Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
Y’all might know I love mentor texts and use them in my own writing a lot. And few things make me happier than when my own books inspire other people to write. That’s why I’m super excited to share these riddle-ku, written by 2nd graders at Richmond Elementary School in Vermont after they read Lion of the Sky. And I especially love that the riddle-ku were illustrated by kindergartners and a multi-age class. Second graders, you now know the scary feeling of turning over your words to an artist and hoping they capture what was in your heart. That’s how I feel each time one of my manuscripts goes off to the illustrator! The artists did a fabulous job here!
With permission, I’m sharing a few spreads, but please click here to read the whole collection. They’re amazing!
I adore how these young poets and artists give specific, sensory clues and share their emotions.
They use personification and great verbs and facts.
They use repetition and great vocabulary and give you hints to try to help! (And they even get all the syllable counts for American-style haiku.)
On every spread, the kids demonstrate awesome writing skills and their own personalities, too.
Thank you so much for your writing and illustrating, Richmond Elementary School students!
And for lots of wonderful poetry, don’t miss the Poetry Friday Roundup with wonderful teacher Ruth (who I’ve been getting to know a bit better lately) at There Is No Such Thing as a God-Forsaken Town!
9 Responses
How adorable! I love the collaboration of 2nd and kinders. Such clever poems and bright illustrations. An idea I am tucking away.
How wonderful! You give me ideas.…my NJHS kids were looking for a service project. They want to work with the younger kids in the ES school. Riddle-ku would be so much fun! I’m so grateful for books like this in ES and MS libraries. The sparks they make are wonderful!
Thanks for sharing these great poems, Laura! I hope to join you on Monday.
These are adorable–my favorite has to be that sloth. I’m just slow.
It must be so much fun to see the kids inspired by your book. Love the pictures they drew! I wonder what the red one with all the zigzags around it is.
I love the one about the mom, but as you wrote, each one is really wonderful. I think it’s great to have the writers & then different illustrators. What a fun project all from your book, Laura!
Thanks for the spotlight on a great collaboration (made possible by your poems)!
Could these illustrated riddle-kus be any sweeter? No, they could not! Thank you for sharing these gems with us, Laura. I especially love that “slow, just slow” sloth. Swoon! 🙂
Laura, i love that you are always thinking of new projects to reflect your poetic goodness. The 2nd graders did a marvelous job with their poems. I wish I had time to join you in your February project but moving is a full-time job these days.