Today we’re featuring a brand new Lee Bennett Hopkins poetry anthology on the eve of what would have been his 86th birthday. With an official pub date of April 16, it’s great to have one of Lee’s last edited books to help us celebrate National Poetry Month.
Back in 2015, when I asked him to be a HotTEA of Children’s Poetry for a short series I was running, this is what he said:
“You literally have me in stitches knowing I might be a HotTEA. Of course I will get a photo to you as soon as.
I’ll have Charles take a photo of something very special with me and tea, a drink I adore…especially hot tea!”
He then sent a photo, asking, “Is this HotTEA enough? If not, I’ll send another.” Plenty hot, but he ended up sending another anyway. Both were so hot I needed oven mitts to handle them. 😀
Though Lee liked various teas, a particular favorite was Twinings of London Ceylon Orange Pekoe. He also wanted to make sure I noticed the purple flowers on his teacup.
Lee is deeply missed and this new book feels like a birthday gift from him to all of us.
With fourteen poems selected by Lee, lovingly illustrated by New Hampshire artist Lita Judge, Bless Our Pets: Poems of Gratitude for Our Animal Friends (Eerdmans BFYR, 2024) is a book to hug and hold close.
Poets include:
• Ann Whitford Paul • Rebecca Kai Dotlich • Linda Trott Dickman • Eric Ode • Ralph Fletcher • Sarah Grace Tuttle • Kristine O’Connell George • Darren Sardelli • B.J. Lee • Charles Ghigna • Lois Lowry • Prince Redcloud • Joan Bransfield Graham • Lee Bennett Hopkins
We read about thirteen different furry, feathered, and scaled animals, from puppies to parakeets, goldfish to gerbils. Mostly written in the first person addressing the pets themselves, the poems are a mix of free verse and rhymers. All express the singular love of cherished pets in tender, gentle, intimate terms, citing the endearing traits and antics that make them special.
“The scent of cinnamon is like a hug for your senses, wrapping you in comfort and nostalgia.” – Unknown
photo by Brent Hofacker.
What could be more enticing than the sweet spicy aroma of cinnamon wafting from the kitchen? It carries the promise of something scrumptious in the oven: apple pie? gingerbread? snickerdoodles, bread pudding?
Mmmmmmmm! Warm and woodsy cinnamon feels cozy and comforting. It speaks of Saturday morning cinnamon toast, late summer peach cobblers, hot mulled cider, nutty streusels and autumn’s molasses cookies. It’s snappy cinnamon tea and hot chocolate with whipped cream. Moreover, cinnamon is the smell of Christmas.
Good aromas transcend time and space by not only stimulating the appetite, but conjuring up satisfying, sensory-rich food memories. We thank Nebraska poet Judy Lorenzen for permission to share her poignant poem and for commenting on what inspired it.
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“Cinnamon Roll” by Justin Clayton
CINNAMON by Judy Lorenzen
with a line from William Butler Yeats
Where goes the memory wandering but to the house of my childhood to smell the sweet aroma of Mother's baking goods. Where her kneading hands are covered in butter or in flour where the crimson spice's fragrance hangs in the air for hours. And there is nothing better than in her presence here, to see her face, feel her embrace, I feel the welling tear. The loaves of bread and rolls dark red, were love that served the child, where time is gone and memory lives my mind rests for a while. I didn't know how fast time passed, holding her cinnamon-scented hand, For the world's more full of weeping than I could understand.
Cinnamon-Streusel Coffee Cake via King Arthur Flour.
NOTE FROM JUDY:
“I bought a cinnamon-scented candle the other day. After I opened the lid to take in the perfume, my mind went straight back to my childhood. My mother was such a wonderful mother, a natural teacher who was always teaching my six sisters and me about the flowers, night skies, stars, constellations, the birds and their songs—everything.
She taught my sisters and me to read before we went to school, using the King James Bible. She had memorized a lot of poetry in her childhood, and sometimes, these long, beautiful poems by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, W. B. Yeats, Robert Frost or John Neihardt, among others, would come pouring out of her. I’d watch her face glow as she quoted them and listen to the music in the poetry. I was mesmerized by her and all of her abilities—we all were. We just never stopped learning from that wonderful woman.
l to r: Jamey, Joy, Mom, Judy, Jonna & Jacki (Jo & Jill not pictured).
Because there were seven of us girls, she baked a lot, and we all loved those days. The cinnamon smell lingered around the house all day. When I walked home from Engleman Elementary on baking days, I could smell the cinnamon on the winds as I got closer to home, and I knew what was waiting inside those doors. Such sweet memories!
I write memoir poetry, and many times, a smell, a song, or a thought triggers a poem. The cinnamon candle made me think about how much I miss my mother and her sweetness, and I remembered that line from Yeats’s poem ‘The Stolen Child’ that I loved so much. I thought about how true it was that I didn’t understand then that the world was so full of weeping. I knew I had to end my poem with that line—she loved that poem.”
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Judy Lorenzen is a poet and writer who holds an MA in Creative Writing from the University of Nebraska at Kearney and a PhD in Rhetoric and Composition from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Her work appears in journals, anthologies, newspapers, magazines, and on calendars and websites.
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Lovely and talented Irene Latham is hosting the Roundup at Live Your Poem.Be sure to check out the full menu of poetic goodness being served up around the blogosphere this week. Enjoy your weekend!
It’s time once again to read, write, share, and simply indulge your love for poetry in every way. I’m happy to be back rounding everyone up this year and look forward to checking in with all of you throughout April.
New to National Poetry Month and wondering about ways to celebrate? Visit the NPM webpage at The Academy of American Poets (poets.org) for a cool list of activities, initiatives and resources. You can learn about Poem in Your Pocket Day (April 18), sign up for Poem-a-Day to receive poems in your inbox, and review 30 Ways to Celebrate NPM online, at home, in the classroom, or at readings/events near you. Do as much, or as little, as you please. Just enjoy!
The 2024 poster features artwork by award-winning children’s author and illustrator Jack Wong, and lines from “blessing the boats” by beloved poet Lucille Clifton. Wong was selected by Scholastic—the global children’s publishing, education, and media company—to create the artwork for this year’s poster as part of a new National Poetry Month initiative between the publisher and the Academy of American Poets. You can download a free PDF of this poster here, and check out the Teach This Poem lesson featuring the poem and the poster here.
Now, here’s a list of what some kidlit bloggers are doing. If you’re also celebrating National Poetry Month with a special project or blog event, or know of anyone else who is, please email me at: readermail (at) jamakimrattigan (dot) com, so I can add the information to this Roundup. Thanks, and have a beautiful, inspiring, uplifting, productive, and memorable April!
“Trees are poems that the earth writes upon the sky.” ~ Kahlil Gibran
It’s spring, it’s spring! At last, at last!
We must celebrate, of course.
The robins have returned from their winter vacations and our daffodils are showing off their cheery yellow bonnets. But to me the most dramatic part of the spring show is when the dogwoods bloom and the trees green up. One day, tiny little buds on bare branches, and the next, a rejuvenating leafy canopy. Somehow, this sudden transformation always takes me by surprise. No matter what kind of winter we’ve had, the leaves always come back, truly nature’s gift of hope.
“Dogwood Tree” by Peggy Davis.
Today I’m happy to share three poems from Allie Esiri’s anthology, A Poem for Every Spring Day (Macmillan Children’s Books, 2021). John Agard’s charming poem features a tree’s point of view, Larkin pauses to reflect on spring’s promise, and the way Nesbit whimsically personifies different tree species is sheer delight. They’re all a welcome balm after the cold, a good way to celebrate this season of growth and renewal.
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“Happy Tree” by Mary Price (acrylic on canvas, 2020).
A DATE WITH SPRING by John Agard
Got a date with spring Got to look me best. Of all the trees I’ll be the smartest dressed.
Perfumed breeze behind me ear. Pollen accessories all in place.
Raindrop moisturizer for me face, Sunlight tints to spruce up the hair.
What’s the good of being a tree if you can’t flaunt your beauty?
Winter, I was naked Exposed as can be. Me wardrobe took off with the wind.
Life was a frosty slumber. Now, spring here I come. Can’t wait to slip in to me little green number.
Jama's Alphabet Soup 