Poem #17 -- Book Spine Poem, Poetry Edition

To My Daughter With Love:

No Roof But Sky;

From This Soil,

For the New Year:

Tickets for a Prayer Wheel.

Nurture

Sweet and Bitter Bark --

Our Ground Time Here Will Be Brief.

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2011

Poem #16 -- Two Haiku

Empty nests are caught

in the budding skeleton

of the maple tree.

First leaves interrupt

the criss-cross calligraphy

of the bare branches.

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2011

Poem #15 and Poetry Friday -- I'm Your Mom

Flickr Creative Commons Photo "Mother Hen and Chicks" by Frances Taylor

I'M YOUR MOM

I'm your mom when you're in school.
I mom you sharply when you're cruel.
I mom you gently when you're hurt.
I mom the buttons on your shirt!

(I mom the music teacher's tie.)
I always mom you when you cry.
(I mom the plants on the windowsill.)
I mom you when you're feeling ill.

I'll never be your mom at home.
I'll never see what you'll become.
I'll never tuck you into bed,
Never hold your feverish head.

But I'm your mom when you're in school
And I'll mom you into shape with rules
Because I love you like you're mine...
I hope your real mom doesn't mind!


©Mary Lee Hahn, 2011



The first two lines of this poem came to me while I was brushing my teeth yesterday. Luckily, I took the time to write them down so the poem wasn't lost!

Our fourth graders had their spring concert this week, and the boys looked so nice in shirts with buttons! Unfortunately, that meant that one shirt got buttoned lopsidedly. So I really did "mom the buttons" on a shirt! The music teacher's tie was peeking out from under the back of his collar, so I really did "mom the music teacher's tie."  On Wednesday, our garden club planted giant sunflower seeds, birdhouse gourds, and pumpkins in cups that are now sitting on classroom windowsills throughout the school. The ones in my room join the ancient geraniums that live in my classroom during the winter. Again, I really do "mom the plants on the windowsill!"

The thing that delights me most about this poem is using mom as a verb. Perfect, no?  :-)

Diane has the Poetry Friday Roundup at Random Noodling today. Take your noodle over to her blog and check out this week's offerings. Happy Poetry Month!

Poem #14 -- Lost and Found

Flickr Creative Commons Photo by the.sprouts

LOST AND FOUND

I look behind the sofa,

I gape under the car,

I gaze out in the garden,

But my poem isn't there.

I open all the junkmail,

I snoop behind the door,

I check last Sunday's paper,

There's no poem anywhere.

I scan inside the cupboards,

I peer atop the fridge,

I peek into my closet,

But my poem's out of sight.

I glance down at my paper,

I read between the lines,

Find the moral of the story:

Set pencil free and it will write!

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2011

BOOKS I COULD READ A MILLION TIMES: Me...Jane

I have heard about the book ME...JANE by Patrick McDonnell but hadn't gotten around to ordering it. I saw a copy while shopping in San Antonio and fell in love with it IMMEDIATELY. This is by far one of my favorite books of the year so far.

I am always on the lookout for good picture book biographies and I love stories about people who have made a difference in the world. And, I have always been a huge Jane Goodall fan. (Really, how could you not be?) I am fascinated by her life and her work.  I have read many of the books written about her and her work and I continue to be fascinated and inspired by her. So, I knew I would like this book. Just because it was about one of my favorite people. But I loved it even more than I expected and I imagine I will love this book forever. This is the story of Jane Goodall as a child.  A child who had a toy chimpanzee named Jubilee and who loved everything about the outdoors.  As of this moment, it is my choice for the Caldecott Award. And any other award that it is eligible for.  


Really, I think I could read this book more than a million times.  It makes my list of BOOKS I COULD READ A MILLION TIMES for so many reasons. Here are a few of those reasons:
-This book is great for readers of all ages.  There is not a ton of text so it is great for young readers. It is an amazing story of Jane Goodall's childhood so older children and adults will also love it.
-Patrick McDonnell's illustrations somehow capture Jane Goodall's spirit.
-This is a story about someone who discovered her passion early in life --gotta love that!
-I always love great picture books about people/kids who have made a difference in the world and this is one of those.
-The ending illustrations in the book are breathtaking.  Truly brilliant.
-One of the pages includes illustrations and puzzles that were created by Jane Goodall as a child!
-The end notes (one about Jane Goodall and one that is a message from Jane Goodall) give the reader a bit more information and inspiration.
-And the last page tells us a bit more about the illustrations, "Throughout this book, ornamental engravings from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries are included collectively evoking Jane's lifelong passion for detailed, scientific observation of nature."


This book captures the serious of Jane Goodall's work and the energy of her passion. With very little text, this tells us about Jane as a child and how her dream has lived on for her throughout her life.


This is a MUST MUST have book for everyone. It makes me happy every time I read it.


If you'd like to hear what others are saying about it, you can read about it here:
Fuse #8
100 Scope Notes
Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review)
The Daily Green
The Hornbook (Starred Review)

Poem #13 -- A Message to My Critic

IT'S MY POEM

I wrote it.
You read it.
You like it
Or not.

If not
Then you leave it.
But don't you rewrite it.

They're my words.
I chose them.
I wrote it.
I lived it.

You leave it
Alone.

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2011

Favorite Series: Lunch Lady

Lunch Lady and the Bake Sale Bandit
by Jarrett J. Krosoczka
Alfred A. Knopf, 2010
review copy purchased for my classroom

When all the sweets for the bake sale disappear after a sudden power outage, Lunch Lady and her sidekick Betty gather clues and identify suspects. Meanwhile, the Breakfast Bunch (and Orson, the safety patrol nerd) are kidnapped by Brenda, the evil bus driver. In the climax of the story, it's Buszilla vs. the Lunch-cycle. In the end, "Justice is served." "And baked goods." The bake sale is back on, and so is the field trip to the museum...which looks to be the next adventure for Lunch Lady (Lunch Lady and the Field Trip Fiasco, due out September 2011).

Why I love this series:
1. The art. The style fits the story perfectly.
2. Lunch Lady's curses: "Greasy Bacon!" "Porridge!" "Brussel Sprouts!"
3. The whole idea of the lunch lady as super hero. Doesn't this mean that ANYBODY might have super powers? ANYBODY could save the world and the bake sale?

PEACEFUL PIECES: POEMS AND QUILTS ABOUT PEACE by Anna Grossnickle Hines

While in San Antonio this weekend. we visited the local independent children's bookstore, Twig. I always like to visit bookstores in different cities. Even though we have the best children's bookstore here in Columbus (Cover to Cover), I know that other stores might have books by local authors and other things I may have missed.  I always find a few little surprises when I go to bookstores while traveling.

PEACEFUL PIECES is a poetry book that I picked up in San Antonio.  I was so excited to see this book. I don't know the author so I think it was the idea of peace that drew me in.  This book is amazing. It gives readers to much to think about. The book is filled with poems around the idea of peace.  And the author, Anna Grossnickle Hines looks at the idea of peace from so many angles.  Some poems ask questions like, "What If?". Others celebrate peacemakers in history. (Additional biographical information on the peacemakers is included on the last page of the book.)  Still others deal with the kind of peace that children can truly relate to--peace in the home, with siblings, etc.  This is a brilliant book. Not only is the quilt art amazing, but the poems are written in a way that are powerful and also accessible to children. I love that it gives readers so many ways to think about peace.

This is definitely a poetry book I am excited to add to my collection!



Carol at Carol's Corner has also reviewed this book.  She has some other great links in her post. I so love that we seem to have discovered this book at the same time!

Poem #12 -- Between Rain Showers

Flickr Creative Commons photo by deb mae

BETWEEN RAIN SHOWERS

The boy in the yellow slicker
riding his tricycle
up and down the driveway across the alley
stops to watch the old woman bend
carefully all the way down
until her face is next to the ground,
next to the hyacinths still wet with rain.
He studies her without moving, and he
cannot imagine the scent
of the stalk of waxy blooms.
The troubles of her day dissolve.
She catches his eye when she stands up,
and she returns his serious gaze.

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2011

Poem #11 -- Similies, Metaphors, and Idioms

Flickr Creative Commons Photo by Graham Canny

Crafty metaphor is a sly fox,

hiding in plain sight.

Simple simile is as easy as 1, 2, 3,

as obvious as your nose on your face.

Idioms run around 

like chickens with their heads cut off,

get down to brass tacks, and

hit the hay when they get tired.

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2011

Flickr Creative Commons Photo by NitroxAnyOne