Friday, July 17, 2020

In Celebration of Karla Kuskin


 

KARLA KUSKIN
(July 17, 1932 – August 20, 2009)

I love the children's poetry of Karla Kuskin.
Most of it is exuberant and lively...
and perfect for sharing with young children.
Her works were seminal in my development as a children's poet.

Karla Kuskin's ANY ME I WANT TO BE 
is one of my favorite poetry books.
After reading it, I fell in love with mask poems. 



My elementary students loved the poetry in this book, too.
In the poems, Kuskin speaks in the voices of a tree, snow, 
night, a lion, a dragon, a snake, shoes, 
and even a strawberry:

I liked growing.
That was nice.
The leaves were soft.
The sun was hot.
I was warm and red and round.
Then someone dropped me in a pot.

Being a strawberry isn't all pleasing.
This morning they put me in ice cream.
I'm freezing.




From Scholastic:

From No Water River:

From the Cooperative Children's Book Center:

From Poetry for Children:

From Live Your Poem:

From Wild Rose Reader:

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The Poetry Friday Roundup is at Bookseedstudio.




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