I've been suffering from an advanced case of writer's block in recent weeks. I haven't been able to focus on much of anything--on writing original poems or writing book reviews for this blog. Yesterday, as I was driving to my mother's house, snow was falling gently. As soon as flakes touched the pavement, they melted. I was inspired. I made up a rough draft of a poem in my head. I forgot to write it down when I returned home. It wasn't a great poem--but it felt good to have my creative juices flowing again.
The poem went something like this:
Snowflakes falling like fairy dust...
I turn my face to the sky,
Cold white kisses
Melting on my cheeks
I took the photographs posted here in December.
I awoke one morning to find a wonderland of white
outside my bedroom window--
so I got my camera and took some pictures.
I may be old--
but I still like winter.
I love to look at the beauty of new-fallen snow.
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Speaking of snow and poetry--
I often shared Dorothy Aldis's poem
On a Snowy Day
with my elementary students.
I liked the imagery she used in it:
Fence posts wearing marsmallow hats...
Bushes in nightgowns kneeling down to pray...
Trees spreading out snowy skirts
I'd also recite Mary Louise Allen's poem First Snow.
Here are the first two lines:
Snow makes whiteness where it falls.
The bushes look like popcorn balls.
Two of my favorite snow poems are mask poems
in which snow speaks to us:
The Snowflake
by Walter de la Mare
Here's how it begins:
Before I melt,
Come look at me!
This lovely icy filigree!
Of a great forest
In one night
I make a wildreness of white...
and
a poem by Karla Kuskin that ends:
I can make anything
Everything
Beautiful.
What I touch,
Where I blow,
Even a dump filled with garbage
looks lovely
After I've fallen there.
I am the snow.
I'll close this post with an original acrostic:
Wrapped
In a robe of white
Numbed with cold
The weary
Earth
Rests
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At Blue Rose Girls, I have Winter-Time by Robert Louis Stevenson.
I thought I'd put together a little retrospective post with videos of Grace talking about Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, the book trailer, pictures that I took at the launch party for the book, and the celebratory dinner we Blue Rose Girls had after the party.
Grace lin on the Today Show with Al Roker
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Grace Lin on The Steve Katsos Show
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The Inside Notes for Where the Mountain Meets the Moon
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The Book Trailer
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Pictures Taken at the Launch Party for
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon
After the Launch Party, Grace Treated The Blue Rose Girls
Here's some interesting children's literature news
regarding the late Bill Martin Jr.
From Think Progress (1/26/2010) Right-wing Texas Education Board accidentally bans popular children’s book author.
Excerpt: Last week, ThinkProgress reported on the Texas Board of Education’s push to change the state’s social studies curriculum to marginalize progressives. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reveals that the latest to be nixed is actually popular children’s author Bill Martin Jr.:
In its haste to sort out the state’s social studies curriculum standards this month, the State Board of Education tossed children’s author Martin, who died in 2004, from a proposal for the third-grade section. Board member Pat Hardy, R-Weatherford, who made the motion, cited books he had written for adults that contain “very strong critiques of capitalism and the American system.”
Trouble is, the Bill Martin Jr. who wrote the Brown Bear series never wrote anything political, unless you count a book that taught kids how to say the Pledge of Allegiance, his friends said. The book on Marxism was written by Bill Martin, a philosophy professor at DePaul University in Chicago.
Name confusion gets kid's author banned from Texas curriculum Traci Shurley, Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Excerpt: Bill Martin Jr.'s name would have been included on a list with author Laura Ingalls Wilder and artist Carmen Lomas Garza as examples of individuals who would be studied for their cultural contributions.
Hardy said she was trusting the research of another board member, Terri Leo, R-Spring, when she made her motion and comments about Martin's writing. Leo had sent her an e-mail alerting her to Bill Martin Jr.'s listing on the Borders.com Web site as the author of Ethical Marxism. Leo's note also said she hadn't read the book.
"She said that that was what he wrote, and I said: ' ... It's a good enough reason for me to get rid of someone,' "said Hardy, who has complained vehemently about the volume of names being added to the curriculum standards.
The Small Graces painting being auctioned off this month was done by Melissa Sweet, winner of a Caldecott Honor Award in 2009 for A River of Words: The Story of William Carlos Williams, which was written by Jen Bryant. Melissa's painting will be on auctionbeginning Monday, January 25 through Friday, January 29.
Clickhere to bid on the painting Melissa Sweet contributed to the Small Graces fundraising effort that will benefit The Foundation for Children’s Books in Massachusetts.
Poetry is food for me! I like the way it tastes on my tongue when I read it aloud. Here are two poems about "eating" poetry that I selected for posting today--along with the titles of some children's poetry books that I can't wait to begin feasting on as soon as they're published.
Eating Poetry By Mark Strand
Ink runs from the corners of my mouth.
There is no happiness like mine.
I have been eating poetry.
The librarian does not believe what she sees.
Her eyes are sad
and she walks with her hands in her dress.
The poems are gone.
The light is dim.
The dogs are on the basement stairs and coming up.
I thought that 2009 was a fine year for children’s poetry. It looks like 2010 is going to be another good year for those of us who get excited about reading new children’s poetry books as well. Here are some of the books I’m looking forward to reading this winter and spring. I’ve arranged the titles by their publication dates.
Ocean Soup: A Book of Tide Pool Poems Written by Stephen R. Swinburne Illustrated by Mary Peterson Charlesbridge (February 2010)
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Mirror Mirror: A Book of Reversible Verse Written by Marilyn Singer Illustrated by Josee Massee Dutton (March 4, 2010)
From the starred Booklist review by Patricia Austin: This ingenious book of reversos, or poems which have one meaning when read down the page and perhaps an altogether different meaning when read up the page, toys with and reinvents oh-so-familiar stories and characters, from Cinderella to the Ugly Duckling. The five opening lines of the Goldilocks reverso read: “Asleep in cub’s bed/Blonde/startled by/Bears,/the headline read.” Running down the page side-by-side with this poem is a second, which ends with: “Next day/the headline read:/Bears startled/by blonde/asleep in cub’s bed.”
********************Everybody Was a Baby Once and Other Poems Written by Allen Ahlberg Illustrated by Bruce Ingman Candlewick (March 9, 2010)
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Poetrees Written & illustrated by Douglas Florian Beach Lane Books (March 9, 2010)
Here’s a sneak peek at some of the poems in the book: Click here to read Paper Birch. Click here to read Dragon Tree. Click here to read Giant Sequoias.
******************** Sharing the Seasons: A Book of Poems Selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins Illustrated by David Diaz Margaret K. McElderry (March 9, 2010)
Lee Bennett Hopkins showed me an F&G of Sharing the Seasons at the NCTE Convention in November. The book is gorgeous!
Volcano Wakes Up! Written by Lisa Westberg Peters Illustrated by Stephen W. Jenkins Henry Holt (March 30, 2010)
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Ubiquitous: Celebrating Nature's Survivors Written by Joyce Sidman Illustrated by Beckie Prange Houghton Mifflin (April 5, 2010)
From the starred Booklist review by Gillian Engberg: The creators of the Caldecott Honor Book Song of the Waterboatman and Other Pond Poems (2005) offer another winning blend of poetry, science, and art in this picture-book collection that celebrates the earth’s most resilient and long-lived species. Following Waterboatman’s format, each dynamic spread in this remarkable volume features a poem, a prose paragraph, and a captivating illustration that work together perfectly to reinforce both the science concepts and the awe they inspire.
The book trailer for Ubiquitous: Celebrating Natures Survivors
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Amazing Faces Selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins Illustrated by Chris Soentpiet Lee & Low (May 2010)
Click here to find out about this book from the publisher.
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At Blue Rose Girls, I have a poem by Karen Swank-Fitch titled I Leave Bits of Me Everywhere.
Three of my favorite books of 2009 that are also Cybils finalists made the list.
Younger Readers
All the World
By Liz Garton Scanlon
Illus. by Marla Frazee
Beach Lane
The myriad joys of the world are reflected with warmth and affection in this look at a day in a small community near the ocean.
(A 2010 Caldecott Honor Book)
Red Sings from Treetops: A Year in Colors.
By Joyce Sidman
Illus. by Pamela Zagarenski
Houghton
Evocative poems celebrate color and enliven the senses as readers follow a woman and her dog surrounded by myriad intricately costumed and stylized figures through the seasons.
(A 2010 Caldecott Honor Book)
Middle Readers
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon
By Grace Lin
Illus. by Grace Lin
Little, Brown
A young Chinese girl, long a believer in her father’s fantastic stories, goes on a quest to find the legendary Old Man of the Moon in the hope of bringing life to Fruitless Mountain.
In 2009, the talented and generous author/illustrator Grace Lin donated 11 original paintings to the Foundation for Children's Books to be auctioned on eBay as a benefit for our programs in under-served schools.
In this new year, we are fortunate enough to have 12 different illustrators contributing to our "Small Graces" auction. Each month a small (approximately 5x5 inch), unpublished, original painting will be auctioned on eBay with 100% of the proceeds to support the FCB's author/illustrator visits and residencies in urban schools. Each painting will illustrate a bit of wisdom, a proverb, or a "small Grace."
This month's painting (below), a lovely watercolor by Cadecott Honor winner Melissa Sweet, will be on auction beginning Monday, January 25 through Friday, January 29.
Melissa Sweet has illustrated over 70 children's books from board books to nonfiction and jacket covers. She has written and illustrated two books, Tupelo Rides the Rails, and Carmine: A Little More Red, a New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Book in 2005. Melissa illustrated A River of Words: The Story of William Carlos Williams by Jen Bryant, a 2009 Caldecott Honor book. When she is not in her studio, she can be found riding her bicycle in Rockport, Maine. Learn more about Melissa and her work at her website here.
Mice have been characters in many memorable children's books--Leo Lionni's Frederick, Stuart Little, Beverly Cleary's The Mouse and the Motorcycle, and picture books by Kevin Henkes--including Owen, Chrysanthemum, Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse, and Julius, the Baby of the World.
With cute little literary rodents in mind, I give you the following acrostic that I wrote many years ago.
Mitten-footed forager
Out on a midnight adventure,
Unheard, unseen, in the whisper-soft dark,
Scurrying about the house,
Eking out a meal.
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At Blue Rose Girls, I have Winter Dusk by Walter de la Mare.
Mary Ann's got the Poetry Friday Round Up at Great Kid Books today.
Read Jules’s reviews of some great new books at 7-Imp in her post Good picture book biographies start here. She’s included images of some fabulous illustrations along with her reviews, too! (2008)
Here’s a link to a post at the ESSL Children’s Literature Blog that presents selected books by notable African American authors: African American Children’s Writers.
From Wild Rose Reader Following are links to some of my previous posts at Wild Rose Reader that include recommendations and reviews of poetry books and picture book biographies for Black History Month:
Here is a cento I wrote in the voice of Harriet Tubman for Black History Month in 2008. In the cento, I used only the titles of books written by African American authors or books about the African American experience…with one exception—Come with Me, a book of poems that was written by Naomi Shihab Nye. (I’ve printed the book titles in italics in my poem.)
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A Cento for Harriet Tubman
by Elaine Magliaro
Hush,
My Brown Angels,
Listen to The Distant Talking Drum.
Hear it Spin a Soft Black Song
Under the Quilt of Night.
I’m Only Passing Through,
Goin’ Someplace Special…
To The Other Side
Where there’s A Sweet Smell of Roses
And Freedom Like Sunlight.
I’ve Seen the Promised Land—
A place for All the Colors of the Race.
Now Is Your Time
To be Freedom Walkers.
Follow me on The Road North
To Liberty Street.
Come with Me
To The Other Side
Where we will Make a Joyful Sound.
We will Lift Every Voice and Sing…
Sing to the Sun.
Sing Free at Last!
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THE BOOKS
Hush by Jacqueline Woodson
Brown Angels by Walter Dean Myers
The Distant Talking Drum by Isaac Olaleye
Spin a Soft Black Song by Nikki Giovanni
Under the Quilt of Night by Deborah Hopkinson
Only Passing Through by Anne Rockwell
Goin’ Someplace Special by Patricia C. Mckissack
The Other Side by Angela Johnson
A Sweet Smell of Roses by Angela Johnson
Freedom Like Sunlight by J. Patrick Lewis
I’ve Seen the Promised Land by Walter Dean Myers
All the Colors of the Race by Arnold Adoff
Now Is Your Time! by Walter Dean Myers
Freedom Walkers by Russell Freedman
The Road North by Bettye Stroud
Liberty Street by Candice F. Ransom
Come with Me by Naomi Shihab Nye
The Other Side by Jacqueline Woodson
Make a Joyful Sound: Poems for Children by African-American Poets edited by Deborah Slier
We've had quite a lot of snow so far this year up in my neck of the woods. I'm in winter mode. Here are some of my original poems about the season. Many have been posted at Wild Rose Reader before.
Haiku
After the blizzard snowmen are sprouting up like winter wildflowers
Sleet tap-dances on my roof, clicks its icy heels on my windowpane
Snowflakes fluttering from a wintry sky…a flock of white butterflies
With his frosty feet little mouse prints a message in the snow: Hello!
Like stars shaken from The sky, snowflakes whirling down In white galaxies
A snowman shadow
paints himself in blue upon
a cold white canvas
Two Quatrains
Snow dropped by… and here am I catching flakes of falling sky!
While I slumbered Through the night Winter turned My whole world white.
More Winter Poems
Winter Ballet
It’s white snow, Bright snow, Soft-as-feathers light snow… Tiny ballerinas there Pirouetting through the air With their shiny crystal shoes In their winter dance debuts.
Pond in Winter
The meadow pond lies silent, still… Sealed in tight by winter’s chill. A downy quilt of fallen snow Hides a cold, dark world below. I wonder all the winter through: “What do fish and turtles do?”
Winter White (Inspired by Joyce Sidman's Red Sings from Treetops.)
Winter White whirls in the wind, waltzes down from clouds, alights with feathered feet. It pillows the ground, muffling the sound of footsteps on the walk. Winter White wraps the rhododendron in a fluffy shawl, lays a feathered quilt over the frozen pond. Winter White etches windowpaneswith frosty fingertips. It whispers through icy lips, sounds like a ghost shivering in cold blue shadows.
Bedtime in Winter
Dark comes early. Night is long. Mommy sings A bedtime song. I am snuggled Down and deep Beneath soft covers. While I sleep, I have my teddy bear To hold. He keeps me warm When nights are cold.
Untitled (I have written many different versions of this poem over the years. I'm not sure I've got it right yet.)
Snow whisperd down so soft and light I didn't hear it come last night. A white coat covers everything-- The porch, the walk, my tire swing. My yard looks like a polar bear Wrapped up in her creamy hair... All snuggled warm inside her skin
That will not let the winter in.
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At Blue Rose Girls I have a poem by Sarah Orne Jewett titled A Country Boy in Winter.
So sorry I haven’t posted for over a week. I was in the White Mountains of New Hampshire for a few days saying goodbye to 2009 and toasting in the New Year with close friends. I didn’t have Internet access. I did have lots of great food, delicious bubbly, and plenty of good laughs while I was away.
This year I’m serving as a Round II Judge on the Cybils Poetry Panel. You can read more about the finalists here: Cybils Poetry Finalists 2009.
Click here to read my review of Red Sings from Treetops.
The Tree That Time Built: A Celebration of Nature, Science, and Imagination selected by Mary Ann Hoberman and Linda Winston, illustrated by Barbara Fortin
Click here to read my review of The Tree That Time Built.
I worked as an elementary school teacher for more than three decades and as a school librarian for three years. I also taught a children's literature course at Boston University from 2002-2008. I served on the advisory board of the Keene State College Children’s Literature Festival from 2006-2008 and as a member of the NCTE Poetry Committee from 2009-2012. "Things to Do," my first children's book, won the 2018 Margaret Wise Brown Prize in Children's Literature and a 2018 Ezra Jack Keats New Writer Honor Award.
I'll close this post with an original acrostic:
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