Small Reads for Brighters Days
Minnapolis writer Lisa Bullard has a terrific new children’s book out called You Can Write a Story. It’s a great tool for kids and for teachers. It uses a cooking analogy to walk you through the steps of writing a story. It’s clear, easy to understand, and fun. I find that writing books for kids often have […]
I’ve been gathering the poetry books not yet nominated for Cybils in an effort to decide what to use my nomination on! I figured I’d share a little about the books when I have time (ha!). This morning, I read Polar Bear, Arctic Hare: Poems of the Frozen North, by Eileen Spinelli, illustrated by Eugenie Fernandes […]
I was reading a poetry collection last week called Dying Old and Dying Young, by Susan Williams, and I got a kick out of her poem, “Personals.” Personals Looking for a man who doesn’t know his sign or resting heart rate; who only runs to catch a bus; can’t tell sushi from raw fish. Thinks […]
Rick Chrustowski I’m excited to be taking part in Blogging for the Cure, where we’re featuring just some (but you can discover the rest of them when you visit the auction) of the wonderful illustrators and snowflakes of Robert’s Snow, an auction of illustrated snowflakes to raise funds for cancer research. Today I’m featuring Rick […]
So, I read about the double dactyl form of poetry on Kelly Fineman’s blog on Poetry Friday and decided to try one this weekend. I had never even heard of it! Yesterday, as my kids were were shopping for inappropriate Halloween costumes (who knew the devil wore such a short skirt?), I plunked myself down in […]
Recently I was working on a revision of poetry collection/cycle. It started out as 23 poems. An editor liked it but wanted more characterization, more depth. She didn’t say anything about more poems, exactly, but somehow as I revised and freewrote, I ended up with a total of 106 poems! Here are some of […]
After posting Mary Oliver’s Alligator Poem last week, I decided to try my hand at writing a poem about my biggest fear. Alligators are a phobia of mine, but not something I really worry about here in Minnesota! I knew my greatest fear was bad news about one of my daughters. Horrible news from a […]
I want the bodies of lots of different people. I wish I had her legs, her stomach, her arms, etc. But last week at the gym one day, I had an odd experience. I was walking behind a woman whose body looked like mine when mine is at its best. She was the same build, […]
I grew up in Florida near a lake and I have many memories involving alligators. Not good memories. They terrify me. And before I was old enough to be terrified, I was in rather close proximity a few times. Never attacked or chased, but close proximity is close enough for me! They still evoke a […]
