Five-Seven-Five

It can be seen on billboards along the roads and highways.  It can be scripted in the sky by an airplane.  It can be printed on a note tucked into a brown-paper-bag lunch.  It can be whispered to you when you least expect it; a hand squeeze, a stolen glance or the wet-lick kiss of a dog say it too.  There are more ways than can be counted or remembered for conveying affection.

Dating back to the end of the nineteenth century, consisting of only seventeen syllables, the poetic form haiku can express varied but specific meanings with a few carefully chosen words.  Author/illustrator Betsy Snyder's I Haiku You (Random House Children's Books, December 2012) is an uplifting celebration of all kinds of love as seen through the eyes of children.

No matter the season or time of day these twenty poems will give you a glimpse of the childlike appreciation for the simplest and grandest things encountered.  Recall memorable moments.  Tuck away new ones to notice.

With the young at heart bird song is nature's alarm clock, snow angels bind together buddies and alphabet soup spells pure comfort for someone not feeling well.  Even on a gray day color can be found if you know where to look.  Butterflies will take flight and land on the inside and on the outside.

Four-leaf clovers, bicycles, teddy bears and a purple popsicle (or two) hold special significance.  Budding gardeners in springtime, youthful entrepreneurs on a summer's day or campfire chefs in the crisp fall evenings all cherish these best of times. A canine companion watches a school bus leave feeling one way and on it's return his human shares the upside of that same feeling.


Children have a way of looking at their world and the people in it as if they are cameras missing nothing, noticing the tiniest details.  Betsy Snyder has captured their sense of wonder and observation in each of these poems through her focus on the ordinary elevating it to extraordinary; knowing its all the little things added together which makes a delightful whole.   The language of their everyday world, alarm clock, valentines, rainbow, boo-boos, twinkle and snuggles, welcome readers into these cheerful, concise verses.


 The creamy background on the matching jacket and cover is used throughout the book on paper with a matte finish providing a warmer frame for her charming illustrations. Her opening and closing endpapers are a watercolor wash of the shades of red readers see on every page.  Each picture is as separate as the poems but tied together with the softened, full color palette and the small details.

The cardinal singing on the first page appears in the distance on top of a pine tree on the next page.  A butterfly drawn by a child on one page is shown flying with another on the following page.  A teddy bear being carried in the basket on a bicycle (paws raised to cover its eyes) is covered with band-aids when we readers see him next.

Her round-faced characters are full of animation and expression; delivering joy at every turn of page.  Most of the poems are given a single page with a picture but five have illustrations spread edge to edge across both pages; still inviting, still embracing the reader.  My favorite illustration is on the last two pages.   Two children are in bed under the covers facing toward the foot holding a flashlight reading.  Tiny animal slippers are beside the bed, chocolate chip cookies (and crumbs) are on the bed.  Further out in the room the dog featured in several poems is curled up on his bed with the teddy bear now clad in one-piece red pajamas next to him.  Over the dog's body is an opened copy of I Haiku You.  


Certainly this book is perfect for National Poetry Month or Valentine's Day but I vote to use I Haiku You written and illustrated by Betsy Snyder when we need to step back, pause and appreciate the joys of life; when we want to celebrate children and their love of simple things.

Please follow the links embedded above in Betsy Snyder's names to her website and blog.  Betsy Snyder was showcased in the first trifecta of 2013 at Watch. Connect. Read., sharpread and the Nerdy Book Club.  All the posts give further insights into the creation of this title.  At this link Snyder gives hints on writing haiku for children.  For a more detailed explanation on the writing and illustration process she used follow this link.

Discovering More Poetry Fun

Checking all my sources for awakening the inner poet in my students to help us all celebrate National Poetry Month, I have discovered new sites to add to some old favorites.  Follow the link to the official website for numerous resources listed under the For Educators tab.   One of the most remembered activities is Put A Poem in Your Pocket Day which will be celebrated on April 26, 2012. 

Writers seeking to generate a rhyming poem might want to use a website called Write Rhymes.  Simply type in your lines of poetry until you come to a word that you wish to rhyme.  Press down the "alt" key on your keyboard as you click on the word for which you seek a rhyming word.  On the right of the screen a very complete list appears, one, two and three syllable rhyming words.  When your poem is complete it can be saved to your computer, copied to your clipboard or printed.

Instant Poetry Forms is a website originally designed by Alysa Cummings, a certified poetry therapist.  Not many of the informative web pages are still available but nearly eighty templates for poems are.  Select from a list on the left and the form appears on the right ready for an author to begin.  First are blank lines to fill in according to the prompts.  To see what a finished poem might look like, go to the bottom. 

The official Shel Silverstein  website is tailor made for students and educators.  Tabs for users include:  For Kids Only-Let's Have Some Fun, What's New, Shel's Books, About Shel and Ideas for Teachers & Parents.  There are six games and puzzles for kids to try, screensavers and wallpapers to download, three different printable kits and e-cards to send within the For Kids Only tab.  Under the Ideas for Teachers & Parents tab are lessons and activities, event kits and drawing & activity booklets.

ReadWriteThink hosts many interactive poetry generators.  Past favorites of students are: diamante poems, shape poems, acrostic poems, or riddle poems. 

Giggle Poetry, a site designed and maintained by author, Bruce Lansky, is one that my students continue to enjoy each year.  They can read, listen and write.


A blog, Poetry for Children:  About finding and sharing poetry with young people, written and maintained by Sylvia Vardell is fantastic.  I have downloaded all three of the electronic only anthologies which she and Janet Wong co-edited/authored highlighting the work of some of poetry's best known names for children and young adults.

For years I have used several of the teacher's guides found at the website of poet, Kristine O'Connell George.  A student favorite are the lessons using her book, Fold Me A Poem.  

Do not forget the memorable Gotta Book blog maintained by Greg Pincus.  Once again he is hosting 30 Poets/30 Days.

Author Kate Messner has penned a new poem, In Honor of National Poetry Month..."Poetry Speaks".    It is written as if poetry is a character speaking before a group of listeners/readers.  This would be a wonderful way to start a discussion about poetry.

Snow Day+National Poetry Month=Time For Good Reads

After ten years of writing for advertising Bob Raczka's first son was born.  This reintroduced him to the world of children's books.  Loving the creativity that this venue offered him, he was able to publish his first book five years later.  Most of his books deal with art perhaps because of his love of drawing which began as a boy. But I truly believe that there is a poet sharing a part of his heart with his love of art. Then again, is not one the other?

In an earlier post, December 27, 2010, I reviewed his outstanding book, Guyku: A Year of Haiku for Boys (HMH Books for Young Readers, October 28, 2010.  This spring he further extends his gift of writing poetry with Lemonade and other Poems Squeezed from a Single Word (Roaring Brook Press, March 15, 2011).  Twenty-two puzzling poems with a punch can be found within the pages of this slim volume.

What Raczka has done, using only the letters in the title of each poem, is to string combinations of those letters down the page which refer back to or describe a scene relative to that word.  So his readers can measure their creativity to his, on the following page he puts the letters in order revealing those words he combined to complete his thought.  What we have is pure poetic pleasure!

No matter how much fun Rob Raczka had piecing these together, readers will have just as much or more.  And without a doubt pen and paper in hand they will begin to compose their own.  The simple, light, red, black and gray graphics of  Nancy Doniger distinctly compliment each poem hinting at the final solution while never detracting from the readers' quest.

Not wanting to seem partial to the canine corner of the world  (despite the fact that Dogku written by Andrew Clements and illustrated by Tim Bowers occupies Xena's Pick of the Month spot on the circulation desk in our elementary media center) it seems appropriate that Won Ton; A Cat Tale Told in Haiku (Henry Holt & Co., February 15, 2011) should be highlighted.

Lee Wardlaw using one of the most ancient forms of poetry tells the story of a shelter cat that finds himself a boy and a home.  These thirty-three haiku poems cleverly convey the reluctant but hopeful yearning of being chosen, the give and take adjustment in a different environment and the mutual love between the new friends.  Wardlaw is no stranger to the finickiness of felines as her precise selection of text captures the essence of all things cat; aloofness, casual interest, and reluctant insecurity.  Readers are brought full circle with the closing poem which will have them softly as cat's fur whispering, "Oh."


Coupled with this verse are illustrations by Eugene Yelchin that truly heighten the attitude of this cat.  Using graphite and gouache on watercolor paper Yelchin had me laughing out loud at the antics, emotions and facial expressions displayed by this creature.  As a pair Lee Wardlaw and Eugene Yelchin are purr-fectly matched.

Two of my favorite poems are:

What do you mean "Ewww"?
How is my tuna breath worse
than peanut butter?

Your tummy, soft as
warm dough.  I knead and knead, then
bake it with a nap. 

One of the Newbery Honor Medalists for 2011 was Joyce Sidman's Dark Emperor & Other Poems of the Night (HMH Books for Young Readers, September 6, 2010)  Sidman is no stranger to awards.  Two previous books, Song of the Water Boatman and Other Pond Poems and Red Sings from Treetops were Caldecott Honor winners, illustrated by Beckie Prange and Pamela Zagarensky respectively.

Twelve beautifully executed poems grace the pages of this mystical volume.  Readers feel as though they are quietly walking through the hours of inky, velvet shadow seeing it with new eyes.  To start a rhyming, lyrical verse invites all those inhabitants of the dark to come forth and be who they are.

...Come feel the cool and shadowed breeze,
come smell your way among the trees,
come touch rough bark and leathered leaves:
Welcome to the night....

 Each subsequent poem features those creatures of the nighttime as well as the flora that surrounds them bringing strangers, that we are, into their world.  Through a variety of poetic forms and techniques, song, rhyme, free verse, or concrete, Sidman illuminates those particular qualities that make each subject unique.

Whether the pacing and placing of text is that of the poet or the illustrator it contributes to the overall richness of this work.  As if the poems are not enough readers are treated to concise sidebars on the far right of each two page spread giving further details about each dweller of the dark. 

As stated on the back of the title page,

The prints in this book were made by the process of relief printing.  A drawing or sketch is transferred onto a block of wood or, in this instance, a sheet of linoleum mounted on wood, and the drawing is then cut and carved away using a variety of tools.  The areas left uncut are covered with ink and printed on paper by hand or on a press; a number of blocks can be cut and then successively printed in different colors, with the different blocks being "registered" or aligned to create a multicolored print.  The prints for Dark Emperor were each printed from at least three blocks (and in some instances as many as six) and then hand-colored with a strongly pigmented watercolor called gouache.

Rick Allen is an extraordinary artisan in his particular medium.  Extending the illustrations beyond the intended borders tempts readers to venture further noticing the subtle nuances of particular scenes.  Smaller graphics within the poems either highlight the intended subject or lend a bit of humor.  Careful viewers can follow one creature as it meanders through each poem among all the midnight magic acting as our guide.

Do yourself a favor by following Allen's link to his web site.  When considering the process of completing each piece, the results are amazing.

Is It April Yet? Yes, It Is. Let The Countdown Begin.

During April National Poetry Month is just what the doctor ordered for spring fever.  After returning from spring break our students love to use the weeks until May to journey into the realm of poetry in its many forms when they come to the library media center.  No day this month is more fun than Poem In Your Pocket Day on April 14, 2011.  On this day people celebrate and share their favorite poems by carrying them around and reading them aloud.  Or they get copies of their favorite poems and leave them for others to find and enjoy.  Poets.org a site from the American Academy of Poets has many helpful ideas for educators not only for this day, the month of April but anytime that a unit on poetry is being offered. 

With reference to an earlier post on March 31, 2011 about the new eBook only titled PoetryTagTime this reader must say that the poems are simply delightful.  Each author's poem represents their own particular style and take on an idea.  Their explanations for the poems that they created are engaging which will lead to more poems being created by readers of all ages. The PoetryTagTime blog has oodles of fantastic suggestions and ideas as promised.

Is It April Yet? Close Enough...

Yipee kay-yay poetry lovers,  rejoice! Blogger, Monica Edinger, in her post on March 30, 2011 at educating alice talks about a new poetry book for children that will be available on April 1, 2011 to celebrate the beginning of National Poetry Month.  This eBook titled PoetryTagTime houses 30 poems by 30 different and well known authors/poets.  Bringing this group together are Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong. 

 At their blog they state that this is the first ever electronic-only anthology of new poems for children ages 0-8.  It begins with a poem by Jack Prelutsky who then tags Joyce Sidman inviting her to connect to his poem in some fashion.  Each of the 30 poets/authors includes with their poem an explanation of how their poem was created to connect to the previous poem.  This book can be read using a free  Kindle app that comes with most smart phones and can be downloaded to a Windows or Mac platform.    The cost of this promising book is a mere 2.99.

In addition to the web site that is linked to above, PoetryTagTime, please go to the blog, PoetryTagTime blog for additional hints on the sharing of each poem, one a day for 30 days.  Without a doubt yours truly will be there every day.

Is It April Yet? Part Three

Okay, it's official.  I am totally and completely hooked on book spine poems.  I can no longer walk through my home without resisting the urge to create.  In my mind I am hearing the robot from the Robinson's TV show calling:  Warning, warning, warning...  One can only imagine what will happen as I browse through numerous book stores over spring break.