Blast from the Poetry Past: 1981

Nancy Willard’s book, A Visit to William Blake’s Inn: Poems for Innocent and Experienced Travelers, was the first work of poetry for children to receive the Newbery medal from the American Library Association in 1981.

 

Contemporary Connections
Willard weaves together several poems to tell a story in picture book form. Multiple poems + one story line + fully illustrated = poem story picture book! That approach continues today with these contemporary examples.

1. Clifton, Lucille. 2001. One of the Problems of Everett Anderson. Henry Holt.
2. George, Kristine O’Connell. 2002. Little Dog and Duncan.  Clarion.
3. George, Kristine O’Connell. 2009. Emma Dilemma: Big Sister Poems. Clarion.
4. Greenfield, Eloise. 2011. The Great Migration: Journey to the North. Amistad/HarperCollins.
5. Grimes, Nikki. 2005. Danitra Brown, Class Clown.  Lothrop, Lee & Shepard.
6. Gunning, Monica. 2004. A Shelter In Our Car. Children’s Book Press.
7. Gunning, Monica. 2004. America, My New Home. Children’s Book Press.
8. Kobayashi, Issa. 2007. Today and Today. New York:  Scholastic.
9. Lewis, J. Patrick. 2009. The House. Illus. by Roberto Innocenti. Minneapolis, MN: Creative Editions.
10. Medina, Jane. 2004. The Dream on Blanca’s Wall. Boyd’s Mill Press.
11. Myers, Walter Dean. 2009. Amiri and Odette: A Love Story. Scholastic.
12. Prelutsky, Jack. 2008. Awful Ogre Running Wild. Greenwillow.
13. Raczka, Bob. 2010. Guyku: A Year of Haiku for Boys. Houghton Mifflin.
14. Rex, Adam. 2008. Frankenstein Takes the Cake. Harcourt Houghton Mifflin.
15. Sidman, Joyce. 2007. This is Just to Say: Poems of Apology and Forgiveness. Houghton Mifflin.
16. Singer, Marilyn. 2012. The Boy Who Cried Alien. Hyperion.
17. Wardlaw, Lee. 2011. Won Ton; A Cat Tale Told in Haiku. Henry Holt.
18. Weatherford, Carole Boston. 2006. Dear Mr. Rosenwald. Scholastic.

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

Image credits: Harcourt