Win a Copy of "Dear One: A Tribute to Lee Bennett Hopkins"

Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong have a few extra copies of Dear One, the special "festschrift" book of poetry that they compiled in honor of Lee Bennett Hopkins, the 2009 recipient of the NCTE Excellence in Poetry Award. They have proposed a mini-competition for giving away the last dozen copies. Here’s the challenge: You have to list the name of a past NCTE Poetry Award winner whose work you are thankful for (and provide the titles of a couple of favorite books or poems written by that poet) in the comments section of this post at Sylvia's blog Poetry for Children: Be thankful for our NCTE poets. (No limit to your entries, but you can win only once.)

I wrote the following poem, Eating Poetry, for the tribute book. The words in italics are titles and a subtitle from poetry books Lee has published.

Eating Poetry
by Elaine Drabik Magliaro

Here we are
sitting side by side,
eating through a day
full of poems,
chewing on wonderful words,
delicious words
full of surprises—
words that flit, flutter, fly
from our tongues,
words that taste of
April, bubbles, chocolate,
words with the scent of sky magic.

Here we are
sitting side by side
savoring similes,
munching on metaphors,
rhymes dribbling down our chins,
licking rhythm from our lips.

Here we are
sitting side by side
in the city I love
eating poetry
a l l d a y l o n g…
Yummy!

Dear One: A Tribute to Lee Bennett Hopkins features original poems and anecdotes written by 61 poets, many who are friends and collaborators of Lee. Contributors included are listed below (appearing in reverse alphabetical order—as they do in the book):

Jane Yolen
Joyce Lee Wong
Janet Wong
Allan Wolf
Karen Winnick
Carole Boston Weatherford
April Halprin Wayland
Ann Wagner
Eileen Spinelli
Sonya Sones
Marilyn Singer
Joyce Sidman
Alice Schertle
Laura Purdie Salas
Joanne Ryder
Susan Pearson
Ann Whitford Paul
Linda Sue Park
Naomi Shihab Nye
Walter Dean Myers
Heidi MordhorstPat Mora
Donna Marie Merritt
Jude Mandell
Elaine Drabik Magliaro
J. Patrick LewisJonArno Lawson
Julie Larios
Michele Krueger
X.J. Kennedy
Bobbi Katz
Alan Katz
Paul Janeczko
Sara Holbrook
Mary Ann Hoberman
Georgia Heard
Juanita Havill
David Harrison
Avis Harley
Lorie Ann Grover
Nikki Grimes
John Grandits
Joan Bransfield Graham
Charles Ghigna
Carole Gerber
Kristine O’Connell George
Helen Frost
Betsy Franco
Douglas Florian
Ralph Fletcher
Bob Falls
Emma D. Dryden
Rebecca Kai Dotlich
Graham Denton
Jill Corcoran
Leslie Bulion
Calef Brown
Brod Bagert
Kathi Appelt
Jaime Adoff
Arnold Adoff