Poetry Friday: Children's Party

I'm a big lurker of kid lit blogs. And I've been toying with the idea of joining in on the Poetry Friday fun. (Though I shudder at the thought of commitment.) Finally, today, I can resist no longer: Susan at Chicken Spaghetti is seeking poetry recommendations for children re: parties and/or princesses, which reminded me of a fun poem, and it is Friday, and I have 10 minutes free to post.

Unfortunately, my poem isn't quite what she's looking for. (I'll be interested to read the more relevant replies to her post.) In the meantime, can't resist offering up a post-party poem for the host parent(s). If you've ever hosted a horde of little ones at your home, you will appreciate this one. Enjoy!

Children's Party
by Ogden Nash

May I join you in the doghouse, Rover?
I wish to retire till the party's over.
Since three o'clock I've done my best
To entertain each tiny guest.

My conscience now I've left behind me,
And if they want me, let them find me.
I blew their bubbles, I sailed their boats,
I kept them from each other's throats.

I told them tales of magic lands,
I took them out to wash their hands.
I sorted their rubbers and tied their laces,
I wiped their noses and dried their faces...

For the rest of the poem, please follow this link, where it has been posted in full with permission. It's worth the trip! :-)

This is just to say (spoof with apologies to William Carlos Williams)

I have read all
the emails
that were in
your inbox

and which
you were probably
thinking
were private

Forgive me
they were so tempting
and your
password known

NPM - week #4

National Poetry month to-do's for the week:

April 21-----
Buy a book of poems

April 22-----
Start a commonplace book

April 23-----
Start a notebook on poets.com

April 24-----
Add a poem to your e-mails

April 25-----
Ask post office for more poet stamps

April 26-----
Sign up for a poetry class/ workshop

April 27-----
Subscribe to poets.com newsletter

[Calendar found on Facebook]

NPM - week #3

NPM to do's for the week:

April 14-----
Take a poem to lunch

April 15-----
Write a poem on the pavement

April 16-----
Recite a poem to family or friends

April 17-----
Attend poetry reading

April 18-----
Promote public support for poetry

April 19-----
Start a poetry reading group

April 20-----
Read some literary criticism


[Calendar found on Facebook]

Poetry 180

Check out the "new" widget in my sidebar. Poetry 180 is a project of the Library of Congress and former poet laureate Billy Collins that offers high schoolers (and their teachers and media specialists!) a poem for each day of the school year. Looks like it came out in 2004, but I missed it then, and maybe you did too. Plus, it is still being updated/maintained--I found several poems published since 2004 on the list, including Ron Koertge's “Do You Have Any Advice For Those of Us Just Starting Out?", published in 2006. Enjoy!
[Widget courtesy of Widgetbox.]

NPM to do list: Subscribe to a literary magazine

The best sources for new poetry and short stories are literary magazines. NewPages.com has a list of literary magazines. Peruse, pick one, subscribe or order an issue.

My favs are based on my love of short stories, and include the more popular McSweeney's and Zoetrope: All-Story. I've also picked up Michigan Quarterly Review and Ploughshares, when I can find them. All good choices.

For kids and teens, there are Cricket, Cicada, Stone Soup, among others.

Happy Birthday, Beverly Cleary!

...and happy D.E.A.R. day to the rest of us. For the official hub bub, visit Reading Rockets and Ramona Quimby. Unofficially, you can join me in celebrating Mrs. Quimby's birthday by setting aside some time to drop everything and read today.

Here's an idea: combine D.E.A.R. day with National Poetry Month and read a book of poems together. I suggest Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices by Paul Fleischman, illustrated by Eric Beddows (Haper Trophy, 2004; ISBN 0064460932). It's a perfect day in NJ for this book: spring has arrived with all of its creeping, crawling critters. Joyful noise celebrates these little creatures, nature, poetry, and reading together with lyrical poems that beg to be read aloud - even performed.

Enjoy the day! (And don't forget to have some birthday cake in Mrs. Cleary
s honor.) :-)

NPM - week #2

Here's the to-do list for this week in National Poetry Month:

April 8-----
Read a poem at an open mic

April 9-----
Support literary organizations

April 10-----
Google a poem

April 11-----
Hear a poem

April 12-----
Read a poem to a young person

April 13-----
Subscribe to a literary magazine

April 13-----
Put a poem in a letter

April 14-----
Take a poem to lunch

Again, I found this day by day list on Facebook, and no, I don't know why they have April 13th listed twice.

Review: Color Me a Rhyme: Nature Poems for Young People

Color Me a Rhyme: Nature poems for young people
by Jane Yolen
photos by Jason Stemple
Boyds Mills Press 2000
ISBN# 1-56397-892-X Boyds Mills hardcover

I recently read this for my Materials for Children class. (I'm an online MLIS student. And, yes, it is awesome that I get to read children's books for graduate level credit.) Anyway, our assignment was to read a book of poetry aloud to a child or group of children and write about the differences between reading the poetry aloud and reading it silently. I chose Color Me A Rhyme. Here's my post from class:

"Yolen and her son collaborated to produce this a beautiful collection of nature poems and photographs. The layouts are beautiful, with layers of full color photographs and text setting/enhancing the mood for each poem. After sitting and reading and absorbing the visual detail of this book, I was convinced that it would be best enjoyed for solitary reading - giving the reader time to let each poem and all of the visuals resonate.

For this reason, instead of reading to a group, I chose to read Color Me a Rhyme to my daughters one at a time. They enjoyed hearing the poems - picking up on the rhythm of the longer poems, and asking me to read the shorter poems 'again.' I purposefully let them turn the pages, to see if they would choose to linger as I had when I read it alone. At first, they flipped the pages as soon as I was done reading the poem. However, by the end of the book, they would pause and look at the photos longer before turning the page. At the end, one of my daughters asked if she could look through the book again without me.

So, I guess I was half right: the rich visual detail of Color Me a Rhyme calls out for solitary reading; however, the poems also beg to be read aloud. I'm curious to see if anyone read this book to a larger group of children, and if they thought the visual impact was lessened in that setting. If I were to read Color Me a Rhyme to a larger group, I would be sure to invite students to revisit the book up close on their own."

disclaimer: This thumbnail doesn't do the book cover justice at all. I couldn't find a good free image online, not even on Yolen's site.
empty_promise: If I get a chance, I'll get it out of the library again and scan a better img.

National Poetry Month '08

Okay, we're 4 days into National Poetry Month, so I have come catching up to do. The American Academy of Poets has posted 30 ways to celebrate. I found the list assigned to days in Facebook. Here's your first week:

April 1-----
Read A book of poetry

April 2-----
Memorize a poem

April 3-----
Revisit a poem you have read before

April 4-----
Put poetry in unexpected places

April 5-----
Bring a poem to your place of worship

April 6-----
Organize a poetry reading

April 7-----
Play exquisite corpse

Like I said, I guess I have some catching up to do. I'll post my progress here. In the meantime, how are you celebrating NPM? with your students? with your family? Do tell!