Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.) So much to tell you this week, but our home is in disarray (covid has struck again, and yes, we are fully vaccinated and boosted). So I’ll keep this brief and not overwhelming :>) 1. Friends–I’m doing a virtual library storytime on Monday, Jan 10, […]
Getting Ready for the End of the School Year #ClassroomConnections
It’s almost the end of the school year, which feels a little hard to believe! Here’s my end-of-year celebration poem from Stampede, which is now out of print. When I read this with kids, I have them stomp their feet and trumpet loudly, like stampeding elephants, at the end of the poem. Does this poem […]
Nesting [Poetry Friday]
Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.) You guys, it’s been a rough couple of weeks. My dad was in the hospital for several nights–he’s home and doing…sort of okay. Now my sister (the same one who had serious medical issues earlier this year) is back in the hospital and not doing […]
New Mouse [Poetry Friday]
Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.) School has started up in some form or another in most parts of the country, and I’m thinking that, even digitally, many kids (and teachers) are feeling lost in a maze of new rules, new technologies, new people, new platforms…Here’s a poem from my very […]
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 […]
[Nifty Stuff] Book Cover Cookies
My husband is the best. A box arrived Friday marked “Perishable.” Oh, that can only be good things. Turns out Randy ordered me cookies (cinnamon shortbread!) from Baking for Good, an online bakery that creates treats and donates some proceeds to the cause of your choice. So check out the Snapshot Cookies Randy got me. […]
Storytime at the Red Balloon
Saturday morning, I spent storytime at The Red Balloon Bookshop, a wonderful indie children’s bookstore I don’t get to often enough because it’s across town. They invited me to do a storytime to help celebrate I Love to Read month. Here’s a 1:26 minute slideshow of what we did. The kids at storytimes are generally […]
Stampede Is a Finalist for the Minnesota Book Award!
Exciting news over the weekend. I got home from a game night Saturday night to find a congratulations email from Joyce Sidman–for Stampede‘s choice as a finalist for the Minnesota Book Awards! The other three finalists in this category are Joyce herself, Alison McGhee, and Marion Dane Bauer. Wow. I’m in unbelievable company! I clicked […]
On the Road: A Red Balloon Author Event
On Saturday, I did an event for Stampede at the Red Balloon Bookshop in St. Paul, Minnesota. Some of you might have seen on Facebook that I was freaking out because I saw online that they ordered a ton of books. A ton. Most bookstore signings (my own and other much better-known authors than me) […]
I Was a Saint This Weekend (Only Temporarily)
Yesterday, I was the guest author for the St. Paul Saints minor league baseball game in St. Paul, MN. I read Stampede! Poems to Celebrate the Wild Side of School, of course. I was invited to participate by the Red Balloon Bookshop, a lovely children’s bookstore who partners with the team to promote reading. Sudden downpours, spilled drinks […]