Poetry Friday - Something New Discovered

   It's Poetry Friday, and Jan Godown Annino is hosting HERE at Bookseed Studio. She's sharing a poetic basket filled with music, book recommendations, and special calls for poetry! Thanks for hosting, Jan! 

  

            Many of you know that I volunteer at a unique used bookstore. It's a non-profit run entirely by volunteers. I am the volunteer coordinator, and I am in charge of donations with one other person. The store, with the exception of a few new books purchased for one "new" shelf, has three floors of all, used, books. Each week, donations come in, often so many with our small storage available that we must close the donations until the next Friday. On Thursday afternoons, my crew, some older retirees and several teens, go through the books and organize them in various ways for shelving. It's hard work, but also amazing and wonderful to see what arrives in the boxes, mostly gems, but some junk that sadly includes books falling apart and smelly! In all, though, we manage to have hundreds of books in our inventory through the kindness of many.

          I've taken the Poetry Sisters' challenge this end of January. Here's what Tanita wrote last month! 

           "The Poetry Sisters met on Sunday to map out our writing prompts for the year. We have a plan and a prompt for January. Would you like to try this month's challenge? We will be writing a tanku, a poem that begins with a tanka, followed by a haiku written in response. A tanku can be any length, but each verse should be written in response to the one before. You can find an example at Rattle: Poetry. Are you with us? Good! Please share your poem on January 31st in a post and/or on social media with the tag #PoetryPals. We look forward to reading your poems!"

  Don't Call It Work

 

I’m at the bookstore

sorting out book donations,

keep curious eyes

for ephemera discards.

Imagination ignites.

 

Maui Boarding pass.

thank you letter to Emma.

Groceries to buy;

only one makes me smile –

something special for Sam.

Piled in a basket,

the guesses only maybes –

characters appear.

 

                     Linda Baie © 

 

        I've received more marvelous postcards, will thank everyone and share next week! The kindness shared keeps the dark away!

It's Monday - New to Share!

   

    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!       

    The ALA Awards are this morning! Are you pleased or disappointed with those who received shiny medals? 

 

        I want to tell everything about The Squad, yet there are pieces of Christina Soontornvat's new story about her life, from the last book's cheerleading sadness in middle school to the next part of her life, more cheerleading drama, a cafeteria food fight, and high emotions in her family that must be personally experienced. Joanna Cacao's art takes readers into the story as the "squad" worries and supports, sighs about some others in the school and loves some new ones, too. I imagine every middle school student will love this one, embracing it as their lives being lived now. There is a tender letter at the back from Christina, especially nice for her readers, plus pictures of her growing up. Both Christina and Joanna share lovely acknowledgments, too. It is wonderful to read what followed after the earlier book, The Tryout!

      Rollicking rhymes tell this story of Sue, the Blue Kangaroo, who just moved to the zoo! She heard about a party but somehow no one can go until Sue finds her shoe. In addition to that problem, others also need help. Author Bradley Kind's name fits the story wonderfully, for as the story moves along, readers will find Sue to be helpful and kind! Even though she keeps asking and asking about that shoe, she doesn't stop helping others. The fun, fun rhyme will make a terrific read-aloud making the listeners giggle as they also love Shirin Hashemi's delightful brightly-colored illustrations. 

       "Did you see an orange shoe?/Say, "I found it!"/ when you do.

         There are also pages at the back with some activities and Bradley has created a stand-alone activity book to go with this story! Thanks to him for sharing an e-copy with me!

          It's a brief book about 12-year-old Samira who, with her mother, has been working for the resistance in Nazi-occupied France. The night before, her mother was captured and now Samira must hurry to save her because it's known that they shoot everyone at dawn. Through fields and woods, Samira rushes along with a little dog she's rescued for a neighbor. Rumors are that this is the day for the American invasion, and that surely will help, at least Samira hopes so. This keeps one reading fast, to see what happens during this new and desperate march to get to the destination in time!

        Remember Charlie Mackesy's marvelous book, now a movie, The Boy, The Mole, The Fox, and The Horse? I knew when I saw Tales from Muggleswick Wood, in marvelous verse by Vicky Cowie illustrated by Mackesy, that I would love it, and I do! Granny has come for a visit and with urgent pleas, tells five tales she remembers from the beautiful English countryside. You'll find a map in the end covers! There are troublesome moles with an ending that will make you laugh out loud, fairies and brownies with rules one must follow, or else!  from the text: "So off went the frog with the gargoyle pair,/the dragonfly, gnome, and the girl with blonde hair".

Now reading! Chroncicles of a Lizard Nobody - Patrick Ness and Tim Miller

Poetry Friday - Gifting Is the Best!

  It's Poetry Friday, and Tabatha Yeatts-Lonske is hosting HERE at The Opposite of Indifference. Thanks for hosting, Tabatha! 

  

             A.A. Milne - Winnie-the-Pooh - “Piglet noticed that even though he had a Very Small Heart, it could hold a rather large amount of Gratitude.”

           For anyone who is participating or has participated in exchanging postcards during this mid-wintertime, you know what a joyful thing it is to receive some real mail, among the numerous pieces from everyone else who wishes to sell me something, a product, a membership, a visit from the "window" people! 

         And, this year, in the midst of our crazy, worrisome time in the US, it's especially marvelous to take the walk to my mailbox (We have 'blocks' of boxes in my neighborhood.) and discover a huge treat!

        Thanks to Patricia Franz and Mona Moelkel for the lovely art and poems! Not only are what they sent wonderful gifts, but I realize they've also given me, along with others, a gift of their time spent creating! 

Here’s a ditty of thanks

For all of the labor

Sent through air to a box

I opened to discover,

What they created and penned –

Beauty like no other

                     Linda Baie © 

Monday Reading - Something for Everyone!

  

    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!

    Our country remembers Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. today! "The time is always right to do what is right."

Thanks to Publishers Weekly
for my advanced e-copy!
This will be published next month. 

      Books that move back and forth in time are intriguing, and that is how Pam Jenoff chooses to tell this new story inspired by the true story of Lévitan, a posh department store in Paris! The story centers on a woman named Louise, who served with the Red Cross as a young girl in World War II and is now married with a couple of kids, and her early sweetheart, who came out of combat, a rather silent and changed man. She has found a half necklace that she was sure she saw the other half in a terrible time when serving Allied soldiers behind the German lines. That time meant the loss of her friend, Franny, whom they declared that she had been hit by a car. Louise knew it couldn't be true, but she was forced to leave by her boss, Ian, with whom she had some attraction, both to save herself and others. Now, it's the fifties, and this necklace, amazingly, has appeared again! 

     Louise races to Paris, to find out as much as she can, beginning with asking Ian for help and pushing to discover more about that department store. Well, that store has a dark past, was a Nazi prison where the prisoners unloaded all the goods from Jewish homes that had been confiscated and then arranged them like a store for Nazis to come to shop and acquire. 

     In between these stories, Louise also tells of her time in the war, working for the Red Cross and the missing piece, a young woman named Helaine with the saddest past until it all changes when she finally breaks out, falls in love in a cellist, and leaves her home, unblessed, perhaps never to see them again.

      You can imagine the layers of emotion in these lives, mixed in with strange events and love in numerous guises that no matter what the reader believes is true, it is not, or first it's not, then it is! The book is worth a look for being a many-plotted thing! 

Thanks to Candlewick Press
for my copy!

       There's so much to love when an author uses the ABCs to tell a story, and this time  Sam Winston has the dictionary to help him. You know that a dictionary has many, many words, but never, ever is there a story. And she wants one! This time, she decides to bring some words to life, for a story! But when they get mixed up and begin some not-so-expected colliding, things do not happen as wished. Oliver Jeffers' illustrations show all the emotion, like an enthusiastic alligator who's after a donut, and it doesn't work out very well at all. Antics like this will make one laugh, especially when Dictionary's friend Alphabet comes in to save the day with a clever song! You may have heard that one, and it's magic happening when all the words learn to behave! What a clever and fun book, especially to read aloud! 

Thanks to Candlewick Press 
for my copy!

       I've never heard of Viola Smith and now love that Dean Robbins has told about her life. She lived until 107 and was still drumming! She started out with the drums because her other "five" sisters had taken all the other instruments for their new band, the Smith Sisters Orchestra! She tried all the parts, and per the text: "She lost the beat, made a terrible racket, and had more fun than she'd ever had before." Things improved and one huge influence that Viola had later was to write an article that pushed for the music industry to begin accepting women in their groups. This was at the beginning of World War II, when many male players were leaving for war. It helped elevate women as accomplished players! There are more amazing parts to Viola's life, shown in such flashy illustrations by Susanna Chapman that one nearly believes the drumming can be heard! I'm so glad to read a biography of someone very talented whose life one must admire! There's an author's note with more information, a list of musical terms, and a source list at the back. End papers show various kinds of drumsticks! It's terrific! 

        Julia Donaldson wrote this older book, published in the UK, then Scholastic here in the US. It's a fantastic adventure, a song to be sung plus this edition came with a CD, sung by Imelda Staunton, a British performer. It also has a little flap in the back that, when lifted, reveals a wee coloring page of a stick man adventure and the CD. Julia Donaldson creates funny and sad scenes of Stick Man's numerous adventures. When he's out for a jog,  he is first plucked away for play by a dog, then grabbed by a girl for a "Pooh stick," and used by a swan for her nest. There are more adventures, ending in a grate, where the woodpile will be lit, on CHRISTMAS MORNING! It certainly surprised me, for it's also a Christmas book with a delightful surprise ending! Axel Scheffler's colorful illustrations wonderfully show the antics poor Stickman must endure and after reading more than once, Children will be singing this little ditty! What a fun delight! 

               (If you don't know what a "Pooh stick" is– It's that playing on a bridge over a stream. The sticks are first dropped on one side, and then everyone runs to the other side to see who is first!)

         Last fall's Friday Night Lights are over, and some may still remember one game, one coach, and their teammates! The memories of a special team can be just a few months ago, or years! This is one of Grisham's older books, as players from all over the US return to small-town Messina, players for the mighty Spartans. They've come to say goodbye to the coach who brought them to undefeated seasons, those glory days when they were heroes. All-American player Neely Crenshaw has returned for the first time to help bury Coach Eddie Rake, though he still is unsure whether he loves him or hates him. For those with their own Friday night memories, and the last of pro football happening now, it's a nice time to read one story of the feelings of these players when they were heroes, and despite the coach's methods, they loved him. 

Now Reading! The Squad - Christine Soontornvat & Joanna Cacao

Poetry Friday - This New Year

  It's Poetry Friday, and Tricia Stohr-Hunt is hosting HERE at The Miss Rumphius Effect with a look and a poem for a treasure from the past. Thanks for hosting, Tricia! 

  

          I'm worrying, and preparing, then thinking. These coming days will be challenging and sad. Yet, here I am, planning to play a part in making a bright future for my grandchildren. I will not quit! Here comes the rest of the new year!

Glad To Start Again or

I thought I was

 

Mozart helps me nestle--

contented for this new beginning,

after a loving holiday.

But gray skies appear

beyond my sunshiny days.

It’s like sleet spits at all our windows.

My own brain clouds

with “Why? Who could? Who would?

And, then “How will they suffer the loss?”

Along with keeping busy with mindless dusting,

I wonder why again.  

I sit at my laptop,

fingers tapping.

Searching for the latest news,

though I can’t know if lists and actions

will help. Still, I do not stop!

Yes, it’s still sunny outside,

so I go to rake a few more leaves,

look for fallen branches after yesterday’s wind,

talk to my neighbor.

Quiet voices wing in from down the sidewalk.

“Hey, great to see you; how ya doing?”

The other neighbor’s dog barks, so I know

Someone is walking around there, too. 

A flicker flies, and sparrows twitter.

Nature brings some solace,

before lunch.

Then, I remember again.

                    Linda Baie ©