Flashback to the ALA Poetry Blast

Before the summer gets away from me, I wanted to post tiny video clips of the poets reading at the Poetry Blast at the ALA convention in San Francisco in June hosted by Marilyn Singer and Barbara Genco. It's always fun to hear poets read their own work aloud-- I never get tired of that. And if you couldn't join us, this is the next best thing-- if you'll forgive the mediocre skills and equipment used here. 

First up: Betsy Franco reading from her brand new book, A Spectacular Selection of Sea Critters (Millbrook Press). Here she reads her sea turtle poem.

 

Next, Nikki Grimes read from Poems in the Attic (Lee & Low Books). Here's one poem from the beginning of the book.

Then, Rebecca Kai Dotlich read selections from Grumbles from the Forest: Fairy Tale Voices with a Twist in collaboration with Jane Yolen (Wordsong/Boyds Mills Press). Here's the "troll" poem.

Marilyn Nelson was next, reading a selection from her memoir, How I Discovered Poetry (Dial).

Alma Flor Ada read an excerpt from Yes! We Are Latinos! co-authored with F. Isabel Campoy (Charlesbridge).

Then, F. Isabel Campoy read several poems from Poesia eres tu (Poetry is You) (Alfaguara). Here's just one.

Marilyn Singer wrapped it all up by reading a few selections from her book, A Strange Place to Call Home (Chronicle Books). Here's the final poem.

What a fun way to spend an hour, right? 

If you get to attend the ALA (American Library Association) conference NEXT summer (in Orlando), be sure to put the Poetry Blast on your schedule. It's usually held on Sunday afternoon and it's a wonderful gathering of poets and poetry lovers. See you there!

International Day of Friendship

I ran an errand this week and saw that school supplies are already on sale! I was both surprised that stores were already stocking school supplies AND excited to get a great price on new scissors, glue, and spiral notebooks! (I love school supplies even though I don't have young children in school any more.) I thought it might be fun to post a poem from our CELEBRATIONS book that is perfect for an upcoming holiday as well as back-to-school sharing. Did you that July 30 is the International Day of Friendship? That's one of the special occasions that we discovered when we created The Poetry Friday Anthology for Celebrations: Holiday Poems for the Whole Year in English and Spanish (2015). It's a United Nations celebration designed to encourage governments, organizations, and community groups to hold events, activities and initiatives that promote solidarity, mutual understanding and reconciliation. 

Here's a brand new poem from the CELEBRATIONS book, "How to Make a Friend," by Jane Heitman Healy that's perfect for celebrating this holiday-- and for kicking off a new school year, too-- in English AND Spanish, plus with the Take 5 activities for sharing this poem and linking with picture books and poetry books, too. Enjoy!

Now head on over to Reflections on the Teche where Margaret is hosting our Poetry Friday gathering. See you there!

Presenting at ILA on TRANSMEDIA

I'm heading to St. Louis for the International Literacy Convention this weekend. Formerly the International Reading Association, this big organization has also moved its annual conference from May to July, so it will be interesting to see the difference. I'm looking forward to seeing friends and presenting alongside Janet Wong, Rose Brock, and Cynthia Alaniz. Originally, Mary Lee Hahn was also supposed to present with us, but she needs to be with her mom-- which we understand completely. We'll miss her!

Our talk is on "transmedia" and how we can use all kinds of media alongside books in print to build literacy (Saturday, July 18, 3-4pm America's Center room 106). We'll be talking about social media, audiobooks, apps, ebooks, videos, games, cards, and more. Very cutting edge! And of course, we'll weave POETRY throughout all this too-- with poetry apps, ebooks, videos, games, etc. Here are just a few nuggets with a sneak preview from my part of our session.

Speaking of new media, Kimberley Moran is hosting Poetry Friday this week over at Google+. That's fun! See you there-- here's the link.