A Blast with Kristine O'Connell George

I took my handy dandy FlipCam with me to the 8th annual ALSC Poetry Blast and made short one minute (more or less) movies of the poets reading their works to share with you. Next: Kristine O’Connell George.

Here's the short, lovely intro written and presented by host and poet Marilyn Singer and used with permission.

Kristine O’Connell George tells us: “I live with my family in a rural area in the Santa Monica Mountains of southern California and often find poetry in my own backyard. The owl roosting in our 300-year old native oak, the packs of coyotes howling at night, the neighborhood peacocks, and the frog who lives on our front porch all seem to find their way into my work. Someday, I think I'll write about the raccoon who played with the dog's toys in the yard at 2 a.m. Or the skunk family . . .”


Kristine O’Connell George says she "fell in love with children's poetry" in 1989 during a children's poetry writing class taught by esteemed poet and teacher Myra Cohn Livingston for the UCLA Writer's Program. She went on to create many books of her own, to serve as poetry consultant for PBS's Storytime, and to win the IRA/Lee Bennett Hopkins Promising Poet Award, among numerous other honors. 


Her works include The Great Frog Race, winner of the Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award; Old Elm Speaks, which received the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators’ Golden Kite Award; Little Dog and Duncan, recipient of the Claudia Lewis Poetry Award; and Hummingbird Nest, which, in addition to another Claudia Lewis Award, also received the ASPCA Henry Bergh Children’s Book Award and the John Burroughs Nature Award.


In addition to writing, Kris says she has more hobbies than free time: tennis, golf, hiking, photography, collage, watercolors, gardening, sewing, and, of course, reading. She proudly declares: “I am never bored."



Kris shared several entries from her latest book, Emma Dilemma, conveying the lovely story-in-poems that emerges across the poems. Here we see Jessica (Emma's big sister) comforted by her parents when she feels responsible for her little sister's accidental broken arm.

Image credit: 

Sylvia Vardell

Posting by Sylvia M. Vardell © 2011. All rights reserved.

A Blast with Stephanie Calmenson

I took my handy dandy FlipCam with me to the 8th annual ALSC Poetry Blast and made short one minute (more or less) movies of the poets reading from their works to share with you. First up, Stephanie Calmenson.

Here's the short, lovely intro written and presented by host and poet Marilyn Singer and used with permission.

Stephanie Calmenson says: “I began my professional life as an early childhood teacher and had the pleasure of reading to children and discovering which books captivate them... Though I now spend my days at home in front of a computer instead of in a classroom, I still think of myself as a teacher, speaking to children through my books. Before beginning a book, I always ask the same question: What will this book give to a child? Will it be a love of language? A feeling of being valued? A trip to a new place? An introduction to numbers or letters? A belly laugh to ease a difficult growing-up day? When I'm satisfied with the answer, I begin to write.”



Former teacher, editor, and Director of the Parent Magazine Book Club, Stephanie Calmenson grew up in Brooklyn, NY, never imagining that she’d become a writer. Today, she’s the author of over 100 books for young children, ranging from concept books to poetry to nonfiction works about canines. Some of her popular titles are Dinner at the Panda Palace, a PBS Storytime book; The Principal’s New Clothes, a Read-Aloud Handbook favorite; Good for You!, a Texas Library Association 2002 2x2 Reading List selection; and Rosie—A Visiting Dog’s Story, about her late, great therapy dog, which has been featured in the New York Times and Sesame Street and CTW Magazines, as well as on Fox TV.


She currently lives in NYC with her husband and their adorable long-haired dachshund, Harry, the star of his own book, May I Pet Your Dog?



Here's a clip of Stephanie reading about "Rosie," her beloved therapy dog.
[There was actually a baby in the audience who cooed and hollered at all the right places throughout the evening! Baby loved Stephanie's playful and rhythmic poems, in particular!]

Image credit: 

Sylvia Vardell

Posting by Sylvia M. Vardell © 2011. All rights reserved.

A Blast with Poetry at ALSC

I'm back from the annual convention of the American Library Association in New Orleans and eager to share the magical time we had at the EIGHTH annual Poetry Blast sponsored by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) and hosted by poet Marilyn Singer and librarian Barbara Genco on Monday, June 27, 5:30-7:30pm (it's always Monday night of the ALA convention, fyi). I've attended every one of these 8 celebrations and each one is an extraordinary amalgamation of poetic voices, styles, forms, and fun. Nine poets read from their work including (pictured here from left to right) Kristine O'Connell George, Tracie Vaughn Zimmer, Nikki Grimes, Marilyn Singer, Stephanie Calmenson, Mike Artell, Janet Wong, Alan Katz, Janet Wong, and (seated) Joyce Sidman, and (librarian and host) Barbara Genco.

Marilyn keeps an excellent Facebook fan page for the ALSC-- Fans of the ALSC Poetry Blast-- so be sure to check that out, too. She has kindly given me permission to borrow her well-written poet intros from there, so I can repost them along with the short film clips I made of each poet reading Monday night at the Blast-- to follow in individual postings. So, here goes...

Make a note now to attend the 9th Poetry Blast in Anaheim, California next June 25, 2012!

Thanks also to the publishers who brought the poets to New Orleans: Abrams, Charlesbridge, Clarion, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Dial/Penguin, HarperCollins, Holt/Macmillan, Random House, Simon & Schuster, and Zondervan.


Image credit: 

Sylvia Vardell


Posting by Sylvia M. Vardell © 2011. All rights reserved.