April - Poetry Month - Day Seventeen - A Wake-up

It's April. It's Poetry Month!  

         Remember to check out the list of what everyone is doing at Susan Bruck's blog: Soul Blossom Living!
         
          Plus! Check each day for the added line to the Progressive Poem, created by Irene Latham, now hosted by Margaret Simon! The link is to the right!

           TIME TO CELEBRATE POETRY! 

My Plan: “I’m exploring the aesthetic of wabi-sabi, sometimes described as one that is “imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete” in nature. I think walking out in nature this past year gave me the joy needed to keep going, so I’ve gathered photos taken since March 2020 for inspiration in composing haigas, sometimes other forms.”     

during quarantine,

chiming coral bells

woke me up for spring 

                  Linda Baie ©

 

April - Poetry Month - Day 16 - Poetry Friday - Spruce (Shadows or Sunlight)

 

It's April. It's Poetry Month!  And it's Poetry Friday with Jama Rattigan at Jama's Alphabet Soup! She's sharing a wonderful post about Carol Ann Duffy the UK Poet Laureate, whose poem about poetry is a lovely thing this April poetry month. Thanks very much, Jama!

         Remember to check out the list of what everyone is doing at Susan Bruck's blog: Soul Blossom Living!
         
          Plus! Check each day for the added line to the Progressive Poem, created by Irene Latham, now hosted by Margaret Simon! The link is to the right!

           TIME TO CELEBRATE POETRY! 

My Plan: “I’m exploring the aesthetic of wabi-sabi, sometimes described as one that is “imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete” in nature. I think walking out in nature this past year gave me the joy needed to keep going, so I’ve gathered photos taken since March 2020 for inspiration in composing haigas, sometimes other forms.”   Today, I've written a tanka.

Changes by sunlight

in the garden’s corner spruce,

then I look again.

Shadows create magic, too.

Contemplating calls for tea.

Linda Baie ©

April - Poetry Month - Day Fifteen - Those Rabbits

 

It's April. It's Poetry Month!  

         Remember to check out the list of what everyone is doing at Susan Bruck's blog: Soul Blossom Living!
         
          Plus! Check each day for the added line to the Progressive Poem, created by Irene Latham, now hosted by Margaret Simon! The link is to the right!

           TIME TO CELEBRATE POETRY! 

My Plan: “I’m exploring the aesthetic of wabi-sabi, sometimes described as one that is “imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete” in nature. I think walking out in nature this past year gave me the joy needed to keep going, so I’ve gathered photos taken since March 2020 for inspiration in composing haigas, sometimes other forms.”     

rabbits picnic

on new tender grass,

frozen by footfalls

Linda Baie © 

April - Poetry Month - Day Fourteen - Birthdays

 

It's April. It's Poetry Month!  

         Remember to check out the list of what everyone is doing at Susan Bruck's blog: Soul Blossom Living!
         
          Plus! Check each day for the added line to the Progressive Poem, created by Irene Latham, now hosted by Margaret Simon! The link is to the right!

           TIME TO CELEBRATE POETRY! 

My Plan: “I’m exploring the aesthetic of wabi-sabi, sometimes described as one that is “imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete” in nature. I think walking out in nature this past year gave me the joy needed to keep going, so I’ve gathered photos taken since March 2020 for inspiration in composing haigas, sometimes other forms.”     

         Impermanent, incomplete, a young child begins her thirteenth year. This is nature's world, too.

birthday girl Ingrid

moving forward again –  

always smiling

Linda Baie ©

April Poetry Month - Day Thirteen - Paying Attention

It's April. It's Poetry Month!  

         Remember to check out the list of what everyone is doing at Susan Bruck's blog: Soul Blossom Living!
         
          Plus! Check each day for the added line to the Progressive Poem, created by Irene Latham, now hosted by Margaret Simon! The link is to the right!

           TIME TO CELEBRATE POETRY! 

My Plan: “I’m exploring the aesthetic of wabi-sabi, sometimes described as one that is “imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete” in nature. I think walking out in nature this past year gave me the joy needed to keep going, so I’ve gathered photos taken since March 2020 for inspiration in composing haigas, sometimes other forms.”     

nature illustrates

the dictionary,

dappled

Linda Baie ©

It's Monday - Love These Books

   Visit Kellee and Ricki at UnleashingReaders and 

  

Jen at Teach Mentor Texts to see what they and others have been reading! Your TBR lists will grow! Happy Reading! 

       Today - some new books, a group by one author, and preparing for Earth Day with books from Candlewick Press. Sorry for the long post but it was a great week of reading!

          Last week for Poetry Friday, I shared Spi-Ku, a clutter of short verse on eight legs by Leslie Bulion on the blog tour. Don't miss this new non-fiction poetry book. It is terrific!

         These next two chapter books tell what's it's like NOT to be seen as people with feelings and people who want you to respect WHO they are instead of WHO you believe they should be. 

          I've read that others read this book in a day and so did I! Ellie, too often known as Splash because of a big jump into the pool at her fifth birthday party, the name given by her older sister. She navigates the bullying by following her "Fat Girl Rules", which mean not standing out as much as possible. I'm sad to write that not only is she continually bullied at school but also by her mother and her siblings. In her author's note, Lisa Fipps writes she believes some will say that this definitely is fiction because no one could be so cruel as described in the story. However, Fipps also says that a variation of every single mean thing in the book happened to her when she was a child. I also enjoyed that Lisa Fipps included a bit about bullies themselves and others besides fat people who endured name-calling and frightening experiences. Perhaps we all need to learn where hate begins?

          With support from two friends and her dad, finally, also a therapist who helps Ellie recover her true name and her wonderful self, there is hope for Ellie and a whole lot of others (kids and adults) to be WHO they are. If I was still teaching, this would be my first read-aloud of the year! Or perhaps the one that could carry all my students into summer!

         FYI, poet friend Jone MacCullough shares a terrific interview with Lisa Fipps HERE!

       

          This is both a wonderful and enlightening read along with a heartbreaking one. Susan Haas, mother to Lexi Haas and with Lexi has written Lexi's story of a medical mistake, then covered up, that left Lexi with brain damage. It took her ability to control movements and to speak. Thankfully, she could still think and remained a smart young girl who tells her own story with humor, anger, and a willingness to live her life "who" she is, not who others might want her to be. She was born with jaundice, something other babies do as well. But it was not taken care of by her doctor and because of that, she suffered from "kernicterus" which you can find out more about at www.kernicterus.org. The story follows her journey from five years old, alternating with chapters at thirteen, awaiting a new kind of brain surgery which she hopes will help her regain some abilities. The love and support of family and friends are key and realistically shown. Lexi's not always helpful when others want her to be. Although that's true, her ability for demanding what she knows is important for her needs also demands respect and admiration. She does not quit. Learning that each one of us is a person with wants and needs, quirks and defects is a wonderful thing for all of us. This book would be a marvelous book to share with a class of middle-schoolers and up, as a read-aloud or in a book group. Thanks to Penny Candy Books for the advanced copy!

  

April Poetry Month - 2021 - Day Twelve - Waterfall

It's April. It's Poetry Month!  

         Remember to check out the list of what everyone is doing at Susan Bruck's blog: Soul Blossom Living!
         
          Plus! Check each day for the added line to the Progressive Poem, created by Irene Latham, now hosted by Margaret Simon! The link is to the right!

           TIME TO CELEBRATE POETRY! 

My Plan: “I’m exploring the aesthetic of wabi-sabi, sometimes described as one that is “imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete” in nature. I think walking out in nature this past year gave me the joy needed to keep going, so I’ve gathered photos taken since March 2020 for inspiration in composing haigas, sometimes other forms.”     

water rushing,

a swim only in my mind –

splash upon splash 

Linda Baie ©

April Poetry Month - Day Eleven - The View

 

It's April. It's Poetry Month!  

         Remember to check out the list of what everyone is doing at Susan Bruck's blog: Soul Blossom Living!
         
          Plus! Check each day for the added line to the Progressive Poem, created by Irene Latham, now hosted by Margaret Simon! The link is to the right!

           TIME TO CELEBRATE POETRY! 

My Plan: “I’m exploring the aesthetic of wabi-sabi, sometimes described as one that is “imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete” in nature. I think walking out in nature this past year gave me the joy needed to keep going, so I’ve gathered photos taken since March 2020 for inspiration in composing haigas, sometimes other forms.”     

at one place,

I stop for the view –

weaving tomorrows

Linda Baie ©

April - Poetry Month - Day Ten - Discovering

It's April. It's Poetry Month!  

         Remember to check out the list of what everyone is doing at Susan Bruck's blog: Soul Blossom Living!
         
          Plus! Check each day for the added line to the Progressive Poem, created by Irene Latham, now hosted by Margaret Simon! The link is to the right!

           TIME TO CELEBRATE POETRY! 

My Plan: “I’m exploring the aesthetic of wabi-sabi, sometimes described as one that is “imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete” in nature. I think walking out in nature this past year gave me the joy needed to keep going, so I’ve gathered photos taken since March 2020 for inspiration in composing haigas, sometimes other forms.”     

in a sidewalk crack

dandelion speaks spring –

a sunny smile

Linda Baie ©

April - Poetry Month - Day Nine - New Trash - Ugh!

 

It's April. It's Poetry Month! And it's Poetry Friday hosted by Tabatha Yeatts at The Opposite of Indifference who's sharing a lot of poems in varied languages this week. Merci, pour l'hébergement aujourd'hui.

         Remember to check out the list of what everyone is doing at Susan Bruck's blog: Soul Blossom Living!
         
          Plus! Check each day for the added line to the Progressive Poem, created by Irene Latham, now hosted by Margaret Simon! The link is to the right!

           TIME TO CELEBRATE POETRY! 

My Plan: “I’m exploring the aesthetic of wabi-sabi, sometimes described as one that is “imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete” in nature. I think walking out in nature this past year gave me the joy needed to keep going, so I’ve gathered photos taken since March 2020 for inspiration in composing haigas, sometimes other forms.”     

new kind of trash,

wishing others knew

there’s a bag for that!

Linda Baie ©

It's a Blog Tour - With Eight Legs & Poetry Friday!

           It's a blog tour and Poetry Friday hosted by Tabatha Yeatts at The Opposite of Indifference.            

        It's a perfect time for this new book to be born, alongside spring's awakening, and seeing more spiders, too, at least here in Colorado and other places moving out of a winter climate. 

          Non-fiction poetry books hold exceptional learning experiences, including literacy, natural history, art, and science all at the same time. Adults, including teachers, plus children, can take one wonderful book and begin a study on that topic, later also using the book as a mentor text for further studies of other topics. Leslie Bulion's words - prose and poetry plus Robert Meganck's illustrations offer so very much in every one of these areas. Additionally, if you're like one of my young granddaughters, you can read, learn, and enjoy a small bit at a time about your favorite subject, spiders!

          Catching interest is also key as Leslie opens with an overall poem titled with the scientific name, "Araneae All Around", a four stanza piece that amazingly covers everything, from where ("From leafy covers to forest floor,/Where foam-kissed ocean meets shimmery shore," and on) to hatching and bodies and what these eight-legged predators do! Each poem oozes with appreciation for spiders while including apt information. With creativity, Leslie offers a variety of poems, free-verse and patterned forms, adding a page of explanation for the poems in the back. One spider I have known of but wonder how many others will be surprised about is the "Diving Bell Spider" haiku described: "scuba spider/wears a silver bubble/dines in". 

          Each page includes text, a poem or more, and an illustration or more when spiders need to be grouped together. Here are a few samples:

         Helpful pages that highlight content are: a Table of Contents, a Glossary, Poetic Forms, Spi-ku spider identification for the pages, a 'how-to' for a "Spider Hunt", resources for further study, acknowledgments, a double-page spread of the book's spiders and their relative size compared to a pencil, and a page about the cover spiders. Information flows well, is entertaining in both text and poetry as it gives lots and lots (and lots) of information!

Other stops on this blog tour:

                Monday (4/5): Picture Books 4 Learning

                Tuesday (4/6): Storymamas

                Wednesday (4/7): The Miss Rumphius Effect

                Thursday (4/8): Reading to the Core

                Friday (4/9): TeacherDance

                Teacher’s guide: https://peachtree-online.com/pdfs/TeachersGuides/SpikuTG.pdf

If you'd like to follow. . .

Leslie Bulion social handles:

Facebook: @leslie.bulion

Twitter: @LeslieBulion

Instagram: @lesliebulion

 

Robert Meganck social handles:

Facebook: @rmeganck

Twitter: @r2meganck

Instagram: @r2meganck

 

Peachtree social handles:

Facebook: @PeachtreePub

Twitter: @PeachtreePub

Instagram: @peachtreepublishing

Extra Fun: Leslie reads one poem from her book at Michelle Schaub's Poetry Boost: 

          

 

          Thanks to Leslie Bulion, Robert Meganck, and Peachtree Publishing for a wonderful book and the opportunity to share it!

April - Poetry Month - Day Eight - Human Quiet

 

It's April. It's Poetry Month!

         Remember to check out the list of what everyone is doing at Susan Bruck's blog: Soul Blossom Living!
         
          Plus! Check each day for the added line to the Progressive Poem, created by Irene Latham, now hosted by Margaret Simon! The link is to the right!

           TIME TO CELEBRATE POETRY! 

My Plan: “I’m going to explore the aesthetic of wabi-sabi, sometimes described as one that is “imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete” in nature. I think walking out in nature this past year gave me the joy needed to keep going, so I’ve gathered photos taken since March 2020 for inspiration in composing haigas, sometimes other forms.”     

I spy from afar,

the egret pauses –

she’s no fool  

Linda Baie ©

April - Poetry Month - Day Seven - Sky's Always There

It's April. It's Poetry Month!

         Remember to check out the list of what everyone is doing at Susan Bruck's blog: Soul Blossom Living!
         
          Plus! Check each day for the added line to the Progressive Poem, created by Irene Latham, now hosted by Margaret Simon! The link is to the right!

           TIME TO CELEBRATE POETRY! 

My Plan: “I’m going to explore the aesthetic of wabi-sabi, sometimes described as one that is “imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete” in nature. I think walking out in nature this past year gave me the joy needed to keep going, so I’ve gathered photos taken since March 2020 for inspiration in composing haigas, sometimes other forms.”     

walking day or night,

innumerable sky pictures –

comfort food

            Linda Baie ©

April Poetry Month - Day Six - Lockdown Aid

 \

It's April. It's Poetry Month!

         Remember to check out the list of what everyone is doing at Susan Bruck's blog: Soul Blossom Living!
         
          Plus! Check each day for the added line to the Progressive Poem, created by Irene Latham, now hosted by Margaret Simon! The link is to the right!

           TIME TO CELEBRATE POETRY! 

My Plan: “I’m going to explore the aesthetic of wabi-sabi, sometimes described as one that is “imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete” in nature. I think walking out in nature this past year gave me the joy needed to keep going, so I’ve gathered photos taken since March 2020 for inspiration in composing haigas, sometimes other forms.”     

first color seen,

lockdown blessings –

only sign predictable

              Linda Baie ©

It's Monday - More New & Special Books!

  Visit Kellee and Ricki at UnleashingReaders and 

  

Jen at Teach Mentor Texts to see what they and others have been reading! Your TBR lists will grow! Happy Reading! 

       Today - more new books and they're all super!

        Yes, it is satisfying but oh, so sad to see that the series is ending. I have no idea what Katherine Applegate is thinking or planning for the future. This third book wrapped up quite a lot of details, connections, and relationships in heart-warming ways. Someday I imagine I'll read it again and be amazed at the creation of many intriguing creatures who take on challenges they never imagined doing. To me, it's like reading and re-reading Tolkien stories, adventurous and breath-holding in parts, loving and heartbreaking in others. I like these kinds of stories and hope they give young readers a chance to see what can be if they are faced with choices between good and evil. One wise phrase from the Wobbyks that means "that you can set yourself up as greater than others, but only if you're a tree that gives shade. Not if you're a useless plant that must be cut down." I hope they like them as much as I do. It's hard to dislike any of Applegate's books, always treasures! 

          One of the first books that I've read that is clearly about this past year, from March to March, and needed as we continue on! Grant Snyder's colored pencil illustrations offer the message there is always something good on the other side. "On the other side of a window/there is a neighbor, a path, a voice" and yes, "a rainbow". I love that he included a Zoom-like grid on a screen while another shows a child alone at the computer. Diverse people walk, greet, help, hug while rainbows hang in windows and positive messages are seen on sidewalks like "Thank You Heroes" and "Black Lives Matter". I'm happy to read this and wish we all had it months ago. It was just out at the end of January! It would be lovely to share and talk about this with a class!

        Out in early March, Baptiste Paul and Miranda Paul write a hope-filled and rhyming poem/message that defines "Peace". It can be a wide range of things from a "hello or a hug" and "pronouncing your friend's name correctly". With brief but profound actions, we all may be able to find and achieve "Peace". I especially loved "Peace is on purpose./Peace is a choice./Peace lets the smallest of us/have a voice." With double-page gorgeous and colorful illustrations (even one fold-out!), Esteli Meza shows a myriad of scenes with a myriad of diverse people and animals making peaceful choices. An afterword from the authors speaks of the importance of peace and how the absence of it, the effects of war and violence in a country harms every living thing, not only people. They tell that after a war in Mozambique, not only did people lose their lives or were forced to flee, 90% of the wildlife was lost. Recovery is happening in Gorongosa National Park, a piece of hope! Illustrations have included some of those animals found today, but they are not named. It is a book that will be lovely to share.

         I had to wait a while to get this from the library, so many holds! I've been excited to read it because I loved The Old Truck that was so full of love from Jarrett and Jerome Pumphrey. In this story, again time passes and you have to watch carefully because while it seems simple in the illustrations and is told with very few words, the message of love for family and home is powerful. When you realize time is passing with a few subtle changes, you want to move on to discover what's next. And that is a surprise, a lovely one. I'll be interested to see what others think of this new book by the Pumphreys.

April - Poetry Month - Day Five - Icy Days

 

It's April. It's Poetry Month!

         Remember to check out the list of what everyone is doing at Susan Bruck's blog: Soul Blossom Living!
         
          Plus! Check each day for the added line to the Progressive Poem, created by Irene Latham, now hosted by Margaret Simon! The link is to the right!

           TIME TO CELEBRATE POETRY! 

My Plan: “I’m going to explore the aesthetic of wabi-sabi, sometimes described as one that is “imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete” in nature. I think walking out in nature this past year gave me the joy needed to keep going, so I’ve gathered photos taken since March 2020 for inspiration in composing haigas, sometimes other forms.”     

on a grocery trip –

I’m bundled up and admiring

the parking sign

          Linda Baie ©

 

April Poetry Month - Day Four - Easter Blessings

 

It's April. It's Poetry Month!

         Remember to check out the list of what everyone is doing at Susan Bruck's blog: Soul Blossom Living!
         
          Plus! Check each day for the added line to the Progressive Poem, created by Irene Latham, now hosted by Margaret Simon! The link is to the right!

           TIME TO CELEBRATE POETRY! 

My Plan: “I’m going to explore the aesthetic of wabi-sabi, sometimes described as one that is “imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete” in nature. I think walking out in nature this past year gave me the joy needed to keep going, so I’ve gathered photos taken since March 2020 for inspiration in composing haigas, sometimes other forms.”     

           This picture wasn't taken on Easter last year, but we can pretend it was! Happy Easter to all who celebrate.

sky trail, look fast! 

you might spot the prayers

traveling up

Linda Baie ©