Friday, October 31, 2008

Poetry Friday Round Up for Halloween

Welcome to Poetry Friday and my poetry-only blog, PoetryforChildren. I’m honored to host this week’s Poetry Friday Round Up. Please leave a link in the comments area. I'll be rounding up throughout the day. Meanwhile, enjoy this poem for the day by Jane Yolen—I shared this one many year’s ago with my son’s fourth grade class and it was their absolute favorite!

The
Magic House
by Jane Yolen


We should have known when we tasted the eaves,

Breaking them off like toffee

And cramming them into our mouths.

And the dear little windows, the color of coffee,

And chocolate doorknobs,

And windowpanes striped with mint.

We should have guessed at the chimney smoke,

White marshmallow fluff.

Taken the hint

From the marzipan bricks

And the fenceposts made of bone rubble.

But it was only when we saw the witch

That we knew we were in deep, deep trouble.


From: Livingston, Myra Cohn, comp. 1989.
Halloween Poems. New York: Holiday House. This poem can also be found in Ms. Yolen’s own collection, Best Witches (Putnam, 1989). This poem appears here with the permission of the author. It is not to be published elsewhere without her express permission.

Check out all these poetry-loving blogs today:

Gregory K at Gottabook: An original Halloween poem

Monica Edinger: Five Poems by Nina Lindsay

Julie Larios: An ode to "Pencil Box"

Cloudscome: A review of Hip Hop Speaks to Children at A Wrung Sponge

Stacey at TwoWritingTeachers: At the Pumpkin Patch

Lisa Chellman at UndertheCovers: An original “Hobgoblins” poem

Jim Danielson: “The Halloween Spell”

Sara at ReadWriteBelieve: An original JPL, “Whatever Happened to Oliver Tooke?”

AuthorAmok: Some “Poe-etry” for Halloween

Mary Lee at AYearofReading: “Questionnaire”

Diane at TheWriteSisters: “Witches Chant” to read aloud

Kurious Kitty: “Theme in Yellow” by Carl Sandburg

Tricia at MissRumphiusEffect: “Apple” from Spooky ABC

Laura Salas: A video reading of her original poem

Jama Rattigan: Halloween memories and “Theme in Yellow”

Terry at Scrub-a-Dub-Tub: An original poem, “Ouch”

Janet: A Preamble video

Fiddler at AHabitofReading: A Lucy Maud Montgomery poem

Carol at Carol’sCorner: A “Black and Gold” chant

Jennifer Knoblock at InkforLit: “Cemetery Walk” for All Saints Day


Jone aka MsMac at CheckitOut: An original poem by Jessica, 5th grader

Elaine Magliaro at WildRoseReader: An original political list poem
and at BlueRoseGirls: "Halloween" written by Mac Hammond

John Mutford at BookMineSet: An eerie poem by Ardath Mayhar

Linda at WriteTime: A ghost villanelle

Tracy Marchini: Song lyrics from the Decemberists

Stenhouse Publishers: A classic by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Adrienne at WhatAdrienneThinksAboutThat: "Isabel the Brave" by Ogden Nash

Yat-Yee Chong
: "I would like to describe" by Polish poet, Zbigniew Herbert

Alkelda the Gleeful at SaintsandSpinners: A Jack-o'-lantern song with video

Nadine C. Warner at KiddosandBooks: W.S. Gilbert's "The Yarn of the Nancy Bell"

Tiel Aisha Ansari at KnockingFromInside: “Teacup”

Shelburns at WriteforaReader: “Haunted House” by Jack Prelutsky

Little Willow at Bildungsroman: SPOOKY lyrics by Classics IV

Liz in Ink
: A Frances Chesterton poem on Day of the Dead

Becky at Becky’sBookReviews: A snippet of Macbeth by Shakespeare

Becky at Farm School: Valerie Worth's "Pumpkin"

Alyssa at TheShadyGlade: “The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe

Lorie Ann Grover at OnPoint: An original haiku called “Crows”

Eisha at 7-Imp: One of Edgar Allan Poe's worst poems (IHO)

Kevin Conder: A video of a zombie reading haiku poetry

Susan at ChickenSpaghetti: Citing the witches from Macbeth

Miss Erin: Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken”

Sam Riddleburger: An oddball Halloween poem/riddle


Next week’s Poetry Friday round up will be at Check it Out.
In between, don’t forget to vote next Tuesday, Nov. 4.

Picture credits: http://kidslitinformation.blogspot.com/

50 comments:

Greg Pincus said...

I'm up with a repost of an original Halloween poem, cleverly called...

Halloween

Thanks for hosting!

Monica Edinger said...

Hi Sylvia, I've got a post about some poems of Nina Lindsay: http://medinger.wordpress.com/2008/10/31/five-poems-by-nina-lindsay/

Julie said...

Thanks for hosting, Sylvia. No Halloween poem today, but over at The Drift Record, I'm in with a love poem I wrote to my pencil box.
http://julielarios.blogspot.com/
Happy Halloween everyone and don't forget to vote on Tuesday! If you're not casting an absentee/mail-in ballot, go early to your polling place. There are long lines predicted, so be patient.

Andromeda Jazmon said...

Oooo I love that Yolan poem! Perfect for 4th grade cleverness.

I'm in this week with a review of Hip Hop Speaks to Children. Thanks for rounding us up!

Anonymous said...

I'm in with a Halloween Poem from a great book by Whitehead: http://twowritingteachers.wordpress.com/2008/10/31/poetry-friday-at-the-pumpkin-patch/. Thanks for hosting today Sylvia!

Anonymous said...

What a delightfully wicked little poem for Halloween! Thanks for it and for hosting, Sylvia.

My contribution is an original poem, "Hobgoblins."

Jim Danielson said...

I posted an original Halloween poem in honor of the day. Thanks for hosting.

http://jdwrites4kids.blogspot.com/2008/10/poetry-friday-halloween-2008-edition.html

Jim Danielson

Sara said...

J. Patrick Lewis has stopped by Read*Write*Believe today, with a treat: his Halloween poem, "Whatever Happened to Oliver Tooke?"

Author Amok said...

Happy Halloween, Sylvia!

I can't resist Edgar Allan Poe today. I'm in with his poem "Alone" and some news about a Baltimore vs. Philadelphia Poe smack-down.

http://authoramok.blogspot.com/2008/10/its-poe-etry-friday.html

Mary Lee said...

I have a poem that is neither for children nor for Halloween, even though I'll be spending the day with both!

http://readingyear.blogspot.com/2008/10/i-was-trying-to-find-poem-about-rewards.html

Diane said...

Hi Sylvia! Thanks for the sweetly evil Jane Yolen poem!

Janet of The Write Sisters invites readers to do a choral reading of the witches' scene from Macbeth. http://thewritesisters.blogspot.com/

KURIOUS KITTY said...

Kurious Kitty is in with Carl Sandburg's "Theme in Yellow." Thanks for hosting and Happy Halloween! http://kuriouskitty.blogspot.com/

Tricia said...

Hi Sylvia,
I'm in today with a poem from the book Spooky ABC.
http://missrumphiuseffect.blogspot.com/2008/10/poetry-friday-deadly-apple.html

Thanks for hosting. Happy Halloween!

Carol said...

I'm in with a little Halloween ditty that my kids have been chanting all week!

www.carolwscorner.blogspot.com

laurasalas said...

Thanks for rounding up, Sylvia. I'm in today with a low-budget video of me reading a scary poem from my Shrinking Days, Frosty Night.

http://laurasalas.livejournal.com/106751.html

And with 15 Words or Less poems at http://laurasalas.livejournal.com/106394.html

laurasalas said...

P.S. I love, love, love that Yolen poem. Terrific language...not cutesy at all!

jama said...

Hi Sylvia,
Today I have a pitiful Halloween tale from childhood and my favorite Halloween poem by Carl Sandburg, "Theme in Yellow." http://jamarattigan.livejournal.com/195374.html.

Thanks for hosting!

Terry Doherty said...

Hi Sylvia, Thanks for hosting. A muse struck me (or was it my foot?) as I was leaving the office yesterday. Here is an original poem

Ouch!

Anonymous said...

Hi, I have a non-Halloween post: http://writer2b.wordpress.com/2008/10/31/poetry-friday-the-preamble/

Thanks for hosting. Have a great day!

Christina said...

Today I'm in with a poem by Lucy Maud Montgomery with some great images to carry with you tonight if you're out with trick-or-treaters! Here at my blog, A Habit of Reading.

Thanks for hosting, Sylvia!

Christina said...

Hmm, the link for the poem didn't work. I'm trying again here.

Carol said...

I'm in with a little Halloween ditty that our kids have been chanting all week. I don't know why it's black and gold, instead of black and orange!



www.carolwscorner.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

Hi Sylvia, I've posted an original poem for All Saints Day.

"Cemetery Walk" at www.jenniferknoblock.wordpress.com

Anonymous said...

Thank you for rounding up. Here is mine: http://maclibrary.edublogs.org/2008/10/31/poetry-friday-fall/

Elaine Magliaro said...

Sylvia,

Thanks for doing the roundup this week--and Happy Halloween!!!

At Wild Rose Reader, I have an original political list poem about all the folks, including Joe the Plumber, who are out on the campaign trail.

http://wildrosereader.blogspot.com/2008/10/original-poem-whos-on-board-straight.html

At Blue Rose Girls, I have a poem entitled "Halloween" written by Mac Hammond.

http://bluerosegirls.blogspot.com/2008/10/poetry-friday-halloween-by-mac-hammond.html

John Mutford said...

Wow, and I thought I was early!

Here's my post. It's an eerie poem by Ardath Mayhar.

http://bookmineset.blogspot.com/2008/10/poetry-friday-ardath-mayhar-samhain.html

Linda said...

Thanks for hosting. I have a ghost villanelle at http://ldkwritetime.blogspot.com

Tracy Marchini said...

I have some song lyrics from the Decemberists up at http://www.tracymarchini.com/2008/10/poetry-friday-decemberists-engine.html

Thanks for hosting!

Anonymous said...

Here is our Poetry Friday entry by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Stenhouse Publishers

Anonymous said...

I have "Isabel the Brave" by Ogden Nash today: http://www.watat.com/archives/2008/10/aisabel_didnat.html.

Thanks for doing the roundup!

Yat-Yee said...

My contribution this week is a poem by Polish Poet, Zbigniew Herbert, titled, "I would like to describe."

http://yatyeechong.blogspot.com/

Saints and Spinners said...

Thanks for hosting and posting the Yolen poem. My offering is a Jack-o'-lantern song my daughter brought home from school. A video accompanies it so that you can hear the tune:
http://saintsandspinners.blogspot.com/2008/10/poetry-friday-jack-o-lantern.html

Saints and Spinners said...

Whoops, that cut off. Try this.

Unknown said...

I've got W.S. Gilbert's "The Yarn of the Nancy Bell" in honor of the most popular Halloween costume (including my own!)

http://kiddosandbooks.blogspot.com/2008/10/poem-yarn-of-nancy-bell.html

Tiel Aisha Ansari said...

Here's a original piece: Teacup

Shelly B said...

I'm up with Haunted House by Jack Prelutsky.

Little Willow said...

Happy Halloween! I posted SPOOKY lyrics by Classics IV over at Bildungsroman today!

Anonymous said...

I have a Frances Chesterton poem on Day of the Dead today! Thanks for hosting...

http://liz-scanlon.livejournal.com/89865.html

Becky said...

I'm in with a snippet of Macbeth by William Shakespeare.

Thanks for hosting!

Alyssa F said...

I've got a Halloween classic: The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe

http://theshadyglade.blogspot.com/2008/10/poetry-friday-raven.html

Thanks for posting!

Anonymous said...

Happy Halloween, Sylvia, and thanks for rounding up! I'm in with Valerie Worth's "Pumpkin" to celebrate the day...

http://farmschool.wordpress.com/2008/10/31/poetry-friday-the-scary-season/

Lorie Ann Grover said...

Hi, Sylvia. Thanks for hosting!

I have an original haiku for my On the Spot writing called

Crows

Thank you!

eisha said...

Hi, Sylvia! Happy Halloween, and thanks for rounding up today. 7-Imp is in with one of Edgar Allan Poe's worst poems (IMO).

http://blaine.org/sevenimpossiblethings/?p=1479#more-1479

Anonymous said...

I'm in with a zombie reading poetry.

Anonymous said...

What a crazy day! I am chiming in late, with a Halloween post citing the witches from Macbeth.

http://tinyurl.com/6mcuwn

Susan
Chicken Spaghetti

Erin said...

Thank you for hosting! I love the poem you posted.
Here's my contribution:
http://misserinmarie.blogspot.com/2008/10/road-not-taken.html

Sam said...

I'm in real late with a oddball halloween poem/riddle...
http://riddleburger.wordpress.com/2008/10/31/halloween-poetry-friday-annotated/

Sam Riddleburger

Sylvia Vardell said...

Thank you ALL for making my first Poetry Friday host experience fun and easy. What a treat to connect with each of you-- a perfect Halloween web of blogs!
Sylvia

David said...

Hi. I teach 4th grade here in Madison, Indiana. I spent a good amount of time browsing your site. Thanks for your words. My site has many issues like yours. I hope to come back soon and read more. Have a good day.

Anonymous said...

Wow!After read your poem "The Magic House" its nice.i think it will be a big hit with the kids & also all of age.