Halloween poetry

It's October and I hope to get my Halloween decorations out this weekend. I just love the big, round pumpkins and even the jangling skeletons and spooky black cats. But mostly, I have always loved planning the costumes for trick-or-treating and had so much fun helping my kids create whatever they could imagine-- my daughter has been a pioneer girl, a flapper, Jane Austen, Princess Leia, and an elephant (a two-person endeavor with a friend) and my son has been Luke Skywalker, a vampire, a hobo, a Ninja Turtle, and various X-Men. We would work all month to decide on our "character" and make the outfit ourselves. Good times! I don't have many occasions for costumes nowadays (although I do like wearing my crazy colored tights any day!), but I love seeing the children in their costumes when they come to trick or treat at my door.

I know Halloween is a bit more problematic these days, particularly in the schools, with a shift to focusing on "harvest festivals" or autumn celebrations. We're anxious about going door to door with children at night or encouraging candy fests in favor of healthy snacks. And we don't want to scare kids with ghosts and horror. I understand. There are some unsavory elements to Halloween (part of its appeal) and better minds than mine have analyzed the religious, psychological, and sociological implications of this "holiday." But if you're nostalgic about Halloween and enjoy some of its traditions, you may surprised to learn that many poets have explored this topic too. In fact, I think there are more poetry books about Halloween (and autumn) than any other holiday or season, with the exception of Christmas (and winter holidays). Obviously, something about this "dark" holiday has been compelling for a long time!

Enough of my philosophizing and reminiscing. Time to share my list of Halloween-themed poetry taken from my recent book, The Poetry Teacher's Book of Lists. Hope you find it useful-- and please let me know if I've omitted any of your favorites.

Poetry Books for Halloween

Halloween is a popular topic for poetry books for young people, along with a look at fall and autumn seasonal changes. Here is just a sampling.

1. Alarcón, Francisco X. 1999. Angels Ride Bikes and Other Fall Poems. San Francisco, CA: Children’s Book Press.
2. Brown, Calef. 2010. Hallowilloween: Nefarious Silliness. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
3. sDahl, Roald. 2005. Vile Verses. New York: Viking.
4. Farrar, Sid. 2012. The Year Comes Round: Haiku Through the Seasons. Ill. by Ilse Plume. Chicago: Whitman.
5. Florian, Douglas. 1993. Monster Motel: Poems and Paintings. San Diego, CA: Harcourt Brace.
6. Florian, Douglas. 2003. Autumnblings: Poems & Paintings. New York: Greenwillow.
7. Frank, John. 2003. A Chill in the Air: Nature Poems for Fall and Winter. New York: Simon & Schuster.
8. Ghigna, Charles. 2003. Halloween Night: Twenty-One Spooktacular Poems. Philadelphia: Running Kids Press.
9. Gibbs, Susie. Ed. 2003. Poems to Make Your Friends Scream!. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
10. Gibbs, Susie. Ed. 2007. Scary Poems to Make You Shiver. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
11. Gibbs, Susie. Ed. 2006. Revolting Poems to Make you Squirm. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
12. Hopkins, Lee Bennett. Ed. 2005. Days to Celebrate: A Full Year of Poetry, People, Holidays, History, Fascinating Facts, and More. New York: Greenwillow.
13. Hopkins, Lee Bennett. 2006. Halloween Howls; An I Can Read Book. New York: HarperCollins.
14. Hopkins, Lee. Bennett  Ed. 2010. Sharing the Seasons. Margaret McElderry.
15. Katz, Bobbi. 2009. The Monsterologist; A Memoir in Rhyme. Ill. by Adam McCauley. New York: Sterling.
16. Kutner, Merrily. 2007. The Zombie Nite Café. Ill. by Ethan Long. Holiday House.
17. Lewis, J. Patrick. 2009. Countdown to Summer: 180 Poems for Every Day of the School Year. New York: Little, Brown.
18. Livingston, Myra Cohn. Ed. 1989. Halloween Poems. New York: Holiday House.
19. McNaughton, Colin. 2002. Making Friends with Frankenstein. Somerville, MA: Candlewick.
20. Mecum, Ryan. 2008. Zombie Haiku. Cincinnati, OH: How Books.
21. Mecum, Ryan. 2009. Vampire Haiku. Cincinnati, OH: How Books.
22. Merriam, Eve. 2002. Spooky A B C. New York: Simon & Schuster.
23. Moore, Lilian. 1973. Spooky Rhymes and Riddles. New York: Scholastic.
24. Mordhorst, Heidi. 2009. Pumpkin Butterfly; Poems from the Other Side of Nature. Honesdale PA: Wordsong/Boyds Mills Press.
25. Neugebauer, Charise. 2002. Halloween Circus. New York: NorthSouth Books.
26. Prelutsky, Jack. 1976. Nightmares:  Poems to Trouble Your Sleep. New York: Greenwillow. Reprinted, New York: Mulberry Books, 1993.
27. Prelutsky, Jack. 1977. It’s Halloween. New York: Greenwillow.
28. Rex, Adam. 2006. Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich. San Diego, CA: Harcourt.
29. Rex, Adam. 2008. Frankenstein Takes the Cake. New York: Harcourt Houghton Mifflin.
30. Rogasky, Barbara. Ed. 2001. Leaf by Leaf. New York: Scholastic.
31. Salas, Laura Purdie. 2008. Shrinking Days, Frosty Nights: Poems About Fall. Minneapolis, MN: Capstone.
32. Sierra, Judy. 2005. Gruesome Guide to World Monsters. Somerville, MA: Candlewick.
33. Rogasky, Barbara. Ed. 2001. Leaf by Leaf. New York: Scholastic.
34. Schnur, Steven. 1997. Autumn: An Alphabet Acrostic. New York: Clarion.
35. Sierra, Judy. 2008. Beastly Rhymes to Read After Dark. Ill. by Brian Biggs. New York: Knopf.
36. Singer, Marilyn. 2001. Monster Museum. New York: Hyperion.
37. Singer, Marilyn. 2004. Creature Carnival. New York: Hyperion.
38. Sklanksy, Amy E. 2004. Skeleton Bones & Goblin Groans: Poems for Halloween. New York: Henry Holt .
39. Swaim, Jessica. 2010. Scarum Fair. Ill. by Carol Ashley. Honesdale, PA: Wordsong/Boyds Mills Press.
40. Whitehead, Jenny. 2007. Holiday Stew; A Kid’s Portion of Holiday and Seasonal Poems. New York: Henry Holt.

If you like this list, you'll find even more lists in my Poetry Teacher's Book of Lists, including a list of poetry books about monsters, poetry books about superstitions, beliefs, luck, magic, dreams, and nightmares, poetry books about cats, poetry books about weather, poetry books for Thanksgiving, poetry books for Hanukkah, poetry books for Christmas, and a list of versions of "The Night Before Christmas." Check it out here and there's more info about the book and ALL the lists here. A recent review in IRA's Reading Today noted, "If you are looking for one book to help improve your teaching of poetry, then this is the one for you! This book is a treasure trove.... It would be hard to imagine a better resource for teachers and librarians. Anyone anxious about including poetry in the classroom will have all fears alleviated by this thorough book."

And the lovely Laura Purdie Salas is hosting Poetry Friday today. Join her at Writing the World for Kids. See you there!



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

JPL, CPL in BL

Have you see the September issue of ALA's Book Links magazine?

J. Patrick Lewis, the current Children's Poet Laureate, agreed to an interview and shares his thoughts about history, research, and mixing humor and poetry. As a bonus, here are few of his responses (and questions) that we didn't have room for in the magazine.


SV: Two of your social studies-themed poetry works are collaborations (Castles: Old Stone Poems with Rebecca Kai Dotlich and Self Portrait with Seven Fingers: A Life of Marc Chagall in Verse with Jane Yolen). Is collaborating with a fellow poet any different when the topic is historical in focus?

JPL: What I did with Rebecca and and am doing with Jane (as well as other poets, forthcoming) is not true back-and-forth rewriting of a single poem. An exception was Birds on a Wire:  A Renga ‘Round the Town, in which Paul B. Janeczko and I follow each other’s short Japanese verses, one after another, to tell a story. But a better description would be to say that most of these two-author books  were simply co-authored. Each poet wrote approximately half of the poems in the collection. Occasionally, one of us might raise a question or make a suggestion to the other poet, but in general it was not anything so grand as a T.S. Eliot-Ezra Pound kind of give-and-take.

Deciding on the topic or tone is mostly a matter of knowing each other’s body of work, and therefore knowing what will or will not work. When Douglas Florian and I decided to do a collection together (forthcoming in 2013), it was obvious from the start that we would not choose a “serious” theme. Until our latest endeavor (our seventh, just finished), Jane Yolen and I had written six manuscripts, only half of them accepted for publication. Jane and I are both attracted to themes that range from the serious (Marc Chagall) to the humorous (twins, animal epitaphs), so one of us comes up with a book idea, and we jaw about it until our excitement grows to fever pitch, and then we’re off and running.

[Look for two additional collaborations between Lewis and Yolen out this year: 
1.    Lewis, J. Patrick and Yolen, Jane. 2012. Last Laughs: Animal Epitaphs. Ill. by Jeffrey Timmins. Watertown, MA: Charlesbridge.
2.    Lewis, J. Patrick and Yolen, Jane. 2012. Take Two! A Celebration of Twins. Ill. by Sophie Blackall. Somerville, MA: Candlewick.]

SV: When it comes to tackling American history in poetry, how do U.S. militarism, patriotism, and politics influence your choices?

JPL: I make no attempt to deny my unreconstructed liberalism. At the same time, the didactic poem that wears its heart on it sleeve is destined for deserved oblivion. Poems ought not to proselytize. As a Ph.D. in economics, teachers have asked me to write nonfiction books that combine economics and poetry. That’s been done but not by me. Oil and water would make better companions. And the same thing is true of poetry and politics. Though I confess I am working on a book with another poet about the march on Washington and Dr. King’s “dream speech,” a seminal event in our history.  


Lewis has nearly 100 more works of poetry for young people since then featuring everything from narrative poems to limericks, riddles, haiku, acrostics, and sonnets. He is very productive with new works published every year. Besides his collaborations with Jane Yolen (mentioned above), look for these.

Earlier this year, he published:
Brainteaser math poems:
Lewis, J. Patrick. 2012. Edgar Allan Poe’s Pie: Math Puzzlers in Classic Poems. Ill. by Michael Slack. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Clever nature riddle poems:
Lewis, J. Patrick. 2012. What’s Looking at You Kid? Ill. by Renee Graef. Sleeping Bear Press.

And new this fall, look for:
An amazing edited anthology of animal poems:
Lewis, J. Patrick. Ed. 2012. Book of Animal Poetry. Washington DC: National Geographic.
See the clever video trailer for the book here.

A hilarious Silverstein-ish collection:
Lewis, J. Patrick. 2012. If You Were a Chocolate Mustache. Ill. by Matt Cordell. Honesdale, PA: Wordsong/Boyds Mills Press.

A moving picture book poetry showcase:
Lewis, J. Patrick. 2012. When Thunder Comes: Poems for Civil Rights Leaders. San Francisco: Chronicle.

***And I can't forget that the kind and generous Lewis the Laureate contributed poems to The Poetry Friday Anthology this fall, too!

STRATEGIES
In the Book Links article, I also included a variety of activities to engage students in reading, sharing, exploring, and expanding upon Lewis's poetry. (In Book Links, they're even linked to Common Core standards.) Here you go!

Poetry Tableaux
Make historical poetry come to life by creating frozen scenes of dramatic interpretation with poetry tableaux. Students can browse Lewis’s many collections of historically-themed poetry to select a favorite poem moment in history and then work with a small group to create a tableau, posing in a scene that reflects the “story” in the poem. For example, the photographs illustrating The Brothers' War: Civil War Voices in Verse provide clues on how to pose the scene suggested by the poem, “Down on the Plantation.” A small group of students can cluster “stooping” and poised in a pent, chopping motion. Simple props such as cotton balls, pillow case “sacks,” and straw hats can add to the impact. Or for “The Blockade of Charleston” in Lewis’s Blackbeard, the Pirate King, a small group might crouch as a band of pirates with one standing in the lead and a few “hostages” trembling fearfully. Film or photograph each tableau along with recording an oral reading of the accompanying poem.

Be the Poem
Poem biographies are a recent trend with poets like Margarita Engle, Carmen T. Bernier-Grand, Charles R. Smith and Carole Boston Weatherford telling life stories of real people in history through poetry. Add J. Patrick Lewis to that list with his many individual and collective biographies-in-poems:

• Self Portrait with Seven Fingers: A Life of Marc Chagall in Verse (with Jane Yolen), 
• Freedom Like Sunlight: Praisesongs for Black Americans, 
• Galileo’s Universe, 
• Heroes and She-Roes: Poems of Amazing and Everyday Heroes, 
• Vherses: A Celebration of Outstanding Women, 
• Black Cat Bone: The Life of Blues Legend Robert Johnson, 
• Blackbeard, the Pirate King, 
• Michelangelo’s World, and 
• When Thunder Comes: Poems for Civil Rights Leaders.

Students can choose a poem about a favorite individual and create or assemble a simple costume to bring their person to life through a dramatic reading. Photograph them in costume and post their images alongside the poems.
 
The Art of History
Many works of poetry are illustrated with art from the time period to provide a historical connection as Lewis does with pirate paintings by N.C. Wyeth and Howard Pyle in his Blackbeard poem collection. Still other books feature artists and their art to explore the times in which they live, as Lewis does with Michelangelo’s World. Students can try “ekphrastic” writing-- poems inspired by art—beginning with pictures from history (via Smithsonian, Shorpy, or Getty Images) or current events (at Tumblr, National Geographic, or Time Magazine’s LightBox). For example, look at Lewis’s Self Portrait with Seven Fingers: A Life of Marc Chagall in Verse, co-authored with Jane Yolen. His poem, “I and the Village” shares its title with the Marc Chagall painting that inspired it and lists the items the viewer sees in the surreal artwork: a milkmaid, cow’s head, peasant, blossom sprig, green face, beginning each line with, “I”— “I hailed,” “I saw,” “I watched,” etc. Students can choose their art or photographic images and then describe them in list poems or create narrative poems suggested by the stories they imagine in the art.


Place Poems
Students can "travel by poem," as Lewis says, learning about interesting places around the globe through geography-themed poems in his books, A World of Wonders, and Good Mornin’, Ms. America: The U.S.A. in Verse as well as such anthologies as Got Geography by Lee Bennett Hopkins and Tour America by Diane Siebert. Invite students to locate these "spaces and places to be" on a (poetry) map and research them in real time via Google Earth. Mount a large paper world map on a bulletin board or wall and put pushpins in each location for which the students can find a “place” poem. Poke the pin through a small strip of paper displaying the poem title/location, such as Lewis’s “Golden Gate Bridge” and “Empire State Building” from Monumental Verses and “Tower of London” and “Catherine’s Palace” from Castles: Old Stone Poems, for example.

Oddities and Trivia
Poems can be about anything, as Lewis reminds us, even bizarre facts, strange trivia, and world records, as you’ll see in Lewis’s A Burst of Firsts and The World’s Greatest. These poems are also interactive as they invite guessing, fact checking, and “believe it or not” sharing. Students can partner with a buddy to research and write their own trivia-based poems, experimenting with creating a “found” poem using key facts and phrases. Lewis tackles oddities such as the longest traffic jam, the biggest potato, and the most live scorpions eaten by a human. Students can browse the latest Guinness Book of World Records to find their own fascinating topic. The tallest man, for example, might yield a poem based on these facts and phrases: “8 feet tall,” “only 10 cases” “widest hand span ever,” “largest feet on a living person,” “a huge surprise,” and more.


If you weren't already a fan of J. Patrick Lewis's poetry, this year's output alone should convince you on his talents!


Now, be sure to see what else is going on this Poetry Friday at Paper Tigers!


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

More poetry coming in 2012

I have decided it's time to update my annual list of poetry books published for young people with new titles I have run across in recent months. Some have been mentioned or featured here and elsewhere already, but I'm always eager to provide a comprehensive resource whenever possible. (I'll update my January list to include all these, too, for future reference.)

1. Andrews, Julie and Hamilton, Emma Walton. Eds. 2012. Julie Andrews’ Treasury for All Seasons: Poems and Songs to Celebrate the Year. Ill. by Marjorie Priceman. New York: Little, Brown.
2. Brownlee, Liz. 2012. Animal Magic. Ill. by Rose Sanderson. London: Iron Press.     
3. Cabrera, Jane. Adapter. 2012. Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star. New York: Holiday House. 
4. Clayton, Dallas. 2012. Make Magic! Do Good!. Somerville, MA: Candlewick.
5. Davies, Nicola. 2012. Outside Your Window: A First Book of Nature. Ill. by Mark Hearld. Somerville, MA: Candlewick. 
6. Dean, Carolee. 2012. Forget Me Not. New York: Simon Pulse.
7. Elliott, David. 2012. In the Sea. Ill. by Holly Meade. Somerville, MA: Candlewick. 
8. Florian, Douglas. 2012. Shiver Me Timbers! Ill. by Robert Neubecker. New York: Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster. 
9. Fyleman, Rose. 2012. Mice. Ill. by Lois Ehlert. New York: Simon & Schuster. 
10. Hopkins, Ellen. 2012. Tilt. New York: Margaret K. McElderry.
11. Hopkins, Lee Bennett. 2012. Mary’s Song. Ill. by Stephen Alcorn. Eerdmans. 
12. Kimmel, Eric A. Adapter. Moby Dick: Chasing the Great White Whale. Ill. by Andrew Glass. New York: Feiwel & Friends.
13. Leavitt, Martine. 2012. My Book of Life by Angel.  New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux.
14. Lesynki, Loris. 2012. Crazy About Soccer. Toronto: Annick Press. 
15. Lewis, J. Patrick. 2012. What’s Looking at You Kid? Ill. by Renee Graef. Sleeping Bear Press.
16. Marsalis, Wynton. 2012. Squeak, Rumble, Whomp! Whomp! Whomp! Ill. by Paul Rogers. Somerville, MA: Candlewick.     
17. Nesbitt, Kenn. 2012. The Armpit of Doom: Poems for Giftedly Mental Children. Ill. by Rafael Domingos. CreateSpace.
18. Opie, Iona and Peter Opie. Eds. 1992/2012. I Saw Esau: The Schoolchild's Pocket Book. Somerville, MA: Candlewick. (Reissued)
19. A Poem as Big as New York City: Little Kids Write About the Big Apple. Ill. by Masha D’yans. New York: Teachers Writers Collaborative. 
20. Rosen, Michael. Bananas in My Ears: A Collection of Nonsense Stories, Poems, Riddles, & Rhymes. Ill. by Quentin Blake. Somerville, MA: Candlewick.  
21. Ross, Gary. 2012. Bartholomew Biddle and the Very Big Wind. Ill. by Matthew Myers. Somerville, MA: Candlewick.
22. Swain, Gwenyth. 2012. Hope and Tears: Ellis Island Voices. Honesdale, PA: Boyds Mills Press/Calkins Creek. 
23. Thomas, Joyce Carol. 2012. In the Land of Milk and Honey. Ill. by Floyd Cooper. New York: HarperCollins.
24. Vardell, Sylvia and Wong, Janet. Eds. 2012. The Poetry Friday Anthology. Princeton, NJ: Pomelo Books. (of course!)
25. Yolen, Jane. 2012. Ekaterinoslav: One Family's Passage to America, a Memoir in Verse. Duluth, MN: HolyCow! Press.
26. Yolen, Jane. 2012. The Emily Sonnets. Ill. by Gary Kelley. Creative Editions. 

That's a total of 75+ poetry books (for young readers) published or planned for this year! (Combined list here.)

Also this poetry-related work looks interesting...
Burak, Kate. 2012. Emily’s Dress and Other Missing Things. New York: Roaring Brook.

And this book is now due out in 2013, but that's another list!
Kennedy, Caroline. Ed. 2012. Poems to Learn by Heart. Ill. by John Muth. Hyperion.

If you know of other titles that I have missed (in my combined January and September lists), please let me know. Thanks!

It's still not too late to join the party at Renee LaTulippe's No Water River this Poetry Friday. I'll see you there.