Another p-trailer

Here's a clever "movie" trailer showcasing a poetry book. It features A Curious Collection of Cats by Betsy Franco (Tricycle Press, 2009) and incorporates music by Doris Day, voiceovers by children, and great cat images. Enjoy this creation by Diana Ellis, another awesome Texas librarian!

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Posting (not project) by Sylvia M. Vardell © 2010. All rights reserved.

Poetry Book Digital Trailers #1

I’m trying something new with my children’s literature courses and my students have produced some amazing projects! I’ve encouraged them to create digital trailers or mini movies to promote interest in reading—a kind of video booktalk. I know these are gaining in popularity, particularly among teens and tweens, but I rarely find them made for works of POETRY. So… I’m happy to report I have some wonderful examples to share (with their permission) of original poetry book digital trailers. Here’s the first one created by librarian Shante Clark-Davis for the book, The Poet Slave of Cuba by Margarita Engle.



Isn’t it powerful and personal? With her own original voiceover chanting and storytelling, along with photos of her own family, Shante has captured the tension and spirit of Engle’s incredible novel in verse, while connecting with her own family history, too. Shante writes, “95% of the pictures I used are pictures of my family (My maternal grandparents, great grandparents, and my great aunt). My grandfather was a sharecropper turned fruit preservationist and the images are of his land. After reading THE POET SLAVE OF CUBA, I could remember my grandfather's stories. So, I ran to my photo album. I took the pictures of his land and my mother's old high school. (Other images of the plantation home, the young boy with his mom, and the statue are from Creative Commons.) … I've been brainstorming ideas for encouraging my students to create book trailers and projects of their own in relation to Texas curriculum.”

Go, Shante! I hope to share more student poetry trailers soon, too. Enjoy!

Posting (not trailer) by Sylvia M. Vardell © 2010. All rights reserved.

Poetry Potpourri

I thought I’d take a moment to share a pile of miscellaneous poetry news that I’ve collected recently. Just FYI…

***Paul Kelsey has created Launch Pad, an online publishing venue for young people. He writes, “We publish works selectively from young authors, and then invite young artists to illustrate our stories and poems.”

***Check out Steven Withrow’s The Feather of Memory, his first experiment in writing a short novel in verse for young adults at his blog, Crackles of Speech. He bills this work as “a time-travel science-fantasy adventure for young adults told in blank verse.” He notes that “the main narrative is written in blank verse -- unrhymed iambic pentameter -- and each installment includes an audio file of me reading the poem aloud.”

***Singer Natalie Merchant’s new album, Leave Your Sleep pairs lyrics from near-forgotten 19th-century poetry with evocative melodies delivered in her unmistakable voice. Check out a clip of her performing here. In a similar vein, folk musician Kris Delmhorst took various works from well known poets and put them to music (some of them altered slightly).

***GPR Records released Poetic License, a three-CD set that features 100 poems performed by 100 famous names. (The disc is also available on Amazon and iTunes.) Each star picked a favorite poem to read on the spoken-word compilation, including Lewis Carroll’s “The Walrus and the Carpenter” (Jason Alexander), Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s “The Day Is Done” (Florence Henderson), Emily Dickinson’s “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” (Kate Mulgrew), and Edward Field’s “New Yorkers” (Paige Davis). Here’s a clip of Cynthia Nixon reading “Vespers” by A.A. Milne.

***HarperCollins Children's Books has announced the fall 2011 release of a collection of never-before published Shel Silverstein poems and illustrations. Not yet titled, the book will share the same format as the late author's previous poetry collections, Where the Sidewalk Ends, A Light in the Attic, and Falling Up. Senior executive editor Antonia Markiet is currently working with Silverstein's family to select poetry and artwork for the new collection, which she says "will contain between 120 and 130 poems, in line with Shel's previous three poetry collections."

Happy Poetry Friday!

Posting (not poem) by Sylvia M. Vardell © 2010. All rights reserved.

Image credit: theblueberrypatch.co.uk