Irene Latham's Blog, page 69

The Alabama Report

Wow, last week was some kind of week! It was my great pleasure to welcome Charles Waters to Alabama, where we shared time with readers and writers and good folks of all kinds!

me (wearing my Roll Tide
 sweater!) with Ludelphia
and Paige MillerOur first stop was Tuscaloosa/T-town/The University of Alabama. While I am an Auburn fan (!), I did earn a graduate degree from Alabama... and I DO like elephants... and I have never had anything but good times in Tuscaloosa!

This time I was pleased and grateful to work again with the ever-inspiring Paige Miller of the Women and Gender Resource Center and Jamie Naidoo of the Library Sciences department -- and also new President of ALSC! (I know, it was like being in the presence of royalty! Except without all the bowing and such. Jamie is one of the nicest, smartest people on the planet.)

I was thrilled to share LEAVING GEE'S BEND with the brown bag lunch crowd, and then later that evening to join Charles in introducing CAN I TOUCH YOUR HAIR?
I never get tired of watching Charles perform his poems! Isn't this THE BEST?!The next day we had an amazing day at Shades Mountain Elementary School in Hoover, Alabama. This visit was arranged by Ann Marie Corgill who not only is a fabulous teacher, but is just one of the best humans ever. And I'm not the only one who thinks so: she's a former Alabama Teacher of the Year! I was moved to tears more than once interacting with these precious kids and reading their poems and art... which Charles and I are in the process of getting on display in our Padlet gallery. (Do take a look... more pieces added all the time!) Meanwhile, check out this amazing Sound Wave art! The kids read and recorded our poem "Dear Mrs. Vandenberg," used software to create the soundwave, then made it into art! Isn't that brilliant?!


Charles Waters, Irene Latham, Pat(ty Jean) WeaverNext up was the SCBWI Writing and Illustrating for Kids conference. Many thanks to the slew of volunteers who made it happen! It started with a signing during which Charles and I were able to present a little about the book -- after which, the bookseller apologetically announced he'd sold out of our books! A good problem to have, right? Also: Linda Sue Park bought our book!!!! Amazing, right? :) We also got a pic of me, Charles, and the real-life Patty Jean (who appears in the book!). Fun. I'm so grateful to friends who came out to support us... a thousand thank yous!!

One of the best parts of the weekend was (finally!) introducing Charles to my family, and my family to Charles! Here he is with two of my most precious: my bodyguards :)And finally: check out this adorable video!

New Picture Books to Celebrate Family and Home

I've got quite a busy week ahead, full of all kinds of wonderment, so I thought I would leave you with a pair of books! And if you haven't already signed up, there are just a few spots left for this year's Progressive Poem! Sign up here. Now, the books:



MEET MY FAMILY! Animal Babies and Their Families by Laura Purdie Salas, illustrated by Stephanie Fizer Coleman (Millbrook/Lerner)

and


A PLACE TO START A FAMILY:  Poems About Creatures that Build by David L. Harrison, illustrated by Giles Laroche (Charlesbridge)
.....................
I love MEET MY FAMILY! for the way it includes a ton of nonfiction info -- and yet ultimately is about celebrating ALL families, whatever they look like. A variety of animal babies tell us something about their families, like "My parents both take care of me" (tundra swan cygnets) and "I've never met my dad" (raccoon kits). Even adopted kids are represented, which pleases me, as the big sister of three adopted siblings.

This book is a great example of "layers" -- rhyming text! additional nonfiction prose! animal baby names! global! words in different languages! inclusivity/acceptance! If you are looking to write nonfiction picture books, this is a great mentor. Plus it's just plain adorable and will leave you smarter -- and happier about the world.

A PLACE TO START A FAMILY contains poems about animal architects and is divided into sections: Builders Underground, On Land, In Water, In Air -- plus a bonus poem about "A Different Kind of Builder" (Sun Coral).

My favorite is the stork poem, in part, because as a kid I loved THE WHEEL ON THE SCHOOL by Meindert DeJong, which features storks building their nest (on the wheel on the school). This fascinated me -- still does. And now here is David Harrison's poem:

White Stork

When high on chimney top you nest,
legend tells us those who dwell
within the house are surely blessed.

How old your nest no one can tell,
you keep it in such good repair.
Your ancestors placed it well.

With sturdy sticks they built it there,
where now you cast your lucky spell
and raise your baby storks with care.

- David L. Harrison

Back matter includes additional info about each animal builder and "Learn More!" links.

Here's the text related to the above poem:

"White Stork (Ciconia ciconia)

Folklore says that storks bring good luck and deliver babies, but the only babies they deal with hatch from the eggs they lay in enormous nests on rooftops, church spires, and other high places. Some nests are used for many generations of storks and can be seven feel across and ten feet deep. Both parents take care of the chicks until they leave the nest, which happens when they are about two months old. Juveniles aren't very colorful, but adults are nearly four feet all, with brown eyes, a red bill and legs, a white body, black wing tips and wings that stretch up to seven feet from tip to top."

I hope you'll give these a read!

Alabama Friends, Hope to See You This Week!

[image error] March 7, noon: University of Alabama (Tuscaloosa, AL), Women and Gender Resource Center, brown bag lunch talk: "The Power of Quilting: Connecting Women Across Cultures"



March 7, 6:00-7:30 pm, University of Alabama (Tuscaloosa, AL), Gorgas Library, room 205:"Writing about Race, Mistakes, and Friendship" with Charles Waters (my co-author who is visiting from New York City!). Book signing to follow.[image error]
March 9, Homewood Library (Homewood, AL), 3:30-5:30 Meet amazing authors! Be inspired!
Charles and I will be joining a slew of other children's book authors and illustrators for an SCBWI reading and signing.
...and... this is not a public event, but Charles and I are excited to be visiting Shades Mountain Elementary in Hoover.... and I will be introducing Charles to friends, family and the real-life Patty Jean (who makes an appearance in CAN I TOUCH YOUR HAIR?). It's going to be fun!

2018 Progressive Poem - Sign Up Here!

Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit Renee at No Water River for Roundup.

I do have a poem from the book SHAKING THINGS UP to share with you today in honor of National Women's History Month, but first:

It's that time again! National Poetry Month (April) will soon be upon us, which means it is time again to sign up for our annual KIDLITOSPHERE PROGRESSIVE POEM. This year -- our 7th year! -- our goal is to again create a poem for kids (because last year was awesome!), and lovely Liz Steinglass will be launching our first line! The rest is up to all of YOU! I invite you to choose your day in comments, and I will update the calendar below as we go along.

Here's how it works: Poetry Friday Friends and other poetry lovers are invited to join in a community writing experience during National Poetry Month (April).

What is it? a poem that travels daily from blog to blog, with each host adding a line, beginning April 1. Anyone who wants to join in the fun can sign up below. First come, first served. If you are new to the Progressive Poem, please include your email and blog url in comments -or- send via email: irene (at) irenelatham (dot) com.

April
1 Liz at Elizabeth Steinglass2 Jane at Raincity Librarian34 Michelle at Today's Little Ditty5 Jan at bookseedstudio6 Irene at Live Your Poem7 Linda at TeacherDance8 Janet F. at Live Your Poem9 Ramona at Pleasures from the Page1011 Brenda at Friendly Fairy Tales1213 Linda at A Word Edgewise1415 Donna at Mainely Write16 Sarah at Sarah Grace Tuttle17 Ruth at There is no such thing as a Godforsaken town18 Christie at Wondering and Wandering19 Michelle at Michelle Kogan20 Linda at Write Time2122 Tabatha at The Opposite of Indifference2324 Mary Lee at A Year of Reading 25 2627 Buffy at Buffy's Blog282930-----------
Now for a look at SHAKING THINGS UP: 14 Young Women Who Changed the World by Susan Hood, illustrated by 13 Extraordinary Women (Harper). This book features all sorts of women who were changemakers of one kind or another -- and the illustrations are inspired and inspiring. Favorites of mine are the Malala by Selina Alko and Frida Kahlo by Erin K. Robinson.

The poem I'd like to share with you today is about "Annette Kellerman, Champion Athlete and Inventor of the Modern Swimsuit." Here is the quote included with the illustration: "I want to swim. And I can't swim wearing more stuff than you hang on a clothes line."

Ha - Annette was a practical gal! I like that. Question for our Aussie poets: is Annette well known in Australia?
art by Emily Winfield Martin
Here's more about here, as printed beneath the poem:

"Australian Annette Kellerman (1886-1975) wore braces on her legs as a child, possibly due to rickets. Her doctor suggested swimming to strengthen her leg muscles. She went on to win world records, perform daredevil diving stunts, and star in silent films, popularizing a new one-piece bathing suit and ushering in a new age of athleticism for women."

Now I am not particularly athletic, but I DO like to wear what I like to wear -- which is often skirts and dresses. And I am all for anything that helps a woman be more exactly herself.

Here's the poem:

Turning the Tide
by Susan Hood

There once was a mermaid queen,
lovely and lithesome and lean,
who swam afternoons
without pantaloons --
her swimsuit was deemed obscene!

The lady was quickly arrested.
Unafraid, she calmly protested:
Who can swim fifty laps
wearing corsets and caps?
Her statement could not be contested.

She streamlined the suit of the day
and invented our water ballet.
By changing the fashions
she fueled swimming passions
as women made waves in the spray.
----
Now why does this make me think of Michelle at Today's Little Ditty? :) Happy day to all!

Facing the Music with Karen Eastlund

Hello and Happy Spiritual Journey Thursday! Today it is my pleasure to welcome Karen, who is guest-posting on the topic of MUSIC. After her post I will add my comments... and you will find a place to leave your link!

Welcome, Karen!
"I have always loved music, but had only dabbled in it over the years. Now, with retirement time available, I decided to dig in. Wouldn’t this be fun?

I chose my choir director and friend as my piano teacher. He is absolutely dedicated to music. I knew I could work with him. Then lessons began and it became clear that I would have serious work ahead of me.

This past lesson I had worked very hard over a challenging piece. I went into the lesson somewhat apprehensive, and offered a shaky rendition. Although carefully worded, my teacher’s message was clear: I may have been well prepared technically, but I was not making music. Ouch… It hurt, but I knew it was true.

We all have times when we need to face hard truths, but do we face them? Do we accept responsibility when we mess up? Do we ask forgiveness when we’ve been mean or stingy? Have we been careful to examine the truth? Do we focus on our own faults or do we pick on others?

Karen's grandsFor Christians, this is the season of Lent. It is a time of preparation for Easter, of self-examination, repentance, prayer and atonement. The music during this season is often minor, and the hymns point us to the torment of Holy Week. Are we willing to face this music?

It may seem odd, but I need to hear the sadness. I need to feel the lows as well as the highs. I need to grapple with the truth about my life, about my piano playing, and about my faith story in order to grow.

We all have seasons in our spiritual lives, and those seasons vary in tone. I am very grateful for the nuances, even though I have to admit that life is not always fun. It requires work, and it requires us to search for the truth. My prayer for you is that you are able to face whatever music life is dishing up for you. I hope you can work through your sad times, and that you will come to a time of rejoicing.

Blessings to each of you!

Karen

P.S. - I was able to play duets with my grandkids yesterday. Sure, we made numerous mistakes, and maybe a connoisseur would not call it music, but I thought it was great fun."
-----Thank you, Karen! As a practicing cellist, music is an important part of my life. It challenges me, frustrates me, feeds me. I love practicing. I love how I feel when the music flows through me -- you really do use your whole body to play the cello. I love learning new ways to create the sound I'm seeking. Recently I've been learning a couple of Bach's Minuet's from Suzuki book 4. They are gorgeous -- and the first time for me to play a piece without accompaniment. Scary!

Sometimes my perfectionism gets in the way of my enjoyment of the cello. I can be really hard on myself. My teacher will say SHE is supposed to be the tough one, not me! I am learning to love my music, mistakes and all. Truly, I believe this is my life's journey: learning to love myself, dark spots smudges mishaps bad decisions and all. Which is really another way to say I am learning to let myself be human. Why is this so hard?

We're not the only one who love making music. On mine and Charles' recent visit to East Grand Rapids Middle School, I met several young cellists, one of who was nearly in the same place in the Suzuki books as me! I also met a young pianist named Hania, who gave me permission to share her lovely poem with all of you!



Piano
by Hania

keys
can create such amazing
beautiful
Haniaboisterous
music
black and white
doesn't matter which key
you tackle
they all speak
and sing
in their own way
black and white keys
together
create magic
a story
music
on that one piano
one small portion
of the world
if black and white keys
create such amazing things
together
why can't we?
together
black and white
together.
------

Thank you, Hania! SJT friends, please leave your links below!

Roll Call (after BLACK GIRL MAGIC by Mahogany L. Browne)

I've just been reading BLACK GIRL MAGIC: A Poem by Mahogany L. Browne, Art by Jess X. Snow (Roaring Brook Press). It's a small, gift-sized picture book that features a poem the author wrote to celebrate black lives, without ever saying "Black Lives Matter." In the back there's a Roll Call.

"Roll Call is an act of naming the people who brought you into the room. Roll call is an act of taking up space."

And it made me want to create my own Roll Call, of those that have made room for me and invited me into a conversation with the world. A list that I can come back to, add to, etc. Here is the start:

Abraham Amy Andrew April Barry Beryl Bob Bobbie Bonnie Carl Carol Charles Dan Daniel Donna Doraine Doshie Emon Eric Erin Evelyn Gary Hannah Janet Jeannine Jennifer Jerri Jim Joyce JuliAnna Kahlil Karen Kate Katherine Katrina Ken Kim Langston Laura Lee Lenora Linda Liz Lori Lynn Mary MicaJon Michelle Naomi Nelson Paige Pat Patty Paul Raymond Rebecca Robert Robyn Rosemary Ruth Sarah Seth Sharon Stacey Stephen Steve Sue Susan Suzanne Sylvia Terry Walter Winston

Behold! These Lions

My 2018 One Little Word is Behold. When these lions roared, I could not ignore them. Thanks to Eric for capturing them so beautifully... proof that spring is on its way!

These lionsrouse drowsy forestRoarrr!
- Irene Latham

Poem for a Music Teacher

Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit Liz at Elizabeth Steinglass for Roundup.

I've been having one of those weeks where I feel like I've been running behind and running behind and running behind... lots going on in my writing life, which is lovely and inspiring, but also has me a little bit frazzled!

Anyhow, this too shall pass.

If you haven't added your Golden Shovel to my roundup of Golden Shovel poems, please do!

Also, check out this thoughtful, lovely write-up about CAN I TOUCH YOUR HAIR? over at A Fuse 8 Production, by Betsy Bird. We are all learning, aren't we?

And here is my offering for today: a poem for a music teacher as it appears in SCHOOL PEOPLE, poems selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins, illus. by Ellen Shi, brought to us by the fine poetry-loving folks at WordSong/Boyds Mills Press.

This was my first LBH anthology to be included in - what an honor and thrill! I was especially excited when Lee told me my assignment was "music teacher." As many of you know, I actually HAVE a music teacher -- Laura Usiskin, who's an amazing cellist and teacher. I'm so grateful to be working with her!

AND I've had music teachers pretty much my whole life, what with the dozen or so years I took piano and the handful of years I was in choir... and the years my kids took piano and cello and percussion... and then, yes, surely, school music teachers, thought they are not quite clear in my mind.... my school memories are a bit of a blur because there were SO MANY SCHOOLS. (11 by the time I was 14! Thanks to my family moving so frequently.)

Anyhow, for me, music is JOY, and all the music teachers Ido remember have embodied that joy -- so I knew I wanted joy in my poem.

I'm not sure where the "rain" came from, though it IS the best music... or how I linked this poem with "She Walks in Beauty" by Lord Byron, but that's what happened. There's also a nod to Phantom of the Opera in there, which Lee caught right away. :)

Music Teacher
by Irene Latham

She walks in music, like morning rain:
drip-drop, pitter-patter, boot-stomp, splash!

And all that's best of noise and silence
meet in her flash-flood smile.

She doesn't say Hush or Stop or No-
she says, Yes! Louder! Sing, my angels, sing!

And so our hearts overflow,
symphonies river from our lips.

We walk in music like morning rain:
drip-drop, pitter-patter, boot-stomp, splash!

---------------




Thank you for reading! If you have a music teacher, do some boot-stomping and splashing with him or her today! xo

A Roundup of Golden Shovel Poems in honor of Nikki Grimes' ONE LAST WORD

Congratulations to Nikki Grimes, author of this year's winner of the Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award!

It was my pleasure to serve with other esteemed poetry people on the committee to select this award... what a lovely experience it was to talk books and poetry and language and art -- and it was tough, too!

One of the most challenging things about the process is comparing books for young readers to books for older readers... it forces one to set aside individual aesthetics and preferences and really look at each book as a package. We all agreed that ONE LAST WORD is one phenomenal package, filled with beauty, hope, art, and some powerful wordsmithing.

AND, in the year since this book's release, we've seen so many writing Golden Shovel poems! This was not something the committee was charged with recognizing, but it's definitely something I find noteworthy. Here are some links to some Golden Shovel poems by friends in the Poetry Friday community:

Margaret Simon's students using "A Letter in October" by Ted Kooser

more from Margaret and her students

a slew of Poetry Friday Friends at Laura Shovan's blog - Laura's poem is after "The Red Wheelbarrow" by William Carlos Williams

Holly Mueller's poem is after "The Summer Day" by Mary Oliver

Sara Lewis Holmes' poem uses "Pied Beauty" by Gerard Manly Hopkins (and also includes links to other Poetry Sisters' Golden Shovels)

Carmelo Martino over at Teaching Authors uses a poem by Gwendolyn Brooks (for other poems honoring Gwendolyn Brooks, see this anthology of Golden Shovels!)

Carol Varsalona uses a quote to create her Golden Shovel

...and I know there are so many more! If you'd like your link included, please just share in comments, and I will add them in.
Meanwhile, thank you, Nikki, for this book and and all the ways it has inspiring us! (More on how this book inspired ME very soon! :)

Also, big thanks to Lee for creating and supporting this annual award, which we learned isn't going anywhere. Thanks to Lee's generosity, it will continue to recognize and inspire poets for years and years to come!

Lake Dog

We have had a blast introducing Ruby to the lake... she is a born sailor! Remember The Sailor Dog by Margaret Wise Brown? It was definitely one of my childhood favorites. And now, our Ruby loves being on the fishing boat and can't stand it when we cruise off in the kayaks without her. (Inflatable kayak  + Ruby's claws = potential disaster.)  We are excited to see how she reacts when we catch some fish while she's on board... she can be pretty excitable, soI think a flopping fish is really going to rock her world! I'll let you know. Meanwhile, we are enjoying a few warm, breezy days punctuated by flowering cherry trees and daffodils brightening hillsides and ditches. Spring is coming, yes it is!