HOP TO IT: POEMS TO GET YOU MOVING

It’s here! HOP TO IT: Poems to Get You Moving has arrived! 

Janet (Wong) and I are so excited to see this poetry anthology full of 100 poems to get you moving, thinking, and standing up ready for readers! A big thank you to the 90 poets who shared their poems with us!

For the first time, we held an open call for poems posted here back on February 13 and received hundreds of submissions—we wish we could have accepted them all. One of the special treats of this project was getting to know some brand-new poets and we think you’ll enjoy their poems as much as we do!

 We asked the poets to hop along with us and we love how ready they were! 

Initially, we were focused exclusively on helping young readers and listeners get up off their chairs and moving to the words of an inviting poem because multiple research studies have found we are all becoming way too sedentary. Some have even said that “sitting is the new smoking.” EEK!  And MOVING is STILL a big part of this book! But then as we continued to work on the book, our entire way of life shifted a bit and we were all dealing with a global pandemic, quarantining, and schooling from home, and at the same time, experiencing a national awakening to the social justice issues that we are still grappling with as a nation. Well, we HAD to incorporate those issues into this book, too. So, you’ll find fun, participatory hopping, jumping, tapping, and waving poems in HOP TO IT, but you’ll also find poems about wearing masks, Zooming with teachers, friends and family, AND poems about standing up for what you believe in. Here are just a few examples. 

Look for poems to move to like this (by Ann Ingalls):

Look for poems about living through a pandemic like this (by Janet Wong):

Poems that inspire us to speak out and stand up like this (by Zetta Elliott):

As usual, we also love making connections between poems and teaching and learning. (It’s kinda our THING!) So, every poem is accompanied by five connected “bubbles” with 

(1) a tip on performing the poem with young people, 

(2) a scientific or social studies fact related to the poem,

(3) a tiny "spot" illustration, 

(4) a language arts/poetry skills connection, and 

(5) a recommended related picture book for a cross-genre extension. 

We also have extensive backmatter with ready-to-go activities for kids like a poem hunt, poetry tic tac toe, a poetry month calendar activity, and tips for acting out poems, sharing poetry at home, poetry websites to know, a glossary of poetic forms, and booklists of other movement poetry books and poetry books about social justice.

We’ve been gathering our poets for Zoom poetry parties and they’ve been kind enough to let us record and share their poem readings. You are in for a major treat as we roll those out in the coming weeks. Here is just one fun sampling (with big thanks to poet Zetta Elliott for reading "Everyday Use" also presented in the poem graphic above):

Other bloggers and poets will be posting about HOP TO IT in the coming weeks offering their perspectives—for which we truly thank them—and we hope you’ll check out their posts and their poems!  Here’s the current schedule with more serendipitous blog posts hopping up all the time! 

If you’re looking for a book full of poems that speak to this moment we’re living through AND make teaching and learning connections AND help us take a “brain break” and stretch and breathe, we hope you’ll check out HOP TO IT! You can find it here at QEPBooks and at Amazon, of course. It should be available from Ingram soon, too. 

Now, don’t forget to check out the rest of the Poetry Friday goodness hosted by Janice at Salt City Verse. 

Hop to It!

Trumpets, please!

Right here, right now, we're issuing an invitation to submit poems for our next book, HOP TO IT: Poems to Get You Moving, to be published later this year by our company Pomelo Books. This will be an anthology of approximately 75 poems that incorporate movement and we'd like you to submit a poem for consideration!

Some key elements:

--We're on a super-short deadline. We need to receive poems by March 31, 2020

--We aim to publish this book in August of this year

--Poems should be geared toward PreK - Grade 5 (short poems = better)

--Poems should be previously unpublished (not even included in blog posts yet)

--You'll retain the copyright in your poem (and will be free to use it elsewhere after publication)

--Please understand that we'll have room for only ~75 poems, so we'll have to say no to hundreds of excellent poems (an unfortunate reality for all our books).

We believe that welcoming poem submissions from everyone who would like to have a poem considered for this book is an inclusive approach that will yield a wonderful variety of high-quality poems. Although we currently work with nearly 200 poets whom we adore, we pride ourselves on identifying and promoting new poets-- and we never know who will be able to "deliver" the best poems for a particular topic or need.

So, if you are a poet who loves to hop, jump, twist, twiddle, spin, shrug, reach-- or even sit very, very still, stretching and breathing slowly-- please read on!

What we envision is a book of poems that teachers, librarians, parents, grandparents, and leaders in summer camps and afterschool programs can use to help children "get the wiggles out." We'd like many poems to encourage movements that can be done while seated in a chair, both to be inclusive and to fit those moments when jumping around the room isn't practical. If the poems can also incorporate some poetry and language elements (such as simile or alliteration or capitalization or punctuation), that's even better. Here's a list for some inspiration:

What is most important, though, is that these poems be terrific examples of rich imagery, musical language, and relevance to children. While it's so difficult to evaluate this, it is very easy to recognize. We all know it when we read an outstanding poem, right? To see what we mean, take a look at some of our favorite poems at the Pomelo Books Pinterest page  and then, if you're inspired, Hop to It . . . and write a poem!

Submit a poem at PomeloSubmissions@gmail.com.

Now head on over to TeacherDance where Linda is hosting our Poetry Friday fun. See you there!

More hopping and moving with poetry!

We've been so thrilled with the response to our new poetry anthology, HOP TO IT: POEMS TO GET YOU MOVING! 

We're so pleased that readers are finding that moving with poems can be fun and we love helping to launch several brand new poets into the publishing world! Here are some more of our hopping poets! 

We'd like to share a few more poem gems for you to enjoy, as well as a glimpse at a bit more of the backmatter. Enjoy! Here's a poem to help you move a bit while seated at your desk!

And here's another poem to help you move while sitting!

And here's one activity from the backmatter in HOP TO IT: POEMS TO GET YOU MOVING:

TIC TAC TOE

For 2-5 players: One person chooses poems to read, while others mark an image on their Tic Tac Toe card in a box that corresponds to that poem. Continue until someone fills a row and shouts TIC TAC TOE!

You'll find 100 poems to read, share, and MOVE to in HOP TO IT. More info to come...

Now, head on over to Jama's Alphabet Soup where she is hosting our Poetry Friday gathering as only she can! And for more about HOP TO IT, check out the next stops on our blog tour!

Poem in Your Pocket Day

It's Poem in Your Pocket Day! Want to know more? The Academy of American Poets has all the details here. It's a fun way to encourage the everyday use of poetry by choosing a favorite poem, writing or printing it on a small card, and keeping it in your pocket to read and reread at your leisure. For young people, this can be a fun make-and-take activity to save, share, and trade just like your favorite baseball cards! 

For a fun poem to kick off the celebration, here's Janet Wong's poem ABOUT poems for your pocket entitled "Pocket Poems Card." It's from The Poetry Friday Anthology for Celebrations (Pomelo Books, 2014). 

Another perfect poem for "Poem in Your Pocket Day" is this one, "Hands Say, 'Great Job!'" by Linda Kulp Trout from HOP TO IT: POEMS TO GET YOU MOVING (Pomelo Books, 2020). Not only is it short enough to fit on a tiny business card, it's a poem of affirmation that is fun to read every morning! 

And here is Linda reading her poem aloud to a group of poets gathered to celebrate their poems-- all in HOP TO IT: POEMS TO GET YOU MOVING. 

And for a different twist, look for this new picture book by Chris Tougas, Poem in My Pocket,  illustrated by Josée Bisaillon (Kids Can Press, 2021), "the journey of a young poet's words out into the world, where they join randomly with other words to form funny riffs and puns all over a busy city street."

Guest Post: Poetry PLUS by Janet Wong

I've taken a long summer break (and welcomed my first grandchild!), but it's time to gear up for the new school year. First, I'm happy to host a guest post by my friend and collaborator Janet Wong about the workshop we led last week-- along with great ideas about how to envision poetry projects. Here's our beautiful group of poets who participated:

Janet writes: Last week Sylvia and I felt honored to lead a very talented group of poets, most of whom are already published, in our #Anthologies101 workshop. Fellow anthologists and editor-friends: please let us know if you'd like us to connect you with these talented poets! 

You can see a synopsis of the workshop's content here. Over the next few weeks we'll provide a more detailed look at some of the topics that we discussed and will discuss again in our repeat sessions, such as the forthcoming October 16th workshop. Based on the tremendous praise we received, the workshop is almost full—but you can get on the waitlist and the list for future sessions by sending an email to info@pomelobooks.com.

This week I'd like to look at one of the basic topics that we covered: anthologies that are "poetry PLUS."

An important decision for poets (creating collections of their own poems) or anthologists (creating anthologies of poems by many poets) is whether there will be any content other than poems. Will there be a mix of poems, essays, stories, or quotes? Will there be supplemental text accompanying poems? If so, will you place that supplemental text on each page, or will you create front matter and back matter? 

The "PLUS" element could be creative activities and writing prompts, such as in the interactive material in our Poetry Friday Power Book series. The "PLUS" might be curricular connections, such as the social studies or STEM resources in The Poetry Friday Anthology series. Or, in the case of our most recent book HOP TO IT: Poems to Get You Moving, an anthology of 100 poems by 90 poets, the "PLUS" might take the form of poetry performance tips, picture book pairings, poetry skills, and fun facts that bring each poem alive.

These "PLUS" tidbits not only help adults who are looking for ready-made mini-lessons, but they can also deepen the enjoyment for children who are reading the book by themselves. If you are a fourth grader who is reading HOP TO IT on your own and you come across the funny poem "Wiggle Your Ears!" you might find this intriguing: scientists have found that approximately 15% of humans can wiggle their ears. (If you don't have the book yet, you can watch a 30-second video of Jay Brazeau reading "Wiggle Your Ears!" here.) Becoming aware of this fact might prompt a child to do some quick research on genetics, expanding their interest in STEM and making the book even more fun.

Here's another example: Play a 30-second video of Padma Venkatraman reading her powerful poem "At the Eye" and then share that the eye of the storm is the small area of calm in the middle of a hurricane, and the eyewall of winds around the eye is the worst part of the storm.

Or take a minute to share the video of Xelena González reading and leading us in dance with "Chair Dancing" and then talk to kids about The Rollettes, a team of wheelchair dancers who gained attention while traveling the world. They became famous for their belief that "dance is dance, whether you're walking or rolling."

There are 101 fun facts in HOP TO IT. The facts are such a key part of the content, you'll find this book on the list of nominees for the "Ages 8-12: Best Book of Facts" category of the #KidsBookChoiceAwards, a children's choice award sponsored by The Children's Book Council and Every Child a Reader.

Individual children and groups (such as classrooms) can vote right now (through September 8th) to determine the five finalists in each category. Voting takes just one minute! Click here to vote and send the message, loud and clear, that kids love Poetry PLUS!

FINALLY: be sure to join the Poetry Friday gathering hosted by Carol at TheApplesinMyOrchard. Se you there! 

BOOK LINKS and YPPL Jacqueline Woodson

The new issue of ALA's Book Links magazine features my interview with and article about the new Young People's Poet Laureate, Jacqueline Woodson. What a pleasure to "chat" with her and dig deep into her work through the lens of poetry! Here are a few nuggets from the piece. NOTE: Now the whole article is available online via Booklist's Quick Tips, so here's the link.

Jacqueline Woodson is the author of more than two dozen books for young readers, a four-time Newbery Honor winner, a recipient of the NAACP Image Award, a two-time Coretta Scott King Award winner and she was recently chosen to deliver the 2017 May Hill Arbuthnot Honor Lecture. Her work includes groundbreaking picture books, novels, and poetry, including the recent National Book Award winner, Brown Girl Dreaming, her memoir in verse. When she was named Young People’s Poet Laureate by the Poetry Foundation in 2015, some people may have been surprised that she was singled out as a POET, but an examination of her work reveals a consistently lyrical use of language, an intentional employment of line breaks and white space, and powerful imagery and intense emotion throughout all her writing. Here, she answers questions about the place of poetry in her life and work and about her plans to “raise awareness” about poetry as the Laureate.

SV: Can you describe the role poetry played in your childhood? When and how did you first discover a love for reading or writing poetry, in particular?

JW: My earliest memory of poetry is Mother Goose of course - my sister reciting various rhymes and my favorite as a child being about the old woman who lived in a shoe. I think I related to the tight living quarters and the tired mom. But somewhere between Mother Goose as a very young child and Langston Hughes as a much older one, I had a disconnect from poetry. Somehow I felt outside of it. I remember hearing Nikki Giovanni’s poetry on an album someone must have owned and thinking “Who and WHAT is that?” but still not making the connection between what Nikki was doing and poetry. When I heard Langston Hughes’ poem “Dream Variations” back in the early 70s, it was a wrap - I got it! I just got it on so many levels  — levels that connected Hughes to Giovanni to Lorde to the Grimké sisters, to Eloise Greenfield — I was on my way.

SV: How would you say your poetry has evolved? What kinds of surprises have you discovered along the way?

Jacqueline Woodson (photo by Marty Umans)

JW: I’ve discovered that I’m not as afraid of poetry as I once was and I’m not afraid to put my work out there and call it poetry — without excuses. I think I struggled with Imposter Syndrome for a long time - thinking my work was poetic but not necessarily poetry. My writing has definitely gotten better over the years — I mean, I *have* been practicing!  I’ve discovered how vast the world of poetry is and how much of it I missed as a child. I find myself trying to read as much poetry as I can as slowly as I can as a way to study the poets who’ve come before me. Right now, I’m revisiting CITIZEN by Claudia Rankine.  It’s phenomenal.

SV: What else would you like to explore in creating poetry for young people?

JW: Everything! I want to do everything! I want to go where people haven’t gone before, create new ways of telling stories, open doors to the historically invisible and silent storytellers and poets in our country, put the voices of young people out into the world, visit places where kids think they’ve never met a ‘real’ writer and hold up a mirror for them.  It would be amazing to bring poetry to every state as YPPL. To walk into classrooms and get young people to believe they have a story, a poem, a voice.

SV:  What advice do you have for young people about writing poetry, in particular?

JW: Read poetry. Write poetry. #Noexcuse.

SV: As the current Young People’s Poet Laureate, what are your hopes for the future of poetry for young people?

JW: Oh man, I would SO love for young people to read lots and lots of poetry. I would love for them to see and recognize poetry everywhere in their lives, to talk about the poets they love and the ones they don’t, to write songs and spit lyrics and make chapbooks. I would love, love for Social Justice to be a HUGE part of what young people are writing and talking about one day. I’d love for poetry to cross lines so that poets can look up and see a whole lot of young folks in their audience and young people can look up and see more than parents and teachers coming to hear them write about changing the world.

And there is more Q & A in the article, but now we'll turn to teaching activities and strategies based on Woodson's work.

TEACHING AND LEARNING ACTIVITIES

If you check out the “Poetry” link on Jacqueline Woodson’s website, you’ll see that she focuses on the many ways poetry is infused throughout her writing. She shares excerpts that help illustrate the ideas that poetry can be memoir, fiction, in the form of a picture book, sharing history, or building empathy. Let’s consider each of these areas and how we can build learning activities for young people.

1. Poetry As Memoir (Brown Girl Dreaming)

Jacqueline Woodson explores her own upbringing in her memoir in verse, Brown Girl Dreaming. In talking about why she wrote it in this particular format, she noted, “This is how memory comes to me -- In small moments with all of this white space around them. I didn't think this memoir could be told any other way. It felt like it would be untrue to the story to try to write a straight narrative out of lyrical memory.” You can share three excerpts from the book at her website (http://www.jacquelinewoodson.com/books-ive-written/poetry/) and talk with students about similar memories they may have of their own siblings, parents/caregivers, or classroom moments. Then students can work in pairs to create their own poem memoir moments, interviewing each other about a particular memory, taking notes for each other, and then each building a free verse or found poem based on those notes. To take it even further, guide students in noting Woodson’s use of italics to suggest dialogue in a poem. If time allows for further study, compare this memoir in verse with other works that offer a similar focus such as:

Ada, Alma Flor. Under the Royal Palms: A Childhood in Cuba

Ada, Alma Flor. Where the Flame Trees Bloom

Nelson, Marilyn. How I Discovered Poetry

Lai, Thanhha. Inside Out and Back Again

McCall, Guadalupe Garcia. Under the Mesquite

Yeung, Russell Ching. Tofu Quilt

Yu, Chun. Little Green; Growing Up During the Chinese Cultural Revolution

2. Poetry As Fiction (Locomotion)

In her novel, Locomotion, the narrator Lonnie Collins (nicknamed "Locomotion") writes poetry to tell his story and to express his feelings about being apart from his younger sister and living in foster care after the death of their parents. Once again, Woodson uses italics within a poem to indicate when someone is speaking (besides the narrator) which can be very effective when reading aloud. Try readers’ theater performance, so that students can get a sense of character and voice. Select poems with two parts: plain text and italicized text for two or more volunteers or groups to read aloud in turn. Then talk about how that helps us understand the poem and the points of view better. The novel in verse form offers the generous white space, short lines, and conversational tone that young readers who are still developing their comprehension expertise find helpful. Here are more verse novels for kids in the intermediate grades (grades 4, 5, 6) with younger protagonists and problems and issues like Locomotion and the sequel, Peace, Locomotion:

Applegate, Katherine. The One and Only Ivan

Cheng, Andrea. Where the Steps Were

Creech, Sharon. Love That Dog

Engle, Margarita. The Wild Book

Frost, Helen. Hidden

Grimes, Nikki. Planet Middle School

Herrick, Steven. Naked Bunyip Dancing

Zimmer, Tracie Vaughn. Reaching for Sun

Zimmer, Tracie Vaughn. 42 Miles

3. Poetry As Picture Book (The Other Side)

In an interview in School Library Journal, Jacqueline Woodson noted, “My picture books are long poems really—I decide where the lines break and the flow of the story.” Read aloud and show the text of her picture book, The Other Side. After encouraging the students to respond to the story (and the friendship that transcends race), talk about how the words are arranged on the page, particularly in contrast with the usual format for text in picture books. Look at how the line breaks make the reader pause, adding weight to the thoughts expressed. Consider how they fit with the illustrations on the page. Show how it feels when you read the lines and sentences as if they were continuous narrative, then counter by pausing at the end of each line break as written. Examine some of Woodson’s other picture books to see how she arranges words, lines, phrases, and sentences in them: This is the Rope; Each Kindness; Pecan Pie Baby; Coming On Home Soon; We Had a Picnic This Sunday Past; Sweet, Sweet Memory, Our Gracie Aunt; Visiting Day; Show Way.

4. Poetry as History (Show Way)

Woodson traces her family’s roots in the beautiful picture book, Show Way, a Newbery honor book. After reading the book aloud, talk with students about the stories of each generation portrayed in the book, particularly the power of making quilts to show the path to freedom and literacy. Then focus on the story’s text and how each page and poem works together to “quilt” the story’s narrative. Woodson uses the free verse poem form with distinctive line breaks to make the reader pause and think about each scene, letting the “history” breathe a bit. This can serve as a springboard for students to interview a family member about his/her past, then take their notes and develop a free verse poem, and illustrate the scene in some way (with a drawing or old photograph, for example).

5. Poetry As Empathy (Each Kindness)

I imagine that all authors strive to reach readers’ minds as well as hearts, but I believe poets are particularly adept at moving us with their words—and with very few words, too. That’s one reason we often share a poem at a graduation, wedding, or other celebrations. Poems convey deep emotions that we struggle to express on our own and help us connect with one another in very personal ways. Read aloud Woodson’s picture book, Each Kindness, and talk with children about the story and its challenge to be kinder to one another. If possible, bring a large bowl filled with water and a small stone and reenact the teacher’s exercise with each person dropping the stone into the water while describing an act of kindness they have carried out. Then challenge students to find a poem or story excerpt that makes them feel deeply and invite them to share it with the group. Consider sharing poetry books by some of Woodson’s poet influences such as Honey, I Love by Eloise Greenfield, The Dream Keeper by Langston Hughes, Hip Hop Speaks to Children collected by Nikki Giovanni or Amazing Faces edited by Lee Bennett Hopkins, Lend a Hand by John Frank, This Place I Know: Poems of Comfort edited by Georgia Heard or What the Heart Knows: Chants, Charms & Blessings by Joyce Sidman.

The Book Links article matches each of these activities to appropriate Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and provides a complete bibliography too. FYI.

Source

http://www.slj.com/2015/01/interviews/jacqueline-woodson-on-weaving-memory-crafting-poetry-and-writing-for-young-adults/#_

Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award Announced

The Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award, sponsored by Penn State University, was announced yesterday and I am pleased to share that news. The winner?
Jazz by Walter Dean Myers, illustrated by Christopher Myers (published by Holiday House)

You may remember that I wrote about this book previously when it received a Coretta Scott King Illustrator honor citation, was selected as one of the five poetry books nominated for the Cybils Award, and appeared on my very own list of the “Best Poetry for Children in 2006.” Clearly, it is a terrific book! As I noted previously, 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. It also includes a helpful “Introduction,” “Glossary of Jazz Terms,” and a “Jazz Time Line.” And the illustrations in Mardi Gras colors of green, golds, and purples just leap off the page, the perfect accompaniment to the lively language. It was a challenge to choose only one poem to lure you into the book, but here’s just one I love and think kids will enjoy it, too:

Stride
by Walter Dean Myers

We got jiving in our bones, and it won’t leave us alone—we’re really moving
jiving / bones
We got pride in our stride, and we know it’s all the style—we’re steady grooving
pride / stride
This piano’s hard and driving, and the tones are getting to me—hear them talking
driving / tones
There’s a glide to the ride, and the feeling’s coming through me—the bass is walking
glide / ride
I hear singing in my heart, yes, it’s rhythm, yes, it’s art, no use in stalling
singing / heart
I got jump in my feet, and I’m turning up the heat, left hand hauling
jump / feet
I’m out here swinging from the start, can’t get no higher
swinging / start
We got bump in the beat where the crazy rhythms meet. This band’s on fire!
BUMP / BEAT

Doesn’t that poem just beg to be HEARD? To be chanted, sung, or shouted out loud? Involve the kids in bringing the poem to life—first by chanting the two word phrases after a narrator reads each primary line, then by calling out alternating lines, or adapting all the lines for multiple groups. Then follow up with adding piano, drum, horns or homemade instruments while saying the lines. Listen to recordings of jazz greats. Add movement, dance, even hip hop!

The award committee also selected three Honor books:
Behold the Bold Umbrellaphant by Jack Prelutsky (Greenwillow Books)
The Braid by Helen Frost (Farrar, Straus & Giroux) [See my previous entry about this book on July 19.]
Tour America; A Journey Through Poetry and Art by Diane Siebert (Chronicle Books)

The LBH award committee also recognizes a new, up-and-coming poet. The Lee Bennett Hopkins/IRA Promising New Poet Award was given to Joyce Lee Wong for Seeing Emily (Abrams). I’m embarrassed to say that I haven’t read that book yet-- somehow it slipped under my radar-- but I’ve ordered it and will write more about it as soon as I can. Congratulations to Joyce Lee Wong, too.

Caldecott!!!! (plus poetry connections)

Our 2018 Caldecott Committee and our winning books

Calling the winning illustrators via speakerphone!

I've been celebrating my Caldecott experience for over a week now! What a treat to spend a year poring over picture books published in 2017 and then a whole weekend behind closed doors talking in-depth with 14 other people who love picture books as much as I do!  Just WOW! 
In case you haven't seen the results, we chose Wolf in the Snow by Matthew Cordell as the medal winner! It's such a beautiful, wordless book perfect for sharing with a child on your lap or a whole group during story time. And because, it's wordless, I can envision pairing it with poems, too! For example, selections from some of these winter-themed poetry collections would help set the stage:

Poetry to Pair with Wolf in the Snow

Florian, Douglas. 1999. Winter Eyes. New York: Greenwillow.

Frost, Robert. 1978/2001. Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening. Ill. by Susan Jeffers. New York: Dutton.

Gerber, Carole. 2008. Winter Trees. Ill. by Leslie Evans. Watertown, MA: Charlesbridge. 

Quattlebaum, Marie. 2005. Winter Friends. Ill. by Hiroe Nakata. New York: Bantam.

Yolen, Jane. 1998. Snow, Snow:  Winter Poems for Children. Honesdale, PA: Wordsong/Boyds Mills.

We chose four Caldecott honor books:

Grand Canyon by Jason Chin


Crown by Derrick Barnes, illustrated by Gordon C. James

Big Cat, Little Cat by Elisha Cooper

A Different Pond by Bao Phi, illustrated by Thi Bui

More poetry connections?

The gorgeous nonfiction book, Grand Canyon by Jason Chin (also a Sibert honor book) was one of our honor selections and is a book to pore over for the sweeping landscape, detailed nature drawings, and imagined history. There's a new poetry anthology coming out this year that might work perfectly alongside this book (The Poetry of Us), as well as several others:

Poetry to Pair with Grand Canyon

Bates, Katharine Lee. 2003. America the Beautiful. Ill. by Wendell Minor. New York: Putnam.

Hopkins, Lee Bennett. Ed. 2000. My America: A Poetry Atlas of the U.S. New York: Simon & Schuster.

Hopkins, Lee Bennett, Ed. 2002. Home to Me: Poems Across America. New York: Orchard.

Lewis, J. Patrick. (Ed.) 2018. The Poetry of Us: More Than 200 Poems about the People, Places and Passions of the United States. Washington, D.C.: National Geographic. 

Panzer, Nora, Ed. 1994. Celebrate America in Poetry and Art. New York: Hyperion. 

Siebert, Diane. 2006. Tour America: A Journey through Poems and Art. San Francisco, CA: Chronicle.

We're so excited that Crown by Derrick Barnes, illustrated by Gordon C. James has also been recognized with other awards, including a NEWBERY honor for author Derrick Barnes, as well as a Coretta Scott King author honor for him and illustrator honor for Gordon C. James. Impressive, right? It's a celebratory anthem to the power of the haircut and the barber shop in African American life and identity-- full of energy and power and hope. Plus, it's subtitled "An Ode to the Fresh Cut." It begins:

"When it's your turn in the chair,
you stand at attention and forget about
who you were when you
walked through that door.

You came in as a lump of clay,
a blank canvas, a slab of marble.
But when my man is done with you,
they'll want to post you up in a museum!

That's my word."

Connect Crown with poems from some of these wonderful books, especially Crowning Glory by Joyce Carol Thomas:

Poetry to Pair with Crown

Brooks, Gwendolyn. 1956/1984. Bronzeville Boys and Girls. New York: HarperCollins.

Giovanni, Nikki. Coll. 2008. Hip Hop Speaks Children. Naperville, IL: Sourcebooks.

Greenfield, Eloise. 2008. Brothers and Sisters: Family Poems. New York: Amistad/HarperCollins.

Grimes, Nikki. 1994. Meet Danitra Brown. New York: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard. 

Grimes, Nikki. 1999. My Man Blue: Poems. New York: Dial.

Hughes, Langston. 2009. My People. Ill. by Charles R Smith Jr. New York: Simon & Schuster.

Myers, Walter Dean. 1995. Glorious Angels:  A Celebration of Children. New York: HarperCollins.  

Myers, Walter Dean. 2011. We are America; A Tribute from the Heart. Ill. by Christopher Myers. HarperCollins.

Steptoe, Javaka. Ed. 1997. In Daddy's Arms I Am Tall: African Americans Celebrating Fathers. New York: Lee & Low.

Thomas, Joyce Carol. 2002. Crowning Glory. New York: HarperCollins. 

Thomas, Joyce Carol. 2008. The Blacker the Berry. Illus. by Floyd Cooper. New York: Amistad.

Next up? 

Big Cat, Little Cat by Elisha Cooper
This masterful picture book is about cats, yes, but it's so much more! And I found the lyrical, perfectly paced language so poetic, too. It begins:

"There was a cat
who lived alone.
Until the day
a new cat came. 
The cat showed the new
cat what to do.
When to eat,
when to drink,
where to go,
how to be,
when to rest."

See what I mean? And each phrase is spread across each page along with elegant, simple, bold drawings in thick black outlines of two special cats. Do not miss this book. Trust me! And of course there are TONS of poems about cats to pair with this book. Here is just a sampling:

Poetry to Pair with Big Cat, Little Cat

Crawley, Dave. 2005. Cat Poems. Honesdale: Wordsong/Boyds Mills Press.

Florian, Douglas. 2003. Bow Wow Meow Meow: It’s Rhyming Cats and Dogs. San Diego: Harcourt Brace.

Franco, Betsy. 2009. A Curious Collection of Cats. Ill. by Michael Wertz. San Francisco: Tricycle Press.

Kirk, Daniel. 2007. Cat Power. New York: Hyperion.

Lach, William. Ed. 1999. Curious Cats in Art and Poetry for Children. 1999. New York: Atheneum Books.

Rosen, Michael J. 2015. The Maine Coon’s Haiku and Other Poems for Cat Lovers. Somerville, MA: Candlewick. 

Schertle, Alice. 1999. I am the Cat. New York: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard.

Wardlaw, Lee. 2011. Won Ton; A Cat Tale Told in Haiku. Ill. by Eugene Yelchin. Henry Holt.

Wardlaw, Lee. 2015. Won Ton and Chopstick: A Cat and Dog Tale Told in Haiku. Ill. by Eugene Yelchin. New York: Holt.

Yolen, Jane. 1993. Raining Cats and Dogs. San Diego: Harcourt. 

And finally:
A Different Pond by Bao Phi, illustrated by Thi Bui
This beautiful picture book is part memoir, part graphic novel, and part father-son adventure and totally poignant and memorable. And the author, Bao Phi, is a... POET! A father and his young son make a fishing trip in the wee hours of the morning to catch their dinner, sharing the experience, as well as the father's memories of his past in Vietnam. The story begins:

"Dad wakes me quietly
so Mom can keep sleeping.
It will be hours before
the sun comes up."

and ends...

"And I will smile and nod,
and later, when we sleep,
we will dream of fish
in faraway ponds."

Poetry to Pair with A Different Pond

Frank, John. 2007. How to Catch a Fish. New York: Roaring Brook.

Grimes, Nikki. 1999. Hopscotch Love: A Family Treasury of Love Poems. New York: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard.

Issa, Kobayashi. 2007. Today and Today. New York: Scholastic.

Livingston, Myra Cohn. Ed. 1989. Poems for Fathers. New York: Holiday House.

Mak, Kam. 2001. My Chinatown: One Year in Poems. New York: HarperCollins.

Park, Linda Sue. 2007. Tap Dancing on the Roof; Sijo Poems. New York : Clarion.

Wissinger, Tamera Will. 2013. Gone Fishing: A Novel in Verse. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Wong, Janet S. 1994. Good Luck Gold and Other Poems. New York: McElderry.

Wong, Janet S. 1996/2008. A Suitcase of Seaweed, and Other Poems. New York: Booksurge.

So, there you go!
Of course poetic connections are not part of the Caldecott selection criteria. Just in case you didn’t know, the Caldecott Medal is an award given annually by the Association for Library Service to children to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children. The Caldecott committee focuses on the "excellence of execution in the artistic technique employed, in the pictorial interpretation of story, theme, or concept, the appropriateness of style of illustration to the story, theme or concept, etc." But many picture books are so poetic, don't you think? The brevity and economy of language is part of the nature of the picture book medium. And of course many picture book collections are currently published in picture book form, too. 

Now that I have completed the process, I am once again at liberty to talk and write about all the picture books I love! Hallelujah! One of the biggest challenges last year was NOT talking and writing about picture books-- all the lovely poetry that was published in picture book form was "off limits" for me in 2017. ALSC is very mindful of any potential conflict of interest and I understand that completely. So, now I look forward to the ALA conference in New Orleans in June when these Caldecott artists will be honored. And I look forward to sharing more ideas for celebrating poetry as we move forward through 2018! 

Don't miss the Poetry Friday gathering hosted by Liz Steinglass this week. See you there!