Joyce Sidman at the Kerlan

I’ve been honored to spend a week at my alma mater (I earned my PhD at the University of Minnesota in 1983) studying at the Kerlan Collection funded by a Marilyn Hollinshead Fellowship. What a treat! (And what gorgeous fall foliage this year!) The Kerlan is one of the world's great children's literature research collections and includes books, original manuscripts, artwork, galleys, correspondence, and color proofs for more than 12,000 children’s books. I have been studying the work of poet Joyce Sidman, who also happens to live in the Twin Cities area. So, not only did I get a private peek into the process of creating several of her wonderful poetry books, but I had a chance to visit with her and chat with her about her work. (Thank you so much, Joyce!)

Eventually, I hope to share more of my research—I’m focusing on the poetry + science connection, in particular—but I’m not ready yet. However, as I reviewed my blog content, I realized that I have mentioned Joyce and her work (and her MANY awards) many times, but I haven’t featured her exclusively before. So here’s a little mini-unit on Joyce Sidman and her poetry. (And you can get more tips in my book, Poetry People, FYI.)

Joyce Sidman was born in Hartford, Connecticut, the middle sister of three, and spent her summers at a camp in Maine. From an early age, she felt motivated to write, and started writing as far back as elementary school. She discovered poetry in high school, encouraged by a sympathetic teacher. She earned her bachelor’s degree in German from Wesleyan University in Connecticut, and a teaching certificate at Macalester College in Minnesota. Joyce lives near the edge of a large woodland in Wayzata, Minnesota, with her husband (and has two grown sons). When she isn't writing, she enjoys teaching via week-long poetry-writing residences in the Minnesota schools.

Joyce Sidman's poetry has already garnered many awards including Horn Book Fanfare book, Voice of Youth Advocates Poetry Pick, Bulletin Blue Ribbon Book, Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award, Cybils Award for poetry, Claudia Lewis Poetry Award, Caldecott honors, and more. Much of her poetry centers around the subject of the natural world and is marked by poetic innovation and an elegance of expression. She often weaves together scientific information alongside poetic descriptions (my focus area for my research project). Since 2000, her 10 books have changed the face of poetry for young people—and I don’t think that’s an overstatement! Let’s review:

1. Sidman, Joyce. 2000. Just Us Two: Poems about Animal Dads. Ill. by Susan Swan. Brookfield, CT: Millbrook.
2. Sidman, Joyce. 2002. Eureka! Poems about Inventors. Ill. by K. Bennett Chavez. Brookfield, CT: Millbrook.
3. Sidman, Joyce. 2003. The World According to Dog: Poems and Teen Voices. Ill. by Doug Mindell. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
4. Sidman, Joyce. 2005. Song of the Water Boatman and Other Pond Poems. Ill. By Beckie Prange. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
5. Sidman, Joyce. 2006. Butterfly Eyes and Other Secrets of the Meadow. Ill. by Beth Krommes. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
6. Sidman, Joyce. 2006. Meow Ruff: A Story in Concrete Poetry. Ill. by Michelle Berg. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
7. Sidman, Joyce. 2007. This is Just to Say: Poems of Apology and Forgiveness. Ill. by Pamela Zagarenski. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
8. Sidman, Joyce. 2009. Red Sings From Treetops; A Year in Colors. Ill. by Pamela Zagarenski. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
9. Sidman, Joyce. 2010. Ubiquitous: Celebrating Nature’s Survivors. Ill. by Becky Prange. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
10. Sidman, Joyce. 2010. Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night. Ill. by Rick Allen. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Her web site is a rich resource of helpful information including readers’ guides for all her books, audio clips of her readings, digital trailers she created, a downloadable bookmark, many excellent links (including wonderful interviews on several other lovely blogs!) and much more. Be sure to check it out.

I had the opportunity to examine the files of notes, research, typescripts, dummies, and correspondence for several of her books and found it fascinating. Here are just a few nuggets of what I learned (from those materials and my interview):

*Joyce’s “overnight success” was over 10 years in the making and began with plenty of experimentation (stories, folktales, novels, picture books) and plenty of rejections (11 initial manuscripts were rejected by her current editor!)
*She spends a lot of her time in prewriting, making very few notes and jottings, moving almost immediately to writing and revising on a computer
*She revises poems even up to the very end in the proof pages*She pays close attention to placement of art/poem and to movement of the art and poetry across the book and to details of illustrations vis a vis the poem (and vice versa)
*Poem titles (and some book titles) get tweaked a long time (I counted 23 possible titles for her book, Butterfly Eyes!)
*Her poetry books reveal a close collaboration between poet and editor and often with the illustrator
*Her first book accepted for publication was Eureka
*Her next book (Fall 2011) is Swirl by Swirl (about spirals in nature) and is a gorgeous poetic picture book (not poetry collection) illustrated by Beth Krommes

I’m obviously a big fan! And I’m clearly not alone. As the awards pile up, it now seems obvious that Joyce’s unique vision and voice is powerful and appealing. Her just-right-wording, succinct phrasing, subtle rhythms, and visual shaping of each poem all work together to craft poetry that is both descriptive and evocative. You can picture the subject vividly both visually and emotionally. I look forward to the next 10 books—and more!

Posting (not poem) by Sylvia M. Vardell © 2010. All rights reserved.

Image credit: Joyce Sidman, UofM Kerlan Collection

Remembering Karla Kuskin

It is with great sadness that I share the news of poet Karla Kuskin’s death last week. She was the first major poet whose work I encountered when I was a teacher and graduate student in the 1970’s. I met her and appreciated her smart, clever wit and way with words. She showed me that poetry for kids could be funny, yes, but even more. And now I find that so many people don’t know her work—as with many of the earlier “greats”-- and that’s a shame. One of my favorite poetry collections for kids (of all time!) is Dogs and Dragons, Trees and Dreams which you can buy “used” for a penny. You’ll find “Bugs” there, as well as “Lewis has a trumpet” and “Write about a radish”—all with short notes from Kuskin about how each poem came to be. And one of my very favorite poems is from another Kuskin collection, Near the Window Tree, which conversely is available for $150 on Amazon! It’s 35 years old now, but this poem is perfectly timeless, don’t you think?

Three wishes
Three.
The first
A tree.
Dark bark
Green leaves
Under a bit of blue
A canopy

To glimpse sky through
To watch sun sift through
To catch light rain
Upon the leaves
And let it fall again.
A place to put my eye
Beyond the window frame.


Wish two:
A chair
Not hard or high
One that fits comfortably
Set by the window tree
An island in the room
For me
My own
Place to sit and be
Alone


My tree
There.
Here my chair.
Me.
Rain, sky, sun
All my wishes
All the things I need
But one
Wish three:
A book to read.

by Karla Kuskin
from: Near the Window Tree, Harper and Row, 1975.

Doesn’t it have a delicious rhythm and structure? And doesn’t it capture a wonderful reading moment? And isn’t that echo of three magical wishes absolutely perfect?

One of my favorite quotes about teaching poetry is a Kuskin gem: “Instead of building a fence of formality around poetry, I want to emphasize its accessibility, the sound, rhythm, humor, the inherent simplicity. Poetry can be as natural and effective a form of self-expression as singing or shouting.” This is almost a “mission statement” for my own work in poetry.

And of course, you may also know that Kuskin was an artist and illustrator and created the unique seal for the National Council of Teachers of English Excellence in Poetry Award.



Here’s an excerpt from my entry on Karla Kuskin in Poetry People, as a bit of background bio:

Karla Kuskin was born on July 17, 1932, in New York City. Encouraged by her parents and teachers, Kuskin began writing poetry as a young girl. She attended Antioch College and earned a bachelor’s of fine arts degree from Yale University. She is married and has two grown children who are photographers.

Karla Kuskin’s first book developed from her senior thesis. Roar and More, a children’s book she wrote and designed, was published in 1956, in a slightly altered form. Kuskin has gone on to become a prolific writer and illustrator of over fifty works of children’s poetry, storybooks in verse, easy readers, and even nonfiction. Her many awards include American Institute of Graphic Arts Book Show awards, American Library Association Notables, International Reading Association Children’s Choice distinctions, a National Book Award nomination, and the National Council of Teachers of English Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children award given for a poet’s entire body of work.

Karla Kuskin’s pictures and poetry are brimming over with the experiences of children growing up in a big city. For a wonderful compilation of poems from several previous works as well as new poems, look for Moon, Have You Met My Mother? The Collected Poems of Karla Kuskin (HarperCollins 2003)…. Kuskin shares further insights in her autobiographical picture book, Thoughts, Pictures, and Words (Richard C. Owen 1995).

Many of Kuskin’s poems have a strong voice or distinctive structure that lends itself to being read aloud and performing chorally. For example, try “The Question” (Dogs And Dragons), a poem that poses multiple answers to the question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Different groups or individual children can each pipe in with a different answer from the poem, “I think I'd like to be the sky,” “Or maybe I will stay a child," etc. Kuskin also has written many poems for children that incorporate a linear format that lends itself to line-around reading. For example, look for “Rules” (Dogs and Dragons), a listing of “rules” such as “Do not jump on ancient uncles” that children will find hilarious. And of course they may want to generate their own list of crazy rules to follow.

Finally, here’s a link to Karla Kuskin's obituary in the New York Times.

I hope there’s a run on her work in every library and bookstore.

Posting (not poem) by Sylvia M. Vardell © 2009. All rights reserved.

Image credit: ncte.org; abrushwithcolor.blogspot.com; ninacorvo.wordpress.com;bestwindowtreatments.com;countryliving.com;dangerous-minds.net

National Poetry Month

Happy poetry month! It’s lovely to have a time when we try to focus EVERYONE’S attention on poetry (although many of us do that all year long, of course). I’m hoping to post every day this month with a variety of poems, poets, and topics. First off, I’m lifting some details from my book, Poetry People, A Practical Guide to Children’s Poets. If you’re looking for help in selecting and sharing poetry by 62 major poets writing for children, I hope you’ll check it out. I also have a few “extras” in the backmatter of the book, including a calendar of poet birthdays-- here's the April list:

April
7 Alice Schertle
12 Gary Soto
13 Lee Bennett Hopkins
20 April Halprin Wayland
22 William Jay Smith; Ron Koertge
25 George Ella Lyon
26 Marilyn Nelson
28 Barbara Juster Esbensen

and lists of:
Awards for Poetry for Young People
Poet Promotion Activities
How to Share Poetry
Poet Biographies, Autobiographies and Memoirs
Popular Poetry Web Sites
Poetry Anthologies
Poems About Libraries and Reading
Poetry Practices Checklist

In addition, I have gathered lists of:
Poets to Watch
People Who Write Other Things Plus Poetry
Verse Novelists
Anthologists
Classic Poets
Poets Who Write for Adults, Plus Children

I’d like to kick off the month with an eye on our poets to watch, which includes new names all the time. Here are individuals who are emerging as notable poets writing for children. Can you suggest others?
Adoff, Jaime
Burg, Brad
Cyrus, Kurt
Grandits, John
Greenberg, David
Johnson, Lindsay Lee
Katz, Alan
Kay, Verla
Lawson, JonArno
Lisa, Nicola W.
Medina, Jane
Mitton, Tony
Mordhorst, Heidi
Moss, Jeff
Nesbitt, Kenn
Paul, Ann Whitford
Pomerantz, Charlotte
Rex, Adam
Roemer, Heidi
Smith, Hope Anita
Van Meter, Gretchen
Wayland, April Halprin
Wolf, Alan
Zimmer, Tracy Vaughn

Here’s one fun poem by a new voice with a great metaphor that kids will love:

POETRY IS MY UNDERWEAR
by April Halprin Wayland

My sister found them.

Read them out loud.
She’s so proud,

she’s running to our parents
waving my poems in the air.
Doesn’t she know
she’s waving my underwear?

from Girl Coming in for a Landing by April Halprin Wayland (Knopf 2002)
Happy birthday, April on April 20!
Happy national poetry month, one and all.

Picture credit: daddytypes.com

Joyce Sidman wins Cybils… again

Congratulations to Joyce Sidman who has won the Cybils award for poetry for young people, for This Is Just To Say; Poems Of Apology And Forgiveness (Hougton Mifflin). It is a collection of poems of apology and forgiveness in the voices of a classroom of children. (I wrote about it earlier since I chose it as one of the best of 2007: It’s funny, poignant, and true, with Sidman’s trademark gift for the craft of poetry in an amazing variety of poetic forms.) It is also an honor book for this year’s Lee Bennett Hopkins Award for Children’s Poetry. Sidman won the Hopkins award two years ago for Song of the Water Boatman and Other Pond Poems (Houghton Mifflin). Sidman also won last year’s first ever Cybils Bloggers’ prize for children’s poetry for Butterfly Eyes and Other Secrets of the Meadow (Houghton Mifflin) which was also one of my picks for the best of 2006. She is piling up the prizes fast!

FYI: The Cybils, a loose acronym for Children's and YA Bloggers' Literary Awards, began with nominations open to absolutely anyone. Then five nominating committee members (including yours truly) read the nominated books (with different committees in ten categories, from poetry to fiction to nonfiction to graphic novels). This is the second year of the administration of the award.

Sidman is one of my favorites, so I’ve posted about her work often—about her wonderful dog poetry [The World According to Dog: Poems and Teen Voices (Houghton Mifflin, 2003) and Meow Ruff: A Story in Concrete Poetry (Houghton Mifflin, 2006)], about her reading at the ALSC Poetry Jam in June (in DC) and the NCTE Poetry Blast in November (in New York), and about her downloadable bookmark book poem, “This Book," for National Children’s Book Week.

Here’s a brief excerpt about her from my own resource book on children’s poets, Poetry People:
“Joyce Sidman was born on born June 4, 1956, in Hartford, Connecticut. She is the middle sister of three, and spent summers at camp in Maine. From an early age, she felt motivated to write, and started writing as far back as elementary school. She discovered poetry in high school, encouraged by a sympathetic teacher. She earned her bachelor’s degree in German from Wesleyan University in Connecticut, and a teaching certificate at Macalester College in Minnesota. Joyce lives in Wayzata, Minnesota, with her husband and two sons, near the edge of a large woodland. When she isn't writing, she enjoys teaching via week-long poetry-writing residences in the schools. Her hobbies include gardening, identifying birds, insects and frogs, and reading and baking cookies."

This year’s prize winner, This is to Say, is a gem for reading aloud with multiple voices, much like this year’s Newbery winner (Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!)-- only set in a modern classroom “village.” Here is just a taste:

to Anthony
Some Reasons Why

Why must we work so hard,
and always be the best?

Parents say:
hard work builds character.
I say:
too much hard work means no laughter.

Parents say:
only the best get ahead.
I say:
everyone’s good at something.

Parents say:
daydreaming is just an excuse for laziness.
I say:
they just never learned how to write a poem.

by Tenzin
(writing for Anthony’s mother, who said he was being ridiculous)

Follow up with more poem collections about kids in classrooms like:
Cheng, Andrea. 2008. Where the Steps Were. Wordsong/Boyds Mills Press.
Frost, Helen. 2004. Spinning Through the Universe. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux.
Paraskevas, Betty. 1995. Gracie Graves and the Kids from Room 402. San Diego, CA: Harcourt Brace.
Singer, Marilyn. 1996. All We Needed to Say: Poems about School from Tanya and Sophie. New York: Atheneum.

And for YA:
Alexander, Elizabeth and Nelson, Marilyn. 2007. Miss Crandall’s School for Young Ladies and Little Misses of Color. Wordsong.
Glenn, Mel. 1982. Class Dismissed! High School Poems. New York: Clarion Books.
___. 1997. The Taking of Room 114: A Hostage Drama in Poems. New York: Lodestar Books/Dutton.
___. 1996. Who Killed Mr. Chippendale? New York: Lodestar Books/Dutton.
Grimes, Nikki. 2002. Bronx Masquerade. New York: Dial Books.
Koertge, Ron. 2001. The Brimstone Journals. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick.

Catch the rest of the Poetry Friday round up at Big A, little a.

Picture credit: barnesandnoble.com

Blog anniversary: Meet POETRY PEOPLE

I’m tickled pink to celebrate the one year anniversary of my blog! My first entry set my purpose: to “explore what's new in the field of poetry published for children and young adults.” And my first entry was also a shameless plug of a new book I wrote to promote poetry with young people entitled, Poetry Aloud Here, a practitioner's guide to sharing poetry with children (ages 5-12) in ways that are fun, meaningful and participatory. Well, brace yourself for more brazen self promotion. I’m pleased to announce I have published another resource to help with promoting poetry with kids entitled, Poetry People; A Practical Guide to Children’s Poets (available now from Libraries Unlimited).

This new book provides a comprehensive introduction to more than 60 contemporary poets writing for young people, from Arnold Adoff to Douglas Florian to J. Patrick Lewis to Naomi Shihab Nye to Gary Soto to Janet Wong, and many more. The entry for each poet includes brief biographical information, highlights selected poetry books authored, showcases awards won, notes related web sites, and provides suggestions for making connections (programming ideas, related books, and activities across genres).

Additional supplementary information is also provided, including further lists of poets to know, awards for children’s poetry, helpful poetry web sites, a list of poems about libraries and reading, recommendations of must-have poetry anthologies, a poetry practices checklist, tips for poet promotion activities, and a calendar of poet birthdays to celebrate month by month.

Poet and anthologist Lee Bennett Hopkins calls it a “poetry treasury” and a “readable, useful, not-to-be-missed resource… a reference volume that will leap from the shelves.” Thank you, Lee!

If you’re looking for more help in promoting poets or simply want to familiarize yourself with many of the wonderful poets writing for children today, I hope you’ll check it out. And I welcome any input on the blog as a whole, especially any suggestions or questions for future content. Thanks for stopping by!

Picture credit: Libraries Unlimited