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Welcome to Rock the Blog: March 2015

Wheee! It’s publication day for A Rock Can Be…, my third and final Can Be… book with Millbrook Press! I’m celebrating here on my blog all month with pictures of rocks. I’ve gathered some interesting adjectives from teachers and kids, and each day, I’ll post a new picture of a rock (taken by me this

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Blizzard, by Barbara Juster Esbensen

Happy Poetry Friday! Usually, when I recommend poetry books–whether it’s to educators, kids, or aspiring poets–I recommend focusing on very current books. But Barbara Juster Esbensen is one of my favorites, and her poems always feel like they could have been written just this morning. In honor of the northeastern United States, which has gotten

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Yarn [15 words or less poems]

Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! It’s yarn–pretty yarn close-up. This image makes me think of: 1) split ends 2) Santa Claus 3) bird nest And here’s my?first draft. I thought about how I find random bits of fuzz and fabric on the ground sometimes, and it made me

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A Rock Can Be… Book Trailer + Adjectives Wanted

My new book comes out on Sunday, and here’s my trailer for it! Please share the trailer if you like it. I’d love for lots of people to see it! Also, for my March Rock the Blog pictorial event, I need some adjectives! So far, I have: Adjectives from Mrs. Simon’s GT Allstars: fluffy giant

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Wonder About the World…

Less than a week until A Rock Can Be… comes out! This Sunday, March 1, the final book in the Can Be… trio tumbles into stores. I’ve been thinking about what it is I have really tried to do with these books, and I feel like a lot of what these books are REALLY about,

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Old Tree [15 words or less poems]

Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! I think this tree was near Niagara Falls…but I’m not sure! Just one of those random pics I’ve had squirreled away for a 15 Words or Less day! OK, what kind of tree is this? I wanted to refer to a specific tree

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poetryaction and bookalikes for One Plastic Bag

This wonderful nonfiction picture book by Miranda Paul just came out–don’t miss it! It really made me think about the power of a single person. This book is about a woman who makes a tremendous difference in an environmental way.? I took a single line from it (the one about knowing too much) and put

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Why Don’t We Float Away? [why-ku]

Howdy! Today, I’m sharing (late, since I woke up and thought–Ack, did I do a post for this morning?) another pair of why-ku from Why-ku: Poems of Wonder About the World. A Note from the Poet: [Carnival] Sometimes you just have to let your weird brain take over when you write poems. The image of

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Meet My Collaborator, Mary Lee Hahn

I have just finished creating the sixth (and final, for now, at least) book in my 30 Painless Classroom Poems series. Most of you probably already know my collaborator for this one, but if not, I’d like to introduce you to Mary Lee Hahn, who created a fantastically thoughtful activity guide for Why-ku: Poems of

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Why Can’t I Fly: Why-ku by Laura Purdie Salas [Poetry Friday]

Happy Poetry Friday! It’s been a busy week, and I’ve been under the weather. Sniffle, sneeze. Cough-cough-cough. But I’m pleased to share a pair of why-ku from my latest 30 Painless Classroom Poems book, Why-ku: Poems of Wonder About the World. Mary Lee Hahn wrote the activity guide for this one! I’ll share about her

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Onion [15 words or less poems]

Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! I just got a nifty little macro-lens for my iPhone. The other day, I was filling our onion powder spice jar, using a funnel. When I set the funnel down on the stove, tip up, I saw there was this little rim of

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