A Sneak Peek at My First Poetry Book, THINGS TO DO!

Yesterday, a package arrived in the mail. It was an advance copy of Things to Do--my first published book! I have waited a long, long time to hold a copy of it in my hands. It was such a wonderful experience--especially because my granddaughter Julia was with me when I opened the envelope. She sat beside me while I read it to her. I also read her the dedication: For three special ladies who bring joy into my life--my daughter Sara, and her daughters Julia Anna and Allison Mary.

Here are some photos that I took of my book:

Now...I just have to wait until February 7, 2017 when my book will be released by Chronicle Books.

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

Tara has the Poetry Friday Roundup at A Teaching Life.

DANDELIONS: A Mask Poem

 

I LOVE writing mask poems! It's fun pretending to be an animal, a plant, an element of nature, an inanimate object and speaking in a voice other than your own. I enjoy imaging what it might be like to be the sun or the moon, a lion or a grizzly bear, snow or the rain,  an evergreen tree in winter or a maple tree in autumn.

Years ago, I wrote a collection of animal mask poems (Voices All around Me)--which is still unpublished. Months ago, I decided to include some of those poems in a new seasonal collection of animal and plants that children often see/hear in their own environment--including spring peepers, honeybees, apple blossoms, ladybugs, a garden snake, earthworms, a mole, a maple tree, wild geese, snowshoe hare, a spruce tree, and a hibernating woodchuck.

The collection has received one rejection to date. I think I may try another publisher one day.

I thought I'd share Dandelions, one of the poems from that collection, this morning:

DANDELIONS

We go where WE want. We do as WE please.

We live without limits or boundaries.

Uplifting breezes carry our seeds

Hither and yon. YOU call us weeds!

We don’t grow in gardens. We live wild and free.

We’re independent. That’s how it should be.

********** 

Mary Lee has the Poetry Friday Roundup over at A Year of Reading. 

A Little Poetry News from Wild Rose Reader

I am happy to announce that I have poems that will be included in two upcoming anthologies:

One Minute till Bedtime: 60-Second Poems to Send You off to Sleep, edited by Kenn Nesbitt and illustrated by Christoph Riemann (Little, Brown)--which is due to be released this coming November...

and 

A Rocketful of Space Poems, edited by John Foster and illustrated by Korky Paul (Frances Lincoln Children's Books)--which will be published in February 2017.

I am looking forward to getting copies of both books. 

POETRY FRIDAY: Birds, a Nighttime Poem

Some time ago, I began working on a book of nighttime poems. Then I gave it up! I felt some of the poems seems a bit forced. Later, I put a more serious effort into a couple of other collections--one is a seasonal collection of mask poems told in the voices of told in the voices of plants and animals. The other is also a collection of mask poems that are told in the voices of a farmer and his wife, their domesticated animals, a few wild animals, the sun and the moon. I have tentatively titled it Farm Talk.


 Here is one selection from my collection of nighttime poems:

BIRDS

The birds outside have stopped their cheeping.

Now they’re in a tree top sleeping.

They’re fluffed up in a cozy nest…

Getting a good…

goodnight’s rest.

 **********

I also wrote a follow-up collection to my Things to Do book. The follow-up takes place on a winter day. I have sent both Farm Talk and Things to Do: Winter Poems off to publishers. I am hoping that at least one of them will be accepted for publication. I'm not getting any younger!

FYI: The new release date for Things to Do (Chronicle Books) is February 7, 2017. Note: I sold the manuscript in the fall of 2011. I hope I'm still alive when the book is published.

**********

Katie has the Poetry Friday Roundup at The Logonauts.

POETRY POTPOURRI—April 3, 2016

Spreading the Word: Poetsshare their love of language during school visits (School Library Journal)

In this article, three well-known children’s poets—Rebecca Kai Dotlich, J. Patrick Lewis, and Carole Boston Weatherford—talk about their school visits. They “reveal how some of the magic happens, what they hope to leave behind, and how much more they take back home with them.”

 Rebecca Kai Dotlich

 J. Patrick Lewis

 Carole Boston Weatherford

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

Rhyme & Reason: Celebrating NCTE’s 2016 Notable Poetry List (School Library Journal)

Every year, the members of the National Council of Teachers of English Excellence in Poetry for Children Award Committee compile an annotated list of the best children’s poetry books. For 2016, the members selected nineteen titles that would be excellent for teachers/librarians to share with their students and for parents to share with their children.

Click here to view a printable pdf version of the NCTE 2016 Notable Poetry Books of the past year.

******************** 

Here are two poetry videos that my granddaughter Julia loves to watch:

How Do I Love Thee?

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening