I have been thinking a lot lately about my dear
friend Lee Bennett Hopkins who passed away earlier this month. I've also been
thinking about all of Lee's poetry books that I have collected over the years.
I have dozens and dozens of them! I used his books often when I was teaching
elementary school. I treasure those books even more now that he is gone.
One of my favorite anthologies compiled by Lee came
to mind a few days ago. It's titled ON THE FARM. It's a thin volume of sixteen
poems that is beautifully illustrated by Laurel Molk. It was published by
Little, Brown in 1991. The book contains poems by some of America's finest
children's poets--including David McCord, Aileen Fisher, Lilian Moore, Myra Cohn
Livingston, Valerie Worth--and Lee Bennett Hopkins.
FOAL
by
Mary Britton Miller
Come
trotting up
Beside
your mother,
Little
skinny.
Lay
your neck across
Her
back, and whinny,
Little
foal.
You
think you're a horse
Because
you can trot--
But
you're not...
Click
here to read the rest of the poem.
LAWNMOVER
By Valerie Worth
The lawnmower
Grinds its teeth
Over the grass,
Spitting out a thick
Green spray;
Its head is too full
Of iron and oil
To know
What it throws
Away...
The lawnmower
Grinds its teeth
Over the grass,
Spitting out a thick
Green spray;
Its head is too full
Of iron and oil
To know
What it throws
Away...
Click here to read the rest of the poem.
PRAYER
By Myra Cohn Livingston
Thank you for the sun,
the sky,
for all the things that like to fly,
the shining rain that turns grass green,
the earth we know --
the world unseen...
Thank you for the sun,
the sky,
for all the things that like to fly,
the shining rain that turns grass green,
the earth we know --
the world unseen...
Click here to read the rest of the poem.
THE COW
By
Robert Lewis Stevenson
The friendly cow all red and white,
I love with all my heart:
She gives me cream with all her might,
To eat with apple-tart.
She wanders lowing here and there,
And yet she cannot stray,
All in the pleasant open air,
The pleasant light of day...
I love with all my heart:
She gives me cream with all her might,
To eat with apple-tart.
She wanders lowing here and there,
And yet she cannot stray,
All in the pleasant open air,
The pleasant light of day...
Click
here to read the rest of the poem.
FAMILIAR
FRIENDS
By
James S. Tippett
The
horses, the pigs,
And
the chickens,
The
turkeys, the ducks
And
the sheep!
I
can see all my friends
From
my window
As
soon as I waken from sleep.
The
cat on the fence
Is
out walking.
The
geese have gone down
For
a swim.
The
pony comes trotting
Right
up to the gate;
He
knows I have candy
For
him...
Click
here to read the rest of the poem. (NOTE: You will have to scroll down a page as
the link takes you directly to a poem by Elizabeth Coatsworth.)
By David McCord
The pickety fence
The pickety fence
Give it a lick it's
The pickety fence
Give it a lick it's
A clickety fence
Give it a lick it's
A lickety fence...
The pickety fence
Give it a lick it's
The pickety fence
Give it a lick it's
A clickety fence
Give it a lick it's
A lickety fence...
Click here to read the rest of the poem.
Lee
opened ON THE FARM with his own poem titled HELLO, FARM.
HELLO,
FARM
By
Lee Bennett Hopkins
Hello,
ducks,
chickens,
cows.
Hello,
hen house,
stable,
barn.
Hello,
woodpiles,
silo,
swing.
Hello,
hello,
everything.
I
used Lee's poem as a model for the following poem that I wrote in his memory.
HELLO,
POETRY
By
Elaine Magliaro
Hello,
children,
library,
books.
Hello,
reading
in
cozy nooks.
Hello,
meter,
rhythm,
rhyme.
Hello,
poetry
all
the time!
Kathryn
Apel has the Poetry Friday Roundup this week.