Showing posts with label children's poetry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label children's poetry. Show all posts

Friday, April 8, 2011

TWOSOMES: Love Poems from the Animal Kingdom...and Some Original Cuddly Creature Couplets


Twosomes: Love Poems from the Animal Kingdom

Written by Marilyn Singer

Pictures by Lee Wildish

Knopf, 2011

This is a slim volume of fifteen “cuddly creature couplets” about pairs of animals (porcupines, chameleons, sharks, elephants, cats, dogs) who are in love. It’s a light-hearted collection that kids and adults alike can appreciate. Wildish’s humorous cartoonlike illustrations add to the fun of Singer’s animal-sweetheart verses—which contain lots of wordplay and puns. One bat wants to “hang around” with another bat. Two horses enjoy a “stable relationship.” A male dolphin tells his female paramour that she’s the “porpoise” of his life.

Click here to look inside this book.I really enjoyed this little book. It inspired me to write some of my own “twosomes.”


Bull & Cow

YOU’RE my gal. There ain’t no uddah.

I love you more than biscuits and buddah.


Yo mine,

Bovine.


Skunks

Let me be your special gent.

I love you. You were heaven scent.


Ultrasauruses

You’re well-preserved, you ancient fossil!

My love for you is mega-colossal.


Narcissistic Peacock

I can see my reflection so I’m never lonely.

I WANT to be my one and only.


Beetles

She’s the true love that I chose.

I met her on a red, red rose.


Mayflies

Be mine. Let’s mate…

Before it’s too late.


I invite readers to write their own “twosomes” and leave them in the comments. I’ll post them next week.

Twosomes is the book prize I'll be giving away for the second week of National Poetry Month.

NOTE: I’ll announce the winner of Douglas Florian’s poetry collection POETREES later today.


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Over at Political Verses, I have an original poem by J. Patrick Lewis titled TLC by TSA at LAX.

At Blue Rose Girls, I have three original clerihews.

The Poetry Friday Roundup is at Madigan Reads.

Saturday, February 12, 2011

The 2010 Cybils Awards to Be Announced Soon!





I served as a 2010 Cybils Round I Poetry Panelist. I think 2010 was a banner year for children's poetry. Our group nominated seven titles. There were other fine poetry books that didn't make our list of finalists.
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The 2010 Cybils Poetry Finalists

Borrowed Names:
Poems about
Laura Ingalls Wilder,
Madam C. J. Walker, Marie Curie,
and Their Daughters
Written by Jeannine Atkins
Henry Holt
Dark Emperor & Other Poems of the Night
Written by Joyce Sidman
Illustrated by Rick Allen
Houghton Mifflin
Mirror, Mirror:
A Book of Reversible Verse
Written by Marilyn Singer
Illustrated Josee Masse
Dutton
Scarum Fair
Written by Jessica Swaim
Illustrated by Carol Ashley
Wordsong
Ubiquitous:
Celebrating Nature's Survivors
Written by Joyce Sidman
Illustrated by Beckie Prange
Houghton Mifflin

Sharing the Seasons:
A Book of Poems
Selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins
Illustrated by David Diaz
McElderry
Switching on the Moon:
A Very First Book of Bedtime Poems
Collected by Jane Yolen & Andrew Fusek Peters
Illustrated by G. Brian Karas
Candlewick
2010 Cybils Poetry Panel

Panel Organizer: Kelly Fineman, Writing and Ruminating
Panelists (Round I Judges):
Bruce Black, Wordswimmer
Elaine Magliaro, Wild Rose Reader
Gina Ruiz, AmoXcalli, The Graphic Landscape
Laura Purdie Salas, Writing the World for Kids
Sylvia Vardell, Poetry for Children
Judges (Round II):
Kelly Fineman
(see category organizer)
Sara Lewis Holmes, Read Write Believe
Greg Pincus, GottaBook
Jama Rattigan, Alphabet Soup
Liz Scanlon, Liz in Ink
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Let me say that it was a pleasure to work with the other Round I Panelists. They all have a true appreciation for children's poetry. I have great faith in our Round II Judges. They've had a difficult task--choosing one winner from all those wonderful poetry books. I can't wait to find out which title they select as the 2010 Cybils Poetry Award Winner!
Congratulations to the authors, illustrators, anthologists, and publishers of all the 2010 Cybils Poetry Finalists!!!

Thursday, January 13, 2011

A Pocketful of 2010 Children's Poetry Books

Hip, hip, hooray! A children’s poetry book received a Newbery Honor Award this year!!!
The book was Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night by Joyce Sidman, illustrated by Rick Allen, published by Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Welcoming her readers into the “wild, enchanted park” that is the night, Joyce Sidman has elegantly crafted twelve poems rich in content and varied in format. Companion prose pieces about nocturnal flora and fauna are as tuneful and graceful as the poems. This collection is “a feast of sound and spark.”

You can read my review of Dark Emperor here.

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The Association for Library Service to Children has announced its 2011 Notable Children’s Books.


Here are the poetry books that made the list this year:

In the Wild. By David Elliott. Illus. By Holly Meade. Candlewick, $16.99 (9780763644970).
A joyful collection of brief poems paired with dynamic woodblock prints celebrates favorite animals from every continent.

Pocketful of Posies: A Treasury of Nursery Rhymes. By Salley Mavor. Houghton, $21.99 (9780618737406).
Familiar and lesser known nursery rhymes, illustrated with superb needlework and appliqué, create a charming dollhouse of a book.



Guyku: A Year of Haiku for Boys. By Bob Raczka. Illus. by Peter H. Reynolds. Houghton, $14.99 (9780547240039).
Six haiku for each season of the year, celebrating the interaction of boys and nature, combine with loose, expressive cartoons to make a winning combination.



Ubiquitous: Celebrating Nature’s Survivors. By Joyce Sidman. Illus. By Beckie Prange. Houghton, $17.00 (9780618717194).
Three books in one! This amazing book of poetry is also a beautiful picture book and a nonfiction tribute to the adaptability of life on earth.
(You can read my review of Ubiquitous here.)


Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night. By Joyce Sidman. Illus. by Rick Allen. Houghton, $16.99 (9780547152288).
Twelve elegantly crafted poems celebrating the night are accompanied by prose pieces about nocturnal flora and fauna. Newbery Honor Book



Mirror, Mirror: A Book of Reversible Verse. By Marilyn Singer. Illus. by Josee Masse. Dutton, $16.99 (97870525479017).
What fun! Read the poem in one direction and it tells the folktale from one point of view. Read it in the opposite direction and the point of view is reversed.


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I must admit that I was surprised and disappointed that Jeannine Atkins’s wonderful Borrowed Names: Poems about Laura Ingalls Wilder, Madam C. J. Walker, Marie Curie, and Their Daughters didn’t make the list. I loved that book!

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There were two stellar poetry anthologies published last year.

Sharing the Seasons: A Book of Poems

selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins and illustrated by David Diaz

and

Switching on the Moon: A Very First Book of Bedtime Poems

collected by Jane Yolen and Andrew Fusek Peters and illustrated by G. Brian Karas.


I am happy that these last three books are all 2010 Cybils Poetry Finalists--as are Dark Emperor, Ubiquitous, and Mirror, Mirror.

There were other fine children's poetry books published in 2010. Unfortunately, I didn't get around to writing reviews of most of them. I hope to write more reviews this year.

Friday, December 3, 2010

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.