Poetry Friday: I Dream A World by Langston Hughes

This is one of my favorite Langston Hughes poems and since it is Black History Month, I thought I would share it today. It's also one of the poems I would regularly use in the classroom when I taught in the Bronx. I think it is especially poignant in light of recent events in here and abroad.

Poetry Friday is a weekly blogging event in which poets, writers, readers, and lovers of poetry share blog posts about poetry. Poetry Friday is being hosted today by Laura Purdie Salas at Small Reads for Brighter Days

Perhaps the World Ends Here by Joy Harjo

When I read that the inspiration for Melanie Heuiser Hill's picture book Around the Table That Grandad Built was a poem by Joy Harjo, our national Poet Laureate and the first Native American to hold that position, I naturally pulled out my copy of The Woman Who Fell From the Sky and reread "Perhaps the World Ends Here." I'd like to share it today now that the holiday season has officially begun, and with it all the hustle and bustle it brings. Sometimes it's good to stop and remember that it is the family, friends, and neighbors, all the people we share our joys and sorrows with who are really important. And a lot of that sharing is done right at a kitchen table, as both picture book and poem gently remind us. 

Perhaps the World Ends Here by Joy Harjo

The world begins at a kitchen table. No matter what, we must eat to live.

The gifts of earth are bought and prepared, set on the table. So it has been since creation, and

it will go on.

We chase chickens or dogs away from it. Babies teethe at the corners. They scrape their knees under it.

It is here that children are given instructions on what it means to be human. We make men at it, we make women.

At this table we gossip, recall enemies and the ghosts of lovers.

Out dreams drink coffee with us as they put their arms around our children. They laugh with us at our poor falling-down selves and as we put ourselves back together once again at the table.

This table has been a house in the rain, an umbrella in the sun.

Wars have begun and ended at this table. It is a place to hide in the shadow of terror. A place to celebrate the terrible victory.

We have given birth on this table, and have prepared our parents for burial here.

At this table we sing with joy, with sorrow. We pray of suffering and remorse. We give thanks.

Perhaps the world will end at the kitchen table. which we are laughing and cryings, eating of the last sweet bite.

A big Thanks to Bridget of Wee Words for Wee Ones for hosting today's Poetry Friday roundup. Be sure to visit her to find more wonderful poems to enjoy.

Poetry Friday: October Party by George Cooper

When I was still a classroom teacher, Friday afternoons were always reserved for a fun activity. In the fall, this was always one of my favorite poems for sharing with my students, and taking a page out of my own school days, the kids would collect different leaves throughout the week. Once there were plenty of leaves to share, they would make a leaf book, identifying each kind by name and description. I loved being able to combine a poetry lesson and a STEM activity on our more relaxed Friday afternoons. It also gave the kids a chance to unwind from the week and still have a sense of accomplishment, too. I hope you enjoy it as much as my kids always did.

A big Thanks to Jama of Jama's Alphabet Soup for hosting today's Poetry Friday roundup. Be sure to visit her to find more wonderful poems to enjoy.

🌝Poetry Friday: Harvest Moon by Neal Levin🍂

The Harvest Moon is one of my favorite moons, yet somehow September 13th seems way too early for it. I'm just not finished with summer. But the lunar calendar being what it is, the Harvest Moon is always the first full moon that falls closest to the autumnal equinox (this year, that is on Monday,  September 23, 2019). This year is the first time since 2000 the Harvest Moon falls on Friday the 13th, and it won't happen again until 2049.

I always like to share a poem with my young readers for holidays and other specials days and this year, we will be reading Harvest Moon by Neal Levin. I hope you enjoy it, too.

It's Poetry Friday and this week's poetry roundup is hosted by Laura Purdie Salas at 

Writing the World for Kids

Poetry Friday: The Day the Universe Exploded My Head: Poems to Take You into Space and Back Again by Allan Wolf, illustrated by Anna Raff

The Day The Universe Exploded My Head by Allan Wolf,

illustrated by Anna Raff

Candlewick Press, 2019, 56 pages

Welcome to a universe unlike any you've ever known before. In a series of anthropomorphic poems, your young readers will laugh as they learn some fun facts about our solar system and it's relationship with man. Each planet, their moons, the stars in the sky, Planet X, eclipses (solar and lunar), even a black hole get their say. One of my favorites is called "The Children of Astronomy." It's told from the point of view of Galileo, often called the Father of Astronomy, and is an homage to all the scientists from the antiquity (Ptolemy) through the present, people like Carl Sagen and Stephen Hawking (and hopefully in the second edition, we will see Dr. Katie Bouman, the woman who developed the algorithm that captured the first ever image of a black hole in among all those men). There's even a memorial page to those astronauts and cosmonauts who gave their lives to travel in space (but, says the educator, no mention of the lone teacher, Christa McAuliffe). There's even an poem dedicated four aging rockets called "The Rusty Rockets Retirement Garden. But my favorite by far is the titular poem "The Day the Universe Explored My Head, a "Poem for One Human, One Heart, and One Brain." It, like others in this book, is color coded so the reader knows who is speaking.

The Day The Universe Exploded My Head is one of the funniest fact-based poetry books I've read in a long time. The illustrations are done with sumi ink washes, salt, pen and pencil, and digitally assembled color collages, and they are every bit as humorous as the poems, capturing the spirit of each one perfectly. Back matter includes Notes on the Poems, a Glossary of Selected Space Terms, Internet Resources.

This is a book my young readers and I will be reading and exploring over and over again. Each and every poems deserved its review.

And since Monday, April 22, 2019 is Earth Day, I thought I would share Earth's poem with you:

This book is recommended for readers age 8+
This book was sent to me by the publisher, Candlewick Press

Poetry Friday is a weekly blogging event in which poets, writers, readers, and lovers of poetry share blog posts about poetry. Poetry Friday is being hosted today by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater at The Poem Farm

Poetry Friday: The New Colossus by Emma Lazarus

"The New Colossus" was one of the first sonnets I learned by heart growing up and I've been thinking a lot about it lately, especially those last few lines. Interestingly, the poem was written before the Statue of Liberty was completed, yet with those last lines, Emma Lazarus really managed to define what America has always stood for. After all, unless you are Native American, we all are or descend from immigrants and refugees.

"The New Colossus" was written in 1883 by Emma Lazarus and donated to an auction being held to raise money to complete the pedestal upon with the Statue of Liberty stands. France were responsible for the statue, but the pedestal was this country's responsibility. Lacking funds to build it, an exhibition and auction was organized in December 1883 by the Art Loan Fund Exhibition at the New York's Academy of Design.

Source: The New Colossus by Susan Johnson, Museum of the City of New York

Then, in 1903, the sonnet was engraved on a brass plaque and hung inside the completed pedestal. Sadly, Emma Lazarus never got to see this great honor. She passed away in 1887 at age 38, from Hodgkin's lymphoma. 

The National Park Service offers a downloadable Lesson Plan for interpreting the symbolic meaning of Statue of Liberty in relation to Emma Lazarus and "The New Colossus" HERE

Poetry Friday is a weekly blogging event in which poets, writers, readers, and lovers of poetry share blog posts about poetry. Poetry Friday is being hosted today by Irene at Live Your Poem

Poetry Friday: Daffodowndilly by A.A. Milne

My dad was a Welshman and we always had lots of daffs in the house and garden in the spring. When we were kids, he always called that daffodowndillies, which we loved as kids. And this is my favorite poem about this happy springtime flower. I hope you like it, too.

Poetry Friday is a weekly blogging event in which poets, writers, readers, and lovers of poetry share blog posts about poetry. Poetry Friday is being hosted today by Rebecca at Sloth Reads

Poetry Friday: March by John Updike

Today's Poetry Friday Roundup is hosted today by Linda at Teacher Dance, a poet in her own right. 

I don't share poems my young readers and I really love often enough on Poetry Friday, even though we read a poetry all the time. One of our favorite poetry books is A Child's Calendar by John Updike and illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman and so I thought that since today is the first day of March, I would share the poem by the same name. Holiday House has just released a 20th Anniversary edition of A Child's Calendar and just in time, our old copy is falling apart. I hope you enjoy this poem as much as we do:

Today is also St. David's Day, and, for anyone out there who are Welsh, I wish you a 

Dydd Gŵyl Dewi Hapus

Poetry Friday: 125, a poem by Jaime Adoff from Lee Bennett Hopkins book Amazing Places

Today's poem comes from one of my favorite poetry anthologies, Amazing Places, edited by Lee Bennett Hopkins and illustrated by Christy Hale and Chris Soentpiet. When I reviewed it, I wrote that it "is a collection of 11 original poems, each on about an American landmark..."  

Not long ago, I reviewed a book called The Stars Beneath Our Feet by David Barclay Moore. It's a coming of age story about a boy named Lolly living in the St. Nicholas projects in Harlem. It opens with him walking along 125th Street on Christmas Even, heading home and being followed by two older boys who intend to teach him a lesson about crossing crew boundary lines. 

Someone pointed out that the book is a very one-sided view of Harlem, and while it doesn't diminish the credibility of Lolly's story, it is true. Harlem is a beautiful and exciting place, an area with a personality of its own, a diverse population, a wide variety of shops and restaurants, beautiful architecture, a long storied history, and a center for African American arts and letters (if you are ever in NYC, do visit the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, you will appreciate Carole Boston Weatherford's book Schomburg: The Man Who Built a Library that much more).  

As the following shows, for one young boy, Harlem is a walk across 125th Street with Grandma for an afternoon at the movies:

It's Poetry Friday and Mary Lee at A Year of Reading has this week's poetry roundup

Poetry Friday - A Hundred Scary Skeletons by Susan Kassabian

Well, the countdown to Halloween has begun, the costumes are decided upon, the trick-or-treat treats are in the house. We've read and re-read all the favorite Halloween stories and poems. All we need now is for the big day to arrive.

Meanwhile, I'd like to share this new poem that we have added to our collection:

It's from a book called Poems for Children by Susan Kassabian. Kassabian has written some very humorous poems for kids for this collection that moves through the seasons of the year.

It's Poetry Friday and Brenda at Friendly Fairy Tales has this weeks poetry roundup

Poetry Friday: October - Author Unknown

It hasn't felt much like fall lately, with the warm temperatures we have been having, but yesterday we went and picked out some mums and pumpkins in preparation for Halloween. Then I remembered this poem I have used in the classroom and in home schooling and I thought I would share it, even though the leaves are still clinging mightily to the trees here in NYC.

I hope you enjoy this poem as much as my students did.

It's Poetry Friday and Leigh Anne at A Day in the Life has this week's roundup.

Poetry Friday: Amazing Places by Lee Bennett Hopkins, illustrated by Christy Hale and Chris Soentpiet

This is one of my favorite kid's poetry books from last year.  It is a collection of 11 original poems, each one is about an American landmark, not all of which will be familiar to kids, but all of which tell something about this country.  

There are the usual suspects, of course, like Nikki Grimes's poem "Tree Speaks" about the Grand Canyon, or Charles Waters' poem "Fenway Park," but some are not what we might think of right off the bat as famous landmarks, for instance, "Sandy Hook Lighthouse" by Joan Bransfield Graham  pays homage to the Sandy Hook Lighthouse in NJ, which also has special meaning to me, or Joseph Bruchac's poem "Longhouse Song" honoring the Oneida Nation Museum in Green Bay, Wisconsin.  I remember teaching my 4th graders in the Bronx about Longhouses and giving an extra credit assignment to make on with a shoebox.  Every year, even my most reluctant students would make one for display.  It still warms my heart to think about it.

  

And that's one of the beauties of these poems.  They introduce young readers different places of America through poetry and maybe instill a desire to visit some of them.  For older readers, such as myself, they will touch our memories.  Even though "Midway Magic" by Rebecca Kai Dotlich was written about the State Fair of Texas, my memory immediately went the the four years I lived in Phoenix.  I always looked forward to the State Fair and never got tired of looking at things prized pigs and chickens, or delicious homemade pies and jams.  It's where I have my first corndog and loved it.

When I visited my Kiddo and her husband in San Francisco last year, we went to Chinatown for lunch and spent the day there.  Naturally, when I saw the poem "A Sunday Trip to Chinatown" by Alma Flor Ada, I knew I wanted to share it with you today.  It reminded me of so many fun trips to NYC's Chinatown when my Kiddo was growing up - the sights, the sounds, the smells, the crowds, and the delicious food.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I dd.

Thank you to Donna Smith at Mainely Write for hosting today's Poetry Friday Roundup.

Poetry Friday: The Popcorn Astronauts: And Other Biteable Rhymes by Deborah Ruddell, illustrated by Joan Rankin

Poetry Friday is a weekly meme, hosted this week by Heidi at my juicy little universe.  Thank You for hosting this week, Heidi. 

Two good things happened to me this week: 1- I had a birthday and celebrated with my favorite Chimichanga dinner from my favorite Mexican restaurant in Manhattan - El Paso Taqueria; and 2- I received a copy of The Popcorn Astronauts: And Other Biteable Rhymes by Deborah Ruddell.

The Popcorn Astronauts is a collection of 21 witty poems all centered around food and the changing seasons.  The watercolor illustrations match the goofy playfulness of the poems perfectly, 
and I knew this was the book for me when I read the poem called A Smoothie Supreme, which reminded me so much of my Kiddo's own strangely concocted  healthy(?) smoothies:

And, I thought, here is the perfect birthday cake poem just in time for my b'day:

The Popcorn Astronauts: and Other Biteable Rhymes will have you and your kids laughing out loud.  This is a wonderful classroom/home schooling book for teachers who are starting to teach their students poetry.  Kids will love the silliness of the poems, and the whimsical illustrations.  There are different poetic forms to explore, and as well as different literary devices, such as alliteration, metaphor, satire, and simile.  

Have you read The Popcorn Astronauts yet? 

This book is recommended for readers age 6=
This book was borrowed from the NYPL

Poetry Friday: Earth Day by Jane Yolen

Poetry Friday is a weekly meme, hosted this week by Renee at No Water River.  Thanks for hosting this week, Renee. 

I know Earth Day 2015 is over but I thought I would post this poem by Jane Yolen anyway to remind us that earth day is really should be everyday.

   
Earth Day

    I am the Earth
    And the Earth is me.
    Each blade of grass,
    Each honey tree,
    Each bit of mud,
    And stick and stone
    is blood and muscle,
    Skin and bone.

    And just as I
    Need every bit
    Of me to make
    My body fit,
    So Earth needs
    Grass and stone and tree
    And things that grow there
    Naturally.

    That's why we
    Celebrate this day.
    That's why across
    The world we say:
    As long as life,
    As dear, as free,
    I am the Earth
    And the Earth is me.

"Earth Day" by Jane Yolen
The Three Bears Holiday Rhyme Book
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1995 32 pages

Poetry Friday: A Poem in Your Pocket by Margaret McNamara, illustrated by G. Brian Karas

Poetry Friday is a weekly meme, hosted this week by Amy at The Poem Farm.  Thanks for hosting this week, Amy.

April is National Poetry Month and what better way to start the month than with a picture book about poetry.  And Margaret McNamara's third book about Mr. Tiffin and his students is definitely up to the task.

All through April, Mr. Tiffin's class is going to learn all about poems in preparation for poem in you pocket day and a author visit from a well known poet, Emmy Crane.  But Elinor has spent all of March at the library studying poetry. so now she has all the answers when it comes things like similes, metaphors concrete poems, haiku, acoustic poems.

But when Mr. Tiffin takes the class out for a walk to practice using their poet's eyes, the kids in Elinor's class all seem to be able to see the poetry around them except Elinor.  And when brings brown bags with surprises in them for everyone and asks each student to write a poem about what's in their bag, Elinor just can't seem to get one written.  Her poetry journal is blank.

Over the weekend, Elinor writes poem after poem, but none are good enough as far as she is concerned.  Finally, on Poem in Your Pocket Day, Elinor goes to school with an empty pocket.  In assembly, Emmy Crane reads some to her own poetry to the children, and each child reads their poem to her.  But when its Elinor's turn, she courageously goes up on the stage and confesses to Emmy that she has no poem, none were perfect enough for a poet like her.  No poem is perfect, Emmy tells her, but can she help Elinor find her poet's eye?

A Poem in Your Pocket is an ideal book for introducing young readers and writers about poetry, a subject that is so often overlooked in schools these days.   It is a wonderful read aloud as well as a great teaching tool.  McNamars's definitions of the different poetic terms used are simply defined making that aptly suited for young children just starting their poetic life.  I loved the walk Mr. Tiffin took the kids on to discover the poetry in the things that they see everyday but probably don't think much about.

Added to this wonderful book are Karas's gouache, acrylic and pencil sometimes full page, sometimes spot illustrations, adding to and enhancing the story.  He really captures Elinor's frustration and despair, along with the eagerness with which the other kids in the class embraced poetry. I really liked that Mr. Tiffin's class was portrayed as very diverse.

I thought this was going to be a story about a girl who just wasn't terribly poetic.  Instead it was about how we all have a poet's eye and that there is no such thing as a perfect poem.  Of course, the underlying message is about how the need to be or do something perfectly results in being completely unproductive because nothing measures up.  And bravo for the portrayal of a caring teacher and poet who both gently showed Elinor what's important.

A Poem in Your Pocket is a book not to be missed.

This book is recommended for readers age 5+
This book was borrowed from a friend

Remember - Poem in Your Pocket Day is Thursday, April 30, 2015

You can find our more about Poem in Your Pocket Day including poems to download, and ways to participate HERE

Susan at The Book Chook also has some tips and resources for Poem in Your Pocket Day that can be found HERE

Poetry Friday: Written in March by William Wordsworth

This week's poetry party is being hosted by Laura at Author Amok.  Thanks for hosting today, Laura.  Be sure to hop on over there to see what other poems are being shared today.

This is one of the poems I used to used every March in school.  The kids always liked it despite some old fashioned language (and kids being kids, I always heard a lot of doths the rest of the day).  After this wretched winter experienced by most of the country, it just seems like the right poem to share today.    

      Written in March

      The cock is crowing,
      The stream is flowing,
      The small birds twitter,
      The lake doth glitter,
The green field sleeps in the sun;
      The oldest and youngest
      Are at work with the strongest;
      The cattle are grazing,
      Their heads never raising;
Their are forty feeding like one!

      Like an army defeated
      The snow hath retreated,
      And now doth fare ill
      On the top of the bare hill;
The ploughboy is whooping - anon - anon:
      There's joy in the mountains;
      There's life in the fountains;
      Small clouds are sailing,
      Blue sky prevailing;
The rain is over and gone!

Poetry Friday: Picture-Books in Winter by Robert Louis Stevenson

This week's poetry party is being hosted by Linda at Teacher Dance.  Thanks for hosting today, Linda.  Be sure to hop on over there to see what other poems are being shared today.

Even though the poem "Picture-Books in Winter" by Robert Louis Stevenson was published in 1905 in his poetry anthology A Child's Garden of Verses, I suspect when the temperature drops, and snow falls the way it has been lately, young readers all over the world still stay in and read picture books with parents, friends and/or older siblings in a hopefully toastly warm place.  

Picture-Books in Winter 

Summer fading, winter comes -
Frosty mornings, tingling thumbs,
Window robins, winter rooks,
And the picture story-books.
Water now is turned to stone
Nurse and I can walk upon;
Still we find the flowing brooks
In the picture story-books.
All the pretty things put by,
Wait upon the children's eye,
Sheep and shepherds, trees and crooks,
In the picture story-books.
We may see how all things are,
Seas and cities, near and far,
And the flying fairies' looks,
In the picture story-books.
How am I to sing your praise,
Happy chimney-corner days, 
Sitting safe in nursery nooks,
Reading picture story-books?

A Child's Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by Jessie Wilcox Smith
Charles Scribner's Sons, 1905, 105 pages
Digitally available at Project Gutenberg

Poetry Friday: Afternoon on a Hill by Edna St. Vincent Millay

This week's poetry party is being hosted by Tara at A Teaching Life.  Thanks for hosting today, Tara.  Be sure to hop on over there to see what other poems are being shared today.

Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892-1950) is one of my favorite poets, but so much of her poetry can be a little too sophisticated for young readers and would-be poets.  Here is one that I found always worked well for introducing Millay's poems to students and would-be poets:  

AFTERNOON ON A HILL
I will be the gladdest thing
   Under the sun!
I will touch a hundred flowers
   And not pick one.

I will look at cliffs and clouds
   With quiet eyes,
Watch the wind bow down the grass,
   And the grass rise.

And when lights begin to show
   Up from the town,
I will mark which must be mine,
   And then start down!
 
When I was still a classroom teacher, after a week of working hard, Friday afternoons were always set aside to do relaxing activities (that is, activities things that weren't graded).  It was the perfect time to bring in a little extra poetry and start a discussion.

Poetry Friday: January by John Updike

Poetry Friday is a weekly event.  It is hosted this week by Tabatha Yeatts: The Opposite of Indifference.  Thank you for hosting, Tabatha.

This is the first time I have participated in Poetry Friday and I'm so happy to be here.  The poem I chose to share with everyone today is called January and it's from a book called A Child's Calendar by John Updike and illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman.  It was originally published in 1965 and later, reissued in 1999 by Holiday House and it was a 2000 Caldecott Honor Book.

                                        


January

The days are short,
The sun a spark
Hung thin between
The dark and dark.

Fat snowy footsteps
Track the floor,
And parkas pile up
Near the door.

The river is
A frozen place
Held still beneath
The trees' black lace.

The sky is low.
The wind is gray.
 The radiator
 Purrs all day.