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A Tender Celebration of Family
Happy Valentine’s Day! I love the nice review that Publishers Weekly gave Meet My Family! recently: In a tender celebration of family, more than 20 baby animals describe the ways the adults in their lives care for them. A baby beaver has lived in one home for all of its life, but an orangutan infant
Charles Drew and National Red Cross Month [Classroom Connections]
Charles Drew, an African American doctor, was the director of the American Red Cross’ first blood collection program in 1941. That same year, the Red Cross announced it wouldn’t accept blood from African Americans. An outcry from many African Americans forced a change in the program, but the Red Cross kept blood from African Americans
Dandelion Poem [Poetry Friday]
Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.) I’m sharing another calendar poem this week. (Read what these are and suggest a word here.) This week’s calendar poem was written before last week’s–which I really struggled with! This one came a little more easily (whew!). Thank you to katmaz@mac.com for “dandelion,” Margaret Simon
Tile Trees [15 Words or Less]
Hello, and welcome! This is 15 Words or Less Poems, a low-pressure way to wake up your poetry brain (guidelines here), and I’m very glad you’re here. Would you like to suggest a word for one of my poems? I’ve had fun with “winter,” “cymbal,” and “jar” recently! Please click here to suggest a word
A Poem for Read Across America Day! #ClassroomConnections
March 2 is Read Across America Day! Here’s a poem to start off your storytime. When I read this poem with kids, I act out the poem using simple motions that they can mimic. Give it a try! Calling All Readers I’ll tell you a story. I’ll spin you a rhyme. I’ll spill some ideas—
A Celebration of ALL Kinds of Families and a Blog Tour!
First things first. Happy 30th anniversary to my fantastic husband, Randy Salas! My writing and career would be very different without him in my life. Now, onto book stuff:>) Last week, I did my first school visit since receiving my author copies of Meet My Family, and it was great to read it aloud
More Than Two Sides, a Tanka About Truth [Poetry Friday]
Happy Poetry Friday! Welcome, everyone! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.) So, this month, our Poetry Princess challenge was my choice, so it’s extra frustrating that I found it SO challenging. I chose tanka (non-rhyming form with a 5/7/5/7/7 syllable count) as our form, because I like short poems. But I also wanted our
Winter Sky [15 Words or Less]
Hello, and welcome! This is 15 Words or Less Poems, a low-pressure way to wake up your poetry brain (guidelines here), and I’m very glad you’re here. Thank you for your poems last week! In case you’re wondering, that was a filtered picture of water pouring into my bathtub. The orange “straw” at the right
A Poem for Black History Month and for Dreamers [Classroom Connections] [Poetry Friday]
Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.) [My Classroom Connections posts will share a way to connect one of my books or poems to a classroom topic–often something timely that you might be covering in the next month or so. Please share this post if you have educator friends who might be
Avalanche? [15 Words or Less]
Hello, and welcome! This is 15 Words or Less Poems, a low-pressure way to wake up your poetry brain (guidelines here), and I’m very glad you’re here. This image (which I’m not going to identify right now) makes me think of several things:
Supermoon, Blue Moon, AND Lunar Eclipse–January 31! [Classroom Connections]
[My Classroom Connections posts will share a way to connect one of my books or poems to a classroom topic–often something timely that you might be covering in the next month or so. Please share with your teacher friends you think might be interested. Thanks!] Look up! The supermoon on January 31 will also be
8 Things a Kid Believes In [Poetry Friday]
Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.) I wanted to give myself a new poetry challenge for 2018, and here’s what I decided to do. I had bought a Sierra Club desk calendar on clearance. Something about the empty spaces in their orderly 7 spots for each week made me want to
Angel Wings [15 Words or Less]
Hello, and welcome! This is 15 Words or Less Poems, a low-pressure way to wake up your poetry brain (guidelines here), and I’m very glad you’re here. I got so many beautiful holiday cards this year, and one of my favorites was from Poetry Princess Tanita, who sent one of those amazing pop-up cards I
When Death Moved In [Poetry Friday]
Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.) I hadn’t planned to post today, but this past couple of weeks, death has been touching the lives of Randy and me a lot in various forms. The death of our beloved dog, the death of a drum corps friend, the death of a comedian
Candle [15 Words or Less]
Hello, and welcome! This is 15 Words or Less Poems, a low-pressure way to wake up your poetry brain (guidelines here), and I’m very glad you’re here. Last week’s image was a close-up of the pompoms I use whenever we watch Dolphins games:>) This week, I give you: This image makes me think of several
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Are You Looking For?
Go to my Poetry page for:
- National Poetry Month projects through the years
- Small Reads Roundups (poems grouped by topic)
- Introductions to several favorite poetry forms