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In the Bleak Midwinter — Beauty in Stark Times #PoetryFriday

Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.) And Merry Christmas to all who are celebrating! This week, I’m sharing two different things. First up is a pair of wistful haiku, which was our Poetry Princesses prompt this month. (I’m updating this post on my phone, as we lost internet during our Minnesota

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Passing by a Winter Cottage

Chimney Smoke or Wireless Fires #PoetryFriday

Happy Poetry Friday, friends! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.) I haven’t been writing much new poetry recently. My days are filled with copyediting and passage writing, and I’m grateful for the work. I also have some internal plans for poetry “continuing education” in the new year:>) For now, though, I’ll probably be resharing

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I’d Rather Stick With You #PoetryFriday

Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.) How is it possibly December? Yowza. Last week, Irene Latham shared a lovely gift guide post, pairing gift ideas with her books. Love that…and stealing the idea. Here are some of my books from the past year or two, along with a few ideas to

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Letter to a Thief — AKA Gifts from 2020

Happy Poetry Friday! Welcome, everyone! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.) And Happy Thanksgiving to all my U.S. friends! This post almost didn’t happen, so this will be quick! Our Poetry Princess challenge was hindsight, examined by revising or responding to an earlier poem. I didn’t really follow that direction (guilty look here). I

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A Flossing Day Poem #ClassroomConnections

I bet you thought this Friday was just a shopping day. Wrong! It’s Flossing Day (no, not the dance). So grab your dental floss and review good techniques…and celebrate with this poem from In the Middle of the Night. Bet you didn’t know dental floss had so much fun without us! I had a good

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When Hope Is Not Easy

When Hope Is Not Easy #PoetryFriday

Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.) I’m sharing a poem I wrote shortly before the election four years ago. (It was a Poetry Princess prompt then.) For the first time in four years, I feel hopeful about our country. While personal things have been emotional this past week (MORE surgery for

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Sing and Share for National Family Week #ClassroomConnections

National Family Week is coming up later this month (Nov. 21–27). Talking about families with your students? Check out these two activities from the teaching guide that goes with my book Meet My Family. This first one’s a song–no materials needed!   And this one lets your students share and celebrate their own family and

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Qualities I Love in Art Forms and How They’re Reflected in What I Write

I was so honored to be part of the SCBWI/Smithsonian Nonfiction Conference! I was on a panel Saturday about The Personal Journey to Nonfiction. (It started right after Biden’s win was announced, and I was positively shaking with excitement and relief!) The panel was based on Melissa Stewart’s fabulous new anthology, Nonfiction Writers Dig Deep.

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Winter Is the Warmest Season, a free verse poem by Laura Purdie Salas

Winter Is the Warmest Season #PoetryFriday

Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.) I love winter, even though I don’t do any winter sports. It’s just a time of beauty and renewal for me. But this year, for the first time in so many years, I’m not looking forward to it. I guess it’s because my connections with

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They Have Their Uses, But… [Poetry Friday]

Happy Poetry Friday! Welcome, everyone! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.) Last week, I shared a Halloween poem (just in case you’re looking for spoooooky! :>) So, this month, our Poetry Princess challenge was “Oct 30: A naani poem, theme is foresight again (or autumn, or both).” A naani is 4 lines, between 20

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The Power of Water

November 10 marks the anniversary of the 1975 sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald, a Great Lakes freighter that went down in a storm in Lake Superior. (You guys know how much I’m fascinated by Great Lakes freighters, right? Some good publishing news on that coming up soon!) I’m grateful for water in so many ways,

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A Halloween Riddle-Ku [Poetry Friday]

Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.) Howdy, everyone–thanks for your warm thoughts last week. My sister was briefly out of the hospital but is back in 🙁 The yo-yoing back and forth is wearing her down. Anyway, your kind thoughts here and other social media really touched me and my sisters.

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National Cat Day Is Coming Up!

Finally, Clover Kitty’s day is coming–haha! She would like to knit and nap and perhaps do seesaws with her friend, Oliver. And she’d love to be part of your cat-themed storytime! Also, here’s a listing of cat-themed picture books, plus you’ll find a fabulous readaloud of Clover Kitty Goes to Kittygarten on my readaloud page.

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Stampede! Poems to Celebrate the Wild Side of School

Nesting [Poetry Friday]

Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.) You guys, it’s been a rough couple of weeks. My dad was in the hospital for several nights–he’s home and doing…sort of okay. Now my sister (the same one who had serious medical issues earlier this year) is back in the hospital and not doing

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Getting Ready for Winter

The days are getting brisker, here in Minnesota anyway, and the creatures are all preparing for the cold. If you’re studying topics like hibernation, migration, and adaptation, make sure to add Snack, Snooze, Skedaddle: How Animals Get Ready for Winter (Millbrook, illus by Claudine Gevry) to your list of resources. So far this fall, I’ve

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