Blog
[15 words or less poems] Eeek!
Photo: Laura Purdie Salas Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! Oh, my funny brother-in-law and sister-in-law. When we went to their house for games shortly after Easter, they stashed this Easter decoration in the tub so that I almost had a heart attack when I went into the
[15 words or less poems] Hard-Headed
Photo: Laura Purdie Salas Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! I love this sculpture?inside a building in downtown Minneapolis. I don’t usually like art of people, but abstractions like this are fun. It makes me think of: 1) Decorated skulls and bones in Europe 2) The framework of a
[My Writing Life] A Poetry Gift!
Aw, look at the cute shirt poet Joy Acey sent me! Joy and I (and Mary Lee Hahn and Charles Waters, too!) both have poems on a Poem in Your Pocket handout that Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong put together). So Joy made the handout into a t‑shirt and sent me one. How sweet is
[poem starter audio] You’d Better Be Scared (by me)
I’m trying something new today, inspired by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater’s post at Author Amok during Laura Shovan’s Techno-Verse celebration.?I recorded a poem starter audio using SoundCloud, which I’d never tried before. Thanks, Amy and Laura, for showing me this tool. It took me a while to figure out some tech details, and I’m not sure
[15 words or less poems] Juliet?
Photo: Laura Purdie Salas Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! Last week’s photo: That was a set of plastic Easter eggs, opened, and placed on top of my open laptop. We recently went to a Gordon Lightfoot concert at the State Theatre in downtown Minneapolis. Each time we go
[15 words or less poems] Who Knows?
Photo: Laura Purdie Salas Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! I think you’ll know right away what this is, but I’m not going to say in case anyone doesn’t know. It’s fun to write poems inspired by an ambiguous image! Here’s what this one makes me think of:
[15 words or less poems] Is That a #2 Pencil?
Photo: Laura Purdie Salas Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! I took this pic at a winterguard show (the activity color guards’do over the winter, performing with flags, rifles, sabers, and other props) a few weeks ago. Here’s what it makes me think of: 1) How hard school
[poetry friday] “Shades of Red” — a Poem Starter
1) Monday will begin National Poetry Month, and there will be all sorts on kidlitosphere poetry fun! I hope to feature a Poem Starter daily, with poems by lots of my favorite poets! . .2222)?? 2) This week, my poem is “Shades of Red,” from my book? Flashy, Clashy, and Oh-So Splashy: Poems about
[15 words or less poems] The Mystery of the Sphinx
Photo: Laura Purdie Salas Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! Here’s a shot from outside The Luxor in Las Vegas, from my NCTE trip. This sphinx makes me think of: 1) Riddles, of course! 2) Having a root canal (something about that structure under his chin reminds me
[my writing life] Forget Goals–Make a Dream List
Forget setting goals! No, don’t do that. I love goals, and I make tons of annual goals, monthly goals, weekly to-do lists, etc. It’s the only way I can accomplish at least 50% of all the things I want to do. My goals are measurable, realistic, and within my control. But… It’s important to dream,
[poetry friday] “I Am Fog” — a Poem Starter
1) If you’re a published poet with an in-print children’s poetry collection available in a printed version, and you’re interested in having a poem used in my Poem Starter series, please see my post from Tuesday! . 2) March Madness Poetry continues, and today, voting is live on the Sweet Sixteen matchups. Only eight pairs
[15 words or less poems] Gnarled
It’s March Madness Poetry time and the Sweet Sixteen poem matchups should be live soon. Visit, read, and vote:>)? Photo: Laura Purdie Salas Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! I took this picture of a quirky-looking fruit, though I can’t remember where I took it. It was either in
[poetry friday] “Blow It Up, Pufferfish” — My March Madness Poetry Poem
There’s a crazy poetry battle going on, and it’s March Madness Poetry, created by Ed DeCaria! I had to use the word “fickle” in my poem, and I decided to write about the shape-shifting pufferfish (aka blowfish). I’m battling it out in Round One right now, and voting ends this afternoon at 3 p.m. U.S.
[15 words or less poems] Where Would You Like This Camel Delivered?
It’s March Madness Poetry time! Voting is now live on Round 1 Poems. My matchup is here–my pufferfish goes up against Walt Disney. I hope you’ll go check both poems out and vote for your favorite…and then browse through all the other match-ups, too! Photo: Screen capture from An Idiot Abroad, a Ricky Gervais
[my writing life] Failure IS an Option
OK, this year has been incredibly good for writing news for me so far. There has been a book sale (more details to come after I sign a contract), a Minnesota Book Award Finalist, a Cybils award, Scholastic Book Club fun, Golden Kite Picture Book Text Honor, another honor I can’t announce yet, the Riverby
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