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Posts Tagged ‘children’s poetry’

friday feast: are your tomatoes laughing?

Posted in book reviews (all genres), poetry friday, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on June 14, 2013 | 32 Comments »

Seriously, who could resist a poetry book called Laughing Tomatoes?

Well, I certainly couldn’t, but I shamefully admit I didn’t actually know about this fabuloso feast of pure delight until just a few months ago.

This Pura Belpré Honor Award-winning bilingual 20-poem collection by Chicano poet Francisco X. Alarcón and Maya Christina Gonzalez was first published by Children’s Book Press back in 1997. Where was I?!

Likely staring at grumpy, aloof tomatoes and not appreciating strawberries for the “sweet tender hearts” they are, living a bland life full of ho-hum edibles, certainly not hearing the warm morning sun calling to me through my window, and — *shakes head* — totally oblivious to dew, “the fresh taste of the night.”

But now, having read this glorious, jubilant celebration of Spring and its earthly delights, family, culture and community, my life is complete!

I’m happy to say Laughing Tomatoes and Other Spring Poems/Jitomates Risueños y otros poemas de primavera is one of my favorite children’s poetry books ever. :)

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friday feast: what’s in the garden? by marianne berkes and cris arbo

Posted in book reviews (all genres), cookbooks, picture books, poetry friday, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on June 7, 2013 | 39 Comments »

What could be better than a book brimming with delicious rhyming verse?

A book of taste-tempting riddle poems with gorgeous art, yummy recipes, food for thought, and gardening tips, of course!

In What’s in the Garden? (Dawn Publications, 2013), Marianne Berkes and Cris Arbo celebrate the joys of growing and eating twelve familiar fruits and veggies with a cast of adorable, happily-engaged multiethnic kids.

This delightfully fun, interactive feast is served up in a clever format: children are asked to guess which fruit or vegetable is described in each of the catchy four-line poems, then turn the page for the answer, where they’ll find an easy recipe featuring the produce to stimulate their appetites.

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friday feast: a chat with author and poet frances h. kakugawa (+ a giveaway!)

Posted in asian pacific american heritage month, author/illustrator interviews, picture books, poetry friday, tagged , , , , , , on May 31, 2013 | 26 Comments »

“What would happen if all the poets in the world wrote poems to save our forests, rivers, animals, earth, air and oceans? Wouldn’t that be something?” ~ Wordsworth the Mouse Poet

frances planting three

Frances and Wordsworth plant a koa tree at Hawaiian Legacy Hardwoods in honor of their new book, Wordsworth! Stop the Bulldozer! (photo by Tammy Antonio)

Happy Poetry Friday!

I’m delighted and honored to welcome back award-winning author, poet and educator Frances H. Kakugawa to Alphabet Soup!

You may remember when I shared her beautiful and poignant poem, “Emily Dickinson, I Am Somebody,”  (written in the voice of an Alzheimer’s patient), and we learned more about how writing poetry can help ease the heavy burden of caregiving.

wordsworth singleToday, Frances is here to tell us a little about her heartwarming, award-winning series of children’s picture books featuring Wordsworth, the poetry-writing mouse. All three stories, a unique combination of poetry + prose, celebrate the power and wonder of poetry, the enduring value of friendship, and the primacy of the imagination.

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soup of the day: forest has a song by amy ludwig vanderwater and robbin gourley

Posted in book reviews (all genres), picture books, soup of the day, tagged , , , , , , , , on March 26, 2013 | 62 Comments »

The chickadees in our woods are chirping the happy news: today, Amy Ludwig VanDerwater’s very first poetry book, Forest Has a Song (Clarion, 2013), is officially out in the wild! Hip hip hooray!

As I’ve said many times before, this is a big reason to celebrate because there is only one “first book” in an author’s life. This moment in time usually represents years of writing, hoping and waiting. No matter how many books Amy publishes down the road, this one will always hold a special place in her heart.

amy with book

Proud author with her new book baby.

Like me, many of you know Amy through Poetry Friday and her wonderful Poem Farm blog. Did you also follow along as she posted a poem every day for an entire year back in 2010? I’ve been honored to share several of her poems right here at Alphabet Soup: she was a Poetry Potluck guest in 2011, sharing her famous Pineapple Slices, she brought a peanut butter jellyfish sandwich to our Peanut Butter Lovers Month celebration not too long ago, and her lovely poem “Apple Pockets” was featured in Nicole Gulotta’s guest post.

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friday feast: a peek at world rat day by j. patrick lewis and anna raff

Posted in book reviews (all genres), picture books, poetry friday, tagged , , , , , , , , on March 22, 2013 | 50 Comments »

rat day cover (2)450

Usually I don’t like to say this in polite company, but ahem . . .  I smell a rat!

Actually four rats, nattily sporting bowtie, necktie, fedora, and boater, casually working the stripes, football jerseys, overalls, scuba gear and yes, bunny ears, as they boogie, strut, scamper and cavort through the pages of this brand new poetry collection by our studly but relentlessly mischievous Children’s Poet Laureate, J. Patrick Lewis.

Due props to him and award-winning illustrator Anna Raff for creating this zany celebration of 22 “Real Holidays You’ve Never Heard Of ” in World Rat Day (Candlewick, 2013), destined to be an instant favorite among munchkins and short grown-ups who enjoy quirky-fun animal poems, what poet Bobbi Katz calls “ear food for elementary school kids.”

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