Poetry Friday -- Inaugural Poet Announced

Poet Elizabeth Alexander will compose the poem for Barack Obama's inauguration. (From yesterday's article in Guardian.)

Barack Obama, perhaps the most literary president-elect of recent years, has chosen his friend, the poet Elizabeth Alexander, to read at his inauguration on 20 January.

Obama had been spotted carrying what appeared to be a book of the Nobel laureate Derek Walcott's poetry last month, but it is Alexander, a professor of African American studies at Yale University, who will compose a poem to be read at his swearing in as president. She will perform alongside Aretha Franklin, Itzak Perlman and Yo-Yo Ma. The participants were chosen based on requests from Obama and from vice-president-elect Joe Biden.
...

She will be contending with the spectres of Angelou's On the Pulse of Morning ("today I call you to my riverside, / If you will study war no more"), Williams's Of History and Hope ("We have memorized America, / how it was born and who we have been and where") and Frost's The Gift Outright ("Summoning artists to participate / In the august occasions of the state / Seems something artists ought to celebrate. / Today is for my cause a day of days. / And his be poetry's old-fashioned praise / Who was the first to think of such a thing.").

Here is an excerpt from Alexander's poem Ars Poetica #100: I Believe

Poetry is what you find
in the dirt in the corner,

overhear on the bus, God
in the details, the only way

to get from here to there.
Poetry (and now my voice is rising)

is not all love, love, love,
and I’m sorry the dog died.

Poetry (here I hear myself loudest)
is the human voice,

and are we not of interest to each other?

Her poem will be a gift to Obama, and to the nation as well. It will add to the ritual of the inauguration, and it will elevate the already historic event.

Can you imagine what it would be like to compose a poem that will be referenced in the same breath as Angelou and Frost?! 

 

Check out Elizabeth Alexander's website here.
Hear her speak on the Poetry Foundation podcast.

Edited to add...Here's a Washington Post article with great quotes from poet laureates about the...um...honor of composing the inaugural poem. (Thanks to Sara for the link.)

The Poetry Friday round up this week is at Author Amok.

Study Group--OF PRIMARY IMPORTANCE

We just started a study group at our school discussing Ann Marie Corgill's book on Writing Workshop--OF PRIMARY IMPORTANCE. We'll be blogging on the Stenhouse blog about our discussion. We met for the first time last week and posted our first post today.

2 New Books for Young Children by Patricia Hubbell

I have had these on my pile to review for a few weeks.  It is hard to find nonfiction books for young readers and I am not sure these would technically be considered nonfiction, but they are nonfiction-type books. True information written for young children.  Both are about topics that kids will love and I am excited to add them to the library.

MY FIRST AIRPLANE RIDE by Patricia Hubbell is a story of a child's first airplane ride.  The story takes us from the initial invitation from Grandma to come visit, to packing, to driving to the airport, going through security, and more until the plane finally lands and Grandma is waiting!  I love the details of this book and the fact that it would help a child new to flying know what to expect--the stewardess letting them know what to do. The air traffic controller telling them when it is okay for takeoff.  So many great details told in very simple sentences.  The illustrations help to alleviate any fear a child may have of flying.  Everything is colorful and happy.  This is a book I'll add to our library and one I will keep in mind as a gift for a child getting ready to go on a trip, or a child who loves planes--so many kids who will like this one!

The other book is POLICE: HURRYING! HELPING! SAVING! by Patricia Hubbell. In this book, each page lets the reader know something new about the police. It includes so many of the things kids see policemen and policewomen doing in their cities  as well as things they might not see (such as policemen in boats).  Police dogs, traffic cops and more are included.  Again, the illustrations make this a colorful and happy book and will help children understand the role of police to keep us safe.

Both of these books came from Marshall Cavendish Children's Books.

A New Cinderella

I love new versions of old favorite fairy tales. I love to read retellings of these tales and I have a few favorites, like Cinderella. I am always amazed at how different a story can feel in each retelling. And I think some of the newer ones are a bit more appealing to children. The newest in my collection of Cinderella stories is CINDERELLA by Max Eilenberg. The story stays pretty true to the original story but there are little bits of humor hidden throughout. For example, when the stepsisters are invited to the ball:

The stepsisters spent the whole week shopping. They bought expensive outfits, an enormous amount of jewelry, and some very large hats.

They thought they looked beautiful!

(In fact, they looked frightful.)

The illustrations and size also make this a good book. This is thicker than a normal picture book so it may appeal to transitional readers. The illustrations by Niamh Sharkey are colorful and fun. I can't decide whether the shorter stepsister or the Fairy Godmother is my favorite. They are both pretty amusing. There are also little hidden things in the illustrations that add to the fun and humor. Sharkey's blog is definitely worth a visit. Love his art and can't wait to see what is next.

I do buy lots of new versions of old favorites but (I think) this one is the first Cinderella book I have purchased since I purchased Cynthia Rylant's retelling. Both are very different but definitely needed in a collection of newer retellings of this story.

New Series by Sharon Draper

I am still working on sharing all of the great books I found at NCTE's Annual Convention. One series that I am especially excited about is a new one by Sharon Draper.  The first book in the series is called SASSY: LITTLE SISTER IS NOT MY NAME. I read this advanced copy on the plane on the way home and think it will be a great addition to the series books that highlight strong girl characters.  Sassy is a fun character and you can tell that from the front cover.  

Sassy is a child who matches her name. Early in the book she says, "My mom says she gave me that name right after I was born, when she first took me in her arms, and I stuck out my tongue at her.  'What a sassy little princess you are!' she said right then and there." But the problem in this book is that no one uses Sassy's name when they talk to her. They call her Little Sister and she is tired of it.  

My favorite thing about Sassy is her "Sassy Sack". It is a purple, silver, pink, and magenta purse with lots of compartments and zippers.  Sassy loves the purse and has it with her at all times. She carries lots of things in the sack. Throughout the book, it is comical the number of things she pulls out of it.  Actually, I think one of the reasons I liked the book was because the Sassy Sack reminded me a bit of my own purse--you never know what you'll find in there. (Those of you that know me and have seen my purse, know that this is true!)

The book is a good one for children in 3rd and 4th grade and the character is one that is very likable. The plot is one that is easy to follow--not lots of layers but also not shallow.  

I have written before about the lack of books for transitional readers--especially series books-that feature African American characters and continue to be stunned by the statistics on what is being published.  So I was thrilled to see this new series by Draper and I was even more excited when I read this first book. I am excited that they'll be more books about series and I can't wait to share these with the kids at school--I hope that Scholastic gets several in this series out quickly:-)

A Book to Read--THE MIDDLE PLACE by Kelly Corrigan

So, I somehow missed this book when it came out in January. But the paperback is due out 2 days before Christmas. It just got moved to the top of my Next Read Stack.  (Even though I don't yet own a copy, it has become a priority.)

This is how I came to know about this book. I am now using Google Reader and Google Alerts. I found that Angela Maiers connected to our post on 21st Century Literacy in her own thoughtful post about the topic.  She shared 4 links of posts were related to hers. I followed them.  One of the links led me to a post called "Transcending through Connectedness" on another 21st Century Learning blog.  She begins her post by saying, "Have you ever noticed how these powerful 2.0 tools really do transcend time and space?" She then shares a video clip sent to her by someone else--a videoclip that I'll share here because I immediately had the urge to share it with everyone I know.

Then I went to Kelly Corrigan's website and blog which led me to her book on amazon. Amazon had yet another video related to the book.  

So, I am sold on the book and fascinated by the way I came upon it and how connected I already feel to the book and the author and all of the blogs that led me there.  And then I wanted to make sure everyone I knew also knew about this book, so here I am telling you:-) Who knew?

PROJECT FOR AWESOME

Have you seen John Green's Youtube video announcing December 17th as YOUTUBE Project 4 Awesome day? If not, check it out here.  

Great Interview!

Author James Preller interviews Karen and Bill of Literate Lives. Very fun. Lots of illustrations.

Newbery Readiness--So Many Books, So Little Time!

So, as you all know, we are never right in predicting the Newbery and I have learned that I can never read all of the books that I read about that are possibilities for the award.  But I do think it is fun to read and guess and pay attention to all of the conversations going on about the award.  I have been following several Mock Newbery sites and cannot possibly read all of the books that are listed on multiple sites. Really, I have no idea how the committee does this work.  To narrow the list for myself, I really want to read those books that will make good additions to our library collection. So, I've decided to set my goal on reading a few that sound like they'd be great for the kids at my school.  So, here are the five that I am hoping to read before the Newbery is announced in late January.  I'll keep you posted.

Jimmy's Stars by Mary Ann Rodman

Highway Cats by Jane Taylor Lisle

My One Hundred Adventures by Polly Horvath

Itch by Michelle Kwasney

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

The Nearest Book Meme

I saw this little meme on BestBookIHaveNotRead and decided to give it a try. Here are the rules:

* Get the book nearest to you. Right now.
* Go to page 56.
* Find the 5th sentence.
* Write this sentence - either as a comment here or on your blog (link back to us by replacing the trail link with this blog’s link).
* Copy these instructions as commentary of your sentence.
* Don’t look for your favorite book or your coolest but really the nearest.

The book nearest me right now is ZORGAMAZOO by Robert Paul Weston. The 5th sentence...well, that's not as easy as it would seem. This is a novel in verse. Not the kind that is made up of many poems that tell a story. This one is one novel-length (rhyming, even!) poem.

The fifth line on page 56 is "It was then to his horror that Mortimer knew". The fifth sentence on page 56 is "He couldn't just sit there, he couldn't just wait."

I've only read to page 42, so I'm not even sure what's going on on page 56. But I followed the rules and picked the book that was closest to me.

Now I'll cheat and check the second closest book, THE SAVAGE, by David Almond. "The savage lowered his ax." That was a great moment--a turning point in the book. I like that one better.

Now you try it. If you post, come leave a link in our comments, or just put your line in the comments, whichever works for you.