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X Marks What? [15 Words or Less Poems]
Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines are here)! I love trees and their shadows! This picture makes me think of: X marks the spot (of what?) Could you climb a shadow? Do shadows wish their casters would MOVE more so they could play together? And, here’s my first draft.
Unwrapped, a Wild Poetry Cheer for Irene Latham
Happy blogiversary, Irene Latham, and thank you for inviting us to share in your theme of WILD this year! I live in the suburbs and have lived in the suburbs my whole life. I know it’s easy to trash talk about the suburbs, but, frankly, I’m pretty happy here. Would I like to live out
Ekphrastic Poems with the Poetry Sisters [Poetry Friday]
Happy Poetry Friday! It’s that time again–we Poetry 7 are sharing poems! Last month, we Poetry 7 wrote etherees, which I loved! This month, we tackled ekphrastic poems–all inspired by the same image. Tanita Davis shared this one, which caught our eyes and our imagination right away.
Armor [15 Words or Less Poems]
Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines are here)! I took this picture in Edinburgh Castle, I’m pretty sure. The swords and armor felt appropriate after all the cool costumes of Halloween! This picture makes me think of: I wonder if knights handed down armor to their little brothers? The baskets
A Tree Can Be…, by Mrs. Vallarino’s 3rd-Grade Class
As a writer, nothing makes me feel better than knowing that my words inspired someone else to do something: to write, to think differently, to take some kind of action (or even just to relax, to laugh, or to learn). Last month, I got the nicest letter from teacher Ashley Vallarino, who wrote: I am
Airplane Window [15 Words or Less Poems]
Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines are here)! I took this picture on an overseas flight a couple of years ago. There’s something about seeing clouds from overhead that makes me feel a lot safer while flying–totally irrational, but I can’t help it. It’s like they’re a safety net waiting
Water Can Be… Chinese!
At a library event this past spring, a woman introduced herself to me and explained that she had translated Water Can Be… into Chinese for Lerner, my publisher. Cool! I just received my 5 copies and thought I’d share. The paper is porous, not glossy, so Violeta Dabija’s gorgeous art is more muted than in
Poetryaction and Bookalikes for In Mary’s Garden
Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.) If you’re not a regular reader here, welcome! I share poetryactions, or poems written in reaction to picture books (usually) on a fairly regular basis. And I’m sharing one today! In Mary’s Garden, a lovely picture book biography of unconventional artist Mary Nohl made
Cows [15 Words or Less Poems]
Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines are here)! I took this picture in Ireland. I always picture sheep and cow barns as so warm and cozy, but the reality rarely supports that! This picture makes me think of: Waiting in line for my turn on the slide Horses/mules that used
Poetryaction for Toad Weather
I had read Sandra Markle’s Toad Weather, and I was just in a mood to play with words, so I started jotting. Out came “toads”
License Plate Poetry
Yesterday, I was sharing the opening poem of BookSpeak! and how it came to be the opening poem. Well, last week was my birthday, and Randy, my husband, and I were spending a few days up on the North Shore of Lake Superior–one of my favorite places in the whole world! We had just parked
Writing Openings
A couple of weeks ago, I posted about working on the opening to my next picture book. I still haven’t heard if the opening I submitted will fly or not, but I thought I’d follow up here and share a couple of openings written after the fact. A lot of times, the meat of the
Poetryaction and Bookalikes for Emu
Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.) If you’re not a regular reader here, welcome! I share poetryactions, or poems written in reaction to picture books (usually) on a fairly regular basis. And I’m sharing one today! One of my favorite things about Claire Saxby’s Emu is her use of
Pipes [15 words or less poems]
Hello, my fun 15 Words or Less community! Today, I’m driving home from a FABULOUS 4 days on the North Shore of Lake Superior. That’s one of my favorite places on earth, and Randy and I have been just hanging out, soaking up fall beauty, reading, playing Scrabble, and getting away from it all. (This
Poetryaction and Bookalikes for By Mouse & Frog
Deborah Freedman’s By Mouse & Frog made me think about the old adage of opposites attract, and how so often kids are indeed friends
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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