More on Mora

As we dig deep into the oeuvre of Pat Mora, I’d like to offer just a sampling of activities centered around her work—which includes picture story books, picture book biographies, picture book folktales, picture book poetry collections, poetry for young adults, and works for adults, both poetry and resource books (Zing!).

For example, Mora has also created an anthology of poetry by other Latino/Latina poets in Love to Mama: A Tribute to Mothers (Lee & Low Books 2001). Fourteen poets write in both English and Spanish about the love, joy, and humor to be found in the bonds between mothers, grandmothers, and children. Children can choose a favorite poem to read aloud to a family member on Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Grandparent’s Day or a special birthday in English or Spanish.

Pat Mora reflects her own feelings and experiences growing up in the Southwest (El Paso) in her poems in This Big Sky (Scholastic 1998). She celebrates the people, the animals, and the landscape of the region. Follow up with her pictures books, Listen to the Desert - Oye Al Desierto (Clarion Books 1994) or The Desert is My Mother – El desierto es mi madre (Arte Publico Press 1994).

For young children, Mora has authored both alphabet and counting books with rhyming text which once again naturally incorporate Spanish and English words. This includes ¡Marimba!: Animales from A to Z (Clarion 2006) and Uno Dos Tres, One, Two, Three (Clarion 1996). Both tell engaging and even humorous stories, while also celebrating the gift of being bilingual.

Pat Mora’s Confetti is available in two formats, in English with Spanish words intermingled (Confetti, Lee & Low 1999), and entirely in Spanish (Confeti, Lee & Low 2006). If there are Spanish speakers in the community, invite them to participate in sharing these poems aloud in both Spanish and English.

Pat was kind enough to participate in my National Poetry Month (April) game of Poetry Tag. Poet Marilyn Nelson “tagged” her and Pat shared her poem, “Spanish,” a powerful, bittersweet poem. Don’t miss it.

I reviewed Pat’s most recent work of poetry, Dizzy in Your Eyes, for Valentine’s Day this year. Check it out. I loved the LOVE theme and found the inter-generational points of view a powerful frame for young readers—and readers of all ages. Plus, it’s chock full of many poetic forms. A gem!

Please help spread the word about Pat’s work and her participation in this preconference blogathon. She’ll respond to questions, so please comment below with any questions you might have for her. Finally, I’ll offer an autographed copy of her 2010 book, Dizzy in Your Eyes (to be mailed after the conference) to a randomly selected commenter during this focus on her work.

Featuring Pat Mora and NCTE

In preparation for my upcoming session at the NCTE (National Council of Teachers of English) convention in two weeks, I am using my blog to feature two of the poets who will be on the panel with me: Pat Mora and Jame Richards. We're trying to promote our session, of course, but we're also trying to extend the conference experience for those who may not be able to attend in person. It was part of our proposal. We'll also share session highlights AFTER the conference. Maybe even a video clip! Fun, right?



In addition, my co-bloggers, Elaine Magliaro at Wild Rose Reader and Tricia Stohr-Hunt at Miss Rumphius Effect are also participating. They'll be in Orlando at the conference session with me and are also featuring advance press on poets themselves: Marilyn Singer (at Miss Rumphius) and Lee Bennett Hopkins (at Wild Rose Reader). We're trying to show how technology can be used to promote poetry-- so input, interaction, and ideas are welcome.

Meanwhile, let's get rolling...

I am honored to showcase the wonderful poet, author, and literacy advocate Pat Mora.

First, a bit of background:
Pat Mora was born on January 19, in El Paso, Texas, and grew up in a bilingual home. Both her maternal and paternal grandparents migrated from Mexico to El Paso to escape the revolution in the early 20th century. Mora went on to earn both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Texas Western College, now the University of Texas at El Paso. She taught English at the secondary and college levels and briefly hosted a radio talk show. She worked as an administrator, lecturer, and activist, and gives poetry readings, workshops, and presentations around the world. She continues her efforts as a literacy advocate in promoting Día de los Ninos, Día de los Libros (Children’s Day/Book Day) held on April 30th, a national day to celebrate children and literacy. She is married and the mother of three grown children. Her hobbies include traveling, reading, walking, and visiting with friends and family.

Pat Mora’s work has garnered many awards and recognitions, including a Kellogg National Fellowship, a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, the Cooperative Children’s Book Center Choices Award, inclusion on the Americás Award Commended List, an International Reading Association Notable Books for Global Society distinction, and the Tomás Rivera Mexican American Children’s Book Award, among others.

Pat Mora has written in a variety of genres including poetry for children and adults, nonfiction, and children's picture books, including Tomás and the Library Lady (Knopf, 1997), Confetti: Poems for Children (Lee & Low Books 1996/1999), and My Own True Name: New and Selected Poems for Young Adults (Arte Público Press 2000). Many of her works are written in two languages (English interwoven with Spanish words and phrases), and in bilingual editions. She also has a terrific web site and blog (ShareBookjoy) that is frequently updated and full of inspiration and information.

INTERVIEW
We often talk about your poetry, but I so admire your teaching and advocacy too. Since we’re preparing for the upcoming NCTE conference for teachers, I’d like to focus on your new resource book, ZING. Can you tell us a little about the inception of ZING?

Pat: Thanks for asking! Zing! Seven Creativity Practices for Educators and Students began from requests from educators at all levels who would ask me on my speaking travels to tell them how I write, what is my process. Often, the teachers, professors and librarians confided that they wanted to do what I do. I was in two Texas cities last month, and on both trips, I again was asked, “Why don’t you write a book to help us do what you do?”

“I’ve written that book,” I responded which surprised them. A challenge for almost all authors is how to connect potential readers with the books we write for them. Among my numerous goals for this book were inspiring educators to develop their own creativity and inspiring them to develop the creative potential of all their students—a tall order, I know. I firmly believe in the power of educators and that most are committed professionals. I so enjoyed writing these fourteen letters to them.

You weave together so many wonderful vignettes, quotes, and observations, along with practical steps, it’s an inspiring “handbook.” Which tip or strategy do you find you most often use yourself?

Pat: At this point in my life, my key challenge remains creating the quiet to write—and I’m alone most of the time! It remains hard to detach from e-mails and especially hard to detach for a while from growing Día as we edge up to its 15th Anniversary in April. I’m so committed to the need to reach out to diverse families and to assist them to be literacy promoters in their homes and communities. I also, though, need to remind myself that to continue writing (and there are still plenty of books I hope to write), I need the stillness to explore. “Life” gobbles up our hours and days, doesn’t it?

I’m also a BIG fan of your new poetry book, DIZZY IN YOUR EYES. The blending of perspectives is particularly unique—love through the eyes of teens, of course, but also via people of all ages and all walks of life—a cross-generational love poem anthology, if you will. Would you consider doing something like that again on another theme? If so, which theme might draw you in?

Pat: Both of my books for teens were suggested by librarians when I was actually focused on other projects. I clearly remember when the books were proposed. MY OWN TRUE NAME was suggested by a California librarian who said she needed a poetry collection in a Latina/o voice for her students. I felt a responsibility to help and spoke to the publisher of Arte Público Press.

Over a delicious dinner hosted by Random House at TLA, a librarian said that I need to write another book for teens, and that she recommended love poems. I’d never considered such a thing, but the idea grew on me, and the project brought me great joy. I’m deeply grateful to my Knopf editor for believing in the project. I’m not planning another such book at present which relates to your following question.

What can we look forward to from you next?
Pat: I’m always working on picture books. I find them irresistible. Although poetry is my favorite genre, it’s difficult to place a poetry collection and the audience for poetry can be small. For a while I wondered if I’d even write another book of adult poetry, but I do now have an idea for book seven. No idea presently for another book of teen poetry, but I do hope to begin a YA version of my family memoir House of Houses before the end of the year.

Please chime in with questions or comments (below) and Pat will respond at the end of the week. Plus, I'll chime in again with a few more ideas and activities. Stay tuned...

And if you can make it to the NCTE conference, join us!
Session Title: A.9 Poets and Bloggers Unite: Using Technology to Connect Kids, Teachers, and Poetry
Date: Friday, November 19th
Time: 9:30 am to 10:45 am
Place: Coronado - Baja Room



Photo Credit: Cheron Bayna

October Book Links poetry

Before October is over, I want to plug this month’s issue of Book Links and three poetry pieces. My colleague, Dean Schneider featured poetry in his regular column, “Dean’s List,” entitled “Live a While with These Poems” and he does a lovely job focusing on a few new titles that I also loved including Wicked Girls by Stephanie Hemphill, an amazing novel-in-verse set during the Salem witch trials, Poetry Speaks Who I Am, a fantastic anthology with audio CD for middle school, a feminist-poem-history, Firefly Letters, by the always-terrific Margarita Engle, and several others. Be sure to check it out.

My own “Everyday Poetry” column focused on the social studies theme of the October issue by looking at “Making Poetry Movies”—creating digital “movie” trailers for poetry books with a historical bent. I’ve been exploring this area quite a bit in the last year and many of my students have been trying this option as a project in my classes (and I’ve shared some of their innovative trailers for poetry books here before). So, here are a few nuts and bolts from my latest column:

I love movies. One of my favorite parts is watching the “sneak previews,” the mini-movies that make you want to see more movies. Now teachers and librarians are using this concept to promote books and reading by creating “homemade” book “trailers.” Author Pamela Lowell shared her “Five Easy Steps to Making a Great Book Trailer” in VOYA (February 2010), including 1) study examples, 2) tell a story, 3) use royalty-free images and music, 4) choose the right movie-making tool, and 5) preview and launch. First, sample other book trailers at sites such as YouTube, WatchtheBook.com, Booktrailers.ning.com, Bookcaster.com; or Book-trailers.net. The variety is tremendous, but most are very short (1 minute long) and incorporate book covers and bibliographic information, especially the book’s title and author’s name, as well as images, music, sound effects, and voiceover commentary. Easy-to-use moviemaking software includes Windows Movie Maker (for PCs), iMovie (for Macs) or Animoto.com, for example. Free images can be found at Flickr.com, Free Foto.com; and Creative Commons.org and music selections and sound effects are available at Partners In Rhyme.com, Brainy Betty.com, or Open Music Archive.org. Those are the basics. 


But what I find especially interesting is the application of this new approach to the promotion of poetry, in particular. Brevity, imagery, musicality, voice—these are all powerful characteristics that poetry offers in abundance. A well-made trailer can serve to capitalize on these qualities and become almost poetic itself with the artful combining of words, images, and sound. We can create these for high-tech “booktalking” to motivate reading of poetry or students can create their own trailers as responses to their favorite poetry books—which will, in turn, inspire other kids to want to read those books. (This is also an excellent vehicle for reinforcing copyright awareness in selecting text, images, sounds, and music.)

Trailers are an innovative tool for promoting books and a natural pairing with poetry. On top of that, the potential for impact on social studies learning is also important in making history come to life. The times, people, and places of the past can be difficult for young people to grasp and seem abstract, remote, and irrelevant. The power of the history-poetry-trailer is to provide a window into that past through choice words, images, and sound.

Several recent poetry books provide that entry point, including poem picture books highlighting a single poem such as Langston Hughes’s My People re-interpreted by Coretta Scott King award winning Charles R. Smith or the picture book anthology, Amazing Faces, compiled by Lee Bennett Hopkins and illustrated by Chris Soentpiet. Students could use the cover of either book as a jumping off point for photographing the faces of friends, peers, neighbors, etc. to echo the community theme of each book. Other Hopkins poetry books including City I Love, America at War, and Behind the Museum Door also lend themselves to social studies instruction and media adaptation. Students might select a single poem to highlight as exemplary or try to capture the essence of the book through excerpted phrases, moving images, and appropriate music.

The people of the past have also been depicted in biographical poetry books that lend themselves to video adaptations. Students can research historical photos and portraits, dress up as the subject themselves, or seek out evocative images or clips that convey the period:
• Twelve Rounds to Glory: The Story of Muhammad Ali and Black Jack; The Ballad of Jack Johnson both by Charles R. Smith, Jr.
• Becoming Billie Holiday and Before John Was a Jazz Giant: A Song of John Coltrane both by Carole Boston Weatherford
• The Poet Slave of Cuba, The Surrender Tree, The Firefly Letters, and the upcoming Hurricane Dancers all by Margarita Engle

The sense of historical time and place is strong in Linda Ashman’s Come to the Castle, J. Patrick Lewis’ The House, and Lewis’s collaboration with Rebecca Kai Dotlich, Castles: Old Stone Poems. For older students, many excellent novels in verse capture a vivid sense of history:
• The Year of Goodbyes; A True Story of Friendship, Family and Farewells by featured poet Debbie Levy (set in Germany, 1938)
• Three Rivers Rising by Jame Richards (set in the Allegheny Mountains of Pennsylvania, 1888-1889)
• Wicked Girls; A Novel of the Salem Witch Trials by Stephanie Hemphill
• Crossing Stones (WWI) and The Braid (Scotland and the Nova Scotia, 1850) both by Helen Frost
• Ringside 1925; Views From the Scopes Trial and Kaleidoscope Eyes (summer, 1968) both by Jen Bryant

Poetry books are the perfect source material for digital video treatment because they are particularly evocative in their use of images, language, and even sound. When it comes to social studies this medium offers a way for young people to picture the past through the lens of the poet providing an experience that leads young people to the past and back to the book.

Once again, my column is accompanied by a new, original, unpublished poem. This time Debbie Levy shares her poem challenge, “Monumental Message” set against the backdrop of the Lincoln Memorial. Be sure to check it out and look for her latest poetry-history work, The Year of Goodbyes; A True Story of Friendship, Family and Farewells and accompanying interactive Posiealbum Project site.

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