children’s poetry

nine cool things on a tuesday

~ jama ~ 15 Comments

1. Hello, April! We’re welcoming this brand new month with the colorful, exuberant work of Southern California artist Sharon Nullmeyer (a.k.a., “Nullsie”).

After living in New York for about a decade, Sharon moved back to California, where she enjoys the sunshine, tacos, plentiful flowers and her beautiful coastal town. She paints and draws every day (watercolor, gouache, acrylic, collage) and takes her sketchbook with her everywhere. I was immediately drawn to the fine details, whimsy, and joyful energy in her pieces.

A self-proclaimed “paper scrap hoarder,” Nullsie’s still life paintings reflect her love of flowers, nature, and antiques (she used to sell them in NY). She also loves pattern/surface design: “Sometimes I think I see the world through a secret looking glass that reveals to me fantastic color wheels of wonder & repeating patterns.”

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a little spring poetree

~ jama ~ 40 Comments

“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.

~ Copyright © 1983 by John Agard.

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[one review] One Perfect Plan by Nancy Tupper Ling and Alina Chau

~ jama ~ 13 Comments

When I was eleven my parents gave me a Bible for Christmas. It had a white faux leather cover with “Holy Bible: Concordance” printed in gold on the front.

Although I was too young to fully comprehend its significance to the civilized world, I knew I held in my hands a precious, sacred book, one that contained marvelous stories of mankind and miracles, fish and forbidden fruit, Jesus’s birth and resurrection. I also noted that the Bible seemed to be a book people often quoted from but didn’t necessarily read cover to cover.

If only there had been a picture book like One Perfect Plan: The Bible’s Big Story in Tiny Poems by Nancy Tupper Ling and Alina Chau (WaterBrook, 2023) to help me figure out how to approach such an intimidating tome! I would have had a beautifully illustrated lyrical roadmap of sorts — an appealing introduction to some of the best stories told within the context of the Bible’s larger message.

In One Perfect Plan, Nancy Tupper Ling accomplishes the daunting task of distilling the essence of beloved Bible stories from the Old and New Testaments in luminous rhyming couplets, all beginning with the word “One.” “One garden” for the garden of Eden, “One drop” for the great flood, “One stone” for the story of David and Goliath, and so on. A scriptural reference follows each poem.

The book opens with the Creation story from Genesis I, setting a dramatic tone:

One word --
then light breaks into darkness;
the sky, the seas, and life -- how wondrous!
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a fresh look at Emily Dickinson and Robert Frost

~ jama ~ 38 Comments

Let’s take a peek at the first two titles in the new Illustrated Poets Collection just released in August by Bushel & Peck Books.

Both The Illustrated Emily Dickinson and The Illustrated Robert Frost were edited by poet and educator Ryan G. Van Cleave, Creative Writing Coordinator at the Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota, Florida.

They each contain “25 Essential Poems” paired with David Miles’s gorgeous full color collages (he had me at those beautiful eye-catching covers). 🙂

~ from The Illustrated Robert Frost

In his welcoming series introduction, Van Cleave offers friendly suggestions for making the most of the books. He encourages readers to simply “enjoy the poems” rather than puzzle over the poet’s intentions or dwell on other people’s interpretations.

Next, it’s good to engage with the poems by asking questions such as:

  • What do you notice about this poem?
  • How does this poem make you feel?
  • What else have you read/seen/experienced that connects with this poem?

Finally, it’s important to “be your own boss” – read the poems in order or jump around as one sees fit. Share them with others or savor them by yourself. Read them aloud or “whisper their words in your heart.”

~ from The Illustrated Robert Frost

Ultimately, “there is NO wrong way to experience a poem.” This reminds me of Lee Bennett Hopkins saying that a poem is meant to be experienced rather than analyzed, and I think this goes a long way in making poetry less intimidating for the average reader.

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stepping into a book

~ jama ~ 46 Comments

Why, hello. Come right in!

I OPENED A BOOK
by Julia Donaldson

I opened a book and in I strode
Now nobody can find me.
I’ve left my chair, my house, my road,
My town and my world behind me.

I’m wearing the cloak, I’ve slipped on the ring,
I’ve swallowed the magic potion.
I’ve fought with a dragon, dined with a king
And dived in a bottomless ocean.

I opened a book and made some friends.
I shared their tears and laughter
And followed their road with its bumps and bends
To the happily ever after.

I finished my book and out I came.
The cloak can no longer hide me.
My chair and my house are just the same,
But I have a book inside me.

~ from Crazy Mayonnaisy Mum (Macmillan, 2004).
Edmund Dulac (Fairies I Have Met, written by Mrs. Rodolph Stawell, 1907).

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Now I’m wondering just how many books I’ve actually read in my life so far. I wish I had somehow kept track!

I do like thinking about all the books inside me, after years and years and years of happy reading – books that have widened my world and shaped who I am.

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