children's poetry

nosing around

~ jama ~ 25 Comments

“You can pick your friends, you can pick your nose, but you can’t pick your friend’s nose.” ~ John Green

I smell something funny.

“Running Nose #93” by Stephen Green (2011), via Saatchi Art.
BE GLAD YOUR NOSE IS ON YOUR FACE
by Jack Prelutsky

Be glad your nose is on your face,
not pasted on some other place,
for if it were where it is not,
you might dislike your nose a lot.

Imagine if your precious nose
were sandwiched in between your toes,
that clearly would not be a treat,
for you’d be forced to smell your feet.

Your nose would be a source of dread
were it attached atop your head,
it soon would drive you to despair,
forever tickled by your hair.

Within your ear, your nose would be
an absolute catastrophe,
for when you were obliged to sneeze,
your brain would rattle from the breeze.

Your nose, instead, through thick and thin,
remains between your eyes and chin,
not pasted on some other place—
be glad your nose is on your face!

~ from The New Kid on the Block (Greenwillow, 1984).

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nine cool things on a tuesday

~ jama ~ 11 Comments

1. April Come She Will: Nothing lifts the spirit and fills the heart with hope like Spring. Flower buds on trees, daffodils abloom, enchanting greening of the land.

Enjoy some of UK artist Lucy Grossmith’s lovely paintings which showcase the delicate beauty of nature in exquisite detail.

Lucy grew up in the Lincolnshire countryside and now lives and works in Suffolk, England. She’s always been surrounded and inspired by nature and enjoys walking outdoors, where she sketches and makes mental notes of flora, fauna, colors, textures, and weather conditions – all ingredients for her work.

She paints with acrylics on canvas or textured paper, focusing on gardens, wildlife, countryside, and coastal landscapes. I like the soft, feminine feel to her pictures and immersing myself in her idyllic scenes which seem to say, relax and stay awhile. 🙂

For more, visit Lucy’s Official Website, “Heart to Art,” where you can purchase original paintings and prints. Greeting cards are also available online via several different sites, including Orchard Cards and House of Cards. Keep current with her Instagram.

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nine cool things on a tuesday

~ jama ~ 12 Comments

1. Happy June! The lazy days of summer are just about upon us. How will you while away the hours — relaxing on a quiet beach, sharing ice cream with friends, or indulging in some midsummer magic with your favorite critters?

Michigan artist and illustrator Gretchen Ellen Powers helps us envision the possibilities in her beautiful pictures. In fact, her debut picture book, Summer’s Call (written by Amber Lynn Hellewell) captures the feeling of a “Michigan summer,” something she’s known well since childhood.

The nostalgic feel and soft, muted palette of Gretchen’s art is reminiscent of Tasha Tudor. I also see a touch of Amy June Bates in how she draws her characters. I like the old fashioned throwback to classics such as Anne of Green Gables and Little Women in some of her pictures — a comforting nod to simpler times. And one of her favorites is Beatrix Potter. 🙂

Prior to Summer’s Call, she created 30 interior illustrations for the 75th Anniversary Edition of the Boxcar Children. She’s also done label and greeting card design and editorial work for such clients as The Telegraph (Stella Magazine), Mollie Makes, Lionheart Magazine, and Creature Comforts.

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[review] Champion Chompers, Super Stinkers and Other Poems by Extraordinary Animals by Linda Ashman and Aparna Varma

~ jama ~ 32 Comments

When it comes to the animal kingdom, just who is the tops?

Who’s the fastest flyer, the smallest mammal, the best long-distance runner?

Readers of all ages will have fun guessing the best of the best in Champion Chompers, Super Stinkers and Other Poems by Extraordinary Animals (Kids Can Press, 2023). In Linda Ashman’s lively, cleverly crafted mask (persona) poems, 19 animal contestants compete for the top prize by hinting at their identities, proudly citing what makes them amazing in some way.

AERIE ARCHITECT

No dreary cave,
No teensy cup,
No rocky shore will do.

I want the best:
A spacious nest
And dazzling penthouse view.

Each poem appears on a righthand page with an illustration showing only part of its body (a tail, a wing, a neck, a trunk). Readers then flip to the next page for a full view of the animal, its claim to fame, and a paragraph of fascinating facts, including how the animal’s superlative features were measured.

Poems are playful, engaging, and brim with personality. Who can resist such a fun guessing game while learning about creatures from the land, sea, and air? There’s a nice mix of familiar animals (skunk, crocodile, giraffe) with less familiar ones (Pronghorn, Eurasian Hoopoe, Etruscan Shrew). I was especially happy to see two of my favorite animals included: elephants and sloths (that sloths are the slowest of mammals makes me love them even more; besides, we both really like just hanging around). 🙂

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[review] Tierra, Tierrita/Earth, Little Earth/Tal, Talchin by Jorge Argueta and Felipe Ugalde Alcántara

~ jama ~ 30 Comments

She is the oldest and most beautiful mother of all the elders. At once gentle and powerful, she is mountain, seed, cornfield, flower. Mother Earth. She is all and everything; she is life itself.

In Tierra, Tierrita/Earth, Little Earth (Piñata Books, 2023), Mother Earth introduces herself, detailing her expanse, majesty, and ongoing evolution. The fourth title in Argueta and Alcántara’s award-winning trilingual Madre Tierra/Mother Earth series about the natural world, it follows Agua, Agüita/Water, Little Water; Fuego/Fueguito/Fire, Little Fire; and Viento, Vientito/Wind, Little Wind. All four books illustrate the interconnectedness of all living things and express a deep reverence for our precious planet.

Mi nombre es Tierra
pero todos me conocen por Tierrita.

Yo soy la Madre Tierra
Ilena de todos los colores
y de todos los sabores.

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My name is Earth
but people call me Little Earth.

I am Mother Earth
full of all the colors
and all the flavors.

Encompassing north, south, east and west, she is the Mother of Water, Fire, and Wind. Though others may call her “planet,” “nature,” or “creation,” she most likes “Mother Earth, Little Earth.” Spinning around the sun since time immemorial, she sings of flora and fauna, and is “the tiniest insect, the juiciest fruit, the most delicious greens you’ve ever tasted.”

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