Read, Write, Howl - Robyn Hood Black

Poetry Friday: Nesting with Robins

Fri, 25 May 2012 00:00:00 -0400

Is this a great picture or what? At the Poetry for All Highlights Founders workshop last week, I shared my cabin with some special guests. Well, the inside top of the porch of my cabin. A pair of robins dutifully flew in and out and in and out to tend their nest. The photo was taken by fellow workshop attendee Cory Corrado, a lovely and talented poet and amazing nature photographer who hails from Quebec, Canada. She spent a little time patiently waiting � okay, a long time patiently waiting � balancing herself standing on a deck chair holding out for just the right shots when the birds wouldn't fly away. See how her patience paid off? Cory�s book of photos and poetry, �Pho-etry,� called Nature Inspires, was featured earlier this year on Poetry for All co-leader David L. Harrison�s blog (click here for the link.) You can also get a virtual look at Cory�s stunning work in the book by clicking here. Well, I�ve been thinking about those robins. And I�m enjoying all the varied birdlife outside my own doors this spring. (Oh � and Susan Taylor Brown�s amazing bird photos on her Poppiness website! � Have you seen those or followed her bird stories there or on Facebook?) Back to robins. Here�s a fun poem for today from The Golden Book of Poetry(1947) as shared on The Poetry Foundation website. The Secret By Anonymous We have a secret, just we three, The robin, and I, and the sweet cherry-tree; The bird told the tree, and the tree told me, And nobody knows it but just us three. But of course the robin knows it best, Because she built the--I shan't tell the rest; And laid the four little--something in it-- I'm afraid I shall tell it every minute. But if the tree and the robin don't peep, I'll try my best the secret to keep; Though I know when the little birds fly about Then the whole secret will be out. Now wing your way over to TeacherDance for more great poetry, where Lovely Linda has today�s Roundup.

Poetry Friday: Poetry for All Workshop, and Jean Craighead George

Fri, 18 May 2012 00:00:00 -0400

What a week! I was blessed and thrilled to spend the last several days in Pennsylvania up at beautiful Boyds Mills with a few fellow Poetry Friday folks (Heidi! Joy! Liz! Julie!), and some wonderful new friends, and our fearless leaders of the Highlights Founders "Poetry for All" workshop: Rebecca Kai Dotlich, David L. Harrison, and Eileen Spinelli, along with special guests editor Rebecca Davis, illustrator Melanie Hall, and poet Marjorie Maddox. Whew! We had serious literary discussions and explorations of craft, and some rather silly times, too, and of course amazing food from gourmet chef Marcia and her wonderful staff. And wine every afternoon! Relishing the natural beauty up there, I managed to get in a couple of walks, though we had lots of rain. I even had a family of robins nesting up in the corner of my cabin's porch. It was wonderful dropping in on the Highlights and Boyds Mills folks Wednesday (Hi, Jo�lle! Hi, Larry!), and on the way back from that trip to Honesdale, the driver of my car, Pam, slowed down for a bear crossing the road! A beautiful, agile young creature which bounded off into the woods. For a taste of the amazing wit, wisdom, and experience shared with us, I'll offer just one quote (from my notes) from each of our speakers: David: "I had 67 rejections for writing stories for kids. Friends magazine bought the 68th...." Rebecca: "Brainstorm - noodle and doodle in sketchbooks. Visualize details." Eileen: "The deeper we go into our hearts, the richer our lives become." also, Melanie: "We have to try to pull something new out of ourselves. That's the task for the creative person." Rebecca Davis: "I love it when a poetry collection can be greater than the sum of its parts." Marjorie: "As poets, we're witnesses of the world." (We also had a special treat of a dinner visit and a few comments from Boyds Mills Press Executive Editor Liz Van Doren!) If you've been to a Highlights workshop, you know why several of our 21 attendees had been before. If you've never been, try to get to one someday - your Muse will thank you! Speaking of inspiration, I was saddened to learn, when I got home late Thursday night and reconnected a little with the world, that Jean Craighead George had passed away on Tuesday (just one week after we lost Maurice Sendak). I'd like to close today's post with the last few lines of her picture book, THE WOLVES ARE BACK (illustrated by Wendell Minor; Dutton, 2008). This is a picture book rather than poetry, but the words are lovely and rich. The grasses grew tall; the riverbank stopped eroding. Willow and aspen trees flourished. Beavers built ponds. Birds sang. Flowers bloomed. The wilderness is in balance again. The wolves are back. Thank you, Jean Craighead George. (For more, see the author's website, The New York Times, and Publisher's Weekly, inlcluding a tribute from Wendell Minor.) And thanks to everyone for making the poetry workshop a resounding success. For more great poetry and for thoughts about living in the moment, stop in to see Katya at Write. Sketch. Repeat. for today's Roundup.

Poetry Friday: Art, Fear, and Founders Workshops

Fri, 11 May 2012 00:00:00 -0400

For Mother�s Day, I�m getting on a plane early Sunday morning and leaving my family. Mind you, I love my family! � but the oldest child is in New Zealand for foreign study, and the youngest, and of course my hubby, are used to my conference habit. I�ll be heading up to rural Pennsylvania for my third Highlights Founders workshop . (The first was a Poetry workshop in 2009 with Rebecca Kai Dotlich and special guests Susan Pearson and Alice Schertle . The second was an Advanced Illustrators workshop last fall with a stellar cast of leaders, and we got to break in Kent Brown Jr.�s new �barn� � an amazing space for creative exploration.) If you ever get a chance to attend one of these, get thee hence! Why? 1.) TIME to nurture your craft 2.) Amazing faculty who are seasoned at helping folks nurture their craft 3.) Networking with wonderful like-minded creative folk who speak your language 4.) Gourmet food � I�m not kidding; with a real chef and talented staff� and complete pampering and thoughtful attention from the Highlights Founders family 5.) Gorgeous natural surroundings and a trail or two (Last time I was there, I had ongoing conversations with Eric Rohman and Candace Fleming about fox and coyote scat. Really.) 6.) The cutest little cabins in the world � perfect for creative reflection at the end of a busy day 7.) Lots more! Sort of related, I�ve just finished the first half of Art and Fear � Observations On The Perils (and Rewards) of ARTMAKING (1993) by David Bayles and Ted Orland. This book has been on my �list� forever, and a friend recently gave me a copy. I�m treasuring it as much as reading it. It�s having the same effect on me that If You Want to Write by Brenda Ueland had, years ago when my husband gave that to me. Both books are written with deep understanding of the creative psyche, and such plain language, and common-sense encouragement just to create what is yours to create. Workshops like those at Highlights help you focus on just that. From p. 36 of Art and Fear: �The lessons you are meant to learn are in your work. To see them, you need only look at the work clearly � without judgment, without need or fear, without wishes or hopes. Without emotional expectations. Ask you work what it needs, not what you need.� The authors are not suggesting that writers and artists aren�t inspired by other works of art or that they shouldn�t read/view them. Or that creative people don�t need mentors. But I think they are suggesting that one�s work only grows with time actually spent considering it, and developing it. Again, the kind of time and attention one cultivates in a working retreat. Next week�s workshop will be led by this wonderful line-up: Rebecca again, and David L. Harrison, and Eileen Spinelli. So for today�s poem, I�ve conjured up some book spine poems made from some of Rebecca's, David's, and Eileen's books on my shelves. Enjoy! Here�s the text of the �poems� from the picture above (punctuation added with poetic license�): Lemonade Sun in the spin of things - castles where I live A family like yours - Do you have a cat? Do you have a dog? Somebody catch my homework! Wild Country - bugs writing stories... Sophie's masterpiece: a spider's tale - the purchase of small secrets. When I return home, after spending a few days with these amazing poets (our three fearless leaders AND attendees), I know I�ll be inspired. For a virtual poetic retreat today, head over to Live Your Poem..., where the beautiful Irene Latham has the Poetry Friday Roundup.

Poetry Friday - May Day Musings (with Edmund Spenser)

Fri, 04 May 2012 00:00:00 -0400

Can it be that our wonderful, whirlwind Poetry Month unfurled itself right into May? I still have some catching up to do with all of the inspiring April posts in Kidlitosphere! Today at our school (the pre-K-12 school which has helped raise both of my children � Morgan, now an elementary education major halfway through college, and Seth, a rising high school senior), a long tradition will be played out again. Fifth graders will wrap two colorful Maypoles in a lovely coordinated dance, and I imagine their parents will be snapping pictures galore. It�s part of a big May Day celebration, but for these fifth graders, it�s a rite of passage from elementary school to middle school. Seems like I just watched both of mine participate, and now they�re pretty much grown! I thought we�d celebrate this (pagan!) tradition here, too � a tradition which drove the poor Puritan clergy, and others before them, crazy. From the The Shepheardes Calender - Maye by Edmund Spenser (published in 1579) Yougthes folke now flocken in everywhere, To gather may buskets and smelling brere: And home they hasten the postes to dight And all the Kirke pillours eare day light, With hawthorn buds and swete eglantine, And girlonds of roses, and sopps in wine. [OK, 'far as I can tell: �brere� means briar; �dight� means adorn/dress; �sopps in wine� refers to the an old name for �clove pink,� or, carnation!] If you�re up for struggling through the language for the whole month, which is an argument between �the persons of two shepheards Piers & Palinodie, be represented two formes of pastoures or Ministers, or the protestant and the Catholique�� here�s a link. For more great poetry, and more accessible I�m sure, please go gather ye some rosebuds for your garland at Wild Rose Reader, where lovely Elaine is rounding up Poetry Friday.

Poetry Friday: And the Crowd Goes Wild! with Carol-Ann Hoyte and Heidi Bee Roemer

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 00:00:00 -0400

Curious about the upcoming sports-themed anthology, just in time for the Olympics, from poets Carol-Ann Hoyte and Heidi Bee Roemer ? Me, too! The collection will feature dozens of poems from emerging and familiar names alike, along with lively illustrations by Kevin Sylvester. It will be available as a paperback and also as an e-book. After And the Crowd Goes Wild! was featured on Sylvia Vardell�s wonderful Poetry for Children blog, I asked these two poetic go-getters if they�d share a little more here for our final Poetry Friday post of National Poetry Month. They kindly obliged. (For the Poetry For Children post, click here. You�ll find an interview by graduate student Abby Hancock and the poem �Pianoball� by Jocelyn Shipley.) Let�s start with a poem from the collection: Sore Sport It stinks that the ref blew the call, And you�re sore �cuz you took a bad fall. Well ponder this, fella, As your bruises turn yella, For one day, try being the ball. -- M Sullivan (United States) Clever, eh? Now let�s go behind the scenes with the editors. How did you two meet, and how did you decide to create a poetry collection together? HEIDI: Carol-Ann sparked the idea of creating a sports poetry anthology. To my great delight, she invited me to be co-editor on the project. We became acquainted through cyberspace; our communication has been almost solely by email. Believe it or not, to date we�ve only talked on the phone twice! This collection promises to have something for everybody. Why was it important to you all to include sports experiences from all over the world? CAROL-ANN: The Olympics inspired me to create this book so I wanted to embrace the event's spirit by bringing poets from around the globe together. The worldwide exploration of the theme is significant as it offers fresh perspectives into familiar sports, introduces readers to unknown sports and expands their knowledge of less-familiar sports, exposes them to different varieties of the English language, and conveys subtle clues as to which sports are popular in certain countries. It�s wonderful to see that you�ll be highlighting Paralympics and Special Olympics athletes. Was your vision inclusive from the beginning, or did it grow and evolve as you worked on the project? HEIDI: Priscila Uppal�s Winter Sport: Poems (2010) inspired me. I learned that the early Olympic Games (1912 to 1948) included five art categories: architecture, literature, music, painting and sculpture. From her book I also gained new insight about aboriginal sports and sports for disabled athletes. Yes, our intention from the get-go was to include poems about Special Olympians and Paralympians; Priscila's writings simply confirmed that these athletes� tales of inspiration and courage needed to be represented in our collection. In addition, I�m honored that Priscila, poet-in-residence for the 2010 Vancouver Olympic and Paralympic Games, wrote the foreword for And the Crowd Goes Wild! CAROL-ANN: I had initially envisioned an anthology aimed at readers aged 5 to 12. But then we received so many stellar, sophisticated poems which we felt would be most accessible and relevant to as well as appreciated by older elementary school children. As a result, we opted to narrow our target audience to 8- to 12-year-old children. Heidi also recommended that the collection feature a wide range of poetic forms so as to strengthen it, enhance its appeal, and heighten its marketability. As a result of following her recommendation, we ended up with a collection which features 20 different poetic forms. What are some of your favorite sports or themes included in the collection? (I know � all of them! But pretty please give us a sneak peek�.) HEIDI: The inspirational poems about athletes with disabilities hold a special place in my heart. From Laura Purdie Salas� roundel, readers learn about goalball, an official sport of the Paralympic Games designed for visually impaired athletes. Michelle Schaub penned a mono-meter poem about a courageous paraplegic who soars downhill at breathless speed on a mono-ski. Kimberly Douglas Hancock�s heartwarming verse in honor of her young nephew focuses on the winning attitude of special needs athletes, while Carmela Martino�s �At the Chicago Marathon� reveals the poet�s admiration of Richard Whitehead, a Paralympic runner born without legs. CAROL-ANN: Patricia Cooley (U.S.) pays tribute to chess with her clever and dramatic poem "The King's Gambit." I am thrilled to feature this piece in the collection because I view chess as a truly international sport. While visiting other countries you might have trouble locating people who speak English but when abroad you�ll always be sure to find folks who know how to play chess. I am excited that children will �hear� how the English language �sounds� as it is spoken by poets living in other countries. There are two poems which stand out for me because of their clever and surprising juxtaposition. Heather Delabre presents a dialogue between a football player and ballet dancer in her two-voice poem�The Master Dance." Jocelyn Shipley presents a youngster who tells of her desire to play baseball with her friends as she reluctantly practices playing the piano in �Pianoball.� Fifty poems from established and emerging poets � from ten countries! How did you manage this feat logistically, and in such a timely way? CAROL-ANN: We would have been pleased to feature poets from even more countries but unfortunately the material we received from six countries was not strong enough in content and/or writing quality to merit further consideration for inclusion in the anthology. I sought assistance from my network of children�s poets and other kidlit professionals to circulate the call for submissions. I also initiated contact with poetry organizations around the world to help do the same. The London 2012 Summer Olympics prompted me to complete the project in a timely matter. I wanted the collection to be released around the time of the Olympics so that we could tap into the energy and excitement of the event to promote our book. What have been the greatest challenges and greatest rewards of becoming publishers? HEIDI: Let�s just say I found tracking and logging in 300-plus poems a tad tedious. But unearthing a captivating, well-written poem in the cyberspace slush pile was a true spine-tingling delight, like a five-year old waking up on Christmas morning. Seeing the variety of perspectives on a single subject, sports, was astounding. I also enjoyed helping poets revise and polish their poems. Their zest for �story�, their humor, insightful musings, and skillful word-crafting amazed me. I hope our readers will find be captivated and inspired by the 50 poems presented in our collection. CAROL-ANN: One challenge was attracting submissions from Europe and Asia. As I self-published the book, another challenge was dealing individually with several key tasks in the publishing process which have been divided among and handled by a handful of folks had I pursued the traditional publishing route. One unexpected though small challenge was having to explain to a few contributors why we had decided to not consider their work for the anthology. One reward is the knowledge of and pride in creating a poetry collection for children which differs from most of those currently being published. Our book features a high proportion of emerging poets (as opposed to showcasing mainly high-profile poets) and offers an international treatment on a subject (compared to showcasing content crafted by poets living in only one country). Another reward is the success in demonstrating that a self-published book can possess top-notch quality in its writing, illustration, design, and production. One final reward is being able to donate a portion of royalties to Right to Play, an organization which enriches the lives of children through sport. How has editing the poetry of others impacted your own writing? HEIDI: As a writer, I�ve embraced this anonymous quote: �Poetry is a can of frozen orange concentrate. Add three cans water and you get prose.� In other words, when writing poetry less is more. Lee Bennett Hopkins brought that message home to me years ago when he surgically trimmed my 98-word poem to 12 words �and revealed a haiku �hidden� in my closing couplet, later included in one of his anthologies. Now working on the other side of the desk, I encouraged some of our poets to trim their words, to tinker, tweak, polish, pinch, and prune their poems�and they did so with remarkable results. As an editor, I am reminded that astute writers are willing word-crafters who can lasso an idea, wrestle words, images, and emotions to paper, and succinctly tie up the loose ends of a poem with a satisfying closing line that elicits a response from the reader. Like athletes, nothing is more joyful to poets than knowing they�ve found their passion, learned the disciplines, overcome challenges, mastered their fears, tested their limits, and honed their skills, all the while keeping sight of their goals. Being a poet�or an athlete�is not for the faint-hearted, but for those who persist� and never give up on their dreams. Great advice, Heidi! Thanks to both you and Carol-Ann for joining us, and wishes for wild success with the book. Now, run, pole-vault, or doggie paddle over to The Opposite of Indifference, where Tabatha is rounding up more great poetry today.

Poetry Friday: Jazzing up Poetry Month with Carole Boston Weatherford

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 00:00:00 -0400

Did you know that in addition to National Poetry Month, April is Jazz Appreciation Month? Click here for the Smithsonian website. Today, we�re combining the two! While presenting a workshop at the Georgia Conference on Children�s Literature last month, I met the incredible Carole Boston Weatherford, New York Times bestselling author of dozens of books � poetry collections, picture books, and nonfiction. Trailing her is a long list of awards, including the North Carolina Award for Literature in 2010, the state�s highest civilian honor. Her books have garnered a Caldecott honor, an NAACP Image Award, Coretta Scott King Honors, the Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award, the Jane Addams Children�s Literature Honor, a Golden Kite Honor, and the Jefferson Cup from Virginia Library Association, just to name a few. But back to jazz and Poetry Month, today we�re taking a look BECOMING BILLIE HOLIDAY (illustrated by the amazing Floyd Cooper, Wordsong, 2008), which was a Coretta Scott King Author Honor Book and on many top lists. With starred reviews from Kirkus (��A remarkable tribute well worthy of its subject�) and School Library Journal (��Captivating�), the book is a fictional memoir � a collection of first-person poems chronicling the transformation of Eleanora Fagan (b. 1915) into the groundbreaking and iconic jazz singer Billie Holiday. Weatherford doesn�t shy away from the hard facts of Billie�s early life � rape, prostitution, drinking and marijuana use � but rounds out the darkness with the irrepressible voice and spirit of this singular talent. Most of the poems take their titles from Billie Holiday�s songs. Here is one which captures the struggle and emotion of her very early years (reprinted with permission from the author): Ain�t Nobody�s Business If I Do by Carole Boston Weatherford At eleven, I had the body of a grown woman, the mouth of a sailor, and a temper hot enough to fry an egg. What I didn�t have Was anyone to hug me, To tuck me in at night, Or kiss me hello and good-bye. So I got noticed the only way I knew � cursing and screaming in the streets, picking fights with anyone half as mad as me. For me, the back of a hand was better than the back of a head, better than being ignored. She soon discovered that she had a voice, too � which could change her life. (And this voice had power that would reach far beyond her own life, particularly when she lent it to �Strange Fruit,� the 1930s poem-turned-song about racial injustice.) In the book's afterword, Weatherford explains that she chose to end her account at a point of success for the 25-year old Lady Day � �before heroin and hard living took their toll.� I�m thrilled to welcome this wonderful poet here today. Thank you for joining us, Carole, to jazz up Poetry Month! In my notes from your speech at the Georgia Children�s Literature conference, I scribbled down this quote: �Poetry is my first language as a writer.� You described how you wrote poetry as a child (and you share photos on your website of some early works!). Have you always thought of yourself as a poet? Over the years, I have dabbled in photography, fashion design, sewing, needle arts, graphic design, bookmaking, painting, and of course writing. Writing, specifically poetry, was my first avenue of creative expression. But I didn't think of myself as poet as a child any more than I considered being an author. I had no clue about literary careers. But as poetic expression became more and more a part of my identity, I declared myself a poet. I was around 25 and had just written a poem entitled "I'm Made of Jazz." That poem had Billie in it too. I guess she was my muse even then. I enjoyed hearing you discuss how BECOMING BILLIE HOLIDAY took a little coaxing from your muse. Could you share a little of the background of how you came to write it? I have been under Billie's spell longer than I can remember. My father played her records, but I became a die-hard devotee at age 16 after seeing the biopic Lady Sings the Blues. In 2006, Billie enlisted me to write a young adult book about her. But I was afraid the book wouldn't appeal to teens, so I ditched the idea. Then, at Baltimore's Great Blacks in Wax Museum, an eighth grade girl who swooned at Billie's wax figure unknowingly green-lighted the project. When I seemed surprised that she'd heard of Lady Day, the girl told me, "She could sing!" As the girl moved on, it was almost as if Billie said, "I told you to write my book." Why did you think poetry was the best vehicle to use to tell this story? Billie had a gift for imbuing lyrics with intense emotion. In fact, she really pioneered vocal lyricism in the jazz idiom. What she did with lyrics, poetry does with language. I�m amazed at the way you balanced presenting the facts of Billie Holiday�s experiences, which were often brutal and hard, with the joy that singing brought to her life (and to her fans and followers). Was this as difficult as I�m imagining, and was there something in your process that helped you pull it off? As the poems poured out of me, it was almost if Billie were whispering and humming in my ear. She provided the soundtrack and her life story the scenes for the narrative. The process was a bit mystical, like channeling her. What aspect of Billie Holiday�s personality did you most want to share with young readers? I wanted to capture her mood when she first experienced music and fame. More than anything, I depicted her as I thought she would want to be remembered. In your picture books, whether a story is told in prose or in poems, there�s an easy rhythm to the language. You�ve written that �jazz was the soundtrack� of your preschool years - how would you say jazz has influenced your writing � in any genre? I love music, especially jazz, female vocalists and world music. But I rarely listen to music while writing, because for me creating a poem is like composing a melody. I need to hear the nascent verses in my head. I'd like to think I write jazz poetry. My poems make the vernacular voice sing and swing. But if I could sing, I wouldn't write. Your words definitely sing. Thanks so much for visiting with us today � Happy Poetry AND Jazz Month! For more, please visit Carole�s website and her great Billie Holiday blog. For more poetry, sashay over to see what Diane�s rounding up at Random Noodling.

Happy Haiku Day! and Playing Laser Tag over at Cathy C. Hall's blog

Tue, 17 Apr 2012 00:00:00 -0400

Howdy. Happy National Haiku Poetry Day! I'm thrilled to be a guest on the blog of the fabulous, funny, fellow Georgia peach Cathy C. Hall today! Click here for the post, where we offer a taste of haiku humor in the form of a couple of senryu I've just had published in Prune Juice, and also for a behind-the-scenes look at my other (slightly weird) poem in THE ARROW FINDS ITS MARK, "Battling Beams." Some days you have to multi-task. Thanks for inviting me to come play on your blog, Cathy!

Poetry Friday: Laura Purdie Salas speaks about BOOKSPEAK

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 00:00:00 -0400

The fabulous Laura Purdie Salas is here! A prolific writer of poetry and nonfiction for children, and a busy blogger, Laura is a tireless voice for excellence in writing for kids. Before we ask her a few questions (and read a NEVER-BEFORE-SEEN poem!), let�s take a look at one of her newest books, BOOKSPEAK � Poems About Books, illustrated with warmth and whimsy by Jos�e Bisaillon (Clarion Books, 2011). Some of its awards include being a Minnesota Book Award finalist, an NCTE Notable book, an Honor book for the inaugural Gelett Burgess Children�s Book Award, a White Ravens 2012 book, and a Librarians� Choice book. For a hint of the variety of flavors in this collection, let me share just a few lines from a few poems: From �Skywriting� Line after line of inky black birds Forming the flocks that shift into words. ... From �Index� P s s s t! Hey, kid � yeah, you. So you want some facts, huh? Forget that pretty picture on the front cover � don�t you know they lie? And the Table of Contents? That only tells you where each chapter starts! Pretty vague, you know what I�m saying? I can give you specifics. � From �Bookplate� � I�m not that kind of plate. Write your name upon me. I�m a paper love tattoo. � From �I�ve Got This Covered� I�m the first thing you see when you walk by a book. My picture is shouting, �Please stop! Take a look!� Okay, now is your appetite whetted for a colorful collection of poems celebrating all things book? Laura was kind enough to answer some behind-the-scenes questions about how THIS book came to be. One amazing aspect of BOOKSPEAK is its range � you cover everything from the look of letters on a white page to how a book feels being checked out of the library, to plot, character, and even the index and cover! How did these poems come about, and when did you know you had a collection? I didn�t! I was invited by Lee Bennett Hopkins to submit poems for his book-related anthology, I AM THE BOOK. I was on cloud 9, because combining poems and books�what could be better? And the chance to appear in one of Lee�s anthologies? Oh my gosh. I sent in 13 poems and was heartbroken when none was selected. He was very kind about it, of course. I relayed my sad story to my then-agent, Karen Klockner, who asked me to send the poems to her. She promptly submitted them to Jennifer Wingertzahn, my then-editor at Clarion (she acquired and edited STAMPEDE). To my surprise (and, to be honest, sort of to Karen�s surprise, as well), Jennifer acquired the collection. I kept saying, �But�[Lee is already doing an anthology on this topic], �but�� [the poems had already been rejected], �but�� [was it OK to do this when they came about because of someone else�s project?] They kept saying, �It�s OK. Breathe. Relax.� Lee was extremely gracious about my collection coming out, and of course I adore I AM THE BOOK and am happy to see many poet friends in there. How did the final collection end up with 21 poems? I started with 13, but they wanted more. I think I eventually had about 25, which Jennifer and the editor who took over the project, Daniel Nayeri, narrowed down to 21. I know offhand of at least three that got cut, �Why Aren�t All Books Happy?,� �Stellar Books,� and �Ocean Tales.� Here�s the never-before-seen (oooh!) Stellar Books: Stellar Books Long-ago stars spark the sky Books spill their tales in a day Echoes of both light your way Stories and stars never die There were probably a few others that either got cut by the editor(s) or that I discarded along the way. I was sad to lose the above three, though. I really liked them. But I�ll share them online or submit them to other markets, when I have time (right). I have a thing for star poems! Thanks so much for sharing that. I�m guessing teachers love this book. Have you discovered any particularly fun ways students are interacting with the poems? The one thing that has come up several times is classes having fun reading �The Middle�s Lament: A Poem for Three Voices� out loud. Which is exactly what I hoped they�d do with it. I�m hoping that BOOKSPEAK�s status as an NCTE Notable book (yay!) will give it more exposure, and that I�ll get to hear how teachers use it. I do have a teaching guide and some parts-of-the-book worksheets on my website for teachers to use. How do you think all your nonfiction writing experience informs your poetry, or vice-versa? Is your writing process different for different genres? I think my nonfiction informs my poetry more than vice-versa. I love poetry with nonfiction content, using words and sounds to emphasize the meaning of what you want to say. It was really fun, though, to write actual nonfiction in verse in A LEAF CAN BE�. That was one case where it was vice-versa:>) Congratulations on your recent publishing successes. (A LEAF CAN BE is just exquisite!) You are always frank on your blog about the joys and challenges of being a writer. Do you have any favorite nuggets of advice for aspiring children�s poets? Thanks, Robyn! This IS a challenging career. I have all sorts of Poetic Pursuits essays on my site and each one covers some aspect of writing poetry for kids. My favorite basics regarding the mechanics, though, are: 1. Condense! 2. Don�t rhyme unless you have to. 3. Get rid of the filler words (a, the, etc.) Great advice. Thanks for visiting, Laura! Thanks for having me here! Despite it being Friday the 13th, I feel lucky to be here! P.S. There is scheduled to be a video of me reading �This Is the Book� from BOOKSPEAK over at today Katie Davis�s blog and one of my reading �Hydrophobiac� earlier this month at Renee LaTulippe�s No Water River blog . I do not like seeing recordings of myself, and I need to get better at reading poems aloud. So I�m sort of afraid to share those links. Have no fear, Laura! You�re great on video, and you have so many wonderful things to share. Thank you for sharing so much here today! For more Laura, visit her website, and her blog. Today I have the good luck to be featured on Laura Shovan's Author Amok blog, and next week, right here, we'll be jazzing things up with Carole Boston Weatherford! Now, put BOOKSPEAK on order at your favorite library or bookstore, and then go see what everyone else is saying on this Poetry Friday. The Roundup today is hosted by the amazing Anastasia Suen at Booktalking. (Check out Anastasia�s contribution to the 2012 KidLit Progressive Poem yesterday, and keep following the mystery�.)

Feeling Lucky to be in Jama's Poetry Potluck!

Wed, 11 Apr 2012 00:00:00 -0400

I couldn't be more thrilled today - I'm in the pot at Jama Kim Rattigan's blog, Alphabet Soup, for her Poetry Potluck. There's a new poem, art, and a recipe for re-named oatmeal jam(a) bars in the mix. Click HERE to check it out, and don't blame me if you end up perusing her blog all day and look up to find the sun's going down outside...!

Poetry Friday is HERE - and The Arrow Finds Its Mark!

Fri, 06 Apr 2012 00:00:00 -0400

Greetings, Poetry Lovers! Hope you�re enjoying all the great poetry offerings in Kidlitosphere this month. I�m thrilled to be hosting on the first Friday in April! And I�m beyond thrilled to share Georgia Heard�s brand-new anthology of found poems, THE ARROW FINDS ITS MARK , illustrated by Antoine Guillopp�, hot off the Roaring Brook Press. This is the first time my own poetry has appeared in an anthology for kids, and I couldn�t be more humbled and excited. Thirty poets, including Lee Bennett Hopkins, Joyce Sidman, Rebecca Kai Dotlich, Jane Yolen, Naomi Shihab Nye, J. Patrick Lewis, David L. Harrison, Janet Wong and many others contributed material for this collection, �finding� poetry in unlikely places. Poets were encouraged to find existing text (some found sounds!) in a form other than poetry and present that text as a poem, and not to change, add or rearrange words (though some minor variations were allowed). Inspiration came from catalogs, signs, airplane magazines, social networking sites, advertisements � even a detergent box! One of my favorites is Bob Raczka�s �How to Write a Poem on Your Computer� using words from drop-down computer menus. I wanted my submissions to be kid-friendly. The first poem I have in the book, �Battling Beams,� came from a LaserTag score report I found crumpled up on the laundry room counter. (Thank you, son Seth, for attending that birthday party.) My second poem (below) came from a visit to a fourth grade classroom. Teacher extraordinaire Sharon Briggs (who taught both of my now-just-about-grown children) let me come in and hunt for poetic treasure. I jotted down notes from the whiteboard, work assignments, and the like. But I got obsessed when looking through activities in the Sitton Spelling and Word Skills Practice Book. One crossword puzzle highlighting plural words had all kinds of evocative-sounding clues sprinkled throughout �Down� and �Across.� I felt they needed to be herded together into something a little bit magical. I used one of the clues as the title, too. We See with These On a clear night, you can see lots of these sparkling in the sky. They help you see Tooth Fairy collectibles, more than one mouse, more than one moose, more than one elf, more. Copyright �Robyn Hood Black. All rights reserved. In her introduction to the collection, Georgia Heard mentions several of the poems and writes: �� some poets chose to splice words together from a single source and make a kind of word collage, as in Robyn Hood Black�s �We See with These�.� A word collage. I love that! And I think that�s an idea kids can run with too. I�ll try it out with Mrs. Briggs�s current batch of fourth graders next week. I also love this from the introduction, ��I want my readers to know that poetry is everywhere � if we only look at the world with poet�s eyes.� Hats off to other Poetry Friday regulars with poems in the collection, including Amy Ludwig VanDerwater (�Artist�s Advice�) and Laura Purdie Salas (�They Don�t Want Speeding Tickets, So�� and �Top Ten Rules for our Zoo Field Trip�). I�ll have the good luck to post a terrific interview with Laura next Friday the 13th (with a poem that you haven�t seen before!) and, on the following Friday (April 20) we�ll be jazzing things up here with the multi-award winning Carole Boston Weatherford. What a special month. (I�ll be popping in on these wonderful blogs myself: Jama Rattigan�s Alphabet Soup Poetry Potluck on Wed., April 11, and Laura Shovan�s month-long celebration at Author Amok on Friday, April 13. Thank you, Ladies!) There are so many great celebrations out there TODAY � please leave your links in the comments, and I�ll round them up throughout the day.

2012 KidLit Progressive Poem stops HERE today

Wed, 04 Apr 2012 00:00:00 -0400

The talented and generous Irene Latham began a wonderful bit of fun for Poetry Month - the 2012 KidLitosphere Progressive Poem! Each day the poem will travel to a different blog for the addition of a new line. I can't wait to see how it unfolds. I have the honor of adding line 4 today: If you are reading this you must be hungry Kick off your silver slippers Come sit with us a spell Next stop for the poem is the magical virtual pen of Susan Taylor Brown. For the full schedule with links, see my blog post imediately preceeding this one. Happy Traveling!

HAPPY NATIONAL POETRY MONTH!

Sun, 01 Apr 2012 00:00:00 -0400

Yay! It's Poetry Month. So much is going on in the Kidlitosphere, and I'm tickled to be participating in a few fun blogs. (Click HERE for a rundown and check out these great blogs all month.) Irene Latham has organized a KidLit Progressive Poem for starters - see below for the schedule! (And check back here April 4 to see what I come up with when the poem stops by here.) I'm thrilled I'll be visiting the terrific blogs of Jama Rattigan and Laura Shovan this month, and hosting Poetry Friday here this week. I've got some great interviews with poets lined up for Poetry Fridays, too. So be in touch, and Happy Poetry Month! 2012 KidLit Progressive Poem: watch a poem grow day-by-day as it travels across the Kidlitosphere! April 1-30

Schedule

1 Irene at Live Your Poem

2 Doraine at Dori Reads

3 Jeannine at View from a Window Seat

4 Robyn at Read, Write, Howl

5 Susan at Susan Taylor Brown

6 Mary Lee at A Year of Reading

7 Penny at A Penny and her Jots
8 Jone at Deo Writer

9 Gina at Swagger Writer's

10 Julie at The Drift Record

11 Kate at Book Aunt

12 Anastasia Suen at Booktalking

13 Tabatha at The Opposite of Indifference

14 Diane at Random Noodling

15 Ruth at There is No Such Thing as a Godforsaken Town

16 Natalie at Wading Through Words

17 Tara at A Teaching Life

18 Amy at The Poem Farm

19 Lori at Habitual Rhymer

20 Heidi at My Juicy Little Universe

21 Myra at Gathering Books

22 Pat at Writer on a Horse

23 Miranda at Miranda Paul Books

24 Linda at TeacherDance

25 Greg at Gotta Book

26 Renee at No Water River

27 Linda at Write Time
28 Caroline at Caroline by Line
29 Sheri at Sheri Doyle
30 Irene at Live Your Poem

Poetry Friday: Nancy Raines Day brings us A IS FOR ALLIGUITAR

Fri, 30 Mar 2012 00:00:00 -0400

Fans of Nancy Raines Day�s wordplay are in for a treat. Her newest picture book, A IS FOR ALLIGUITAR - Musical Alphabeasts (Pelican Publishing, Spring 2012) is a unique abecedarium - chock-full of fun animal/instrument combinations. Since Nancy�s first picture book, THE LION�S WHISKERS, appeared in 1995, she�s published half a dozen more. All have poetic language, and some of them rhyme, like her rollicking ON A WINDY NIGHT (Abrams) (see my blog post here) and DOUBLE THOSE WHEELS (Dutton). In her new book, each letter of the alphabet comes to life in an unexpected way. The Illustrations by Herb Leonhard are colorful and full of expression and movement. (And what a challenge it must have been to visually create, say, a �harpoodle� or an �organutan.�) For insight into Leonhard�s process in bringing to life these �alphabeasts,� which involved traditional and digital painting techniques, see his comments here on Nancy�s website. Here�s how the story starts: Animals, instruments, swing all around, Mix - one for each letter - now how do they sound? Some of Nancy�s own favorite characters begin the adventure: A is for alliguitar, who has his own picks. B is for banjaguar, who plays some hot licks Another of her favorite spreads is one I�m especially drawn to: S is for saxofox, with velvet-toned tail. T is for tromboa, who really can wail. I�m swayin� to the music, baby. Nancy adds, �My fellow University of Michigan alumni friends get a kick out of the wolbourines.� Before becoming a children�s author, Nancy wrote in some form or fashion throughout her life. As a child, she �published a newspaper written on leaves with �ink� from squished berries and charged 25 cents in hickory nut money.� I asked Nancy a couple of questions about this new book. How did you get the idea for ALLIGUITAR? �I was standing on the St. Simons (Georgia) pier, thinking about going to a reunion concert of the youth orchestra I played viola with in high school--all the different instruments and the people who played them. Some tourists on the pier were talking about just having seen an alligator in the water. So, while scanning the water for an alligator and thinking about instruments, my wires got crossed and I said "Alliguitar". I wondered if I could come up with a combination like that for every letter of the alphabet. Mostly, I did it for my own entertainment. (Some people do crossword puzzles; I set myself these little challenges.) Then I wondered if I could put it all in rhyme, which--this time--came easily. It was a gift. What fun! What was the most challenging part of the project? The most challenging part was probably coming up with the animal/instrument combinations. Google was a big help for finding lists of animals and instruments that started with the right letter or sound. It also helped in trying to come up with scenarios to pair the two musical alphabeasts in the same stanza and spread. For instance, googling ibis and jackal, I discovered the Egyptians had two gods, one with the head of an ibis and another with the head of a jackal. Those ancient Egyptians had some intriguing deities. Thanks for stopping in, Nancy! Young readers will love the creative letter/instrument combinations that form each colorful "alphabeast" - and they will likely come up with their own! Learn more about Nancy and her work at her website. And to fill your universe with more great poetry, click on over to visit Heidi at My Juicy Little Universe for this week�s Poetry Friday Roundup. [Next week, the Roundup will be HERE! :0) ]

Poetry Friday: Cherry Blossoms, Anyone?

Thu, 22 Mar 2012 00:00:00 -0400

Greetings! I'm busy presenting a "Haiku How-To" workshop at the 43rd Annual Children's Literature Conference at the University of Georgia in Athens this weekend. Will try to make the Poetry Friday rounds after the conference! In preparing materials for teachers and media specialists, I decided to add a new HAIKU page to my website. It has links to download a 4-page Resource guide, as well as handouts with simple guidelines for creating haiku with grades 3-5 and K-2. Help yourself! The pollen count in the greater Atlanta area has been off the charts this week. (Something like above 9,000?) Here in north Georgia, the tree canopies and the pathways are covered in cherry blossoms. Cherry blossoms, of course, have always been an important and favorite subject for haiku. But today I think we'll revisit a few familiar lines from A. E. Houseman (1859�1936): A Shropshire Lad II: Loveliest of trees, the cherry now By A. E. Housman Loveliest of trees, the cherry now Is hung with bloom along the bough, And stands about the woodland ride Wearing white for Eastertide. Now, of my threescore years and ten, Twenty will not come again, And take from seventy springs a score, It only leaves me fifty more. ... Please click HERE to read the final stanza. And please click HERE for the Poetry Friday Roundup, hosted by our Fearless Poetry Friday Roundup Leader, Mary Lee, at A Year of Reading. Don't forget the Madness Poetry Tournament at Think, Kid, Think - good luck to everyone still "in"! Everyone vote for your favorites!

Poetry Friday: A Touch of Ireland with an Eavan Boland poem

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 00:00:00 -0400

Wishing everyone good luck in the MADNESS Poetry Tournament over at Think, Kid, Think. Thanks to Ed DeCaria for putting this together - it's been a lot of fun and it's only the beginning! I had to come up with a poem containing the word "unnatural," pitted against Darren Sardelli's poem using the word "thawed." Voting for our match-up continues until about 11 p.m. tonight, by the way, HERE. So my thoughts turn to Ireland this St. Patrick's Day weekend, and the wonderful contemporary Irish poet Eavan Boland, whose work I've shared before. The poem below, which is new to me, is one a reader can revisit and glean something new each time. Boland's writing is so very evocative. Irish Interior by Eavan Boland (excerpt) The woman sits and spins. She makes no sound. The man behind her stands by the door. There is always this: a background, a foreground. This much we know. They do not want to be here. The year is 1890. Before the inks are dry Parnell will fall and orchards burn where the two Captains - Moonlight, Boycott - have had their way. She has a spinning wheel. He has a loom. She has a shawl. He stands beside a landscape - maybe a river, maybe hills, maybe even a farm ... . Please click here to read the rest of the poem. And try your luck with more great poetry at Gotta Book, where Greg has the Poetry Friday Roundup!