Thursday, September 19, 2013

THE MORTIMER MINUTE: A Guest Post by Janet Wong

Earlier this month children's author April Halprin Wayland invited me to follow her in a Children's Poetry Blog Hop. Welcome to another installment of the Children's Poetry Blog Hop, aka The Mortimer Minute!



Here’s How-to-Hop, “Mortimer Minute” style!
  • Answer 3 questions. Pick one question from the previous Hopper. Add two of your own. Keep it short, please! This is a Blog Hop, not a Blog Long Jump. This is The Mortimer Minute—not The Mortimer Millennium!
  • Invite friends. Invite 1-2 bloggers who love children's poetry to follow you. They can be writers, teachers, librarians, or just-plain-old-poetry-lovers. 
  • Say thank you. In your own post, link to The Previous Hopper. Then keep The Mortimer Minute going: let us know who your Hoppers are and when they plan to post their own Mortimer Minute.
Ready?

Mortimer: Is there a children's poem that you wish you had written? 
JW: “Puff” by Amy Ludwig Vanderwater. 

Mortimer: What do you have in your refrigerator?

JW: Yes, Mortimer: those ARE carrots you see there! Five pounds. Those carrots have been waiting for two weeks to get juiced. It will would be happening any day week now, except I’ll be on the road for two weeks (starting yesterday), speaking at conferences, attending book meetings, and visiting schools in Texas, Washington, and California. (Carrot $ has to come from somewhere.)

Mortimer: How can I (Mortimer) help you?
JW: In the kidlitosphere we have a thing called Poetry Friday. Bloggers put amazing posts up every Friday. A different host each week lists all these posts. I’m always enticed by a dozen posts but I rarely get around to reading more than 3. If I were to see “The Mortimer Minute” next to a couple of blogs next week, I would make a point of going there. You’d be giving me just the nudge I need. I mean, how could I NOT stop by a blog to visit you—for a minute?! 


My Mortimer Minute is almost up, so let me introduce the Hoppers who will follow me with The Mortimer Minute at their blogs next week!

Irene Latham writes middle grade novels and poetry for all ages. Her recent works were inspired by her childhood love for exotic animals: DON'T FEED THE BOY is about a boy who wants to escape his life at the zoo and DEAR WANDERING WILDEBEEST (2014) is a collection of poems set at an African water hole.


Renée M. LaTulippe
Renée M. LaTulippe writes children's poetry and is co-author of LIZARD LOU: A COLLECTION OF RHYMES OLD AND NEW and seven early readers for All About Learning Press. Her children's poetry blog at No Water River features poetry videos, poet interviews, extension activities, and other poetry goodies. 


That’s it for this week. Thanks, Mortimer!


14 comments:

Irene Latham said...

Oh, the badge turned out SO CUTE! Thank you, Renee & Janet & of course, Sylvia! I do like where your carrot $ comes from, JW. Keep doing what your doing! xo (wow, I am very exclamatory this morning. Mortimer does that to a gal. :)

Janet Wong said...

Yes, Irene, Mortimer is pretty handsome, isn't he? How does he keep those ears so clean?! Eager to see your Mortimer Minute next week!!!

Carmela Martino said...

I love the new and improved Mortimer, Janet, and the idea of taking a Mortimer Minute. :-) Wish I'd seen this before writing my own Blog Hop Post for today:
http://www.teachingauthors.com/2013/09/childrens-poetry-blog-hopping.html

Amy LV said...

I just want to hug Mortimer. Thank you for this minute, and for hopping along. I look forward to more hops and following Mortimer. Thank you, too, Janet, for your kind shout-out for "Puff". xo, a.

Janet Wong said...

Carmela: Love your Blog Hop Post! And I'm happy that you like the new Mortimer--credit for his new look goes to the amazing Renée LaTulippe!

Amy: I hope that lots of people watch your video reading of "Puff" and get inspired to go foraging in the woods this weekend!

Renee LaTulippe said...

Thank you, Sylvia, for hosting Mortimer and Janet today. And thanks to Janet for tagging me. I look forward to joining the hop next week!

I hope Mortimer takes off in leaps and bounds and brings new people to Poetry Friday. Let's all pass his handsome mug around FB, shall we?

Leslie Bulion said...

I'm thrilled to add Mortimer to my very bunny-themed month complete with the rescue of three newborn wild bunnies! Happy hopping!

Janet Wong said...

Leslie: you rescued 3 newborn wild bunnies this week? Oh, my: that sounds like a poem to me!!!

BJ Lee said...

Thanks for explaining the Mortimer Minute! and Dr. LaTulippe (has a nice ring to it) certainly did a good job on Mortimer! I have a friend who has two rabbits and a chinchilla living inside of her house. One of them, Marshall, is the biggest rabbit I have ever seen with long luxurious ears.

GatheringBooks said...

Hello there Janet, you have two beautiful lady guests here today. How nice! Enjoyed Mortimer too. :)

Tabatha said...

I have a similar bag of carrots in my fridge, which is also for juicing. (I do have a pet rabbit who is very fond of carrots, but even he can't eat that many!) Enjoy your trip!

Joanna said...

I am hopping with enthusiasm for Mortimer AND Janet!

Charles Waters said...

WONG (I mean) MORTIMER POWER!

Robyn Hood Black said...

Um, I'm a little late (completely crazy early fall), but I just wanted to give you time to get those carrots juiced. Thank you for sharing a peek inside your (extremely clean) fridge and your creative self! :0)