New Review: DIAMOND WILLOW

I’ve written about Helen Frost’s poetry several times in the past:
• I wrote about her Printz honor book Keesha’s House and her use of the sonnet form on April 23, 2007 in Happy birthday, Mr. Shakespeare
• And about one of my favorite books of 2006, her wonderful novel in verse, The Braid on July 19, 2006
• And again last fall, when she read from her latest book at the Nov. 23, 2007 Poetry Blast at the NCTE convention in New York.

Now I’d like to herald the arrival of that new book, Diamond Willow (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2008). The twelve-year-old protagonist and narrator, Willow, lives in a small town in the interior of Alaska where frequent snow, bitter cold, and dogsledding are all a part of daily life. Her story unfolds in a series of diamond shaped poems created by Frost to echo the (diamond shaped) scarred wood of a tree that grows in northern climates. Interspersed between the diamond poems are brief vignettes from the perspectives of her animal ancestors that add an element of magical realism. Willow’s journey is both physical, as she proves her strength and independence, as well as emotional, as she copes with secrets and changes that come her way.

The look of the book with diamond poems on opposing pages is quietly pleasing and the tone of the telling is oddly stirring. There are many layers here in this gentle coming-of-age story for the young reader to return to again and again—in the form, as well as in the characters. My favorite poem is the final one, but I decided I couldn’t share it, since it’s a bit of a “spoiler” if you haven’t read the whole book. So, here’s another nugget that reflects Willow's growing wisdom:





















From: Frost, Helen. 2008. Diamond Willow. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, p. 87.

For much more on Diamond Willow, check out the author’s Web site.

And for more about Helen and her work, allow me to plug the entry about her in my book, Poetry People. Here’s an excerpt:

Helen Frost was born in Brookings, South Dakota on September 3, 1949, one of ten children. She earned her bachelor’s degree at Syracuse University in New York and her master’s degree from Indiana University. She is married and the mother of two sons. She has worked as a teacher in Scotland, Alaska, and Indiana and has long been involved in the YWCA and teen youth groups. She lives in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and her hobbies include hiking, cross-country skiing, kayaking, and raising and releasing monarch butterflies. Frost earned the prestigious Michael Printz honor distinction from the American Library Association for her first book of poetry for young people, Keesha's House. She has authored a play and a screenplay, as well as a resource book for adults who work with teen writers, When I Whistle, Nobody Listens: Helping Young People Write about Difficult Issues (Heinemann 2001). Frost is also a prolific author of nonfiction series readers for young readers reflecting her interest in science and biology.

One of the most outstanding features of Foster’s work is her creative use of poetic form in each of her books. This includes haiku, blank verse, sonnets, sestinas, rondelets, acrostics, and more. And she includes explanatory notes on these forms and her reasoning for choosing them for each book. Aspiring writers and poets may enjoy exploring this aspect of her writing in particular. If so, additional guidance and worksheets for trying different poetic formats are available on Foster’s personal web site. Children who want to read more works like Frost’s may enjoy exploring the poetry of Craig Crist-Evans, Karen Hesse, and for older readers, Marilyn Nelson.

ALSO THIS WEEK: Happy new CHILDREN'S BOOK WEEK: May 12 – 18, 2008.

Join the rest of the Poetry Friday Round Up at Two Writing Teachers.

Picture credit: http://www.helenfrost.net/

Happy Limerick Day!

Today, May 12, is Limerick Day, in honor of the birth of Edward Lear, the man who popularized the limerick poem with his own self-illustrated collection, the Book of Nonsense (1846). Limericks for adults are often bawdy verses or songs, but limericks for children are usually just humorous or even outrageous story-poems. There are several teaching resources available on the topic of writing limericks with kids including Poetry-online and Giggle Poetry.

Here are a few, fun original limericks by master punster, J. Patrick Lewis in honor of the day. Enjoy!

Limb-ericks: Hip Verses
All by J. Patrick Lewis (used with permission)

The Skin
Now a snake who’s about to begin
Climbing out of his ugly old skin
Has the grin of a winner—
It’s “in” to be inner
And out of the outer he’s in.

The Hump
In the desert a camel was minus
A passenger, His Royal Highness.
The King loved the humps
But the bumpety-bumps
Left him down in the dumps and the dryness.

The Nose
The bat clings to the ceiling above,
Wrapped in wings like a hand in a glove,
Too afraid to expose
To his neighbors a nose
That only a mother could love.

The Neck
According to Good Gnus Reporter,
The Giraffe used to be a lot shorter
Till a bird in the trees
Said, “Get up off your knees!”
Said Giraffe, “That’s a very tall order.”

The Arm
To an Octopus luncheon for nine,
The comrades-in-arms come to dine.
But when hugging each other—
What suckers, oh brother!—
They look like a great ball of twine.

The Antler
The Moose suffers pain and distress
If a hat is hung on his headdress.
His horns were intended
For something more splendid—
But what it is no one can guess!

Note: The limericks are forthcoming in J. Patrick Lewis's Countdown to Summer: A Poem for Every Day of the School Year, Little, Brown, (Spring 2009). I can’t wait to see this book! I’ve been working on my own project matching poems to events for each day of the year, so this should be a terrific resource. A similar approach is the fantastic, Days to Celebrate: A Full Year of Poetry, People, Holidays, History, Fascinating Facts, and More by Lee Bennett Hopkins (New York: Greenwillow, 2005).

For more limericks, there’s always Edward Lear’s Book of Nonsense, of course, plus these gems:
Ciardi, John. 1992. The Hopeful Trout and Other Limericks. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
Kennedy, X.J. 1997. Uncle Switch: Loony Limericks. New York: Margaret K. McElderry.

For a wonderful poem tribute to Lear himself, check out:
Lewis, J. Patrick. 1998. Boshblobberbosh; Runcible Poems for Edward Lear. Mankato: Creative Editions; San Diego: Harcourt.

Picture credit: www.dkimages.com

New BOOK LINKS Poem Feature

Please allow me to plug my “Everyday Poetry” column once again, since the May issue of Book Links just came out this week. This time, I’ve focused on “Blue Ribbon” poetry, looking at the many poetry books that won major awards this year including the Newbery, Printz honor, Coretta Scott King honors, Pura Belpre and Schneider awards, and of course, the brand new Odyssey Award. (And just last week, Pat Mora’s lovely book, Yum! ¡Mmmm! ¡Qué Rico! Americas’ Sproutings, Lee & Low, 2007, won the Americás award.) I’ve written about this before, but I don’t think I mentioned all the poetry titles that also appeared on some of the ALA “best” lists this year. Another dozen poetry books and novels-in-verse made the lists of 2008 Notable Children’s Books, Best Books for Young Adults, and Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers, including:

• Blue Lipstick: Concrete Poems by John Grandits (Clarion, 2007)
• Chess Rumble by G. Neri (Lee & Low, 2007)
• Frida: ¡Viva la vida! Long Live Life! by Carmen T. Bernier-Grand (Marshall Cavendish, 2007)
• Glass by Ellen Hopkins (Simon & Schuster/Margaret K. McElderry, 2007)
• Good Sports: Rhymes about Running, Jumping, Throwing, and More by Jack Prelutsky (Knopf, 2007)
• Here’s a Little Poem: A Very First Book of Poetry edited by Jane Yolen and Andrew Fusek Peters (Candlewick, 2007)
• Miss Crandall’s School for Young Ladies and Little Misses of Color by Elizabeth Alexander and Marilyn Nelson (Boyds Mills/Wordsong, 2007)
• Tap Dancing on the Roof: Sijo (Poems) by Linda Sue Park (Clarion, 2007)
• Today and Today by Issa Kobayashi (Scholastic, 2007)
• Tough Boy Sonatas by Curtis L. Crisler (Boyds Mills/Wordsong, 2007)
• What My Girlfriend Doesn’t Know by Sonya Sones (Simon & Schuster, 2007)
• Yum! ¡Mmmm! ¡Qué Rico! Americas’ Sproutings by Pat Mora (Lee & Low, 2007)

Isn't it exciting to see so many poetry books get this recognition? Finally, beginning this month, my “Everyday Poetry” column will also feature an original poem by a children’s poet alongside my short article. This month, it’s “Keep a Pocket in Your Poem” by J. Patrick Lewis, inspired by Beatrice Schenk de Regniers’ poem “Keep a Poem in Your Pocket.” Thanks, Pat! Readers may reproduce this poem for noncommercial educational purposes, as long as the author and Book Links are credited. The downloadable poem is available here. Enjoy!

Join the rest of the Poetry Friday Round Up at Wrter2b.

Picture credit: ALA Book Links

Revising and Recycling Poetry

This time last week, poet Janet S. Wong allowed me to share her poem, “The License Plate Game” in honor of the first minting of license plates in the U.S. However, not only did she allow me to post her poem, she encouraged me to share SEVEN different versions of the poem she had contemplated. Then several of you responded with interesting observations (Emily, Cloudscome, and Linda). Well, to top it off, Janet invited some of her poet-friends to comment on the different versions and and several took her up on her offer, including J. Patrick Lewis, Lorie Ann Grover, Rebecca Kai Dotlich, Marilyn Singer, Alice Schertle. Check out the comments area for April 25, 2008. Finally, Janet offered yet another revision of her poem based on all this collective input (posted in the Comments area). HOW COOL IS THAT?



And just for fun, I’ll post a fresh poem by Janet from an older collection I love (A Suitcase of Seaweed) .




Poetry
by Janet S. Wong

“What you study in school?” my grandfather asks.

“Poetry,” I say, climbing high to pick a large ripe
lemon off the top limb.

“Po-tree,” he says, “It got fruit?”

From Wong, Janet S. 1996. A Suitcase of Seaweed, and Other Poems. New York: Margaret K. McElderry Books, p. 18.

Thank you, Janet, for all you do for poets and poetry and kids!

For the rest of the Poetry Friday Round Up, go to Big A, little a. Thanks for hosting, Kelly!

Picture credit: www.wildcrafted.com.au

Happy El Día de los Niños/El Día de los Libros

Today is El Día de los Niños/El Día de los Libros also known as Children's Day/Book Day. For the annual April 30th celebration, both the Reading Rockets and Colorin Colorado Web sites are offering suggestions for library and classroom activities. The Association for Library Service to Children also lists Día events around the country. As the national home of Día, one of the things ALSC does is to provide a database where people can enter their Día events and/or see what else is going on near them and anywhere in the nation. It's wonderful to see everything that's going on, and to see how this initiative, originally conceived by Pat Mora, with REFORMA as a founding partner, has caught on and grown in the past 12 years.

In addition, Pat Mora, the Grande Dame of Día has established her own blog now-- ShareBookJoy-- which is a wonderful resource on Día and so much more. Pat is a gem and a giant, a force to be reckoned with, and an author, poet and advocate with a gift for storytelling AND empowerment. Be sure to check out her Web site, too.

In honor of Día, I would like to mention a new poetry collection just published by Bloomsbury: Come and Play, Children of Our World Having Fun. The poems are written by children under the guidance of their teacher, Ayana Lowe, in response to photographs that are provided by Magnum Photos, the “most highly celebrated photographic collective in the world.” The images of children come from around the world and from over the last 50 years. Thumbnails, captions, and maps in the backmatter let the reader know a bit more about each photograph. And the poems reflect the clever word coining and fresh abruptness of children’s language. Here’s one example:

A Tight Squeeze
(Accompanying a photo of a crowded beach scene in Wonsan City, North Korea, 1982)

Wet and happy.
The beach is hot.
I’ve saved you a spot.

From: Lowe, Ayana. Ed. 2008. Come and Play; Children of Our World Having Fun. NY: Bloomsbury.

Individual poets are not named, which gives the reader the impression of a collective voice of childhood speaking. (Their energetic signatures cover the end pages!) The oversized format juxtaposes a poem in a large colorful font on a black background on the left with a full-page black and white or color photograph on the right. Very dramatic and accessible. And I love the opening page featuring this quote from Poet Laureate Rita Dove:

“I think all of us have moments,
particularly in our childhood,
where we come alive,
maybe for the first time.
And we go back to those
moments and think, ‘
This is when I became myself.’”

It begs for imitation—gathering photographs from family, magazines, or the Web to prompt children’s own writing, and then creating their own collective books of poetry and pictures.

Happy Día!

Picture credit: http://sharebookjoy.blogspot.com and Amazon.

A Poem for Arbor Day

Most states celebrate Arbor Day at some point in April, although the actual date varies somewhat. Arbor Day was started in Nebraska by J. Sterling Morton. Morton missed the trees he had known when he lived in Detroit, so he decided to start planting trees at his new home. In honor of the day, here’s a “tree” poem by Aileen Fisher.

Let’s Plant A Tree
by Aileen Fisher

It’s time to plant a tree, a tree.
What shall it be? What shall it be?

Let’s plant a pine—we can’t go wrong:
a pine is green the whole year long.

Let’s plant a maple—more than one,
to shade us from the summer sun.

Let’s plant a cherry—you know why:
there’s nothing like a cherry pie!

Let’s plant an elm, the tree of grace,
where robins find a nesting place.

Let’s plant an apple—not too small,
with flowers in spring and fruit in fall.

Let’s plant a fir—so it can be
a lighted outdoor Christmas tree.

Let’s plant a birch, an oak, a beech,
there’s something extra-nice in each…
in winter, summer, spring or fall.
Let’s plant a …

why not plant them ALL?

From: Hopkins, Lee Bennett, Ed. 1992. Ring Out, Wild Bells: Poems About Holidays And Seasons. San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.

*Invite the kids to cheer the words "Let's plant" at the beginning of each stanza; with practice, pairs of kids can each read aloud their own stanza; or create a paper version of pine, maple, cherry, elm, apple, fir and other trees mentioned in the poem and use them as "props" for the read aloud.

Happy Arbor Day!
And for a listing of more "tree" poems, check out my entry for April 22, 2007.

Picture credit: media.collegepublisher.com and thanks to Nora Sanchez for poem-finding.

New Now: A CROSSING OF ZEBRAS

I have always loved collective nouns—those interesting labels that describe groups of things, like “a pride of lions.” I think it’s fascinating to see the connection between the label and the attributes or behaviors of the item, object, or animal. Apparently, I’m not alone. Poet and professor Marjorie Maddox shares my fascination and has created 14 new poems centered around this notion in her 2008 book, A Crossing of Zebras; Animal Packs in Poetry. The table of contents says it all:

A Rumba of Rattlesnakes
A Tower of Giraffes
A Pounce of Alley Cats
An Army of Ants
A Murder of Crows
A Cartload of Monkeys
A Leap of Leopards
A School of Fish
A Crossing of Zebras
A Band of Coyotes
A Scurry of Squirrels
A Pride of Lions
A Crash of Rhinos
A Charm of Butterflies

Maddox uses a variety of poetic forms to capture the characteristics of the animal or the humor in the label, with rhymes, rhythms, and strong sound qualities that are pleasing to the ear. Here’s one example:

A School of Fish
by Marjorie Maddox

A school of fish reads in my swimming pool,
reciting ABCs and golden rules
(look both ways, be nice, no ocean duels).
They know it all—mountains to molecules:
T. rex, magic, Minotaurs, toadstools,
volcanoes, vipers, tricks for April Fool’s,
Egyptian mummies, pirates and their jewels,
strange flying saucers, robots, ghosts and ghouls.
Their dictionaries float, Old Mother Goose
quacks her rhymes and rhythms; it’s so cool
I’m signing a petition at my school—
let’s hold class every summer at the pool.

From: Maddox, Marjorie. 2008. A Crossing of Zebras; Animal Packs in Poetry. Illus. by Philip Huber. Wordsong/Boyds Mills Press, p. 19.

Philip Huber’s scratchboard illustrations add a strange and electric quality to the poems and a “Note from the Author” provides insight into the fascinating, less-than-scientific process used for coining collective nouns. Related books (like Ruth Heller’s A Cache of Jewels) and Web sites are suggested, as an extra bonus. Check it out!

Picture credit: Amazon