Blast from the Poetry Past: 1977

In 1977, the National Council of Teachers of English established the first award for poetry for young people with the NCTE Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children to honor a living American poet for his or her lifetime achievement in works for children ages 3–13. It is now presented every two years.

The first one was awarded to David McCord (Far and Few: Rhymes of the Never Was and Always Is, 1952) creator of “The Pickety Fence” and many other beloved poems.

All of the NCTE poetry award winners:

2011    J. Patrick Lewis
2009     Lee Bennett Hopkins
2006     Nikki Grimes
2003     Mary Ann Hoberman
2000     X. J. Kennedy
1997     Eloise Greenfield
1994     Barbara Esbensen
1991     Valerie Worth
1988     Arnold Adoff
1985     Lilian Moore
1982     John Ciardi
1981     Eve Merriam
1980     Myra Cohn Livingston
1979     Karla Kuskin
1978     Aileen Fisher
1977     David McCord


Contemporary Connections
The latest NCTE prize is going to the marvelous Joyce Sidman who has a new book coming out this fall that I am very very excited about:

Sidman, Joyce. 2013. What the Heart Knows: Chants, Charms & Blessings. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

And of course you know about her other wonderful works of poetry:

Just Us Two: Poems about Animal Dads
Eureka! Poems about Inventors
The World According to Dog: Poems and Teen Voices
Song of the Water Boatman and Other Pond Poems
Butterfly Eyes and Other Secrets of the Meadow
Meow Ruff: A Story in Concrete Poetry
This is Just to Say: Poems of Apology and Forgiveness
Red Sings From Treetops; A Year in Colors
Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night
Ubiquitous: Celebrating Nature’s Survivors

Posting by Sylvia M. Vardell © 2013. All rights reserved.

Image credits: classroom.jc-schools.net;HoughtonMifflinHarcourt