Irene Latham's Blog, page 73

two small poems for November

Hello! It's been a wee bit crazy around these parts as I returned from AASL only to leave again for NCTE...

but, oh, Alabama is beautiful in November! So I wanted to share with you these to pics I took in my backyard (before the rain came and left the trees naked) and two small poems (below) to go with them. (Also, just remembered a previous November poem I shared back in 2014!)

Excited to see some Poetry Friday friends at NCTE... I am honored to be part of the following sessions:

On the Wonder Pathway to Deepen Inquiry-based Learning and Amplify Voice - Friday, 11 am - 12:15 am, room 275 (Charles Waters and I will be talking about "Wonder as a Starting Place for Teaching Tolerance")

signing with Charles Waters at Lerner booth  314 -- 12:30 pm Friday -- FREE books!

Learning from Poems: How Studying Poetry Can Strengthen Writing in All Genres - Saturday, 3 pm - 4:15, room 100

And here are the poems:


 all it takesis an easy breezefor Novembers noseto freckle
- Irene Latham


Before Rain
November kisseswarmwheelbarrow'sbare belly
- Irene Latham
If someone would add this link at Jane's Roundup at Raincity Librarian, I'd be so grateful. Thank you!

Another Star for CAN I TOUCH YOUR HAIR?

pic taken just minutes after
our meetingYes, another starred review! But first, let me give you some sky...

Wow, what to say about AASL? Charles and I had a great time introducing CAN I TOUCH YOUR HAIR? to readers in Phoenix. The whole weekend was a dream! Not only did we finally get to meet each other (!), we were so touched by the enthusiasm and heartfelt response from our first readers!

So many had stories to share with us from their own lives or from their experiences with students struggling to understand differences. So many expressed the need and desire for books that can help us make the world a better place. I am filled with hope and gratitude and honored to be a part of it.

Also, Charles and I learned at least five more things we have in common, including both being named after our great-grandparents and both working at Disney and both attending the same church as children and and and... Forever Friends, I tell you. FOREVER.

Icy Smith, Ellen Oh, Charles Waters, Irene Latham
Bill Konigsberg, Carole Boston WeatherfordAnd how inspiring was the Mirror, Mirror: Reading All Readers panel?! Carole Boston Weatherford was the perfect facilitator, blessing us with her words and ideas, and I loved getting to know authors Bill Konigsberg, Icy Smith and that dynamo Ellen Oh! I wrote so many notes during the panel... about the courage it takes to share books like these, how it's complicated and important and it's our job to tell the truth. AND to write the stories that call to us. To proceed carefully and thoughtfully. Do the research. Listen.

Another highlight was hanging out with librarians and some of the great folks at Lerner! Kathleen and Lois and Brad and Andy and Adam... awesome, each one. I have never been more #proudtobeaLerner.

My most favorite moment of the conference is something I can't put into words, but I will share a picture of the two fabulous people involved.
Tracy and CharlesGrace, miracles, love... that's what it's all about.

Finally, it's always a joy to meet in person a Poetry Friday friend! Here we are with Linda Mitchell. So glad you spotted us, Linda! Now go write more amazing poems.

Oh, and the whipped cream on the milkshake? We got a note from Lee Bennett Hopkins informing us that along with Kirkus, Publisher's Weekly gave CAN I TOUCH YOUR HAIR? a starred review! (Lee always knows before anyone else... how does he do it?!) Here is a snippet:

 the poems delicately demonstrate the complexity of identity and the power of communication to build friendships. 

Thank you thank you thank you! And now... on to NCTE! See you in St. Louis. xo

5 Reasons I'm Excited to Attend #AASL17

1. This is my first time at attend AASL. And since I totally love librarians, I am excited to make some new friends!

2. It's in Phoenix, where the air is warm and dry -- which is a nice change for this for this Deep-South-humidity gal!

3. After hours and days and years, I will finally get to meet, in person, my Poetic Pal and Forever Friend, the irrepressible Charles Waters!

4. I'm honored to be included in the "Mirror, Mirror: Reading All Readers" panel, along with Charles, of course, and Carole Boston Weatherford (who is moderating), and authors Bill Konigsberg, Ellen Oh, and Icy Smith. I can tell already this is going to be a rich discussion. So so grateful to Lerner for making this happen!

5. Delivering CAN I TOUCH YOUR HAIR? to the world! The book doesn't actually release until January 1, 2018, so this feels a bit like getting one of those late ultrasounds, when baby is pressing against the lungs, and you are just DYING to meet him... and really, the pressing is getting uncomfortable already. (This could be just me... this time 21 years ago I had a soon-to-be 10 pounder making me short of breath!)

Hope to see you there! I'll share a full report on the blog next week. :)

A Rocketful of Space Poems

Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit lovely Linda at TeacherDance for Roundup.

Here at Live Your Poem I'm getting ready for presentations at AASL and NCTE (Poetry Friday Friends, please let me know if you will be at either conference, so we can meet!)... and also working my way through the Cybils-nominated poetry books. What fun! And today I want to share with you A ROCKETFUL OF SPACE POEMS selected by John Foster, illustrations by Korky Paul (Frances Lincoln Children's Books).

The book gets all kinds of points for being imaginative. It begins with Space Fantasy by Patricia Leighton, visits the moon and introduces us to "Asteroid Dog" by Richard Evans. There's and "Email from the Space Hotel" by John Foster and a "Garage Sale in Outer Space" by Robert Scotellaro. Witches and wizard and monsters and "Inter-galactic Squibble-ball" by David Harmer. And of course there's a "Dumb Earthling" by Clive Webster" and a few space-y riddle poems to give readers a light, fun romp through space. It also includes a poem by our very on J. Patrick Lewis that I'm happy to share with you below -- especially for those among us who have said or heard "are we there yet?" Happy space-adventuring!

If You Drive to the Moon

If you drive to the moon in your average car,
And you wonder how long the trip is and how far --
Here's the answer. At seventy miles per hour
In the family sedan with its average horsepower,
No skyway patrolmen out cruising for speeders,
No need to feed flying parking meters,
Make sure you pack plenty of outer-space food,
Star-carsickness pills for the high altitude.
No to get to the moon on the lunar freeways
Will take you...
                              134 days!

- J. Patrick Lewis

On Gratitude with Karen Eastlund

Hello and welcome to this month's installment of Spiritual Journey Thursday! Roundup is HERE, and I am delighted to welcome Karen Eastlund as our guest hostess. Welcome, Karen!

"I have a friend who starts her prayers with: “Father, thank you for another day.” I am always struck by the simplicity and intimacy of her prayers. She has much to teach me, and I consider her lessons more and more.
God so often seems remote, incomprehensible and unreachable, yet scriptures teach us the opposite: God as our creator, the good shepherd, the potter, etc. There is closeness in these images, and a sense of hands-on knowledge and compassion. Consider how we feel about our own creations… our children, our writing, our gardens and meals. What love we pour into them! These images describe a God who readily walks with us each day, shaping us, guiding us, protecting us. Psalm 139 speaks of God’s intimate knowledge of us: “You are familiar with all my ways… your hand will guide me… your right hand will hold me fast…you knit me together in my mother’s womb…”
I am thankful for a God who knows me inside and out, and who encourages me to come close in prayer. To me, this very thought is both shocking and heartwarming. Can God really be my closest confidant? Scriptures say yes, and say it overwhelmingly. My challenge is to remember and nurture this closeness in my life, to be open to God’s guidance.
The second part of my friend’s prayer that touches me is her thanks for the day. I love the simplicity and honesty of this prayer. It’s so easy to focus on the list of tasks before me, sometimes feeling overwhelmed, instead of savoring the gift of the day itself. And if I have overlooked the gift of the day, what other gifts have I overlooked?
I hope to cultivate an attitude of gratitude this month, thanking God for each day, for water and sky, for the cool air and the beauty of the season. I hope to look for blessings in my life, and to give thanks for each one.
Small Wire
My faithis a great weighthung on a small wire,as doth the spiderhang her baby on a thin web,as doth the vine,twiggy and wooden,hold up grapeslike eyeballs,as many angelsdance on the head of a pin.
God does not needtoo much wire to keep Him there, just a thin vein,with blood pushing back and forth in it,and some love.As it has been said:Love and a coughcannot be concealed.Even a small cough.Even a small love.So if you have only a thin wire,God does not mind.He will enter your handsas easily as ten cents used to bring forth a Coke.
- Anne Sexton

An InLinkz Link-up

Feeling the Beat, Tapping My Feet

Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit the ever-inspired and inspiring Brenda at Friendly Fairy Tales for Roundup. I'm pleased to share with you today FEEL THE BEAT: Dance Poems that Zing from Salsa to Swing by Marilyn Singer, illustrated by Kristi Valiant, brought to us by Penguin Random House.

Just the title makes me want to get up and MOVE! And there's a CD! It includes Marilyn reading the poems to music. I can just see classrooms of kids falling in love with poetry while trying some of these dance moves. Fun!

The book opens with a reverso (of course!):

All Over the World, 
Dancing is Joy

All over the world,
dancing is
joy.
Move your feet.
Spin.
Sway.
Just
feel the beat,
the rhythm.
Find
a partner.
Grab
your shoes.
All you can lose are
the blues.
Dance, dance away.
Now's your chance!
What do you say?

Joy is Dancing
All Over the World

What do you say?
Now's your chance.
Dance, dance away
the blues.
All you can lose are
your shoes.
Grab
a partner.
Find
the rhythm.
Feel the beat.
Just
sway,
spin,
move your feet.
Joy
is dancing
all over the world!

- Marilyn Singer
-----------------

... and here is one more favorite from the book:

Merengue

I merengue,
you merengue.
So does Cousin Marty.
All of us merengue --
when we have a party.
Moving sideways,
turning wrists,
while we do
our pretzel twists.
We sway our hips,
we shift or legs,
like we're whipping
lots of eggs.
We take a little
break and then,
we merengue
once again.

- Marilyn Singer
----------------
Happy dancing! And: tis the season for happy Halloween-ing... any Poetry Friday friends dressing up this year?? Do tell in comments. xo

Scarecrow Season

It's that time of year again... check out this year's crop of scarecrows at Inverness Elementary! It looks like each grade level was perhaps given a theme?

Not sure how it works these days, and must confess a preference for the more varied book-themed scarecrows of a previous year. But these are still creative and fun and a great way to celebrate the season:


TOY STORY friends...
Hamm
Woody
Jessie

WIZARD OF OZ friends...
 ... and check out the details on the broom -- perhaps kids' favorite scenes??

... continuing the Scarecrow theme --
math
...reading and to play x-box one
playing in Minecraft
fun!
soccer science
Love  (my favorite!)

ALICE IN WONDERLAND friends...


LAURA NUMEROFF friends... If you give a mouse a cookie...
If you give a moose a muffin...Thank you students, teachers and benefactors for brightening our community! And finally click to read a poem I wrote called "Scarecrow's Wish." Happy scarecrow season!

When a Dog Writes a Poem

I've just finished A DOG LIKE DAISY by the effervescent Kristin O'Donnell Tubb. The book is told in Daisy's voice, and she is training to be a service dog for a veteran suffering from PTSD.

Daisy sees the world in colors and smells and tastes... for example, "surprises taste like cinnamon."

More than anything, Daisy wants to be useful. Toward the end of the book, there's a chapter entitled "Three Words that Make a Whole Poem."
And that poem is...

One.
More.
Chance.

Methinks those three words are a poem for any species!

Be sure to check out A DOG LIKE DAISY. It's a quick read, and Kristin's done a great job imagining Daisy's thoughts and motivations. The ending surprised me and made me cry a little... animal stories are the best! I'm excited to share this one with young readers in my life.

Mindfulness for Kids with Kate Coombs

Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit Leigh Ann at A Day in the Life for Roundup.

I am delighted to share with you today Kate Coombs latest book BREATHE AND BE: A Book of Mindfulness Poems, illustrated by Anna Emilia Laitinen, brought to us by Sounds True.

I am a huge fan of Kate's books -- I wrote a whole middle grade novel (still searching for a publishing home!) after her picture book THE SECRET-KEEPER, and her WATER SINGS BLUE is one of my go-to poetry books. So I was thrilled when she told me about this new book -- and that it should be on the topic of mindfulness... well, how wonderful and fitting! A few years ago I bought myself a subscription to Headspace and began a meditation practice that continues to sustain and teach me. So much of Kate's book reminds me of my practice! Like this tanka:

I watch the stream.Each thought is a floating leaf.One leaf is worry,another leaf is sadness.The leaves drift softly away.- Kate Coombs
On Headspace, Andy teaches it from a different vantage point: thoughts aren't leaves, they are clouds. And waiting behind each one is a clear blue sky. I love having this new image to consider!
On another spread, the tanka asks a question:
I see myselfby the ocean, toes touching sand,fingers finding a shellat the edge of blue water.Where is your quiet place?- Kate Coombs
What a perfect jumping off place for sharing this book with young writers! My answer today is...
Quiet Place
a bluffscarved by sky,
sporting blue boots - Irene Latham
Another tanka in the book focuses on NOW, which is something I'm really trying to do... not regretting the past, but also not dwelling on it. And not worrying about the future. Now!
Tomorrow's an eggthat hasn't hatched. Yesterdayis a bird that has flown.But today is real. Here now,this minute, the true wings.- Kate Coombs
The publisher has also made it really easy for teachers/parents/librarians/booksellers to share mindfulness with kids by creating this Story Hour Kit. I love it!And now, here's Kate with responses to a few prompts. Welcome, Kate!
The Difficult
Kate: The difficult was describing mindfulness, especially for children. I suppose even before that there was the difficulty of researching and understanding mindfulness myself. Now I could give you a grownup definition of mindfulness using abstract phrases like “paying attention without judgment,” but I still fumble with it a bit. At this point I’d rather just hand you the book!


The Delicious


The Unexpected
Kate: Because mindfulness has its roots in Buddhism and therefore in Asia, and the poetry form I used is the tanka, I had a vague picture of the art for the book as having an Asian look. It was surprising to me when we got a Finnish illustrator whose artwork depicts Northern forests.
Anna Emilia’s art has been described as showing “the great generosity of nature,” and she and I share a love of nature, especially trees—the art is filled with trees! My own experience of mindfulness first and foremost has to do with being among trees. Anna Emilia even added a few lines in praise of trees to the dedication. And of course, the illustrations are gorgeous. So the surprise turned out wonderfully well.
the opening spread!

Anything Else
Kate: This project came to me in the form of an invitation to write something on spec. I’m so grateful to author/editor Jen Adams for thinking of me. This has been an amazing experience. I still need to work on incorporating mindfulness into my own life, but I feel like I’m off to a good start with Breathe and Be. -------A good start, indeed! Thank you, Kate! And thanks, everyone, for reading! xo

Poems Are Teachers by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater

This past weekend in between fishing and eating and sorting through some old letters, I read from cover to cover Amy Ludwig VanDerwater's newest book for teachers: POEMS ARE TEACHERS: How Studying Poetry Strengthens Writing in All Genres (Heinemann, 2017).

As an occasional teacher -- and as a visiting author who talks with teachers who are eager for help teaching poetry -- I am always looking for new ideas and resources. This book is IT. Not only are these pages bursting with Amy's trademark warmth and wisdom (who doesn't love Amy?!), the book also includes some great poems by students and by poets who write for children. I'm honored to have one of my ArtSpeak! Plant, Grow, Eat (2016) poems included in the chapter about writing poems after art: "A Dream of Wheat."


One of the features of the book I really enjoy is the behind-the-poem blurbs from each adult poet. Also, Amy shares specific verbiage to use with young students -- I can't wait to try some of her suggestions! And the book itself is proof that poems are teachers, because Amy's words and advice and observations simply sparkle! An added bonus is Katherine Bomer's Foreword. Joy! AND I felt like the chapter "Stand in Awe" was written just for me. It reminds me of why I write, and fills me with all the things I've yet to write about. Thank you, Amy!