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. 😀

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.

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