Poetry Friday -- Praise and Amazement

This week, I received a digital ARC of Irene Latham's September book, This Poem is a Nest.

At first, all I could say was, WOW. Over and over again. Wow. Wow. WOW. I said it to the publicist at Wordsong, and then I said it to Irene. She responded, "No project I’ve worked on has been more exhilarating than that one. Just me being me."

Irene being Irene means she wrote a poem...a "nest"....and then found ONE HUNDRED SIXTY-ONE other poems..."nestling poems"....inside that "nest!" I. Can't. Even. I'm still gobsmacked.

Here is a portion of her nest, and a few of the nestlings she wrote. These are used with permission of the publisher.

I gave it a try using a poem I wrote for my 2020 NPM project as my nest.

I Have a New Friend

I have a new friend.
We've never met.
She chalks art and exercise challenges on the sidewalk.
She leaves the chalk out.
I write and draw my thanks.
Her chalk sticks became a pile of chalk pebbles.
I left a package on her porch --
Highlights magazines and gently used sidewalk chalk.
She left a package on my porch --
coloring pages, crayons and markers, four Cra-Z-Loom bracelets.
And a note.
I have a new friend named Annie.
We've never met.


©Mary Lee Hahn, 2020

Here are some nestlings. Titles don't have to be found inside the nest, but the words of the nestling have to all come from the nest and have to be used in the order they're found in the nest.

Art Exercise

Draw a porch

a package

a note

a new friend.

My Favorite Squirrel Leaves a Message

Pile of pebbles on porch and sidewalk.

A note:

we've met.

Setting Sun

On the leaves, 

the sticks,

a pile of pebbles--

highlights.

Try it! It's addicting and not at all easy. But most of all, get excited for September when we can hold a copy of Irene's newest wonder in our hands!

Carol has this week's Poetry Friday Roundup at Beyond LiteracyLink, and next week, the roundup is here!

Another Must-Read...

...although I feel slightly ridiculous because the contrast between this and the book Franki posted about earlier this week is...um...stunningly contrastful. But I'm going with it.

You MUST read...

My review from Goodreads:

Don't you dare put this in your (class) library without reading it first. Don't get stuck on the knock-knock jokes thinking they are ridiculous childish humor until you see what Pilkey does with them as a plot device. Think hard about the message he gives about a bad character wanting to change. And if you don't tear up when you read p. 216-223, then you just don't even have a heart.

Dav Pilkey is flat out brilliant. I've believed that since the first Captain Underpants books, and I'm not changing my story even though he made me cry at NERD camp.

Read. This. Book.
Read. This. Series.

Dog Man: Lord of the Fleas

Gobsmacked

The Goldfinch
by Donna Tartt
Little, Brown and Company, 2013

We have art in order not to die from the truth. 

-Nietzsche

This book. It's why I do what I do. So that someday, maybe sooner, maybe later, every child in the wake of my teaching will come across at least one book that knocks them backward, sits them down hard. Changes the way they see the world.

I read this book through my ears. It's a huge book; we've been together through months of trips back and forth to school, and walks light enough to wear earbuds, and housework menial enough to listen while I worked.

It's not an easy book to read. Donna Tartt doesn't make anything easy for Theo for very long at all. But it's a beautiful book. Long passages were poetry -- love songs to antiques, cities, seasons, art, life.

Yesterday when I woke up, I had about two hours left to listen to, and (you know the feeling) there was nothing else I could do but listen. I took my early morning walk as laps around the basement so that I could listen. I listened while I ate breakfast. I listened while I made my lunch. I listened in the car on the way to school. I listened while I got the classroom ready for the day, before I went to my meeting.

After my students finished their word study task, one after another picked up a book and started to read. By the time I should have done the reading workshop mini lesson, the room was silent. That Kind of Silent. Spring in Fifth Grade Silent. This is a Community of Readers Silent.

I had 15 minutes left in the book. What else could I do? I grabbed my earphones and joined my community of readers. I finished the book, brushing away tears.

And what will I do next? I will buy a copy of the physical book, because it's one I want to hold in my hands and shelve next to the other landmark books of my adulthood. I want to read those last pages again. And find other favorite parts and savor them and sticky-note them.

And then? No, I won't be able to start another audiobook for awhile. I'll listen to Arvo Pärt on the drive to and from school, because Pippa listened to his music. I'll think about art and love and loss and chance and fate and right and wrong.

And I'll think about how lives are changed by the power of beauty in great art and in great books.

Thank you, Blog Readers!

Some time in the past few days, we passed the one MILLION visitor mark (according to SiteMeter).

Mind boggling.

A small city's worth of people have visited our blog.

Thank you for stopping by!

Navigating Early

Navigating Early
by Clare Vanderpool
Delacorte Press, 2013
review copy ARC provided by Cover to Cover Books for Young Readers

It's been a long time since a book has grabbed me by the collar and sat me down in a chair and refused to let me up until I finished it.

Navigating Early wiggled its way into my school bag and forced me to read during SSR time, as I ate lunch, and while my students were at art.

I fell in love with Jack, from flat, wide open Kansas, who pukes the first time he looks at the ocean. And I fell in love with Early, who listens to Billie Holiday when it rains. I fell in love with the stories within the story -- the travels of Pi that match both the digits of Pi as well as the adventure Jack and Early have in the backwoods of Maine.

I couldn't help myself -- I dogeared the page corner at Chapter 21 -- the first time I can ever remember encountering fly fishing in a children's book (not to mention a spirited argument about why Jesus could possibly have been "a likely candidate for fly-fishing").

Navigating Early is mysterious and magical, brimful of surprising characters, and with an ending that's a sigh of satisfaction.

Move Navigating Early to the top of your must-read list. You won't regret it.



Also reviewed by
Kevin at Kevin's Meandering Mind
Katherine at Read, Write, Reflect
Colby at Sharpread

14 Cows for America BLOG TOUR

14 Cows for America

by Carmen Agra Deedy

with collaborator Wilson Kimeli Naiyomah

illustrated by Thomas Gonzalez

Peachtree Publishers, 2009

watch the book trailer here

A young Maasai man returns home to Kenya nine months after witnessing the events of September 11, 2001 in New York City. He and his tribe want to do something to help America heal. This is the story of a remarkable connection between two cultures a world apart.

"It's one of those books like Pink & Say that'll make me cry in front of my students no matter how many times I read it but it makes you proud to be a human being. Which is saying something." -- teacherninja

"14 Cows for America is a picture book that prompts reflection, sensitivity to others, and appreciation for each individual's place in our interconnected world." -- Diane Chen, SLJ

TOUR SCHEDULE

Saturday, August 1, 2009

5 Minutes for Books

Sunday, August 2, 2009

**Right Here** A Year of Reading

Monday, August 3

The Picnic Basket

Maw Books Blog

Tuesday, August 4

Children’s Book Biz News

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Books Upon A Wee One's Shelf

Thursday, August 6, 2009

A Patchwork of Books

Friday, August 7, 2009

I.N.K. Interesting Nonfiction for Kids

Hope is the Word

Panorama: A Foldout Book by Fani Marceau

Panorama: A Foldout Book

by Fani Marceau

illustrated by Joelle Jolivet

(originally published in France in 2007)

Abrams, 2009

The review copy still lives at Cover to Cover, shown here extended to its full length, but I may have to go back and buy it!

This is a gorgeous, gorgeous book. (Thank you, Beth for taking it out of its shrink wrap so that I could properly swoon!) Each page is a natural scene from a different place around the world, and each scene morphs into the next, linking our world in surprising and wonderful ways. It is a new take on the interconnectedness of our world, and it invites wonder and further exploration by highlighting places beyond the typical: the first four pages show the Ganges River Delta, Bangladesh, India; Mount Katmai, Alaska, United States; Adrar Desert, Sahara, Mauritania; and Cotopaxi Volcano, Andes Mountains, Ecuador.

The return journey, on the backs of the pages, shows the scenes at night and invites the reader to look for changes. Night sends animals into hiding and brings new animals out, people stop working and go home, and if you look carefully, in the picture of Scotland, the Little People come out!

The message at the end reads, "Here you are, back at the start. At the bottom of your pocket, keep a pebble -- a star -- to remind you of the world."

Other books by this illustrator include 365 Penguins, Zoo-ology, and Almost Everything. All are oversized and visually stunning. Jolivet's website is here.

Synchronicity

Susan, at Chicken Spaghetti, has real, live chickens!