Blog

WATER CAN BE… Trailer #2 (Family-Style!)
Excited that Water Can Be… got a lovely review in this month’s Booklist: Like its predecessor, A Leaf Can Be … (2012), this picture book explores an aspect of the natural world in a way that is imaginative but ultimately informative. A fine choice for reading aloud in the classroom or at home. ? Carolyn

“Ocean Tales,” by Laura Purdie Salas, pt. 2
Usually in this feature, I share my process as a reader reading a poem someone else wrote. But for this one, I’m sharing the writing process behind a poem I shared last week on Poetry Friday, “Ocean Tales.” I was working on a set of poems that eventually became BOOKSPEAK! POEMS ABOUT BOOKS (Clarion, 2011),

“Ocean Tales,” by Laura Purdie Salas [Poetry Friday]
view cop(R(. I’m sharing an unpublished poem today, one I originally wrote as part of the collection that became BookSpeak! Poems About Books (Clarion, 2011).? I hope you like it! Ocean Tales Each book is a drop in an ocean of choices, A glimpse of a maybe that someday might be. A watery world full

Ghostly [15 words or less]
Photo: Laura Salas Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! This was?a cool scene during a color guard winter show recently.?Here are?3 things this photo makes me think of: 1)? The Boy in the Plastic Bubble (anyone remember that old movie?) 2)? a butterfly?eager to break out of its cocoon

WATER CAN BE… Trailer #1
Yikes! My pub date (April 1) for Water Can Be… (Millbrook) is fast approaching! I’m thrilled that the book got a starred review from Kirkus, and I’ve been working on a set of five different short videos for it. Two are basic trailers, one focuses on WaterAid and global water issues, one is about the

Lobster [15 words or less]
Photo: Laura Salas Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! This was part of some wall art at The Smack Shack in Minneapolis, made, according to the server, by making molds of real lobsters. Ick.?Here are?3 things this photo makes me think of: 1)’dentures 2)?the plaster handprints kids make for

Snow Cloud [15 words or less]
Photo: Randy Salas Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! I took this picture a few days ago on the North Shore of Lake Superior. I was gathering lots?of images of water in various forms to use in materials related to my forthcoming book, Water Can Be.… The temps were

Mirror [15 words or less]
Photo: Laura Salas Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! I took this pic downtown (Minneapolis) because I liked the way the mirrors made it look like there were bowls holding these decorative balls, when there were really only half-bowls. Here are?3 things this photo makes me think of: 1)?the

Blush (by Laura Purdie Salas) [poetry friday]
I’ve got a poem up as poem of the day?at PoetryMinute.org, the site started by U.S. Children’s Poet Laureate Kenn Nesbitt that features a children’s poem every day. Today, starting at 7 a.m. and for 24 hours, my poem “Blush” from Stampede! Poems to Celebrate the Wild Side of School, will be up.??Stampede! recently went

Tracks [15 words or less]
Photo: Laura Salas Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! I took this pic while walking Captain Jack Sparrow by the lake. I love these tracks leading off into the distance.?Here are?3 things this photo makes me think of: 1)?tightrope walker 2)?the Yellow Brick Road 3) those little dress-up shoes

Look Up! [15 words or less]
Photo: Laura Salas Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! I took this pic inside the Luxor hotel in Vegas last year. When I’m looking for interesting pictures, I often look up. We tend to ignore what’s overhead most of the time. At least I do. So, maybe this

Rope [15 words or less]
Photo: Laura Salas Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! This is a closeup pic, and?here are 3 things this photo makes me think of: 1)?Shampoo commercial 2)?Rope swing 3) Hangman’s noose And here’s my first draft. I had fun with my Things To Do poem last week and decided

Bridge [15 words or less]
Photo: Laura Salas Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! Hi, everyone–sorry if you got an incorrect email of this post yesterday (and it was probably still last week’s post, anyway). I’m switching over servers, and it’s a big honking mess! Anyway. Here’s a pic from our trip to

Song of the Ice Storm [poetry friday]
I wasn’t planning to post today, but Betsy’s Michigan poems inspired me when I stopped by to check out the round-up. So for my daily poem this morning, I wrote Song of the Ice Storm. Song of the Ice Storm winter storm swoops in on silent wings, but it nests in noise: it clatters and

The View [15 words or less]
?? ? Photo: Laura Salas Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines are here)! Happy New Year! I mentioned earlier this week that I’ll be making some pretty major changes to the blog this year, but 15 Words or Less will not be going anywhere:>) I will be trying to increase
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