Poetry Friday -- Love

Unsplash photo by Myur Gala

LOVE IS A PLACE
by e.e. cummings

love is a place
& through this place of
love move
(with brightness of peace)
all places

yes is a world
& in this world of
yes live
(skilfully curled)
all worlds

If you haven't seen Love by Matt de la Pena (illustrated by Loren Long), grab a copy (and a hanky) as soon as possible. This is an example of true picture book magic -- the words and the pictures are perfectly paired.

Before you watch the trailer, you might want to read Matt's article in TIME, "Why We Shouldn't Shield Children From Darkness."

And then read Kate Di Camillo's response, "Why Children's Books Should Be a Little Sad." (another hanky alert for this one)



Another new picture book you should not miss is Be A King by Carole Boston Weatherford.


For this week's not-to-miss poetry, Jan has the Poetry Friday roundup at Book Seed Studio.

Poetry Friday -- Love

LOVE IS A PLACE

by e.e. cummings

love is a place

& through this place of

love move

(with brightness of peace)

all places

yes is a world

& in this world of

yes live

(skilfully curled)

all worlds

I wish for you this place that is all places, this world that is all worlds. 

I wish for you a love so big that one day cannot contain it. 

 

Cathy has the Poetry Friday Roundup this week at Merely Day by Day.

Happy Valentine's Day! I Haiku You!

I Haiku You
by (Ohio author) Betsy E. Snyder
Random House Books for Young Readers, 2012
review copy from my classroom library

What (or who) do you love? Betsy Snyder's twenty haiku love poems will definitely make you want to write a few of your own.

Here are some my students came up with to share with you today -- Happy Valentine's Day!

cute little faces
hopping around behind me --
look, it's the bunnies!

I love chocolate!
It melts on my tongue so slow.
Chocolate is the best!

Delicious, sweetness!
I share my cookies with friends!
Cookies are my world!

I love monster trucks.
They do front flips and back flips.
They go really high.

They're with you always --
annoying you, comforting...
but they're still family.

Buzzer beater: SWISH!
I really like basketball --
the best game ever.

Pizza, I love you.
Pizza, pizza, you're so good.
Pizza, so good and juicy.

Dance, dance, I love it!
Every day my body moves.
I cannot stop it!

Japan is the best!
Japan has yummy food, so...
Japan is the best!

Dark carmel chocolate
with a little bitterness --
it's really creamy.

Your chocolately taste
is really really yummy.
Brownies are awesome!

Your music is the best.
You guys are so funny.
Oh, One Direction!!

I love oatmeal,
brown sugar especially.
It smells really good.

I so love bacon!
So yummy in my tummy!
So, so delicious!

Peace and Friendship Around the World: Imagine

You've seen the Google Search tribute to John Lennon in honor of his 70th birthday today. You read Jama's birthday wishes in her Poetry Friday post yesterday. Here's something small you and your students can do to promote peace and friendship in the world:

Calling All Kids in the U.S.

Write a message to be hung on our USA friendship tree in Turkey.

Thousands of Turkish children will pass by the USA booth at the Istanbul Book Fair this year. You can write a note to them about friendship, which will be hung on our friendship tree.

What you can do:

Draw a leaf (or trace this leaf outline) on a full page of green paper or color the leaf green, then write a note about what friendship means to you. You can write your first name and age, too. Your note will be posted on our giant tree at the book fair and Turkish children will be able to read your message. Send all messages by Oct. 15 to:

Public Affairs Section

Unit 5030 Box 0047

DPO AE 09827-0047 

USA

Kim Scrivner is the Cultural Affairs Officer at the U.S. Consulate in Istanbul. She writes: "We are preparing for the annual Istanbul Book Fair and wanted to make an extra effort to include children in our literacy and cultural outreach. We decided to create a large-as-life friendship tree, on which we will post leaf-shaped messages about friendship from American children. As many Turkish children are learning English, this will be one way that they can personally connect with U.S. children and observe that they share similar concepts of friendship and human values. Turkish children will also be able to write their own messages to add to the tree before and during the book fair."

For more information, check out the Consulate webpage for the U.S. Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey.