More poetry at USBBY

The recent USBBY/IBBY conference in St. Louis had an amazing line up of authors and illustrators who presented-- I wish I could share them all. But let me feature two more: Ashley Bryan and Pat Mora who opened up the conference. They were also the collaborators for the beautiful poster and poem for International Children's Book Day (ICBD)-- which is a very big deal in many countries around the world, but oddly, not so much here in the U.S. Countries within IBBY submit proposals for the honor of creating the annual ICBD poster and this year it was our turn (USBBY). It's gorgeous, don't you think?

And this poem has been displayed all around the world as people celebrate books, kids, and reading worldwide. 

Ashley Bryan created the art for this beautiful poster and kicked off the conference with his big heart, beautiful spirit, and an inviting recitation of many poems, focusing on what he called "vocal play." Here's just ONE poem moment he shared with us ("My People" by Langston Hughes).

Click here.

Next, it was such a treat to hear from Pat Mora, the author and poet who created the "theme" poem for the ICBD poster. She challenged us to think about including ALL the kids and families who are hungry for literacy in our plans and activities and ended with a reading of the "Bookjoy" poem featured on the poster. Pat coined that perfect word, "Bookjoy," and it was the theme of our conference, too. Enjoy!

Click here.

And just for fun...