Poetry Friday From Franki

Mary Lee asked me to be "guest blogger" for Poetry Friday today.  It is funny being a guest blogger on our own blog. But, Mary Lee is having her gall bladder removed this  morning and did not feel so poetic.  I worked long and hard to find or compose a poem about gall bladders but they are not easy to find (or to write).  So, I thought I'd celebrate Poetry Friday by sharing 2 great new poetry books I picked up at Cover to Cover.

SWITCHING ON THE MOON: A VERY FIRST BOOK OF BEDTIME POEMS is a collection by Jane Yolen and Andrew Fusek Peters.  The book is illustrated by G. Brian Karas.  This anthology is a great companion to one of my all time favorite poetry books, HERE'S A LITTLE POEM by the same authors.  This book is the same size--big and fun.  The font of each poem is big enough for little readers, and although the illustrations are done by a different illustrator, they are perfect for this book--a happy night time feel.  This is an amazing collection of poems for young children--for bedtime or anytime of the day.  So excited that these two collaborated on another "Very First" book of poetry.

The other fun poetry book I had to have was GUYKU: A YEAR OF HAIKU FOR BOYS.  I really did not even have to open the book to know I wanted it. The title made me smile and I saw that Peter Reynolds was the illustrator. I knew I would love it.  This is as great of a book as I expected.  (Even the dedication page is done in Haiku.) It combines Haiku and fun and will definitely appeal to boys (and girls, too!).  This book goes through the seasons, celebrating things boys enjoy (or things they don't like sisters..)  At the end of the book, the author, Bob Raczka shares his thinking about why he wrote GUYKU and why Haiku is a wonderful form of poetry for guys.  He has great points and I think he is right!

The Poetry Friday Round-Up today is at Bibliofile.