Favorite poetry quotes

Poetry and Hums aren’t things which you get, they’re things which get YOU.
And all you can do is to go where they can find you.

A. A. Milne
The House At Pooh Corner (1928)

ALA Awards announced

On Monday, Jan. 22 in Seattle, the American Library Association announced the major awards for children’s and young adult literature. You’ve probably already heard that the Caldecott award went to David Wiesner (again) for Flotsam and the Newbery award went to (librarian) Susan Patron for The Higher Power of Lucky. For a complete listing, check out http://www.ala.org/mw07winners Unfortunately, few poetry books appeared on the award lists (another reason that I’m grateful that the new Cybils Awards included poetry as a category). As I combed the lists, I found two titles of poetry among the winners. Interestingly enough, both are Coretta Scott King Illustrator honor books:

Jazz by Walter Dean Myers, illustrated by Christopher Myers (published by Holiday House)
Poetry for Young People: Langston Hughes edited by David Roessel and Arnold Rampersad, illustrated by Benny Andrews (published by Sterling Publishing)

You may remember that Jazz was also recognized as one of the five best poetry books for children chosen for the Cybils Award. It’s a vibrant picture book poetry collection that is a celebration of jazz music and history and a tribute to New Orleans. The language is vivid and participatory and the art is obviously prize winning—sprawling and expressive.

Poetry for Young People: Langston Hughes features a collection of 26 of Hughes’ best-known poems along with a brief introduction for each and a short biographical section, written by Hughes scholars and incorporating quotes from the poet himself. And of course, there’s the art, too—wonderful cubist collages and watercolors.

Look for these two gems—of poetry, of art, of African American pride. Each is also a treat to read aloud with young people of all ages.

Nikki Grimes interview published

As I’ve mentioned before, Nikki Grimes was recently presented the National Council of Teachers of English award for Excellence in Poetry for Children for her entire body of writing. It was an honor to present her this award as I served as co-chair of the committee. One other privilege I enjoyed was the opportunity to interview her for an article for the NCTE journal, Language Arts, along with my co-chair, Peggy Oxley. Well, the article has now been published and the full text is online and free to NCTE members at:
http://www.ncte.org/pubs/journals/la/articles%5C126290.htm
Or look for the January, 2007 issue of Language Arts (V. 84, N. 3), pages 281-285 at your area library. Nikki was very open in talking about her childhood, early influences on her writing, the story behind the creation of Danitra Brown, and what receiving the award means to her. Check it out! Here’s one nugget to whet your appetite:

Do you have any ideas about guiding teachers and librarians in sharing your books with kids or promoting poetry in general?

“Well, that’s why I have teacher’s guides on my web site (http://www.nikkigrimes.com). The field is so rich now. You can essentially find poetry on any subject that kids would be interested in if you just look for it. I enjoy talking to teachers and librarians, trying to get them beyond feelings of intimidation. Really giving them permission to explore poetry. Because for the most part, it was presented to them so badly that they are either afraid of it or think of it in terms of “shoulds.” “You ‘should’ like this poem.” And I always say, “Don’t ‘should’ all over me!” Just find poetry that you like, that you love, that you get, that you’re excited about, because your students are going to pick up on your attitude. I don’t care what you share with them, if you have a good attitude about it, they’re going to respond to it well. Choose poetry that is going to engage them. Never mind about dissection and all of that. That can come later. And yes, the classics are important, but the classics can wait. Dissection can wait. First, you want to get them hooked on poetry as a genre. ‘Cause once they are, try to keep them FROM reading! And once teachers have this “permission,” they go back to the classroom and say, “Okay, let’s try it!” Then I get these emails: “You know what? I tried it. It worked!” They’re excited. I think they were just waiting for permission and a way in. I’m not surprised at the wonderful results they’re having, but they are. Poetry is just natural for children. It’s part of their lives! From the ABC’s to Mother Goose to patty cake to jump rope rhymes, poetry is already a part of their lives, so you’re just building on that foundation. It’s already there.”