Ready for Spring? Celebrating Groundhog Day

I can't believe January is almost over, can you? Now that I've gathered my list of forthcoming poetry for young people this year, I'm working on getting my hands on the actual BOOKS! Hope to post more about them, the poets, and poetry news soon. Meanwhile, I thought it might be fun to stop and celebrate the upcoming Groundhog Day (I love that Bill Murray movie). So, here we go. The lovely, talented Jane Yolen wrote a poem specifically for Groundhog Day especially for our Poetry Friday for Celebrations.

And here are the Take 5 activities from the Celebrations anthology for sharing Jane's Groundhog Day poem.

You'll also find these two "poem postcards" at Pinterest here, along with hundreds of other poems in digital postcard form to share with young people.

Now I'm guessing that winter will be hanging around a bit longer, although our temps in Texas keep going up and down-- mostly up. But, when you're ready to think about spring, here's a list of poetry books all about spring (from my Poetry Teacher's Book of Lists).

Poetry Books about Spring

People often think poetry is all about springtime and daffodils and tulips—and not in a good way—but poetry can be about so many different topics. Of course poetry can also be about springtime and related topics, as the following book titles demonstrate. 

Adoff, Arnold. 1991. In for Winter, Out for Spring. San Diego, CA: Harcourt Brace.

Alarcón, Francisco X. 1997. Laughing Tomatoes and Other Spring Poems/Jitomates Risuenos y Otros Poemas de Primavera. San Francisco, CA: Children’s Book Press.

Blackaby, Susan. 2010. Nest, Nook & Cranny. Watertown, MA: Charlesbridge. 

Booth, David. 1990. Voices on the Wind:  Poems for All Seasons. New York: Morrow.

Brenner, Barbara. Ed. 1994. The Earth is Painted Green:  A Garden of Poems about Our Planet. New York: Scholastic.

Bruchac, Joseph. 1992.  Thirteen Moons on Turtle’s Back: A Native American Year of Moons. New York: Philomel Books.

Bruchac, Joseph. 1995. The Earth under Sky Bear's Feet: Native American Poems of the Land. New York: Philomel Books.

Esbensen, Barbara Juster. 1984. Cold Stars and Fireflies:  Poems of the Four Seasons. New York: Crowell. 

Fletcher, Ralph J. 1997. Ordinary Things: Poems from a Walk in Early Spring. New York: Atheneum.

Florian, Douglas. 2006. Handsprings. New York: Greenwillow.

George, Kristine O’Connell. 2004. Hummingbird Nest: A Journal of Poems. New York: Harcourt.

Harley, Avis. 2008. The Monarch’s Progress: Poems with Wings. Honesdale, PA: Boyds Mills/Wordsong.

Havill, Juanita. 2006. I Heard It from Alice Zucchini: Poems About the Garden. San Francisco: Chronicle Books.

Hopkins, Lee. Bennett. Ed. 2010. Sharing the Seasons. New York: Margaret McElderry.

Katz, Bobbi. Ed. 1992. Puddle-wonderful: Poems to Welcome Spring. New York: Random House.

Merriam, Eve. 1992. The Singing Green: New and Selected Poems for All Seasons. New York: HarperCollins.

Nicholls, Judith. 2003. The Sun in Me: Poems about the Planet. Somerville, MA:  Barefoot Books.

Oelschlager, Vanita. 2009. Ivy in Bloom: The Poetry of Spring from Great Poets and Writers of the Past. Ill. by Kristin Blackwood. Akron, OH: Vanitabooks.

Roemer, Heidi. 2009. Whose Nest is This? NorthWord.

Rosen, Michael J. 2009. The Cuckoo’s Haiku and Other Birding Poems. Ill. by Stan Fellows. Somerville, MA: Candlewick. 

Schnur, Steven. 1999. Spring: An Alphabet Acrostic. New York: Clarion.

Shannon, George. Ed. 1996. Spring: A Haiku Story. New York: Greenwillow.

Sidman, Joyce. 2006. Butterfly Eyes and Other Secrets of the Meadow. Ill. by Beth Krommes. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. 

Thomas, Patricia. 2008. Nature’s Paintbox: A Seasonal Gallery of Art and Verse. Minneapolis, MN: Millbrook Press.

Wolf, Sallie. 2010. The Robin Makes a Laughing Sound. Charlesbridge.

Yolen, Jane. 2002. Ring of Earth: A Child’s Book of Seasons. San Diego: Harcourt. 

Yolen, Jane. 2009. A Mirror to Nature. Ill. by Jason Stemple. Honesdale, PA: Wordsong/Boyds Mills Press. 

Zolotow, Charlotte. 2002. Seasons; A Book of Poems. New York: HarperCollins. 

NBGS List 2016
We're also so pleased to announce that The Poetry Friday Anthology for Celebrations was chosen for the 2016 list of Notable Books for a Global Society by the International Literacy Association! In fact, there were several books of poetry featured on their 2016 list, including: Drum Dream Girl by Margarita Engle, Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer by Carole Boston Weatherford, and Audacity by Melanie Crowder. For the complete list, click here.

***Now head on over to Reading to the Core where Catherine is hosting Poetry Friday.