Poetry for El Día de los Niños/El Día de los Libros

It’s hard to believe that it’s been ten years since the first celebration of El Día de los Niños/El Día de los Libros, (The Day of the Child/ The Day of the Book) on April 30, 1997, sprung from an idea that poet, author and literacy advocate Pat Mora had, and that REFORMA supported. It has since mushroomed into a grassroots effort on a national scale. And this year for the first time, a Día event is planned for the U.S. Senate. Senators will read to children from the nearby Oyster Bilingual School, ALSC President KT Horning and a representative from La Raza will speak, and children in attendance will receive goodie bags filled with books donated from publishers, plus bookmarks, stickers, and magnets.

Pat Mora continues her efforts as a literacy advocate in promoting El Día de los Niños/El Día de los Libros held every April 30th. Many of her own works are written in two languages (English interwoven with Spanish words and phrases), and in bilingual editions. She reflects her own feelings and experiences growing up in the Southwest in her poems in This Big Sky (Scholastic, 1998), creates rhyming ABC and counting books for younger children with ¡Marimba!: Animales from A to Z (Clarion, 2006) and Uno Dos Tres, One, Two, Three (Clarion, 1996), and writes for middle grade kids and teens with Confetti: Poems for Children (Lee & Low, 1996/1999), and My Own True Name: New and Selected Poems for Young Adults (Arte Publico Press, 2000). Mora has also created an anthology of poetry by other Latino/Latina poets in Love to Mama: A Tribute to Mothers (Lee & Low, 2001).

Start planning now for your own Día celebration for next April 30! Look for poetry that celebrates the unique cultures and languages in your own community. And for connecting with communities across the globe, look for these collections of poetry for young people by poets OUTSIDE our U.S. borders:

Agard, John and Grace Nichols, ed. 1994. A Caribbean Dozen: Poems from Caribbean Poets. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick.
Benjamin, Floella, comp. 1995. Skip Across the Ocean: Nursery Rhymes from Around the World. New York: Orchard Books.
Brenner, Barbara. 2000. Voices: Poetry and Art from Around the World. Washington, DC: National Geographic Society.
Cashman, Seamus, 2004. Something Beginning with P; New Poems From Irish Poets. O’Brien Press. (See entry for March 17)
Delacre, Lulu. 2004. Arrorró Mi Niño: Latino Lullabies and Gentle Games. New York:
Lee & Low Books.
Gunning, Monica. 1998. Under The Breadfruit Tree: Island Poems. Honesdale, PA: Boyds Mills Press.
Ho, Minfong. 1996. Maples in the Mist: Poems for Children from the Tang Dynasty. New York: Lothrop, Lee, & Shepard.
Lee, Dennis. 1999. The Ice Cream Store. New York: HarperCollins.
Mado, Michio. 1998. The Magic Pocket. New York: Margaret K. McElderry Books.
Nye, Naomi Shihab, comp. 1998. The Space Between Our Footsteps: Poems and Paintings From the Middle East. New York: Simon & Schuster.
___, comp. 1992. This Same Sky: A Collection of Poems from Around the World. New York: Four Winds Press.
___, comp. 1995. The Tree is Older than You Are: A Bilingual Gathering of Poems and Stories from Mexico with Paintings by Mexican Artists. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Orozco, Jose-Luis. 2002. Diez Deditos: Ten Little Fingers and Other Play Rhymes and Action Songs from Latin America. New York: Dutton.
Pomerantz, Charlotte. 1982. If I Had a Paka: Poems in Eleven Languages. New York: Greenwillow.
Prelutsky, Jack, comp. 1997. Dinosaur Dinner with a Slice of Alligator Pie: Favorite Poems by Dennis Lee. New York: Scholastic.
Rosen, Michael, comp. 1992. Itsy-bitsy Beasties: Poems from Around the World. Minneapolis, MN: Carolrhoda Books.
Schmidt, Annie M.G. 1981. Pink Lemonade: Poems for Children. Translated and adapted from the Dutch by Henrietta ten Harmsel. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.
Yolen, Jane. 2000. Street Rhymes From Around the World. Honesdale, PA: Boyds Mills Press.
For more suggestions, see also posts for April 2: International Book Day and Sept. 22: Poetry Around the World

Every poet is a big child.
And every child is a little poet.
Childhood is the poetry of life.
Poetry is the childhood of the world.
Boris Novak, Poet

[From: Kordigel, M. (1995). "Every poet a big child": The Slovene poet Boris A. Novak. Bookbird. 33, 1, 36-37.]

Picture credit: http://www.texasdia.org/

Children’s Poetry for National Garden Month

It’s spring time and April is also “National Garden Month.” Finding poetry for children on the topic of gardens is one way to celebrate the outdoors and help kids re-connect with the earth, plants, and growing things. Here are a handful of poetry books on the topic.


*Alarcon, Francisco X. 1997. Laughing Tomatoes and Other Spring Poems/Jitomates Risuenos y Otros Poemas de Primavera. San Francisco, CA: Children’s Book Press.
*Bruchac, Joseph. 1995. The Earth Under Sky Bear's Feet: Native American Poems of the Land. New York: Philomel Books.
*Brenner, Barbara. 1994. The Earth is Painted Green: A Garden of Poems about Our Planet. New York: Scholastic.
*Florian, Douglas. 2006. Handsprings. New York: Greenwillow.
*Havill, Juanita. 2006. I Heard It from Alice Zucchini: Poems About the Garden. San Francisco: Chronicle Books.
*Nicholls, Judith. 2003. The Sun in Me: Poems About the Planet. Barefoot Books.
*Shannon, George. 2006. Busy in the Garden. New York: Greenwillow.
*Wong, Janet. 2000. Night Garden: Poems from the World of Dreams. New York: Margaret K. McElderry (for a fun twist!).
*Yolen, Jane. 2000. Color Me a Rhyme: Nature Poems for Young People. Honesdale, PA: Wordsong/Boyds Mills Press.

And of course sharing garden poetry provides an invitation to children to DO some planting. As a classroom teacher, I found that planting seeds and seedlings and taking care of them was so rewarding for children. They enjoyed the physicality, as well as the responsibility, of the experience. Some schools even have garden plots for children to tend (and beautify the campus). Invite children to try out their green thumbs. Here’s a poem that does just that. Children can echo the lines or chant along.

Dig In
by George Shannon

Dig a little.
Dig a lot.
Dig a brand-new garden spot.

Plat a little.
Plant a lot.
Plant the seeds and bulbs you bought.

Wait a little.
Wait a lot.
Wait much longer than you thought.

Pick a little.
Pick a lot.
Share the best bouquet you’ve got!

From: Shannon, George. 2006. Busy in the Garden. New York: Greenwillow, p. 10

Match up garden poetry with many of Lois Ehlert’s wonderful graphic and rhyming picture books, including Growing Vegetable Soup (Harcourt Brace, 1987) and Planting a Rainbow (Harcourt Brace, 1988).

Picture credit: www.victoriana.ws

Birth date of poet Barbara Juster Esbensen

Poet Barbara Juster Esbensen was born on April 28, 1925, in Madison Wisconsin. She won the NCTE Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children for her body of work and the Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award for her book Dance with Me (HarperCollins, 1995), among other recognitions. Her poetry collections are strong in imagery, fresh perspective and a deft use of language. Her focus on animals and nature is particularly appealing in such books as Echoes for the Eye: Poems to Celebrate Patterns in Nature (HarperCollins, 1996), Who Shrank My Grandmother's House? Poems of Discovery (HarperCollins, 1992), and Words with Wrinkled Knees (Crowell, 1986). Esbensen offers a resource for adults who want additional insight in teaching poetry effectively entitled A Celebration Of Bees: Helping Children Write Poetry (Holt, 1995). For just a taste of her work, here is one poem I particularly like:

Final edition In the index
under D I N O S A U R
we find only
the out-of-print
bones

Once they were
a many-volume set TRICERATOPS
and BRONTOSAURUS lived there
TYRANNOSAURUS REX roamed
among the footnotes

In a back room
a few large books
remain spines broken
and faded paper torn
A few legbones lie
scattered among the gluepots
beyond repair

D I N O S A U R the ancient
lizard word without
a publisher copyright
expired

From: Esbensen, Barbara. 1986. Words with Wrinkled Knees. New York: Crowell.

Esbensen’s book, Words with Wrinkled Knees, is a creative exploration of both the WORDS as well as ATTRIBUTES of animals and animal names. For example, she imagines the giraffe in the library with the phrases “this word/ munches on the leaves/ of books lined up” and portrays the dinosaur with “out-of-print/ bones.” These library connections are especially fun and suggest activities such as posting animal poems near the animal books, looking for other places to connect with new animal creations, and creating new animal wordplays such as acrostics, crossword puzzles, and word scrambles.

Picture credit: www.solarnavigator.net