Farewell, My Lovely: An Original Fairy Tale Poem

Yesterday, I decided to write a new fairy tale love poem in honor of Valentine's Day, which is almost here. I feel I still need to do a bit of tinkering with Farewell, My Lovely to get the rhythm just right. Here's my first draft:

Farewell, My Lovely

She's beautiful! Forsooth, she's dead.
Look at her lips--so ruby red.
Her skin’s as white as fallen snow.
Her ebony hair’s like silk. Oh no!
I’ve fallen in love with a corpse—alas!
She looks so alive in her coffin of glass.
What will I do? I can’t tell the queen!
I know she’d make a royal scene
And conk me with her orb of gold…
And make me sleep out in the cold.
The king would have a raging fit.
He'd tell me I’m a foolish twit,
Take my inheritance away!
Tabloids would write an exposé.

I’m so forlorn. Oh, woe is me.
I shan’t live forever happily.
Today I found the love of my life—
But she will never be my wife.
I want to be the royal heir!
I must find a living lady fair
To marry me and be my bride.
I can't wed a gal who's already died.
I plan to rule this kingdom...so
Farewell, Snow White. Heigh-ho, heigh-ho.







At Blue Rose Girls, I have another fairy tale poem titled A Charming Prince Has Second Thoughts.


Rasco from RIF has the Poetry Friday Roundup this week.

Here & There: February 10, 2011

From School Library Journal

Places in the Heart: Celebrating Black History Month
School Library Journal asked some of the top kids’ book creators to choose their favorite children’s book about the black experience.

Here, There, and Everywhere: The United States Board on Books for Young People cites 40 international books for its 2011 honor list

Bullying: The Elephant in the Schoolyard (K-12 resources about bullying)


From Booklist Online

Classroom Connections: Marching for Freedom—Linking Literature to Primary Sources

Top 10 Black History Books for Youth: 2011

Top 10 Black History Books for Youth: 2010


From Wild Rose Reader

Black History Month Resources

Untitled Winter Sun Poem

Sun sears a winter sky
sets it afire
flares in the west
before it settles down
for the night

Valentine's Freebie Festival: Day 17 {FREEBIES}

For day 17 of the VALENTINE FREEBIE FESTIVAL, I've got the perfect printable to help you display the adorable Valentine's Day photos I'm sure you've already taken. (And if you haven't, get some inspiration for a love-inspired photo op here!)

Kim from It's a Crafty Life  designed these fun circles:

She stuck some magnetic tape on the back:

And presto - Valentine's magnets that are cute enough to use all year long!

You can download the free printable circles here at It's a Crafty Life, and if you have a free Valentine's printable you'd like to share, enter it into the link up below!

*If you are reading this in via our e-mail newsletter or RSS feed, the link up won't show up. You have to visit the post on our website to view it.

A Winter Poetry Tidbit

bent low
with snow
bushes bow to winter

Get Your Game On, V-Day Style!

For day 4 of the Valentine's Countdown I'm hosting over at Nickelodeon's Parents Connect, I'm sharing some great games and activities for February 14th!  There are lots of fun ideas (most with free printables!) from Shindig Parties To Go, Katie Did, Make & Takes, Woo Jr., The Crafting Chicks, The Pretty Blog and more. And here's another one you don't want to miss from The Superchick herself, Genevieve from Celebrate Today.... the Superchick Way!

Gen created this awesome heart memory game - "A Perfect Match," get it? - that's great for kids of all ages.  And it is so simple to make.  Just print out the game pieces and either use a paper punch or scissors to cut them out.

You can stop there or if you want to get fancy with it - as true superchicks do! - glue each piece to some colored card stock.  To jazz 'em up even more, add some scrapbook paper to the backs too.

Then wrap the pieces up and you're good to go!  You can give them out along with valentines or just use them at home.  Either way, this is an activity your kiddos will love on February 14th and beyond.

To get the full how to and download the free printable games pieces, visit Celebrate Today.... the Superchick Way.  And for more V-Day games and goodies, check out my post over at the Valentine's Countdown at Parents Connect.  Oh, and don't forget to enter to win some fabulous prizes while you're there!

Images: Celebrate Today.... the Superchick Way!

Valentine's Freebie Festival: Day 16 {FREEBIES}

There's just one week until Valentine's Day!  Have you picked out your cards yet?  Planned your get together?  I can see you nodding "no" through the monitor.  Good thing we've got almost 150 (yes 150!) freebies linked up in our VALENTINE FREEBIE FESTIVAL to help get you started!

Today's pick is a simple but totally unique idea from one of my favorite bloggers (Kalleen from At Second Street) who shared it on one of my favorite blogs (Tatertots & Jello) so is it any surprise that I adore it?  And I'm sure you will too.  Without further ado, I present to you..... Love Juice Valentines!

Are they super cute or what?

To make them, Kalleen took regular bottles of water and covered the labels with wrapping paper.

Then she printed these heart labels onto card stock.

And these love juice tags onto file folder labels (you could also use sticker paper).

She stuck them onto single serve Kool-Aid packets, punched holes in the top and tied the packets along with sassy striped paper straws to the top of the water bottles and voila!

Instant Love Juice!

You can download all of the free printables to make your own Love Juice valentines here at Tatertots & Jello, and if you have a free Valentine's printable you'd like to share, enter it into the link up below!

*If you are reading this in via our e-mail newsletter or RSS feed, the link up won't show up. You have to visit the post on our website to view it.