Non-Fiction-Three People To Admire

     Time to share on Wednesdays with Alyson Beecher's Non-Fiction Picture Book Challenge at her blog, Kidlit Frenzy.   

        Thanks Alyson!   Tweet - #NFPB15

        Three whose lives inspire, and are to be celebrated for their grit!

Poet: The Remarkable Story of George Moses Horton - written and illustrated by Don Tate

        "But oh! How transient was the scene - It fled as though it had not been. And all my hopes were vain." is one of the beautiful lines of poetry written by George Moses Horton and shared in this story of the highlights of his life by Don Tate. The story begins with his early years when he taught himself to read, to his great success selling poems to students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and finally, his freedom. Although he was still a slave, and had been separated as a youth from his family, words filled his life with hope, even when doing the hard farm work for his master. North Carolinians were more lenient during this time before the Civil War, and George made enough money to later live in town to write, with permission from his owner. He even became so supported that, with some help, he thought he could buy his freedom. Sadly, his master would never agree, hence those poignant lines at the beginning. George didn't become free until he was in his sixties, until after the Civil War. Before and after freedom, however, he published three books. The illustrations are both realistic and poetic, show words flowing from Horton's mind in one beautiful and sad page when he learned he would not gain freedom. The endpapers flow with his words. The story is both a pleasure and heart-breaking to me to think that I've never heard of this poet before, was never taught about this poet in my education. There is further information added in the backmatter. It's a wonderful book to begin teaching about slavery, about those who had no choice about the hard physical labor they were made to do, but then at night, quietly, to learn to read.

Change Is Good

      It's time for a slice with the Two Writing Teachers community, with thanks to Stacey, Tara, Anna, Betsy, Dana, Kathleen, Beth, and Deb.

            Perhaps it's just another weather comment: I am ready to look into my closet and see different clothes!  
            Like others, I do watch the weather, waiting for cold fronts winding east and down from the Pacific, moisture from the Gulf, i.e., awaiting new words on the forecast other than hot and dry. Here in Denver we've finished another sweltering August, and on this mid- September day, still hot! Yesterday, I took my granddaughters on a special trip to Colorado Springs to a different zoo, the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. We had a wonderful time, and it is higher in elevation, so a bit cooler, but still warm enough to demand cool drinks in shade as often as we could manage. 
           Although May and June were two of the coolest months we’ve ever had, our summer heated up.  My home now has air conditioning, but I'd much rather have the windows open, letting in fresh air and breezes!  I am ready for a change, and welcome the cool evenings that Denver is lucky to have.  I eat dinner late, and in the early evenings you can find me out watering plants that need extra moisture, and sometimes even wandering around the yard looking for something that needs doing just so I can stay outside, in the cool.  Dark arrives faster already, so I know that autumn weather is on its way.  School has started; sweaters decorate shop windows.  I will soon put on sweatpants and long sleeves to feel comfy.  For now, however, I am hot! I do know one living thing that's happy, the zinnias!

Celebrating on Sunday

              I USUALLY celebrate each Saturday with Ruth Ayres at Discover Play Build - Week number 99! There are many others who celebrate, too. Come join us!          
                                                       Tweet at #CelebrateLu

             This time, on Sunday, after a day of cleaning up the kitchen with a stopped up sink, and finally, it's all working again. I celebrate the experts who know how to 'fix' things!

          Other good things this week include:

I wrote every day, including a poem about 9-11. Somehow this week it became important to me to reflect on this anniversary. You can read the poem on my Friday post if you like. September 11th is also my dear Grandmother Sarah's birthday, so I celebrate her and my other wonderful grandparents today, which is Grandparent's Day. I was so lucky to have them in my life. 

Poetry Friday-Remembrance

              Ms. Robyn Hood Black, with the marvelous Etsy Shop, Artsy Letters, from which I received this sweet original poem this week, is hosting Poetry Friday. 

I have a wire structure from which I hang favorite things,
and this is where I will see this lovely haiku every time
I pass by. Thank you, Robyn!

              Find Robyn today at her POET blog, Life On The Deckle Edge, to read her thoughtful post, and all the other links for this Friday, a day we remember with sadness. It is September 11th, and fourteen years ago, our lives changed. Bittersweet to me that it's also a dear grandmother's birthday, so I have fond memories of this day also. 

Non-Fiction Wednesday - Must Reads

        Time to share on Wednesdays with Alyson Beecher's Non-Fiction Picture Book Challenge at her blog, Kidlit Frenzy.   

        Thanks Alyson!   Tweet - #NFPB15

            A few books, and oh, they are good ones again. Thanks to those who shared about them. I was lucky to find them all at the library.

Granddaddy’s Turn A Journey To The Ballot Box - written by Michael S. Bandy and Eric Stein, illustrated by James E. Ransome

            Young  Michael talks about his granddaddy with love, even though he had to work hard at all the chores on the farm where they live. There is the sweetest picture too of both of them having fun sitting on a dock fishing. One day, not Sunday, Michael saw that his granddaddy was dressed like he was going to church, and wondered where they were going. As Granddaddy said to him often, “Patience, son, patience.” It was an exciting day, for this was the day that Granddaddy planned to vote for his first time. Sadly, it didn’t work that way. Like others treated during that time, Michael tells of the man who tried to get his granddaddy to take a reading test, and he couldn’t read. The story ends with joy, though somewhat bittersweet, with Michael grown, voting for his granddaddy, who never got to vote. There is a short piece at the end explaining about ways in the past that disenfranchised people, most of whom were African-Americans, and about the Voting Rights Act, passed in 1965. The pictures fill the pages with Michael’s happy life, and the sad time he never forgot.