Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
Last week, I went to Plainview Library in Plainview, Minnesota, for a poetry event. My sister Patty (up from Florida) and daughter Maddie (home briefly from Scotland) came with me on this mini-road trip.
It was a small group of kids (always so hard to plan for library events, because you never know how many kids will show up and what ages) and the wonderful children’s librarian, Meg Curtiss. We wrote a Things to Do poem, a We Are poem, and Book Spine poems.
And then I shared a few poems from my 2019 picture book of riddle-ku. I wanted to see how easy or hard the kids found the riddles–so fun to see their reactions.
Here are some pics from the day. Click on a pic to see it full size!
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- Sharing IF YOU WERE THE MOON
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- Writing a We Are… poem
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- Browsing book spines
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- The sly look (and imagine a cackle here, too!)
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- Harry Potter/World War II/Breaking Dawn
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- This is not a political statement!
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- Donald Trump/Moving Target
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- He loved writing funny book spine poems
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- Your Breathing Lungs and Rocking Respiratory System/Stop, Drop, and Roll/That Is Not a Good Idea/How Are You Feeling?
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- Grace, teen library helper
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- Grace’s poem: Are We There Yet?/The Lending Zoo/Dragon Was Terrible
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- Meg with her poem for their water unit
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- Meg’s poem: When the Sky Breaks/All the Water in the World/Wonders of the Sea
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- This young writer was bursting with ideas!
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- My Little Pony: Friends Forever/10 Little Rubber Ducks/Click, Clack, Peep!/Happy Birthday/Hot Fudge/Uh Oh!
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- Maddie
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- Maddie’s poem: Plant the Tiny Seed/Light/Time
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- My book spine poem: Warthogs in the Kitchen/A Sip of Aesop/Slop Goes the Soup/Sweet Dream Pie/Now We Will Never Leave the Table
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- A Leaf Can Be…/Food for Thought/Sweet Corn/Dog Food/The End
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- Sign of the Moon/Midnight/Long Shadows/Dark River
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- Red Red Red/The Pecil/Black Is Brown Is Tan
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- Mother Goose/Counting on the Woods
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- Chatting wtih young writers
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- The Moon Crew: Patty, Laura, Maddie
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- Me with super-librarian Meg Curtiss
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- Caught in a storm on way home
Thank you, Plainview Library, Meg, kids, SELCO, and Legacy Funding, for letting me share poetry love!
And for lots of wonderful poetry, don’t miss the Poetry Friday Roundup with Heidi at My Juicy Little Universe!
I love the wicked humour (and sinister suspense) that book spine poetry often produces. It makes us write things we maybe wouldn’t normally think to say. Love the moon crew! 🙂
Looks like a fun day, Laura! Book spine poems are great! Thanks for all the pics! Best, BJ
Fabulous spine poetry! Bravo to all!
That is the perfect activity for a library, of course! Glad you had an audience–how did they like your riddle-kus?
I love that the librarian was willing to have all the books pulled to create the poems! So many creative ones here. It’s fun to use others’ words to make poems! Looks like a wonderful day, Laura.
Thanks for sharing these, Laura! It seems like book spine poems are a great chance for kids to get up and move around. I’m curious about the riddle-kus, too! (Glad you made it home safely!)
That day looks like it was so much fun. I love the book spine poems. They are such fun to write and share.
That looks like a fun event. Pity the reshelving, though!
What a wonderful gift for you and the children who attended. I’ve never tried a poem using book spines but all this inspiration might be added to my idea bank!
What a fun day!
I love the idea of doing a poetry program with kids, and as a librarian working with a limited budget, spine poetry sounds perfect, since the supplies are all around me! 🙂