Irene Latham's Blog, page 116
February 6, 2015
Because Scrapbooking IS Poetry
my sister & meEvery year the women in our family gather for a scrapbooking weekend. Actually, the womenfolk vary... the two who have been there every single year since 199-something are me and my sister. So yes, I am a long-time scrapbooker!Once upon a time I used paper and stickers and double-sided tape. These days I go completely digital. In one weekend I am able to do my family scrapbook for the entire previous year! And a blog post, apparently. :) My sister still does it the old-fashioned way.. not as speedy, but her scrapbooks are GORGEOUS.)
Anyhow, I just wanted to pop in and say hello and happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit Liz at Elizabeth Steinglass for Roundup!
Here is a tiny poem I found in my morning pages... about morning pages. (For those who missed it, I am currently doing Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way with a group here in Birmingham. Loving it!)
February 2, 2015
Movie Monday: FOXCATCHER
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This past weekend Paul and I saw FOXCATCHER. Only after we'd seen it did I realize I'd been mistaken about it being nominated for Best Picture... while it did receive 5 nominations, Best Picture was not one of them! (Turns out, the movie I overlooked was WHIPLASH. So we still have that one and BIRDMAN to get to before the February 22nd Academy Awards.)This movie surprised me. It is yet another based-on-a-true-story film (like other nominees AMERICAN SNIPER, THE IMITATION GAME & THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING) about John Du Pont and how he set up an Olympic wrestling training camp at his Pennsylvania home dubbed "Foxcatcher." I'm not much for wrestling, okay? But, history, yes. Relationships, yes. Fine films, yes.
I was immediately taken in by an early scene that shows the loving & also testy relationship between the Schultz brothers David and Mark. (Having 3 sons, this rings true to me. There is love, but there is always always a sense of competitiveness.) AND there is a scene nearer to the end of the movie that completely wrecked me. So much emotion. I was totally invested in these characters, these brothers, especially.
Now about Mr. Du Pont, and Steve Carrell's much-deserved nomination for Best Actor. What a creepy character Dupont was! I didn't know the true story before the movie, so everything was a surprise to me -- except it wasn't. Things happened that I just knew with a pit in the gut were going to happen. Oh, heartbreak and tragedy! Anyway, Carrell does an amazing job here. Apparently I'm not the only one who thinks so.
We'll see what happens Feb. 22. Meanwhile, Today is the Oscars of Children's Literature. What book will win the Newbery??? I'll be streaming the announcements to find out. :)
January 31, 2015
#EveryBrilliantThing January Roundup
Trees in winter.When we visited NYC this past December, we saw a wonderful play at the Barrow Street Theatre called Every Brilliant Thing, starring Jonny Donahoe.Upon entering the cozy space, each of us was given a slip of paper. (Paul was also selected to play a role in the play... but that's a separate blog post!) Mine read "alcohol." Paul's was "rollercoasters." Daniel's was "peeing in the sea and no one knows." Andrew's was "tea and biscuits." And Eric's was "the color yellow." The main character in the play started a list of brilliant things to share with his depressed mother -- and later used the list himself as he faced his own depression.
So, basically, it's a gratitude list. Nothing like a little gratitude to pull one from a funk, right?
AND THEN... a friend of mine suggested keeping a Gratitude Jar for 2015, and then, at the end of the year, pulling out all the slips and reading them. I thought, hmmm, how 'bout a virtual jar, an Every Brilliant Thing Twitter list? I decided to post one Every Brilliant Thing for each day of 2015. I also use Instagram (which feeds to my Twitter) as a way to include photographs. To keep a nice record of my list as it builds, I'll be blogging a Roundup at the end of each month.
Here's January:
Lays Chocolate covered potato chips.Pink shoelaces.The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton.The sky – always different, always the same.Flip-flops.Ruby's neverending enthusiasm for the headless rubber chicken.My fabric stash.Fuzzy socks on a cold morning.Stained glass windows.Sunday morning Jazzercise.Small notebooks for recording big ideas, thoughts, and feelings.Trees in winter.Baby pictures.Scarves.Bento box.Chocolate milk.Being the only one awake in the house on a dark, quiet morning.Self-checkout at Walmart.Dancing with Kyle Abraham & Otis Brown & ErBeeko (at the Carver Theatre).Velcro poetry.Sunshine.“The quality of life is in proportion, always, to the capacity for delight.” -Julia CameronDoodling.Free books.Being the last one out of bed.Little boys in overalls exploring the world.Proof that spring will come. [pic of daffodil shoots]Decorating with cotton.Tiny books.Going to the movies with my husband on a random Friday afternoon.Gel pens.
January 30, 2015
Animal, Vegetable, Mineral: Poems about Small Things, selected by Myra Cohn Livingston
Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit passionate reader/teacher/poet Mr. Hankins for Roundup!
So. Anyone else out there shocked we're at the end of January?? I started The Artist's Way this month with a group of Birmingham artists, and I AM LOVING IT. Morning pages and artist dates, oh my! I'm learning lots about myself, that's for sure. In that spirit, I have written about where I am in my artist-writer's life over at Little Patuxent Review (should be up about mid-day). Spoiler: I am in a far different place than I was a dozen years ago! Thank you, LPR, for publishing my "Artichoke" poem and for inviting me to post.
I'm excited to move into February, my most favorite month of the year! I have a February birthday (as do many Poetry Friday friends! Yay, and Happy Almost Birthday Month!), so I pretty much celebrate all month long. Here's some of the festivities: scrapbook weekend with the womenfolk in my family, hubby taking me to see Billy Joel in concert, more cello lessons (yes! I have switched from fiddle to cello! Holy Bach, if I ever master the bow hold it will be a masterpiece!), more Artist's Way, more writing, blooming daffodils and forsythia, cheesecake (just thought of that -- I must be hungry) and who knows what else??
And now, for you, this last Poetry Friday of January: poems from the 1994 book ANIMAL VEGETABLE MINERAL: Poems about Small Things, selected by Myra Cohn Livingston. Enjoy!
The Snail
by Langston Hughes
Little snail,
Dreaming you go.
Weather and rose
Is all you know.
Weather and rose
Is all you see,
Drinking the dewdrop's
Mystery.
Trees: The Seeds
Myra Cohn Livingston
We are
given light wings,
parachutes, downy legs
that we may be carried alof
by wind
and drop
where some kind mouse
will bury us in earth;
some squirrel will forget we are food,
leave us
to sprout
green shoots, to weave
rootlets, that we may eat
and drink and grow in time our own
small seeds
Invitation Standing
by Paul Blackburn
Bring a leaf to me
just a leaf just a
spring leaf, an
april leaf
just
come
Blue sky
never mind
Spring rain
never mind
Reach up and
take a leaf and
come
just come
So. Anyone else out there shocked we're at the end of January?? I started The Artist's Way this month with a group of Birmingham artists, and I AM LOVING IT. Morning pages and artist dates, oh my! I'm learning lots about myself, that's for sure. In that spirit, I have written about where I am in my artist-writer's life over at Little Patuxent Review (should be up about mid-day). Spoiler: I am in a far different place than I was a dozen years ago! Thank you, LPR, for publishing my "Artichoke" poem and for inviting me to post.
I'm excited to move into February, my most favorite month of the year! I have a February birthday (as do many Poetry Friday friends! Yay, and Happy Almost Birthday Month!), so I pretty much celebrate all month long. Here's some of the festivities: scrapbook weekend with the womenfolk in my family, hubby taking me to see Billy Joel in concert, more cello lessons (yes! I have switched from fiddle to cello! Holy Bach, if I ever master the bow hold it will be a masterpiece!), more Artist's Way, more writing, blooming daffodils and forsythia, cheesecake (just thought of that -- I must be hungry) and who knows what else??
).JPG)
And now, for you, this last Poetry Friday of January: poems from the 1994 book ANIMAL VEGETABLE MINERAL: Poems about Small Things, selected by Myra Cohn Livingston. Enjoy!The Snail
by Langston Hughes
Little snail,
Dreaming you go.
Weather and rose
Is all you know.
Weather and rose
Is all you see,
Drinking the dewdrop's
Mystery.
Trees: The Seeds
Myra Cohn Livingston
We are
given light wings,
parachutes, downy legs
that we may be carried alof
by wind
and drop
where some kind mouse
will bury us in earth;
some squirrel will forget we are food,
leave us
to sprout
green shoots, to weave
rootlets, that we may eat
and drink and grow in time our own
small seeds
Invitation Standing
by Paul Blackburn
Bring a leaf to me
just a leaf just a
spring leaf, an
april leaf
just
come
Blue sky
never mind
Spring rain
never mind
Reach up and
take a leaf and
come
just come
January 26, 2015
Movie Monday: AMERICAN SNIPER & THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL
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In our quest to see all of the films nominated for Oscar's Best Picture award, we stood in line with everyone else this past weekend to see AMERICAN SNIPER.I'm not much for war movies. Just not my thing -- I have to close my eyes a lot. (Totally my husband's thing, though!) That being said, Bradley Cooper was pretty amazing in this part. Perfect. An All-American hero, indeed. Who wouldn't want Chris Kyle as their husband, father, son, friend, comrade-in-arms? The true story behind the movie makes it all the more compelling -- especially when I don't know a single person whose life hasn't been touched in some way by these particular events as we've watched our loved ones suffer the horrible realities of PTSD and other emotional fallout, injury, lost limbs, paralysis... powerful, life-altering stuff. The ending of the movie is so, so perfect. We all moved out of that theater as one unified hushed cloud. Go see.
THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL we were able to watch cozied up and in our pjs, thanks to HBO. It's imaginative and fun, even though it, too, is set during a fictitious war clearly modeled after WWII. It's chronicles the adventures of a concierge and his young protege, a lobby boy who in later life has come into possession of the Grand Budapest. It made me think of Downton Abbey, because of the intimate glimpse into an area of service. Still, it didn't win my heart. Of all the nominated films we've seen, this one least engaged me. Maybe there's something I'm missing?? If you've seen it, I'd love to hear your thoughts!
Two to go: FOXCATCHER & BIRDMAN. Stay tuned!
January 23, 2015
Hurray for MultiCultural Children's Poetry Books! #ReadYourWorld
Hello, and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit Tara at A Teaching Life for Roundup.
A few months ago I joined the MCCBD team in an effort to not only raise awareness for the kid’s books that celebrate diversity, but also to get more of these of books into classrooms and libraries. Look for a Roundup post coming January 27! Also join us for Multicultural Children's Book Day Twitter Party also on January 27, 9 pm EST. Use hashtag: #ReadYourWorld to win 10 book packages. :)
Lucky me, Lee and Low Books sent me three poetry titles to share!
More on these in a below! But first.....
Why? Despite census data that shows 37% of the US population consists of
people of color, only 10% of children’s books published have diversity content.
Multicultural Children’s Book Day is a way to change all of that!
From the amazing co-creators of this unique event Mia Wenjen from Pragmatic Mom and Valarie Budayr from Jump Into a Book/Audrey Press:
“The MCCBD team hopes to spread the word and raise awareness about the importance of diversity in children’s literature. Our young readers need to see themselves within the pages of a book and experience other cultures, languages, traditions and religions within the pages of a book."
What can you do? If you are a reader, parent, teacher, caregiver, librarian, or citzen of the world, we invite you to follow along the fun book reviews, author visits, event details through Pragmatic Mom's roundup and via our hashtag
(#ReadYourWorld) on Twitter and other social media.
and now, the BOOKS, the BOOKS:
Water Rolls, Water Rises El agua rueda, el agua sube by Pat Mora, illus. by Meilo So. A Cybils Finalist, this one beautifully explores water in all its many forms:
Water rises
into soft fog,
weaves down the street, strokes an old cat.
El agua sube
formando suave neblina
que ondula por la calle, acaricia a ungato viejo.
Filling deep wells,
water hums in the dark,
sloshes in buckets, quenches our thirst.
Llenando hondos pozos,
el agua susurra en la oscuridad,
salpica en baldes, nos apaga la sed.
The whole time I was reading this, I was thinking how great it would be to pair it with WATER CAN BE... by Laura Purdie Salas. What a celebration of water that would be!
Lend a Hand by John Frank, illus. by London Ladd. This one is a collection of poems all about service - how we can give in small and large ways. I've selected 2 to share with you. The first would be a great way to introduce students to the concept of "Pay it Forward." The second can help students recognize ways they are already giving that they may not recognize -- plus it celebrates community and its subject is one of my most favorite things in the world! Read on!
No Charge
by John Frank
The woman in the shop
inspected my bike,
spinning the wheels
and testing the chain,
then took out a tool,
did some quick work,
and told me my ride
was now as good as new.
I reached into my pocket
and pulled out my money,
but she waved me off--
"No charge," she said.
On my way home
I stopped by the grocery store,
but before I went in
i helped a woman load
bags into her car.
She reached into her purse
to give me a tip,
but I shook my head.
"No charge," I said.
-----------------------------------
No Bounds
by John Frank
Mulitpication
was always a chore,
till my grandmother
too me to her quilting club.
There I discovered
the simple marvel
of squares of cloth
sewn together by hand:
two squares by two squares
makes four,
three squares by three squares
makes nine,
the rhythm of a needle
making rhythms of shapes
to cover and comfort
a shivering child.
As I practiced my stitch,
I wondered aloud
if there should be a limiit
to how far quilts reach.
Yes and no, my grandmother said.
A warm spread
should have a maximum size ...
but the spread of warmth
should have no bounds.
-------------------------------------------------------
Call Me Tree by Maya Christina Gonzalez celebrates in English and Spanish all the ways children are like trees... they start tiny then grow big and strong. Would be great paired with FOREST HAS A SONG by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater and OLD ELM SPEAKS by Kristine O'Connell George. You could extend this tree metaphor with students by asking them to choose a type of tree with which they most identify... for me that might be;;; palms that bend but don't break, redwoods that reach for an ocean they will never sea, birches that constantly shed their skin.... you get the idea. :)
My favorite spread says:
I reach
And I rise
Me extiendo
Y me elevo
-------------------------------------------
Huge barrels and buckets and balloons of thanks to our sponsors:
SPONSORSSponsorship details can be viewed HERE.MCCBD’s 2015 Sponsors include MCCBD’s 2015 Sponsors include Platinum Sponsors: Wisdom Tales Press, Daybreak Press Global Bookshop
, Gold Sponsors: Satya House , MulticulturalKids.com
, Author Stephen Hodges and the Magic Poof
, Silver Sponsors: Junior Library Guild , Capstone Publishing
, Lee and Low Books , The Omnibus Publishing
. Bronze Sponsors:Double Dutch Dolls , Bliss Group Books
, Snuggle with Picture Books Publishing
, Rainbow Books , Author FeliciaCapers
, Chronicle Books Muslim Writers Publishing ,East West Discovery Press.
Author Sponsors include Suzee Ramirez (Beautiful Rainbow World), Mac McGooshie (Lulu and the Very Big Meanies, illustrated by Alexis Hogwood), and Quentin Holmes (Real Street Kidz Multicultural Children’s Book Series)
Our CoHosts: Africa to America, All Done Monkey, The Educators’ Spin on It,
Growing Book by Book, InCultural Parent, Kid World Citizen, Mama Smiles,
Multicultural Kid Blogs, Sprout’s Bookshelf. More info on these wonderful folks here.
Thanks also to FIRST BOOK for donating multicultural children’s books through their channels during the week of the event. We want to help get diversity books into the hands of kids who most need it and now we have a way to do it! The Virtual Book Drive is LIVE and can be found HERE.
Finally, another collaborator is the Children’s Book Council (CBC) to highlight wonderful diverse books and authors on an ongoing basis all year.
Go out and read a Multicultural Children's Book Today! Hope to see you at the Tweet Up January 27! Remember: #ReadMyWorld. Happy weekend, Poetry Friday friends! xo
A few months ago I joined the MCCBD team in an effort to not only raise awareness for the kid’s books that celebrate diversity, but also to get more of these of books into classrooms and libraries. Look for a Roundup post coming January 27! Also join us for Multicultural Children's Book Day Twitter Party also on January 27, 9 pm EST. Use hashtag: #ReadYourWorld to win 10 book packages. :)
Lucky me, Lee and Low Books sent me three poetry titles to share!
.JPG)
More on these in a below! But first.....
Why? Despite census data that shows 37% of the US population consists of
people of color, only 10% of children’s books published have diversity content.
Multicultural Children’s Book Day is a way to change all of that!
From the amazing co-creators of this unique event Mia Wenjen from Pragmatic Mom and Valarie Budayr from Jump Into a Book/Audrey Press:
“The MCCBD team hopes to spread the word and raise awareness about the importance of diversity in children’s literature. Our young readers need to see themselves within the pages of a book and experience other cultures, languages, traditions and religions within the pages of a book."
What can you do? If you are a reader, parent, teacher, caregiver, librarian, or citzen of the world, we invite you to follow along the fun book reviews, author visits, event details through Pragmatic Mom's roundup and via our hashtag
(#ReadYourWorld) on Twitter and other social media.
and now, the BOOKS, the BOOKS:
Water Rolls, Water Rises El agua rueda, el agua sube by Pat Mora, illus. by Meilo So. A Cybils Finalist, this one beautifully explores water in all its many forms:Water rises
into soft fog,
weaves down the street, strokes an old cat.
El agua sube
formando suave neblina
que ondula por la calle, acaricia a ungato viejo.
Filling deep wells,
water hums in the dark,
sloshes in buckets, quenches our thirst.
Llenando hondos pozos,
el agua susurra en la oscuridad,
salpica en baldes, nos apaga la sed.
The whole time I was reading this, I was thinking how great it would be to pair it with WATER CAN BE... by Laura Purdie Salas. What a celebration of water that would be!
Lend a Hand by John Frank, illus. by London Ladd. This one is a collection of poems all about service - how we can give in small and large ways. I've selected 2 to share with you. The first would be a great way to introduce students to the concept of "Pay it Forward." The second can help students recognize ways they are already giving that they may not recognize -- plus it celebrates community and its subject is one of my most favorite things in the world! Read on!No Charge
by John Frank
The woman in the shop
inspected my bike,
spinning the wheels
and testing the chain,
then took out a tool,
did some quick work,
and told me my ride
was now as good as new.
I reached into my pocket
and pulled out my money,
but she waved me off--
"No charge," she said.
On my way home
I stopped by the grocery store,
but before I went in
i helped a woman load
bags into her car.
She reached into her purse
to give me a tip,
but I shook my head.
"No charge," I said.
-----------------------------------
No Bounds
by John Frank
Mulitpication
was always a chore,
till my grandmother
too me to her quilting club.
There I discovered
the simple marvel
of squares of cloth
sewn together by hand:
two squares by two squares
makes four,
three squares by three squares
makes nine,
the rhythm of a needle
making rhythms of shapes
to cover and comfort
a shivering child.
As I practiced my stitch,
I wondered aloud
if there should be a limiit
to how far quilts reach.
Yes and no, my grandmother said.
A warm spread
should have a maximum size ...
but the spread of warmth
should have no bounds.
-------------------------------------------------------
Call Me Tree by Maya Christina Gonzalez celebrates in English and Spanish all the ways children are like trees... they start tiny then grow big and strong. Would be great paired with FOREST HAS A SONG by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater and OLD ELM SPEAKS by Kristine O'Connell George. You could extend this tree metaphor with students by asking them to choose a type of tree with which they most identify... for me that might be;;; palms that bend but don't break, redwoods that reach for an ocean they will never sea, birches that constantly shed their skin.... you get the idea. :)My favorite spread says:
I reach
And I rise
Me extiendo
Y me elevo
-------------------------------------------
Huge barrels and buckets and balloons of thanks to our sponsors:
SPONSORSSponsorship details can be viewed HERE.MCCBD’s 2015 Sponsors include MCCBD’s 2015 Sponsors include Platinum Sponsors: Wisdom Tales Press, Daybreak Press Global Bookshop
, Gold Sponsors: Satya House , MulticulturalKids.com
, Author Stephen Hodges and the Magic Poof
, Silver Sponsors: Junior Library Guild , Capstone Publishing
, Lee and Low Books , The Omnibus Publishing
. Bronze Sponsors:Double Dutch Dolls , Bliss Group Books
, Snuggle with Picture Books Publishing
, Rainbow Books , Author FeliciaCapers
, Chronicle Books Muslim Writers Publishing ,East West Discovery Press.
Author Sponsors include Suzee Ramirez (Beautiful Rainbow World), Mac McGooshie (Lulu and the Very Big Meanies, illustrated by Alexis Hogwood), and Quentin Holmes (Real Street Kidz Multicultural Children’s Book Series)
Our CoHosts: Africa to America, All Done Monkey, The Educators’ Spin on It,
Growing Book by Book, InCultural Parent, Kid World Citizen, Mama Smiles,
Multicultural Kid Blogs, Sprout’s Bookshelf. More info on these wonderful folks here.
Thanks also to FIRST BOOK for donating multicultural children’s books through their channels during the week of the event. We want to help get diversity books into the hands of kids who most need it and now we have a way to do it! The Virtual Book Drive is LIVE and can be found HERE.
Finally, another collaborator is the Children’s Book Council (CBC) to highlight wonderful diverse books and authors on an ongoing basis all year.
Go out and read a Multicultural Children's Book Today! Hope to see you at the Tweet Up January 27! Remember: #ReadMyWorld. Happy weekend, Poetry Friday friends! xo
Hurray for MultiCultural Children's Poetry Books! #ReadMyWorld
Hello, and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit Tara at A Teaching Life for Roundup.
A few months ago I joined the MCCBD team in an effort to not only raise awareness for the kid’s books that celebrate diversity, but also to get more of these of books into classrooms and libraries. Look for a Roundup post coming January 27! Also join us for Multicultural Children's Book Day Twitter Party also on January 27, 9 pm EST. Use hashtag: #ReadYourWorld to win 10 book packages. :)
Lucky me, Lee and Low Books sent me three poetry titles to share!
More on these in a below! But first.....
Why? Despite census data that shows 37% of the US population consists of
people of color, only 10% of children’s books published have diversity content.
Multicultural Children’s Book Day is a way to change all of that!
From the amazing co-creators of this unique event Mia Wenjen from Pragmatic Mom and Valarie Budayr from Jump Into a Book/Audrey Press:
“The MCCBD team hopes to spread the word and raise awareness about the importance of diversity in children’s literature. Our young readers need to see themselves within the pages of a book and experience other cultures, languages, traditions and religions within the pages of a book."
What can you do? If you are a reader, parent, teacher, caregiver, librarian, or citzen of the world, we invite you to follow along the fun book reviews, author visits, event details through Pragmatic Mom's roundup and via our hashtag
(#ReadYourWorld) on Twitter and other social media.
and now, the BOOKS, the BOOKS:
Water Rolls, Water Rises El agua rueda, el agua sube by Pat Mora, illus. by Meilo So. A Cybils Finalist, this one beautifully explores water in all its many forms:
Water rises
into soft fog,
weaves down the street, strokes an old cat.
El agua sube
formando suave neblina
que ondula por la calle, acaricia a ungato viejo.
Filling deep wells,
water hums in the dark,
sloshes in buckets, quenches our thirst.
Llenando hondos pozos,
el agua susurra en la oscuridad,
salpica en baldes, nos apaga la sed.
The whole time I was reading this, I was thinking how great it would be to pair it with WATER CAN BE... by Laura Purdie Salas. What a celebration of water that would be!
Lend a Hand by John Frank, illus. by London Ladd. This one is a collection of poems all about service - how we can give in small and large ways. I've selected 2 to share with you. The first would be a great way to introduce students to the concept of "Pay it Forward." The second can help students recognize ways they are already giving that they may not recognize -- plus it celebrates community and its subject is one of my most favorite things in the world! Read on!
No Charge
by John Frank
The woman in the shop
inspected my bike,
spinning the wheels
and testing the chain,
then took out a tool,
did some quick work,
and told me my ride
was now as good as new.
I reached into my pocket
and pulled out my money,
but she waved me off--
"No charge," she said.
On my way home
I stopped by the grocery store,
but before I went in
i helped a woman load
bags into her car.
She reached into her purse
to give me a tip,
but I shook my head.
"No charge," I said.
-----------------------------------
No Bounds
by John Frank
Mulitpication
was always a chore,
till my grandmother
too me to her quilting club.
There I discovered
the simple marvel
of squares of cloth
sewn together by hand:
two squares by two squares
makes four,
three squares by three squares
makes nine,
the rhythm of a needle
making rhythms of shapes
to cover and comfort
a shivering child.
As I practiced my stitch,
I wondered aloud
if there should be a limiit
to how far quilts reach.
Yes and no, my grandmother said.
A warm spread
should have a maximum size ...
but the spread of warmth
should have no bounds.
-------------------------------------------------------
Call Me Tree by Maya Christina Gonzalez celebrates in English and Spanish all the ways children are like trees... they start tiny then grow big and strong. Would be great paired with FOREST HAS A SONG by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater and OLD ELM SPEAKS by Kristine O'Connell George. You could extend this tree metaphor with students by asking them to choose a type of tree with which they most identify... for me that might be;;; palms that bend but don't break, redwoods that reach for an ocean they will never sea, birches that constantly shed their skin.... you get the idea. :)
My favorite spread says:
I reach
And I rise
Me extiendo
Y me elevo
-------------------------------------------
Huge barrels and buckets and balloons of thanks to our sponsors:
SPONSORSSponsorship details can be viewed HERE.MCCBD’s 2015 Sponsors include MCCBD’s 2015 Sponsors include Platinum Sponsors: Wisdom Tales Press, Daybreak Press Global Bookshop
, Gold Sponsors: Satya House , MulticulturalKids.com
, Author Stephen Hodges and the Magic Poof
, Silver Sponsors: Junior Library Guild , Capstone Publishing
, Lee and Low Books , The Omnibus Publishing
. Bronze Sponsors:Double Dutch Dolls , Bliss Group Books
, Snuggle with Picture Books Publishing
, Rainbow Books , Author FeliciaCapers
, Chronicle Books Muslim Writers Publishing ,East West Discovery Press.
Author Sponsors include Suzee Ramirez (Beautiful Rainbow World), Mac McGooshie (Lulu and the Very Big Meanies, illustrated by Alexis Hogwood), and Quentin Holmes (Real Street Kidz Multicultural Children’s Book Series)
Our CoHosts: Africa to America, All Done Monkey, The Educators’ Spin on It,
Growing Book by Book, InCultural Parent, Kid World Citizen, Mama Smiles,
Multicultural Kid Blogs, Sprout’s Bookshelf. More info on these wonderful folks here.
Thanks also to FIRST BOOK for donating multicultural children’s books through their channels during the week of the event. We want to help get diversity books into the hands of kids who most need it and now we have a way to do it! The Virtual Book Drive is LIVE and can be found HERE.
Finally, another collaborator is the Children’s Book Council (CBC) to highlight wonderful diverse books and authors on an ongoing basis all year.
Go out and read a Multicultural Children's Book Today! Hope to see you at the Tweet Up January 27! Remember: #ReadMyWorld. Happy weekend, Poetry Friday friends! xo
A few months ago I joined the MCCBD team in an effort to not only raise awareness for the kid’s books that celebrate diversity, but also to get more of these of books into classrooms and libraries. Look for a Roundup post coming January 27! Also join us for Multicultural Children's Book Day Twitter Party also on January 27, 9 pm EST. Use hashtag: #ReadYourWorld to win 10 book packages. :)
Lucky me, Lee and Low Books sent me three poetry titles to share!
More on these in a below! But first.....
Why? Despite census data that shows 37% of the US population consists of
people of color, only 10% of children’s books published have diversity content.
Multicultural Children’s Book Day is a way to change all of that!
From the amazing co-creators of this unique event Mia Wenjen from Pragmatic Mom and Valarie Budayr from Jump Into a Book/Audrey Press:
“The MCCBD team hopes to spread the word and raise awareness about the importance of diversity in children’s literature. Our young readers need to see themselves within the pages of a book and experience other cultures, languages, traditions and religions within the pages of a book."
What can you do? If you are a reader, parent, teacher, caregiver, librarian, or citzen of the world, we invite you to follow along the fun book reviews, author visits, event details through Pragmatic Mom's roundup and via our hashtag
(#ReadYourWorld) on Twitter and other social media.
and now, the BOOKS, the BOOKS:
Water Rolls, Water Rises El agua rueda, el agua sube by Pat Mora, illus. by Meilo So. A Cybils Finalist, this one beautifully explores water in all its many forms:Water rises
into soft fog,
weaves down the street, strokes an old cat.
El agua sube
formando suave neblina
que ondula por la calle, acaricia a ungato viejo.
Filling deep wells,
water hums in the dark,
sloshes in buckets, quenches our thirst.
Llenando hondos pozos,
el agua susurra en la oscuridad,
salpica en baldes, nos apaga la sed.
The whole time I was reading this, I was thinking how great it would be to pair it with WATER CAN BE... by Laura Purdie Salas. What a celebration of water that would be!
Lend a Hand by John Frank, illus. by London Ladd. This one is a collection of poems all about service - how we can give in small and large ways. I've selected 2 to share with you. The first would be a great way to introduce students to the concept of "Pay it Forward." The second can help students recognize ways they are already giving that they may not recognize -- plus it celebrates community and its subject is one of my most favorite things in the world! Read on!No Charge
by John Frank
The woman in the shop
inspected my bike,
spinning the wheels
and testing the chain,
then took out a tool,
did some quick work,
and told me my ride
was now as good as new.
I reached into my pocket
and pulled out my money,
but she waved me off--
"No charge," she said.
On my way home
I stopped by the grocery store,
but before I went in
i helped a woman load
bags into her car.
She reached into her purse
to give me a tip,
but I shook my head.
"No charge," I said.
-----------------------------------
No Bounds
by John Frank
Mulitpication
was always a chore,
till my grandmother
too me to her quilting club.
There I discovered
the simple marvel
of squares of cloth
sewn together by hand:
two squares by two squares
makes four,
three squares by three squares
makes nine,
the rhythm of a needle
making rhythms of shapes
to cover and comfort
a shivering child.
As I practiced my stitch,
I wondered aloud
if there should be a limiit
to how far quilts reach.
Yes and no, my grandmother said.
A warm spread
should have a maximum size ...
but the spread of warmth
should have no bounds.
-------------------------------------------------------
Call Me Tree by Maya Christina Gonzalez celebrates in English and Spanish all the ways children are like trees... they start tiny then grow big and strong. Would be great paired with FOREST HAS A SONG by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater and OLD ELM SPEAKS by Kristine O'Connell George. You could extend this tree metaphor with students by asking them to choose a type of tree with which they most identify... for me that might be;;; palms that bend but don't break, redwoods that reach for an ocean they will never sea, birches that constantly shed their skin.... you get the idea. :)My favorite spread says:
I reach
And I rise
Me extiendo
Y me elevo
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Huge barrels and buckets and balloons of thanks to our sponsors:
SPONSORSSponsorship details can be viewed HERE.MCCBD’s 2015 Sponsors include MCCBD’s 2015 Sponsors include Platinum Sponsors: Wisdom Tales Press, Daybreak Press Global Bookshop
, Gold Sponsors: Satya House , MulticulturalKids.com
, Author Stephen Hodges and the Magic Poof
, Silver Sponsors: Junior Library Guild , Capstone Publishing
, Lee and Low Books , The Omnibus Publishing
. Bronze Sponsors:Double Dutch Dolls , Bliss Group Books
, Snuggle with Picture Books Publishing
, Rainbow Books , Author FeliciaCapers
, Chronicle Books Muslim Writers Publishing ,East West Discovery Press.
Author Sponsors include Suzee Ramirez (Beautiful Rainbow World), Mac McGooshie (Lulu and the Very Big Meanies, illustrated by Alexis Hogwood), and Quentin Holmes (Real Street Kidz Multicultural Children’s Book Series)
Our CoHosts: Africa to America, All Done Monkey, The Educators’ Spin on It,
Growing Book by Book, InCultural Parent, Kid World Citizen, Mama Smiles,
Multicultural Kid Blogs, Sprout’s Bookshelf. More info on these wonderful folks here.
Thanks also to FIRST BOOK for donating multicultural children’s books through their channels during the week of the event. We want to help get diversity books into the hands of kids who most need it and now we have a way to do it! The Virtual Book Drive is LIVE and can be found HERE.
Finally, another collaborator is the Children’s Book Council (CBC) to highlight wonderful diverse books and authors on an ongoing basis all year.
Go out and read a Multicultural Children's Book Today! Hope to see you at the Tweet Up January 27! Remember: #ReadMyWorld. Happy weekend, Poetry Friday friends! xo
January 19, 2015
Movie Monday: THE IMITATION GAME
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Whenever the Oscar nominations are announced, my husband and I set out to see as many as possible before the awards ceremony.This year, of the 8 films nominated for Best Picture, we'd only seen three: BOYHOOD, THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING, and SELMA -- all of which we really enjoyed! So this week we started catching up with THE IMITATION GAME, the film that seemed to be on a fast track out of theaters, with only a few showtimes to choose from.
It's a biography of Alan Turing, who, during WWII, worked with Britain's MI6 to crack Enigma, a Nazi code that had been deemed "unbreakable." Though it's never named such in the movie, Turing exhibits many hallmarks of Aspberger's Syndrome. (There's some debate about whether or not these details were invented for the film or if Turing actually exhibited these traits.) AND he happens to be gay, which at the time was a crime. He's brilliant, and he struggles, and good things happen, and terrible things happen. Basically this is the guy who invented the first computer. It's a beautiful movie, and hubby and I both loved it.
There's been some talk about which of the two British biopics -- THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING about Stephen Hawking & this one about Turing -- is the better movie. I can't really answer the "better" question, but I do have a preference. If I had to see just one again, THE IMITATION GAME gets my vote. But then, I have a soft spot for Aspies, fictional or no. :)
January 15, 2015
Welcome to the MLK edition of Poetry Friday Roundup!
Hello, and Happy Poetry Friday! Roundup is HERE!! I'm thrilled YOU are here to share it.In honor of MLK Day, and because I've still got the movie SELMA on my mind, I'm sharing today from Cybils Finalist VOICES FROM THE MARCH ON WASHINGTON, Poems by J. Patrick Lewis and George Ella Lyon
One of my favorite voices in the book is a fictional character penned by J. Patrick Lewis:
Raymond Jarvis, 25
B.A. Degree in Business Administration
Out-of-Work Store Clerk
Amarillo, Texas
THE WATCH
I watch my business administration degree
secure a place for me in the unemployment line.
I watch my mother worry that her
math-star son struggles to earn a living.
I watch the register fill
till my boss's magic trick makes all
the "petty cash" disappear.
I watch my paycheck shrink
ten dollars a week till they fire me
"for offending a lady in hardware, boy."
I watch my blister
of a bungalow get splat-tattooed
with a red, white, and blue swastika.
I watch the window
and the rock sailing through the window
with a promise.
I watch the moon
as if the moon had any answers,
her face hidden in a disgrace of clouds.
I watch my no-account savings account
buy a cup of coffee and a heap of humiliation,
and you ask me why I'm going to the March?
- J. Patrick Lewis
-------------------------
...and I also love this imagined voice from George Ella Lyon, whom, thrill of thrills, I got to meet this past November at NCTE!:
HALLEY LIZA CLEMONS
30, Hotel Maid
Nashville, Tennessee
A pause between speakers
and a man white as a pillowslip
asks where I came from,
how I go there. I say
Nashville, Tennessee. I took
a bus. That satisfies him.
He's from Kentucky. He drove.
But it would be truer to say
somebody sang me here.
If it wasn't for some old
woman, one of my greats,
humming, working
dark to dark, never giving
up, I wouldn't even be. She
kept the song of our blood
going. She carried me here.
- George Ella Lyon
-------------------
and finally, a poem I found in Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have A Dream" speech delivered August 28, 1963, Washington, DC. I wrote it in the form of a letter, since he liked letters. All the words appear in order, kind of like blackout poetry. Fun!
Dear Martin,
Today injustice still lives in the cornersof our republic.Yes, freedompromises brotherhood.Equality is awakeningwhirlwinds of thirst.Fresh stormsrise upon the red hills,heat exalted, hope janglinginto faith –we join hands,sing,
at last.
- Irene Latham
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And NOW, the reason you're here: Please leave your link and visit the awesomeness that is Poetry Friday Roundup!
An InLinkz Link-up
January 12, 2015
Movie Monday: SELMA
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So I've lived in Alabama for over 30 years. I've been to Selma several times and have driven over the Edmund Pettus Bridge. I didn't live these stories, but I've heard them time and again. We here in this state are constantly pushing forward as we try to understand and overcome our state's history. Which means when I go into a movie like SELMA, I have some apprehension and also a set of expectations.The story of the Selma to Montgomery March was in good hands here. It felt honest to me, well-rounded, complex. It surprised me and moved me.
There's were several scenes -- one scene in particular near the beginning of the movie -- that left me completely stunned. And I know this history! But for a little bit there, I wasn't breathing. So, so powerful.
I find it very difficult to watch brutality and hatred -- man's inhumanity to man. So I had to close my eyes during parts of this film. But that wasn't the only point the movie had to make.
The most important point was the human-ness of all these Civil Rights figures. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., in particular, is portrayed as a man who struggled and made mistakes and did the best he could, just like any decent human. I appreciated the scene of him bagging the kitchen trash as much as the powerhouse speeches from the pulpit. It says to me that anyone who believes in something enough to never give up can achieve his or her dreams.
And wow, great casting.
Incidentally, the suffrage issue came up time and again in my Gee's Bend research -- the ferry was closed down for years as a way to prevent Gee's Bend residents from getting to Camden to vote. (Gee's Bend is only about 45 miles from Selma.) I just said this last week in my look at BIG EYES, and it's true here as well: we've come a long way, baby.
