Poetry Friday - Wisdom from Long Ago

created by Linda Mitchell

It's Poetry Friday, and Buffy Silverman is hosting HERE on her blog, sharing a "tale of a tail" that will maybe alarm, but certainly entertain! 

     I finished Poetry Month, wrote 29 poems and shared one by another poet, about the sweetest reflection about a mother. I am pleased with some, believe others filled the day, but perhaps are forgettable. That's okay, and I enjoyed having the challenge every day. It certainly made me look at words and then, look again! I also congratulate those who entertained me all the month with beautiful poetry of their own. AND, every morning I had the pleasure of rising and looking immediately for the next lines of the Progressive Poem. Thank you all for that amazing creation, and thank you  Margaret, for keeping us going and organized! Happy May!

       I don't have my copies yet, but I also wish to congratulate Carol LaBuzzetta for her kindness, creativity, and tireless work in bringing this new anthology to the world! I'm proud to have a couple of poems in it and look forward to reading everyone else's! 

        With so many conflicts in our world today, and there are many, it's a pleasure to go back in years to find wisdom from another time. Though many of us worry about countries at war, protests far and near, and political strife, seeing a poem I found in an anthology from 1896 tells me that challenging conflicts happened then, too. I know some of history and I'm not surprised, but when I looked through the poems, their heartfelt look at people and seasons and animals, like today, felt nice. Life happened then as it is happening now. I wish everyone were safe and I imagine most wished that we could be as this poet wrote with such hope! The author appears to be anonymous, no name given anywhere in the book.

        The book was donated to the used bookstore where I work, is very old and falling apart. I have it wrapped in some newspaper to keep it intact and from flaking pieces everywhere!

 

title page

                       

opposite of the title page
The Statue of Liberty was unveiled on October 28, 1886, ten years
earlier than when this book was published.

Enjoy this first week of May, everyone!

Poetry Friday - Starting Wild

Thanks to Carol Wilcox at Carol's Corner for hosting today. Like Carol, I am far from the terrible fires in the Boulder area, have been watching the news all last evening. More will be revealed today, including how to help. 

I'm beginning prep for Cybil's Poetry Judging - Round Two. Round One judges have given our group a marvelous list of finalists. Stay tuned! All the lists will be shared tomorrow, January 1st!

         Sorry that I missed the Poetry Sister's "Bell" challenge but I'm looking forward to reading how everyone responded! 

         

          All year, I've been reading a lot of poetry, and every day a new poem from this book, published by Nosy Crow, an imprint of Candlewick Press, Fiona Waters collected the poems for each season, thus the title. Lovely illustrations by Frann Preston-Gannon walked hand-in-hand with the poems. That last poem, for December 31st, is one I guess most of you know, Beatrice Schenk de Regniers' "Keep A Poem in Your Pocket", thus setting a goal for 2022!

       Fiona Waters has created a new one for the coming year, out for the first time in 2021 in the U.S. This time, she's selected 365 poems about animals. I don't recognize all of the names and perhaps that is because it's from Great Britain, but she has chosen some from America's past like Valerie Worth and  Emily Dickinson and those still writing like Jack Prelutsky, Elaine Magliaro, and Jane Yolen. From the titles, I see familiar poems, all animal antics from varying points of view. There are indexes of the poets, the poems, and first lines at the back. Britta Teckentrup's illustrations add to the lure of each poem. If you don't know much about an animal, you'll want to know more after reading the words and viewing each lovely page. Along with other anthologies and poets' collections, it feels like 2022 will be a special one for poetry!

            Thanks again to Candlewick Press for this copy!

       I've chosen some beginning lines from each month. Can you guess who the poet is?

January - "Have you heard her yipping/when the moon is down?"   

February - "Imagine overturning/The teeming anthill"  

March - "Make your home/in the damp darkness"  

April - "The air is like a butterfly"  

May - "Pigeons are city folk/content/to live with concrete/and cement."

June - "A hedgehog's hug is mainly hid" 

July - "A narrow fellow in the grass" 

August - "Giraffes/I like them./Ask me why."  

September - "The buffalos are gone." 

October - "Ploffskin, Pluffskin, pelican jee." 

November - "Allow me just one short remark" 

December - "I saw the two starlings" 

 

        Way back in 2015 I wrote this 'first' poem of the year. It seems apt for our beginnings tomorrow. Wishing you all a joy-filled 2022! 

With past power

and future hope

I navigate

the tangle-covered

threshold to the year.

Linda Baie ©

Poetry Friday - Come Take A Trip To The Sea!

 

Well, It's 2020, isn't it? I'm happy to host and wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving, however you land! Link up below!

 Matt Forrest Esenwine sent me an email announcement of a new anthology of poetry, Friends & Anemones: Ocean Poems for Children from The Writer’s Loft. Several anthologies have come out recently and this one focuses on, as you see from the cover, the ocean. Those children who know it well will find old friends and those who would love an ocean trip will find a glimpse of what might be! It seems perfect for holiday gift-giving to a variety of readers - parents, librarians, teachers, and certainly children.

             Amanda Smith shares all about the book's creation here at 24 Carrot Writing!

          Invitation

Now. no longer traveling far

so take a book trip as you are.

You'll learn to splash along with me. 

with authors' poems from the salty sea.

                                            L Baie

        It's seventy pages of ocean knowledge packed into all kinds of poem styles, poems of creatures who depend on others, like remora and sharks, and those who swim and live above, like manatees. Matt writes about a boat "Unmoored", another way to "see" the "sea" that children might not think about if they've never visited. I've always been fascinated by lighthouses, stayed in one on the California coast years ago, trying to imagine what it is like to live and work in one. Heidi E.Y. Stemple writes "Boston Light", a beautiful, eerie poem about a lighthouse and Bridget Wixted writes "Lighthouse", offering a second idea of these special sites. The variety of things experienced during this trip to the ocean will make you sigh with the words and say "wow" about the illustrations, each one by a different artist. Here are two favorites, the first with Matt's poem and the second about a favorite of mine, manatees!  

       

         At the end lies a number of ideas that add to the learning "inside" the poems. There is a list of things that will take the reader back to search for things, like eleven crabs, five boats, and one dog, yes, a dog! (I had to return and look, too!) They also offer a challenge to find the different types of poems included, as well as a terrific list of ways to "Become an Ocean Protector". Not only is this an anthology of beautiful poetry about the ocean, but one that adds to the learning by inspiring action. 

          Thanks for the opportunity to share this, Matt!

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Monday Recap

It's Monday...

  ... November, DST has departed - So has That Extra Hour - and it's dark when we arrive home from work.  The only thing to do is to READ!  Not such a bad time of year, after all!

It's Monday! What are you Reading? is hosted by Jen at TEACH.MENTOR.TEXTS, and shared with Ricki and Kellee at UNLEASHING READERS.   

         And, also visit Sheila at BOOK JOURNEYS for more reviews. 

 Tweet! at #IMWAYR

Thanks to Jen, Kellee, Ricki and Sheila for keeping us reading!

        I didn't read very many books this week, but those I did were good.  I hope you all had a terrific Halloween, and are having (or have had) good, satisfying conferences.  It's always a busy time, isn't it? 

Many Moons – written by James Thurber and illustrated by Louis Slobodkin

               I was looking for a book for a teacher to use who is helping a young student study rhetoric, and re-discovered this older picture book by Thurber. A young princess is ill and it is thought she will recover if she can only have the moon. Her father asks his closest servants to help, whereupon they offer lists of all the things they have found for him through the years, but say, with various arguments, they cannot get the moon. The quest is repeated until the problem finally is solved, through wise reasoning and logic. It's a wonderful tale in itself that might start some really interesting arguments about those who give outlandish answers when it suits their own beliefs. See if you can find a copy!

Summer Reading - Poetry!

          Tabatha Yeatts is our wonderful host this Poetry Friday at The Opposite of Indifference. Thank you Tabatha!

             I’ve read a few posts that are asking others to share their plans for summer reading, and I have stacks of choices waiting for me.  There are the YA books, the adult books, the picture books and the mysteries I’ll take to the beach, along with some e-books downloaded on my IPad.  There is a stack of children’s poetry books waiting.  I am looking forward to several days of non-stop reading as much as possible. 

            Today I’d like to recommend the anthology The Place My Words Are Looking For : What Poets Say About and Through Their Work, selected by Paul B. Janeczko and published in 1990.  It is a favorite of mine that I’ve used for several years with my middle school students, although I believe that, selected carefully, it could be used for a variety of ages.  

Good Reading Means Poetry Too

  
      It's Monday! What Are You Reading?  is a kidlit meme hosted by Jen and Kellee at Teach.Mentor.Texts.  Come visit!  And also visit Sheila at Book Journeys to find reviews of all kinds of books for adults and for children.  

            Don't forget the hashtag #IMWAYR 

                       A poem begins with a lump in the throat.  Robert Frost

          It’s Poetry Month, and here at Teacher Dance on Mondays each week, I share the books I’ve read in the past week.  This month, I’ll also share some poetry anthologies for children that I am enjoying.

           Don't forget to read the Poetry Links on the page above!

The Poetry Friday Anthology for Middle School, Poems for the School Year with Connections to the Common Core – compiled by Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong

Moving Means A Book Pleasure

Thanks to Irene for hosting this week's poetry Friday!  Run over to her blog, Live.Love.Explore.

    For several reasons, I know I will be moving this year, out of my home of 34 years, to be closer to my daughter and family and closer to work.  It will be nearer the city too so I can run over to a museum and other places for a few hours instead of making it an ‘event’.  But moving out of my home is not easy.  We’ve adapted it to us through the years, have lovely built-in shelves in several places, have created a wonderful porch with a good roof over our heads on rainy days.  I have planted so many flowers throughout the yard, some from a grandmother, some from my mother-in-law.  I don’t know if I’ll be able to transplant them because I don’t know if I’ll have a yard.  I will be saying goodbye to many kinds of things, and then also the intangible memories.  There is where the swing set used to be.  There is where the kids jumped the fence to take a shortcut to school.  Here is where the globe table sat.  Here is where the family pictures hung.  And on and on.  I actually am somewhat excited about going to a new place.  I don’t mind new.  I just mind leaving.

    A friend knows about this and gave me a book of poetry titled Home, Illustrated by Thomas Locker who also edited it with Candace Christiansen.  It is subtitled A Journey Through America, and filled with poems, prose pieces and blessings of what home means to many kinds of people.  There is a part of the poem Once By The Pacific by Robert Frost, John Muir’s Climb The Mountains, a portion of My Ántonia by Willa Cather, The River by Jane Yolen and others, ending with writing by Henry David Thoreau.  There is Tree by Eloise Greenfield and Lincoln’s My Childhood’s Home.  Each page is accompanied by a gorgeous painting by Locker.