New world poetry for Día 2012

In honor of El día de los niños/El día de los libros/ Children's day/Book Day today, I'd like to highlight three books from outside the U.S.

Argueta, Jorge. 2012. Guacamole; Un poema para cocinar/ A Cooking Poem. Ill. by Margarita Sada. Toronto: Groundwood.

From the publisher, Groundwood Books: "Jorge Argueta’s third book in our bilingual cooking poem series is — Guacamole — with very cute, imaginative illustrations by Margarita Sada.

Guacamole originated in Mexico with the Aztecs and has long been popular in North America, especially in recent years due to the many health benefits of avocados. This version of the recipe is easy to make, calling for just avocados, limes, cilantro and salt. A little girl dons her apron, singing and dancing around the kitchen as she shows us what to do. Poet Jorge Argueta sees beauty, magic and fun in everything around him — avocados are like green precious stones, salt falls like rain, cilantro looks like a little tree and the spoon that scoops the avocado from its skin is like a tractor.

As in the previous cooking poems, Guacamole conveys the pleasure of making something delicious and healthy to eat for people you really love. A great book for families to enjoy together."

Here is the cutest book trailer for Guacamole complete with a foot-tapping song to enjoy!



Be sure to check out his other bilingual "food" poetry collections:
Argueta, Jorge. 2009. Sopa de frijoles/ Bean Soup. Ill. by Rafael Yockteng. Toronto, ON: Groundwood.
Argueta, Jorge. 2010. Arroz con leche; Rice Pudding. Ill. by Fernando Vilela. Toronto, ON: Groundwood.


Luján, Jorge. 2012. Con el sol en los ojos/ With the Sun in My Eyes. Ill. by Morteza Zahedi. Toronto: Groundwood.

From Groundwood: "In this book of short poems in Spanish and English, a young boy and girl describe their world and their day-to-day experiences -- the boy's street is like the trunk of an almond tree and the newborn chicks are like tiny walking suns. The girl loves her dog Oliver, the wind hitting her in the face and laughter "that explodes for no reason." But the children also ponder mysteries, such as the loud silence the boy hears inside himself when he goes for a walk alone and the vast beauty of the sky, with its clouds and constellations.

Once again Jorge Luján brings young readers a lyrical and joyful collection of poems. Morteza Zahedi's powerful illustrations in densely saturated colors perfectly complement the poems' subtle explorations."


I Saw a Peacock with a Fiery Tail. Ill. by Ramsingh Urveti. 2012. London: Tara Books.

From Tara Books: "A well-known folk poem from 17th century England, 'I Saw a Peacock with a Fiery Tail' is a form of trick verse. The poem at first seems nonsensical, but given a break in the middle of each line begins to make perfect sense.

In this pioneering visual exploration of I Saw a Peacock, Gond tribal artist Ramsingh Urveti and book designer Jonathan Yamakami use art and design in the service of language. Working together, revealing and concealing, they brilliantly mirror the shifting ways in which poetry creates meaning."

This book is truly exquisite in art, design, and construction-- but it's also elegant and simple and kid-friendly. The lines of the poem curl this way and that through multiple pages across the blue-black-white palette of the die cut pages.

It begins:

I saw a peacock with a fiery tail
I saw a blazing comet drop down hail
I saw a cloud with ivy circled around
I saw a sturdy oak creep on the ground

Get it? The playful nature of the lines and how they are tucked into the art beg for repeated examination. The thick pages cut with holes and curves and stars offers a tactile experience that takes the simple poem to another level. It's hard to describe adequately, so I urge you to get your own copy, share it with a 10 year old you love, and see what happens. It's the best paper "app" you'll find this year-- read it multiple times, backwards and forwards, talking about the lines, the art, the pages, and making up your own imitation poems!


Happy El día de los niños/El día de los libros/ Children's day/Book Day one and all!


P.S.
And I've already highlighted the following collection in the 5Q interview series-- it also includes a global selection of poets:

Hoyte, Carol-Ann and Roemer, Heidi Bee. Eds. 2012. And the Crowd Goes Wild!: A Global Gathering of Sports Poems. Ill. by Kevin Sylvester. Neche, ND: Friesens Press.


Image credit: 

Groundwood, Tara Books

Posting by Sylvia M. Vardell © 2012. All rights reserved.

In the soup

I have another Latino poetry collection to share-- this one has the added advantage of being bilingual in English and Spanish: Jorge Argueta’s Sopa de frijoles/ Bean Soup, illustrated by Rafael Yockteng.

This book really snuck up on me and I just have to share it with everyone. It’s a long segmented poem spread out across 14 pages of text (always on the left) accompanied by rectangular paintings framed in white (always on the right hand side). This pleasing, predictable format makes it easy to read either or both the Spanish and English poems (with the Spanish poem placed immediately above the English poem—a subtle thing I really appreciated). The paper is thick and creamy and the little boy pictured in every scene is an engaging “everyboy.”

Add to this the fact that this is truly a recipe with instructions for cooking. All contained in a poem full of metaphors and similes. Here’s just a “taste.” (I’ll post both the Spanish and the English version for this page of the poem.)

El aguita hierve y canta.*
Los frijolitos bailan unos
con otros.
El aguita se ha vuelto
morena como el color
de la Madra Tierra.

Tu casa
está olorosa
como la tierra
en las primeras
lluvias de invierno.

+ + +

The water boils and sings.*
The beans dance
together.
The water has turned brown
the color of Mother Earth.

Your house
smells wonderful
like the earth
after the first
winter rains.

Argueta, Jorge. 2009. Sopa de frijoles/ Bean Soup. Ill. by Rafael Yockteng. Toronto, ON: Groundwood.

*A note at the beginning of the book alerts us to the fact that “all stages of the recipe that are marked * require the participation or supervision of an adult.” Smart move! Very essential for safety when cooking with kids and completely unobtrusive to the poem.

I love that Argueta has written BOTH the Spanish (first) and the English versions of the poetry. It is SUCH a challenge to capture the music and magic of poetry in ANY language, much less in TWO languages, but he clearly has a gift for it and knows his own intentions better than anyone in providing the translation.

I was familiar with Salvadoran poet Jorge Argueta’s previous poetry book, A Movie in My Pillow/Una película en mi almohada (Children’s Book Press, 2001) which I really enjoyed. But I didn’t realize that he has also authored another collection in the interim that I have missed:

Talking with Mother Earth/Hablando con Madre Tierra (Groundwood, 2006)
[Have you noticed how many smart and wonderful poetry books Groundwood publishes? Particularly from many countries around the world?]

And for more Latino poetry about food and foods, look for:
Ada, Alma Flor. 1997. Gathering the Sun. New York: Lothrop, Lee, and Shepard.
Alarcón, Francisco X. 1997. Laughing Tomatoes and Other Spring Poems/Jitomates Risuenos y Otros Poemas de Primavera. San Francisco, CA: Children’s Book Press.
Mora, Pat. 1998. Delicious Hullabaloo/Pachanga Deliciosa. Houston, TX: Pinata Books.
Mora, Pat. 2007. Yum! Mmmm! Que Rico!: America's Sproutings. New York: Lee & Low.

And of course, you absolutely, positively HAVE to make bean soup after reading this book. You can almost smell and taste it as you read the poetry and the directions are amazingly clear and easy to follow. The book flap calls bean soup “comfort food for many”—a good reminder and a worthwhile discussion to have with kids as they experience it firsthand.

Image credit: search.barnesandnoble.com

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

School Lunch Week Poetry

Coming up next week is NATIONAL SCHOOL LUNCH WEEK, October 15- 19. Who knew there was a whole week dedicated to the celebration of meals in the school cafeteria? And what a great opportunity to share one of my favorite poems, “School Cafeteria” by Douglas Florian (from Bing, Bang, Boing; Harcourt, 1994). I love it because the kids love it and every time I share it, it brings the house down. In addition, it’s a poem you can literally sing. Try it to the tune of “99 Bottles of Beer” and sing the last line with exaggerated slowness. It’s absolutely hilarious! Just one note of caution: I was told that some cafeteria staff did not find it as funny as I did. So beware. Remind them that most school-related poems exaggerate the negative qualities of school life, teachers, tests, lessons, etc. and it’s children’s outlet for dealing with their own stresses and anxieties. Then buy a cookie in the lunch line and smile!

School Cafeteria
by Douglas Florian

Nothing is drearier than my school cafeteria-
The food there is really the pits.
The bread is as hard as a brick in a yard;
The cake is all crumbled to bits.
The rotten old cheeses can give you diseases;
The pudding is rancid and runny.
And if you should dare to bite into a pear,
The taste is so bad it's not funny.
The chicken and rice are served cold as ice;
The soups could send groups to the nurse.
The carrots and peas make you whimper and wheeze;
The broccoli comes with a curse.
The pizza, I'm told, is covered with mold;
The salad is pallid and stale.
The dried-out roast beef fills your belly with grief;
They're taking the cook off to jail.
The citrus fruit cup will make you throw up;
The cookies are made out of clay.
The mere thought of lunch
Makes my weak stomach scrunch-
But it's still the best part of the day.

This week's Poetry Roundup is at Two Writing Teachers.

Picture credit: www.johnnyamerica.net