2009 NCTE Notable Poetry Books for Children

Just two weeks ago at the NCTE Annual Convention in Orlando, the NCTE Excellence in Poetry Committee--of which I am a member--presented a session titled Poetry for Children and Teachers at Its Best: The 2009 Notable Poetry Titles. We read from and shared impressions of our favorite children's poetry books of last year, offered suggestions for incorporating poetry in the classroom, and talked about some of the best new titles of 2010. We even did some choral reading with the audience.

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Members of the NCTE Excellence in Poetry Committee: Barbara Ward (Chair), Rebecca Kai Dotlich, Jonda McNair Mary Napoli, Terrell Young, and Elaine Magliaro

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Here are our 20 Notable Poetry Books of 2009. I have provided links to review of the books.

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Poetry Book Reviews by Wild Rose Reader

Messing Around on the Monkey Bars and Other School Poems in Two Voices
Written by Betsy Franco
Illustrated by Jessie Hartland


The Tree That Time Built: A Celebration of Nature, Science, and Imagination
Selected by Mary Ann Hoberman and Linda Winston

City I Love
Written by Lee Bennett Hopkins
Illustrated by Marcellus Hall

Incredible Inventions
Edited by Lee Bennett Hopkins
Illustrated by Julia Sarcone-Roach


The Cuckoo’s Haiku and Other Birding Poems
Written by Michael J. Rosen
Illustrated by Stan Fellows

Button Up! Wrinkled Rhymes
Written by Alice Schertle
Illustrated by Petra Mathers

Red Sings from Treetops: A Year in Colors
Written by Joyce Sidman
Illustrated by Pamela Zagarenski

Reviews by Other Bloggers and Journal Reviewers

Orangutan Tongs
Written & illustrated by Jon Agee
Review from School Library Journal

Dinothesaurus: Prehistoric Poems and Paintings
Written & illustrated by Douglas Florian
Review by Kirkus

A Curious Collection of Cats
Written by Betsy Franco
Illustrated by Michael Wertz
Review by Elizabeth Bird of A Fuse #8 Production

African Acrostics: A Word in Edgeways
Written by Avis Harley
Photographs by Deborah Noyes
Review by Tricia Stohr-Hunt of The Miss Rumphius Effect

Falling Down the Page: A Book of List Poems
Edited by Georgia Heard
Review by Esme Raji Codell of the PlanetEsme Plan

My People
Written by Langston Hughes
Illustrated by Charles R. Smith Jr.
Review from Through the Looking Glass Book Reviews

A Foot in the Mouth
Selected by Paul B. Janeczko
Illustrated by Chris Raschka
Review by Kristi Elle Jemtegaard for Parents’ Choice

The Monsterologist: A Memoir in Rhyme
Ghostwritten by Bobbi Katz
Illustrated by Adam McCauley
Review by Kelly Fineman of Writing and Ruminating


Spot the Plot: A Riddle Book of Book Riddles
Written by J. Patrick Lewis
Illustrated by Lynn Munsiger
Review by Tricia Stohr-Hunt of The Miss Rumphius Effect

The Underwear Salesman and Other Jobs for Better or Verse
Written by J. Patrick Lewis
Illustrations by Serge Bloch
Review by Sylvia Vardell of Poetry for Children


Sweethearts of Rhythm: The Story of the Greatest All-Girl Swing Band in the World
Written by Marilyn Nelson
Illustrated by Jerry Pinkney
Review by Monica Edinger of Educating Alice



A Whiff of Pine, a Hint of Skunk: A Forest of Poems
Written by Deborah Ruddell
Illustrated by Joan Rankin
Review by Kirsten Cutler, Sonoma County Library, CA -- School Library Journal, 04/08/2009


Steady Hands: Poems about Work
Written by Tracie Vaughn Zimmer
Illustrated by Megan Halsey and Sean Addy
Review by Sylvia Vardell of Poetry for Children

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Tricia has the Poetry Friday Roundup at The Miss Rumphius Effect.

NCTE Poetry Award Announcement!

I’m a member of the NCTE Poetry Committee. Last Friday at the NCTE Annual Convention in Orlando, our committee voted for the children’s poet who will be the 2011 recipient of the NCTE Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children. I am thrilled to announce that J. Patrick Lewis will receive the honor! Next year at NCTE, Pat will receive the coveted award—of which he is most deserving.

J. Patrick Lewis

I hope to post more about Pat and his work in the future. At the moment, I’m busy with preparations for our family’s Thanksgiving feast.

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Here are links to my interview with J. Patrick Lewis

and to my reviews of some of his poetry books.

My Interview with J. Patrick Lewis (4/4/2008)

The World’s Greatest: Poems—A Book Review

Poetry Book Reviews: Under the Kissletoe

Countdown to Summer: A Poetry Book Review

Click here for a printable poetry sheet with a list of the past winners of the NCTE Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children.

Things to Do If You Are an Acorn: An Original Poem

It's been a hectic week for me. I've been trying to get some Thanksgiving preparations done before I head to Orlando tomorrow morning for the NCTE Annual Convention. I've also been busy preparing for two presentations.

I'm so looking forward to finally meeting Tricia Stohr-Hunt and Mary Lee Hahn at NCTE. I'm also excited about seeing my friends Janet Wong and Lee Bennett Hopkins again.

I decided not to take a laptop to Orlando because I'm going to have so little time to blog. That's why I'm doing my Poetry Friday post on Wednesday. I have another one of my "things to do" poems for you this week.

THINGS TO DO IF YOU ARE AN ACORN

By Elaine Magliaro

Wear a bumpy, round cap
and a starched brown coat.
Grow plump,
ripen,
snap from your stem.
Geronimo!
Fall to the forest floor below.
Tempt a scavenging squirrel.
Let him bury you in a bed of moist earth
beneath a blanket of moldering leaves.
Dream the winter away in a frozen world.
Then, in spring,
sprout.
Let a little oak
out!

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Diane will be doing the Poetry Friday Roundup at Random Noodling this week.

NCTE: Poets & Bloggers Unite

Sylvia Vardell, Tricia Stohr-Hunt, and I have featured poets Pat Mora, Jame Richards, Marilyn Singer, and Lee Bennett Hopkins on our blogs for two weeks in preparation for our poetry session at NCTE in Orlando. We hope some of you who have been reading our posts will join us and our featured poets at Poets and Bloggers Unite: Using Technology to Connect Kids, Teachers, and Poetry (Session A.09) on November 19th in the Baja Room at the Coronado Springs Resort from 9:30 am to 10:45 am .

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Here are the links to all of our NCTE Poetry Posts:

NCTE Poetry Posts at Wild Rose Reader
Lee Bennett Hopkins: WHY POETRY?


PASS THE POETRY, PLEASE!: A Wild Rose Reader Interview with Lee Bennett Hopkins

A Question for Lee Bennett Hopkins

Lee Bennett Hopkins: A Silent Mentor

PASS THE POETRY, PLEASE!: A Wild Rose Reader Interview with Lee Bennett Hopkins

The Anthologist: A Poem for Lee Bennett Hopkins

Eating Poetry, Number Two: A Poem for Lee Bennett Hopkins

Q & A with Lee Bennett Hopkins


NCTE Poetry Posts at Sylvia Vardell’s Poetry for Children
Featuring Pat Mora and NCTE

More on Mora

Pat Mora: On the Web and in Print

Featuring New Poet Jame Richards

Jame, Rivers, and Movies


NCTE Poetry Posts at Tricia Stohr-Hunt’s The Miss Rumphius Effect
Meet Marilyn Singer

More on Marilyn Singer

Marilyn Singer and Mirror, Mirror: A Book of Reversible Verse

Marilyn Singer and First Food Fight This Fall

Marilyn Singer and Monster Museum

Marilyn Singer and Monday on the Mississippi

Marilyn Singer and Turtle in July/Fireflies at Midnight

Eating Poetry, Number Two: A Poem for Lee Bennett Hopkins

Lee Bennett Hopkins

Last November at the NCTE Annual Convention, we had a big celebration in honor of Lee Bennett Hopkins, "The Poetry Man," who became the 15th recipient of the NCTE Award in Excellence in Poetry for Children. You can read my post about our party for Lee here.

We presented Lee with a very special anthology compiled by Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong for the occasion. The book, Dear One: A Tribute to Lee Bennett Hopkins, contains poems written by children’s poets in honor of Lee.

Here’s the poem that I wrote for Dear One. The words printed in italics are titles of Lee’s poetry books.

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!

I decided to write another poem for Lee yesterday. Lee helped whet my appetite for children’s poetry. He introduced me to the works of hundreds of poets through his numerous anthologies. He provided me with a taste of many different delicious poetic voices.

Eating Poetry, Number Two
(A Poem for Lee Bennett Hopkins)
By Elaine Magliaro

I enjoy eating poetry!
It’s so delicious.
I love the way poets’ words
Taste on my tongue:
Sweet, sour, salty, bitter.
I favor every flavor.

I enjoy eating poetry!
Some poems are smooth as silk…
Slide down my throat
Like melted chocolate.
Some are crunchy
And crackle when I say them.
Some are light as air…
Dissolve like pink clouds
Of cotton candy in my mouth.

I enjoy eating poetry!
Some poems are best for nibbling on…
Bite by yummy bite
As I relish every metaphoric morsel.
Some poems are comforting,
Warm me
Like a bowl
Of steaming beef stew
On a frigid night.
Some poems tempt me
To eat more…promise:
“You’ll like your second helping
Even better than the first.”

I enjoy eating poetry…
Lots and lots of poetry—
Oodles of odes,
Heaps of haiku,
Bowls of ballads—
All its scrumptious varieties.

Here’s a poem.
Take a taste.
I know you’ll enjoy
Eating poetry
Too!

My Personal Poetry News

I’m an incoming member of the NCTE Poetry Committee. I didn’t want to announce it until it was official.

Click here to find out who the other incoming members are.

This is our charge: To recommend on a regular basis every two years a living American poet to the NCTE Executive Committee for the NCTE Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children in recognition of his or her aggregate work; to sustain the collection of poetry books of award winners, past and future, in the University of Minnesota, Kerlan Collection; to recognize and foster excellence in children's poetry by encouraging its publi­cation; and to explore ways to acquaint teachers and children with poetry through such means as publications, programs, and displays.


More NCTE Poetry Award Information

• NCTE Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children
• 2009 NCTE Poetry Award Winner
• 2009 NCTE Convention Session A.18: Poetry Party! Celebrating 2009 NCTE Poetry Award Recipient Lee Bennett Hopkins

I'll be heading down to Philadelphia for the NCTE Convention next week. Let me know if you're planning to attend the convention. Leave me a note in the comments.

2009 NCTE Annual Convention

Is there anyone out there who is going to attend the 2009 NCTE Annual Convention (November 19-22, 2009) in Philadelphia? I've already registered! I really want to be there when Lee Bennett Hopkins receives the NCTE Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children at the Books for Children’s Luncheon scheduled for November 21st. There’s also going to be a Poetry Party for Lee on the morning of Friday, November 20th. A panel of poets mentored by Hopkins will join in a celebration of Lee’s life, work, and poetry at the party. Here are the names of some of the children’s poets who will be there: Janet Wong, Rebecca Kai Dotlich, J. Patrick Lewis, Walter Dean Myers, Jane Yolen, and Georgia Heard. It doesn’t get much better than that—does it?

Come join me in Philadelphia to help celebrate the life and work of Lee Bennett Hopkins, children’s poet and anthologist extraordinaire. Let me know if you’re planning to attend.