April in Review + Kid Poetry

It’s May 1! Woo hoo! I promised a book-review-a-day for National Poetry Month and I can’t believe I delivered! That was exhausting and rewarding. And if you’re looking for info on new poetry for kids, here’s a summary of the poetry books I reviewed last month (followed by a poem by a nine-year-old from Poland!). Of course, I'll keep reviewing as I get my grubby paws on more new poetry books, but in the meantime, here's April in review(s):

April 30, 2009— Wright, Danielle (Ed). 2008. My Village; Rhymes from Around the World. Wellington, NZ: Gecko Press.
April 29, 2009— Katz, Bobbi. 2009. More Pocket Poems. Ill. by Deborah Zemke. New York: Dutton.
April 28, 2009— Carter, James and Denton, Graham. 2009. Wild! Rhymes That Roar. Ill. by Jane Eccles. London: Macmillan.
April 27, 2009— Myers, Walter Dean. 2009. Amiri & Odette: A Love Story. Ill. by Javaka Steptoe. New York: Scholastic.
April 26, 2009— Salas, Laura Purdie. 2009. Stampede! Poems to Celebrate the Wild Side of School! Ill. by Steven Salerno. New York: Clarion, p. 4-5.
April 25, 2009— Luján, Jorge. 2008. Colors! Colores! Translated by John Oliver Simon and Rebecca Parfitt. Ill. by Piet Grobler. Toronto: Groundwood.
April 24, 2009— Schmidt, Amy. 2009. Loose Leashes. Ill. by Ron Schmidt. New York: Random House.
April 23, 2009-- Salinger, Michael. 2009. Well Defined; Vocabulary in Rhyme. Ill. by Sam Henderson. Honesdale, PA: Wordsong/Boyds Mills Press.
April 22, 2009-- Ruddell, Deborah. 2009. A Whiff of Pine, A Hint of Skunk. Ill. by Joan Rankin. New York: Simon & Schuster.
April 21, 2009-- Argueta, Jorge. 2009. Sopa de frijoles/ Bean Soup. Ill. by Rafael Yockteng. Toronto, ON: Groundwood.
April 20, 2009-- Shahan, Sherry. 2009. Fiesta!; A Celebration of Latino Festivals. Ill. by Paula Barragan. Atlanta, GA: August House.
April 19, 2009-- Hoberman, Mary Ann. 2009. Strawberry Hill. New York: Little, Brown. [Not-poetry by a poet]
April 18, 2009-- Mecum, Ryan. 2008. Zombie Haiku. Cincinnati, OH: How Books.
April 17, 2009-- Oelschlager, Vanita. 2009. Ivy in Bloom. Ill. by Kristin Blackwood. Akron, OH: Vanitabooks.
April 16, 2009-- Florian, Douglas. 2009. Dinothesaurus. New York: Simon & Schuster.
April 15, 2009-- Agee, Jon. 2009. Orangutan Tongs; Poems to Tangle Your Tongue. New York: Disney-Hyperion.
April 14, 2009-- Lewis, J. Patrick. 2009. Countdown to Summer: A Poem for Every Day of the School Year. Ill. by Ethan Long. New York: Little, Brown.
April 13, 2009-- Hopkins, Lee Bennett. (Comp.) 2009. Incredible Inventions. Ill. by Julia Sarcone-Roach. New York: HarperCollins.
April 12, 2009-- Greenfield, Eloise. 2009. Brothers and Sisters: Family Poems. Ill. by Jan Spivey Gilchrist. New York: Amistad/HarperCollins.
April 11, 2009-- Hughes, Langston. 2009. The Negro Speaks of Rivers. Ill. by E. B. Lewis. New York: Disney-Hyperion.
April 10, 2009-- Hughes, Langston. 2009. My People. Ill. by Charles R. Smith Jr. New York: Simon & Schuster.
April 9, 2009-- Katz, Alan. 2009. Going, Going, Gone!: And Other Silly Dilly Sports Songs. Ill. by David Catrow. New York: Simon & Schuster.
April 8, 2009-- Wilson, Karma. 2009. What's the Weather Inside? Ill. by Barry Blitt. New York: Simon & Schuster.
April 7, 2009-- Fehler, Gene. 2009. Change-up; Baseball Poems. Ill. by Donald Wu. New York: Clarion.
April 6, 2009-- Maddox, Marjorie. 2009. Rules of the Game. Ill. by John Sandford. Honesdale, PA: Wordsong/Boyds Mills Press.
April 5, 2009-- Smith, Hope Anita. 2009. Mother; Poems. New York: Henry Holt.
April 4, 2009-- Lewis, J. Patrick. 2009. The Underwear Salesman: And Other Jobs for Better or Verse. Ill. by Serge Bloch. New York: Simon & Schuster/Atheneum.
April 3, 2009-- Zimmer, Tracie Vaughn. 2009. Steady Hands: Poems About Work. New York: Clarion.
April 2, 2009-- Franco, Betsy. 2009. Curious Collection of Cats. Ill. by Michael Wertz. San Francisco, CA: Tricycle Press.
April 1, 2009-- Heard, Georgia. 2009. Falling Down the Page; A Book of List Poems. New York: Roaring Brook.

However, it’s not Poetry Friday without an actual poem, so allow me to share another nugget I gleaned from that amazing trip to the Bologna Children’s Book Fair in Italy in March. I met a woman named Jet Manrho (based in the Netherlands) whose life’s work-- Poem Express-- is traveling the world conducting workshops with kids to promote poetry appreciation, poetry writing, and creating posters in response to poetry. AMAZING! She regularly publishes a full color poster-size book of their work, featuring original poems by kids from around the world. Each page is a poem poster with an original poem written by a child along with the art she/he creates to go with the poem. Each poem appears below the art in four languages (Dutch, English, French, German). It’s a collection of real quality and ingenuity.

I have Volume 15 which includes 110 poem posters in fourteen languages from 29 countries. I’d like to highlight this somewhat snarky poem by a 9-year-old Polish boy. I love the attitude!

Al span ik me nog zo in,
toch kan ik voor geen goud
een gedicht verzinnen.

No matter who hard I tried,
even if you paid me,
I could never write
a poem.

J’ai beau essayer
meme pour tout l’or du monde
je n’arriverai jamais
a inventer un poeme.

Auch wenn ich mich noch so anstrenge,
fuer kein Geld der Welt kann ich mir
ein Gedicht ausdenken.

by Piotr Sochaczewski, age 9, Poland
(Here is Piotr with his poster and poem!)

Poem Parade 1992-2006; Poster Book Poems by Children. ISSN 0926-3985; ISBN 90-73657-64-4, p. 16.


There are more opportunities for kids to continue participating on the Web, as well as more information about this very ambitious project! I thought this might be a particularly fun choice for today since our Poetry Friday Host is Allegro, an 11 year old poet herself. Thanks for hosting, Allegro.

Image credits: poem-express

Posting (not poem) by Sylvia M. Vardell © 2009. All rights reserved.