soup of the day: bookspeak by laura purdie salas and josée bisaillon

Speaking of books, BookSpeak!, a brand new poetry collection written by Laura Purdie Salas and illustrated by Josée Bisaillon, is officially out today!! WooHoo!

You’re gonna love all the quirky, illuminating poems (a veritable cacophony of wonderful voices) and the exuberant pictures that go with them. Talky talky talky!

But before we proceed any further, some party favors. First, a bookplate in honor of Laura (this one is not to be confused with the bookplate in Poem #12, who reminds us: “I don’t need your napkin./I’m not your soup bowl’s mate.”)

 

Next, in honor of Josée, a unicycle! You have your pick of colors. Feel free to cruise around the rest of this post on it.

 

Of course, to show both Laura and Josée just how excited you really are, you should balance your bookplate on your head while atop your uni! ☺

Okay, back to BookSpeak!

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something sweet from laura purdie salas

#18 in the Poetry Potluck Series, celebrating National Poetry Month 2010.


 Penny Candy Store in McCloud, CA by mlhradio.

Just for today, let’s go to an old fashioned candy store!

What would you like? How about some root beer barrels, salt water taffy, red hots, sour balls, or peppermint sticks? Maybe some licorice, Smarties, gumballs, Gummi Bears or wax lips? Don’t forget the Mary Janes, Bit-o-Honey, fireballs, and caramels!


 mosaic by simplyembellish.

Can’t decide? Me neither. So many colors, shapes, sizes, and textures — hard, chewy and crunchy. I just want something to last as long as possible ☺. Good thing Laura Salas has dropped by with a special poem about the quintessential childhood candy, lollipops!

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soup of the day special edition: stampede by laura purdie salas and steven salerno

 

Look out! Take cover! Clear the decks!

A stampede is coming!!

Just two days from now, Monday, April 6th, to be exact, Stampede!: Poems to Celebrate the Wild Side of School, by the amazingly prolific author and poet, Laura Purdie Salas, will be officially released through Clarion Books! WooHoo!!

That’s right. One of Poetry Friday’s regular participants, deemed last year an official Poetry Princess, she of the famous 15 Words or Less weekly poetry writing feature, is launching her first trade book collection of poems for kids.

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soup of the day: seven more titles by laura purdie salas!



Holy Lettuce, Batman!

Laura Purdie Salas has gone and done it again!

Do you remember back in January, when I made some soup celebrating Laura’s seven (!) new books? Well, this month, uber-prolific Laura has seven more titles out (as far as I know)!

There are four new titles in the A+ Books Poetry Series published by Capstone Press, and three new titles in the Amazing Science Series published by Picture Window Books. Laura’s Amazing Science books, illustrated by Jeff Yesh, are geared for grades 1-4 (24 pp):

From Mealworm to Beetle: Following the Life Cycle
From Seed to Daisy: Following the Life Cycle
From Seed to Maple Tree: Following the Life Cycle.

         

You may remember that the A+ books (PreK-2) contain stunning photographs paired with Laura’s expertly crafted poems on various subjects. This new batch includes:

Always Got My Feet: Poems about Transportation
Chatter, Sing, Roar, Buzz: Poems about the Rain Forest
A Fuzzy-Fast Blur: Poems about Pets
Lettuce Introduce You: Poems about Food.


Did somebody say FOOD?

Pre-readers will love hearing these poems read aloud as they pore over the exuberant larger-than-life and life-size photos. Early readers will love sounding out all the delicious and crunchy words as they explore the essence of different foods. Laura serves up a variety of poetic forms, too — limerick, acrostic, concrete, haiku, and limerick.

It’s very hard to resist licking the pages, as there’s sushi, spaghetti, buttered corn-on-the-cob, s’mores, a skyscraper sandwich, a waffle, and my favorite, *drum roll, please*, a hearty bowl of alphabet soup! There are glossaries in the back with poetic terms and word definitions, as well as suggestions for further study (book titles and internet links). Highly recommended for home schoolers and school libraries!

Well, folks, today you’re allowed seven helpins’ of soup to properly congratulate Laura for all these great new titles (I’ve got my ladle ready for refills). These books are the perfect way to begin a new school year — so click on through!

 
        Today’s Special: Salas Salada (food of choice for souper women)

Check out Laura’s website and blog for more about her books and online courses. She’s also co-blogging with Fiona Bayrock over at Bubble Stampede. Both ladies have trade books coming out next year and are chronicling their promotional efforts. Laura is very excited because her new book, Stampede: Poems about the Wild Side of School (Clarion, 2009), will be her first trade book, after years of publishing for the educational market.

                       

*Special thanks to Mary Hershey for use of the photo!