You Are a Castle: An Original List Poem

Well, I’m nearly finished with my Things to Do poetry collection. At the moment, the collection includes twenty-seven poems. I’m thinking of adding one or two more. As I mentioned in a previous post, I’ve changed the manuscript a lot in recent months. I’ve eliminated several of the original poems and added fourteen new ones. The Things to Do collection now takes a young child through a school day from dawn to bedtime. I believe it is a more cohesive collection of poems now. I’m hoping to submit it to a publisher by summer’s end.

I want to acknowledge three individuals for giving me invaluable advice on this writing project:

• Grace Lin helped me to look at my Things to Do collection with new eyes. Grace gave me the suggestion for changing the focus of the manuscript. That suggestion renewed my energy for working on the poetry project again. It inspired me to write lots of new poems.
• Janet Wong read through my manuscript and carefully critiqued it. She suggested eliminating particular poems and gave me topic suggestions for new poems. Janet’s suggestions helped me to provide better “poetry” transitions throughout the collection.
• Brad Bennett sat with me as we went through each poem with a fine-tooth comb a few days ago. I can always count on Brad to help me with the tiniest details. (Brad is a teacher and published poet. You can read three of Brad’s list poems here.)
  

********************

Here is one of the “things to do” poems that is no longer included in the collection. I was thinking of my daughter and her new husband when I selected the following poem. They recently returned from their honeymoon in Ireland--where they visited lots of castles.

THINGS TO DO IF YOU ARE A CASTLE

Stand on a stony cliff
overlooking the sea.
Wear a thick wall of armor.
Sprout tall turrets.
Be a haven.
Drop your drawbridge
for damsels in distress.
Shelter proud steeds,
brave knights who do good deeds.
Be a fortress, a bulwark.
Grow strong and stout.
Keep the evil invaders out.

********************

At Blue Rose Girls, I have a sonnet by Mary Meriam titled The Romance of Middle Age.

The Poetry Friday Roundup is at Live. Love. Explore!

A Beverly Cleary Post

From NPR

Ramona Quimby: The Mischievous Girl Next Door by Elizabeth Blair.

Click here to listen to a radio program about Beverly Cleary on Morning Addition.

Beverly Cleary, Getting the Best Out of Her 'Pest'

Listen to Debbie Elliott’s 2006 interview with Beverly Cleary on All Things Considered:



More about Beverly Cleary and Her Books

Ramona and Beezus Movie Trailer

From BookPage: Beverly Cleary Interview

Check out the Beverly Cleary website at http://www.beverlycleary.com/

Here & There: July 27, 2010

Liz B’s blog A Chair, A Fireplace & A Tea Cozy has moved. It is now a School Library Journal blog. Here is its new URL—http://blog.schoollibraryjournal.com/teacozy/

Liz said: “For the most part, it's same blog, still me, just at a new location. I will be concentrating more on young adult books, ages twelve and up, and less on picture books and books for younger readers.”
You can read her announcement here.

From MotherReader (7/20/2010):
By now, many of you have heard of the blog Ripple, where illustrators donate their art for donations to causes to help the wildlife in the Gulf Coast disaster. I’ve been following the project since the beginning, and am excited to report that it has raised over $8,500 in funds — most of it one $10 card at a time. I have five myself.

Read the rest of MotherReader’s Making Ripples post here.

More on the blog Ripple from School Library Journal: Children's Illustrators Help Save Gulf Oil Spill Wildlife Victims
By Debra Lau Whelan July 20, 2010

From Publishers Weekly: Fall 2010 Children's Announcements

From Publishers Weekly: Children's Books: Spring 2011 Sneak Previews

From School Library Journal: Booksellers Oppose MA Law That Extends Censorship On the Web
By SLJ Staff July 22, 2010

Excerpt:

A coalition of booksellers and first amendment supporters is trying to block a new Massachusetts law that aims to protect kids from online predators, but also bans constitutionally protected speech, including topics like contraception and pregnancy, sexual health, literature, and art.

The lawsuit--filed by the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, the Association of American Publishers, the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, and others--says the new law, signed in April by Governor Patrick and which went into effect last week, imposes severe restrictions on the distribution of constitutionally protected speech on the Internet.
The goal? To have the law declared unconstitutional and void--and to enjoin the state from enforcing it on the basis of the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution, and the Constitution's Commerce Clause.

Under the law, anyone who operates a website or communicates through a listserv can be held criminally liable for nudity or sexually related material if it's considered "harmful to minors." In short, it bans from the Internet anything that may be "harmful to minors," including materials that adults have a First Amendment right to view.

Those who break the law can be fined $10,000 or sentenced to up to five years in prison, or both. "[This] will certainly have a chilling effect on booksellers with websites that describe their books available online or in a store," says Chris Finan, President of the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE). "Most bookstores are small businesses, and it is very likely that booksellers will try to avoid problems by engaging in selfcensorship."


On the Poetry Front

From BookPage—Mirror, mirror, on the wall: poetry books for one and all
Feature by Alice Cary

New Poetry Books for Young People 2005-2010
By Sylvia M. Vardell, Ph.D.

School News Spotlight: Sharing Children's Poetry 101
By Julie Corsaro
This interview with Sylvia Vardell originally appeared in the May 2010 edition of NoveList School News.

Things to Do If You Are a Mountain: An Original List Poem

As some of you may have noticed I’ve been blogging “light” in recent months. I haven’t posted a book review in a long time. Now that my mother is settled in her new residence and my daughter’s wedding is in the past—maybe my life will return to normal once again. I’m hoping I’ll get myself back into my regular blogging groove soon.

I always try to post on Poetry Fridays. For this week, I selected another one of my “things to do” list poems that I’ve scrubbed from my Things to Do collection.


THINGS TO DO IF YOU ARE A MOUNTAIN

Wear a snow-white cap
and a thick coat of evergreens.
Scratch your stony back with glaciers.

Tower over the tops of other mountains.
Let the sun sparkle on your summit.
Hide drowsing bears
in your deep brown pockets.
At night
poke your head above the clouds
and peek at the stars.

********************

The Poetry Friday Roundup is at Language, Literacy, Love.

*****

You may want to view the video I posted at my Political Verses blog today--Sarah Palin's Geography Song: Fifty Nifty States. It's pretty funny!

A Wedding Day to Remember!!!

Even though I took more than 160 photographs during "wedding weekend"--I wish I had taken even more! Of course, if I had taken more pictures, I wouldn't have had time to dance, talk to our wedding guests, and experience the time of my life. The food at the reception was delicious--but I hardly ate anything. I was too excited...and too busy having fun.

Sara & Her Husband with George Harrington

The Lyceum in Salem, Massachusetts, was the perfect place for Sara and Jerry's wedding reception. I have known George Harrington, one of the owners, for many years. I had his youngest child as an elementary student for second and third grades. My daughter worked as a busgirl and as a waitress at The Lyceum when she was in high school and college. The Lyceum is also one of our family's favorite places to eat. The staff at The Lyceum knows our family--and went out of their way to make sure Sara's wedding day was a truly memorable one. (Click here to read our wedding day menu.)

A big shout-out to Kristin Hansen, the function coordinator at The Lyceum, who was such a pleasure to work with!

Flowers by Nunan's of Georgetown, MA

I wish I had also taken pictures of the smaller floral arrangements on the cafe tables--

but I forgot. They were really lovely too.

My daughter and I both love hydrangeas!

Wedding Cake by Cakes for Occasions in Danvers, MA
The cake was the most delicious wedding cake I have ever tasted.
Wedding guests raved about it!
You can read more about the flavors of the cake here.


Some Pre-Wedding Pictures
Here I am with the mother of the groom.

We got Sara's beautiful wedding gown and veil at French Bridals in Beverly, MA

Sara and the rest of "the gals"--

including the mother of the groom and me--

rode to the church on the trolley.

I wish I knew the bagpiper's name. He was fabulous!

Unfortunately, he was not allowed to play his pipes inside the church.

Meet Mr. & Mrs. Murphy!

Pictures taken at Derby Wharf

At The Lyceum

Sara & her dad dancing to a Sarah McLachlan song

Sara and Jerry are honeymooning in Ireland for two weeks.

I have so many happy memories of my daughter's wedding day. I wish I could relive the experience all over again!

Click here to see wedding photos the photographer, Tom Underwood, posted on Facebook. Tom was the best!

Here & There: July 19, 2010

Children's Books at ALA: A PW Photo-Essay (Publishers Weekly, July 2010)
NOTE: The photo-essay includes pictures of my fellow Blue Rose Girls Grace Lin and Alvina Ling.

Story behind the Story: Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan’s Ballet for Martha
The Art of Making Art
by Ilene Cooper (Booklist, July 2010).

Books and Authors: Talking with Cathryn and John Sill by Terrell A. Young and Barbara A. Ward (Book Links, June 2010)
The husband-and-wife creators of painterly picture books about wildlife and nature discuss their collaborative process.

The Summer Reading Network: To keep kids reading during the summer, librarians connect online to share resources (School Library Journal, July 2010)

RIF Reading Planet

Summer Reading Fun (RIF Reading Planet)

Pile them high; it's summer time by Sheila Wayman (Irish Times, 7/13/2010)
Excerpt:
School may be over for the summer, but that’s no reason for the reading to stop.

WITH NO school or homework to interrupt them, summer is invariably a time of great discovery for avid young book readers.

It is a chance to try different kinds of books or wallow in a whole series from a favourite author. Some holidays will forever be associated with who or what you found between those pages.
The only downside is likely to be a nagging parent: “What are you doing indoors on a lovely day like this? Put that book down and go out.”

But, according to the director of Children’s Books Ireland, Mags Walsh, “If they are happy reading, let them read. Don’t put any walls or barriers around it.”

Q & A with Grace Lin by Julie Yates Walton (Publishers Weekly, July 2010)

Over the years, author-illustrator Grace Lin has mined her own childhood for funny, upbeat stories that shed light on the unique experience of growing up Asian-American. The past year has been a good one for Lin, with her novel, Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, winning a 2010 Newbery Honor and earning a selection on Al Roker's Book Club for Kids. Known for her novels and her vibrantly illustrated picture books, Lin is now reaching out to the audience in between. Her first early reader, Ling & Ting: Not Exactly the Same, features twin Asian-American girls, and is due out this month from Little, Brown.

NOTE: Grace has garnered another award for her fantasy novel Where the Mountain Meets the Moon. Read about it here.

My Wedding Poem for Sara & Jerry

My Daughter Sara & Her Husband Jerry
Photograph by Tom Underwood


Here is the poem I wrote for my daughter Sara’s wedding.
My inspiration came from Margaret Atwood’s poem You Begin.
Click here to read Atwood’s poem.


Wedding Poem for Sara & Jerry

We begin this way:
this is my hand—
take it in yours,
hold on to it tightly.
Now we are one.
Here is my heart.
It holds rivers of love
that will flow to you freely
this day…and forever.

Outside the church window
summer awaits
with songbirds and sunlight
and shade trees to cool us
when days get too hot.

This is our world—
our family and friends
who know us and love us.
They’re smiling and happy
on our wedding day.

Now we are married…
we’re husband and wife—
we are partners for life.
We will share all our days,
all our sorrows and tears
all our laughter and triumphs
throughout the years.

This is my hand, this is my heart,
this is our world,
ahead is our future
filled with surprises
that we can’t imagine.

It all begins here
with our family and friends
with our promises…vows…
with the taking of hands
and the binding of hearts.

We begin and we end:
Here is my heart.
It holds rivers of love
that will flow to you freely.
This is my hand—
take it in yours,
hold on to it tightly
this day…and forever.
Now we are one.

**********

The Beautiful Bride

Photograph by Tom Underwood

Here's a picture of me with Sara at the Salem Waterfront Hotel.I was so happy I didn't shed a tear on my daughter's wedding day!

Note: We all loved Tom Underwood, the wedding photographer. He took great pictures, was unobtrusive--and was so easy to work with. I recommend him highly.

Click here to view more of the wedding pictures that Tom took.

********************

Heidi Mordhorst has the Poetry Friday Roundup at My Juicy Little Universe.