Blog
Mary Poppins [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 took this pic at the Maple Grove Chalk Art Festival two weekends ago. We went on Saturday morning, when the art was in the beginning stages. The
Bee Cookie [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. While my sister Patty was up this past week, we indulged in way too many sweet treats. Like this scrummy cookie from Byerly’s. This image makes me think
“The Genre Chant” [Poetry Friday]
Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.) The Journal of Children’s Literature has one of my poems in it in the spring 2017 edition. I initially wrote this poem to open a chapter on children’s literature genres in Terrell Young’s book, Children’s Literature, Briefly. Well, not JUST his book, but he’s the
Freeway Treeway [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. Saw this on the road the other day. This image makes me think of several things:
Leaving Things Behind — a Golden Shovel Poem [Poetry Friday]
Happy Poetry Friday! Welcome, everyone! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.) So, this month, our Poetry Princess challenge was to write a golden shovel poem. Tricia chose this prompt, and she also chose Gerard Manley Hopkins’ “Pied Beauty” as the poem we would all choose our lines from. This time around, I shared my
Catacombs [15 Words or Less Poems]
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. The Paris Catacombs are…overwhelming. So many bones. So many emotions: sadness, horror, reverence, acceptance, melancholy. We had gone to a bone chapel in Austria a few years ago,
Writing a Golden Shovel Poem: Day 5
[You can read Days 1, 2, 3, and 4 by clicking, if you like.] Well, you guys, I feel like sharing my process makes it sound like I have put hours and hours into this poem! But, really, it was just a stolen 15 minutes here and there. I have spent more time writing the
If You Were the Moon in School Library Journal…and Japan!
I’m excited to share this lovely review from the May/June issue School Library Journal. If You Were the Moon is a book that does more than one thing, and I’m always happy when a reviewer keys in to the different things going on in the book! SALAS, Laura Purdie. If You Were the Moon. illus.
Writing a Golden Shovel Poem: Day 4
[You can read Days 1, 2, and 3 by clicking, if you like.] After writing at Valleyfair, I took my poem on the road next to Taco Bell. I do most of my writing on my laptop or phone, but playing around with short poem drafts lends itself to longhand, sometimes. Here are the drafts
Writing Poems with 5th Graders [Poetry Friday]
Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.) Earlier this month, I got to write poems with the Literacy L.I.F.T. Club: Linking Imagination Fun & Text at Evergreen Park World Cultures Community School in Brooklyn Center, MN. My daughter Annabelle came along as an assistant, and we spent two hours writing poetry. Maurna
Sculpture of…? [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. At the Reykjavik, Iceland airport, this eye-catching statue dominates. I thought it was a berry, as I saw lots of berries on pillows and art while we were
Writing a Golden Shovel Poem: Day 3
[You can read day 1 and day 2 here.] Yesterday, I went to Valleyfair (theme park) with Randy and Maddie. It was a gorgeous day, high 60s and sunny, and the park was practically empty. No lines for anything–even the big coasters! We rode and ate and laughed–and I worked on my poem. Sadly, even
Writing a Golden Shovel Poem: Day 2
You can read Day 1 here. So, yesterday morning, I walked around a little pond. It was lovely, misty, and grey out, so nobody else was walking. That meant I could think about my poem and do a little brainstorming. I dictated possible lines into my poem based around this line: With swift, slow; sweet,
Summer Biopoem and Things to Do if You Are a Firework [Poetry Friday]
Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.) A couple of weekends ago, I spoke at the Minnesota Kindergarten Association annual conference. For an hour, I shared with 2–300 teachers why poetry matters, what the process is behind my poetry/science books, and other poetry books wonderful for K classrooms (fun to share so
Arc De Triomphe Stairway [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. Before we get to today’s picture, congratulations to Lauren McBride, longtime 15 Words or Less contributor, on her poem at YourDailyPoem.com. I subscribe to Your Daily Poem, and
Subscribe to Blog via Email
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