Guest Post: Lee Wardlaw on MY BOOK OF FIRSTS

I invited Lee Wardlaw to give us a sneak peek into her new poetry book, My Book of Firsts: Poems Celebrating a Baby's Milestones illustrated by Bruno Brogna and published by Red Comet Press. Lucky for us, she shares an interview led by fellow poet Kristine O'Connell George, author of Old Elm Speaks, Toasting Marshmallows, Little Dog Poems, Hummingbird Nest, Emma Dilemma, and many more. Here they dig deep into Lee's process in creating My Book of Firsts.

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KRISTINE: I admire how creatively and deftly you used off rhyme. Can you tell us more about how you construct your rhyme schemes?

LEE: Yikes. Couldn’t you start with an easier question, such as “What is your middle name?” (I’ve always hated it and don’t use it. I’ll give you a hint, though: it’s a palindrome.*)

As for rhyme schemes: First, I decide what the poem is going to be about. Then, with paper and pen, I brainstorm what sorts of things I want to say, possible ways to say them, who might say them, etc. And thenI scribble words or sounds or phrases that rhyme with the words and sounds and phrases I might use in the poem. I jot down true rhymes, off rhymes, internal rhymes; big words, little words, multisyllabic words. Everything. And when an inkling inkles, I use whatever paper is handy: notebooks, paper placemats, grocery store receipts, the back of a canceled check…

I used to have a rhyming dictionary, and I’d boost my brain with words from that; now I visit RhymeZone.com because it’s both a rhyming dictionary and a thesaurus – which is handy when I’m stuck for a rhyme and need to find a synonym that rhymes with more words than the original one did.

Sometimes my brainstorms are very neat. Other times – not. Doesn’t matter. The deeper and messier I get, the better the words are. I never want to use the first words/rhymes that come to my mind, because those tend to be cliched, predictable, ho-hum.

KRISTINE: The poems in MY BOOK OF FIRSTS are such fun to read aloud. Do you read your poems aloud as you are working?

LEE: Constantly (to the great frustration and confusion of my cats, who think me speaking aloud is a precursor to petting or feeding them). All poetry is meant to be read aloud. Sure, you may need to read poems silently in certain situations, but to get the full effect of the sounds, rhythms, the rhymes, you MUST hear them. A poem is learned best, understood best, enjoyed best, when read aloud. And, obviously, since babies can’t read, reading aloud is the only way to share the poems from my book!

Too, reading my work aloud helps me to hear mistakes: places where the meter and rhythm are off, where a line doesn’t flow naturally or doesn’t fit the expected pattern. I can also hear the places where I trip or stumble. And I can better hear if a word truly rhymes or if I’m simply forcing the word to rhyme. I once had a spat with an editor because I used the word ‘mirror’ as a one-syllable word, pronouncing it ‘mere.’ She said, “No, no, no. It’s TWO syllables. Mir-ror.”

I said, “But I pronounce it as ONE syllable.” Her response: “Doesn’t matter. Most people don’t. Choose a different end word.” That wasn’t so easy. I had to rewrite the entire stanza.

KRISTINE: You are a trained Montessori teacher. Did that experience influence this or your other books? If so, how?

LEE: I have a B.A. in Education and a public school teaching credential. But I’ve always been fascinated with Dr. Maria Montessori’s work, and my son attended an AMI Montessori school for 11 years. So at the tender age of 53, I went back to school to get my M.Ed. in Child Development and my Montessori certification for teaching at the primary level (ages 3-6). I didn’t intend to teach; I just wanted to write better books for children. What I learned is: From that first breath at birth to quasi-maturity at age 24 (okay, for some people, 42), children go through four stages of dramatic physical, intellectual, emotional, and psychological changes. Knowing what these changes are, and when and how they appear, has helped me to better choose age-appropriate themes, construct believable, authentic characters, and hook kid-readers from the first sentence. I know the difference between what kids find hilarious at six months and what cracks them up at age six – and 16! – and why. And I now know the important milestones they must reach in those first three years of life in order to build upon that knowledge, that development, as they grow. I teach workshops for writers about this. When you write for children and teens it’s crucial to know your audience. And for young readers, that means it’s hugely helpful to take crash course in child development.

KRISTINE: Designing your book as a keepsake was an inspired decision by your publisher, Red Comet Press. I can see MY BOOK OF FIRSTS being one that stays in a family for generations. What keepsakes did you keep (or wish you had kept) from your son‘s very early years?

LEE: I kept a lock of Patterson’s soft, wispy hair from his first haircut. I also kept his first tooth. True confession time: I kept all his baby teeth! Well, except for the one that popped out when he bit into his seat belt while we were on a ride. That tooth got lost somewhere in the crumb-y, dusty depths of his car seat. I kept the rest of his wee chompers in a small crystal jar with a sterling silver lid. My great-grandmother’s initials are engraved on the top. One day, when Patterson was 12 or 13, he found the jar and shook it. It made a faint chinka-chinka sound. “Hey, what’s in here?” he asked.

“Take a peek!”

He did. “WHAT the - - are those - - ?”

“Yep, your baby teeth!”

“Mom. MOM. That is just…GROSS.” 

He was so creeped out, and I was so embarrassed, that I threw them away. But I saved other ‘first’ items from his babyhood, like the remaining scrap of his favorite blankie. “Rag” is too good a word for it. But it’s poetry in cotton flannel to me. Oh! I also saved most of Patterson’s toothpaste collection. He started collecting tubes when he was two. (Don’t ask why. We don’t know.) Friends heard of his collection and brought tubes home from their travels. France. Israel. Mexico. Japan. China. Iceland. Patterson kept them in a container under his bed, so his room always smelled minty fresh. That story is going to be a picture book someday…”

KRISTINE: What question(s) do you wish someone had asked you? (Besides your preference for milk or dark chocolate?

Lee's first hat!

LEE: But dark chocolate is LIFE. And my favorite is: Trader Joe’s The Dark Chocolate Lover’s Dark Chocolate. It is The Best. 

But I wish someone had asked me about MY firsts. So here are a few: First Word: Kitty. First Cat: Pit-a-Pat. Got him when I was 7. First Haircut: Didn’t get one till I was 3. My mom said I was bald for a very long time. First Poem I Wrote: “The Midnight Ride of Mouse Revere.” (Refrain: “The Cats are coming! They Cats are coming!” ) First Hat: See picture  

>>> Thank you to Lee and Kristine for this fun look at the poet's process and the intersection of life and writing! Be sure to look for My Book of First's-- the perfect gift for a family expecting a new baby or for prompting older kids to learn more about their own arrival! 

Now let's meet up at Heidi's place, My Juicy Little Universe, for our Poetry Friday celebration. See you there!