Laura Purdie Salas

Small Reads for Brighters Days

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Home
  • Laura’s Books
  • Poetry
    • Poems Published Elsewhere
    • My Poetry–a Sampler
    • Poetry Videos
    • How To Write Poetry
      • Poetic Pursuits
  • For Teachers
  • Presentations
  • Freelancer
  • About
    • Press Kit
      • Short Bios
      • Awards & Honors
      • Author Photos
      • Book Covers
      • Book Reviews
      • In the Press
    • Who Am I?
    • How I Became a Writer
  • Blog
    • Review Policy
  • For Writers
You are here: Home / Small Reads / Small Reads Roundup for Winter

Small Reads Roundup for Winter

Here are some small reads just for winter. These Small Reads Roundups appear first in my Small Reads monthly e-letter for educators. Subscribe here! My plan is to include only things that are easily accessible to you–if you find a link that’s no longer working, please let me know–thank you :>)

Poems by Laura

 

 
 
WRITTEN IN SNOW
 
Snowy pages,
steady track.
Tiny footprints
dipped in black.
 
Through the blizzard
stories roam.
They tiptoe bravely
out, then home.
 
–Laura Purdie Salas, all rights reserved

From BookSpeak. What’s the metaphor mean? Read my answer on Irene Latham’s site!
 
A triolet:
First Snow Triolet
 
A terza rima:
 
Tarnished Silver
 
Temperature dives—four degrees
below zero. Snow blows
down the bare street, carelessly seizes
 
the emptiness, gives it a grey ghostly glow,
bathes this world in the twilight of semi-night.
There is no one new you will ever know,
 
just you, and the moon, and reflected light—
frozen in time, forever alone.
Sky dead above, ground eerily bright.
 
Black limbs of trees, like autumn’s bones,
etch endless sky as wind whistles and hones
its sharp, stripping skills in this bleak, leaden zone.
 
–Laura Purdie Salas, all rights reserved
 

 

A limerick:
 
Scarlet in Late Snow
 
With a flutter and flurry of wing,
Cardinal announces, “Spring!”
    He’s the hopeful red heart—
    a flash of fresh start.
Even nature appreciates bling.
 
–Laura Purdie Salas, all rights reserved
 
The Voice of Winter, a villanelle by Laura Purdie Salas
 
Winter Is the Warmest Season, a free verse poem by Laura Purdie Salas
 
 
An acrostic:
 
Revenge of the White Dragon
 
A dragon wakes, his winter sleep disturbed. He
Vows to punish you, the intruder.
Air swells with a low rumble.
Land beneath you trembles.
Above, a wave of concrete snow thunders down. The dragon roars your
Name. But he can’t find you.
Chewing up trees and spewing them out, he searches for you.
His steamy, snowy breath clouds the sky, and the
Earth cradles you to its rocky chest as the dragon’s belly slides by. Safe!
 
—Laura Purdie Salas, all rights reserved
 
 
 
Mice on Skates
 
On the empty back deck
on a black autumn night,
the paper plate moon
sheds a soft, hollow light.
 
Chimneys and pine trees
spread deep, smoky spice,
and the patio table
is glazed with thin ice.
 
Two little brown mice
discover the rink,
and do figure eights
in perfect mouse-sync?
 
With tiny sharp skates
bearing gum wrapper blades,
they spin away shadows?
and emptiness fades.
 
–Laura Purdie Salas, all rights reserved
Hear me read the poem.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
fresh snow
 
 
biking in winter
 
 
Evergreen
 
Inspired by a photo of snowman candleholders!:
 
 
 
Making Clouds

Photo: Randy Salas

Snowman - Cold = Puddle

 

 

Click the image to find audio of me reading this poem.

 

 

Small Activities

Click on the image below for a downloadable activity sheet. Write a Snowperson list poem!

Make a Melting Snowman Art Project! Click on the image below.

Courtesy of LeahNewtonArt.com

 

Write a “Things To Do If…” poem with your students, like the one below. See a typed version by clicking the image below.

wpid-2016-01-30-12.17.44.jpg.jpg

 

Other People’s Poems

“On a Night of Snow,” by Elizabeth Coatsworth
 
“In the Bleak Midwinter,” by Christina Rossetti (plus 2 beautiful musical versions)
 
“Snowflake,” by Nikki Grimes
 
“December,” by Aileen Fisher
 
“Winter Trees,” by William Carlos Williams
 
“Blizzard,” by Barbara Juster Esbensen
 
“Snowflake Wakes,” by Joyce Sidman

 

If you enjoy this roundup, please share it with your educator friends–thank you! And don’t forget to subscribe to my Small Reads e-letter. Subscribe here!

Share:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • More
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)

FEBRUARY NEWS

My first 2023 book is storming onto bookstore shelves this month. I'm so excited about ZAP! CLAP! BOOM!

Zap! Clap! Boom! Book Trailer

https://youtu.be/kKVsDo8r0aw

Click the cover for more info–thanks!

I'm also creating promo materials, working on two board book manuscripts, and doing some work for hire to pay off Christmas bills! And I'm enjoying the lovely, snowy Minnesota winter. <3

Are You Looking For…?

  • Poems for the Classroom
  • Poetryactions
  • 15 Words or Less Poems
  • Poetry Activities for Teachers

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

Post Categories

Copyright © 2009–2023 · Laura Purdie Salas · WordPress · Log in