Charles is right--Love really IS everything!

 

When you look around, what do you see? Sometimes I see chores that must be done, a yard that must be tended, a bill to be paid. But I have learned from poet and picture book author Charles Ghigna (aka Father Goose)’s latest book LOVE is Everything (published by Schiffer Kids) that “Music, silence, mountains, summer, LOVE is everywhere!”

This beautiful book shows an older bear showing a younger bear the wonders of the world, looking through the lens of love.  Jacqueline East’s soft illustrations give a warm, cozy feel as Ghigna’s rhyming text takes us through the seasons, the arts, and the interactions with each other that make life so wonderful.  “I believe in daydreams/and wishes that come true. I believe in everything./I believe in you” is the perfect ending to this affirming picture book.

This is a great cuddle-at-bedtime book and just the right tonic to help someone feel better after a bad day. It’s a confidence builder when someone has failed or is afraid, and a mindfulness giver when someone feels frantic or overwhelmed. This book is a great book for all ages, to be read with someone they love.

Thanks to Charles Ghigna for the digital copy! This book, like so many other books and supplies, has been on hold through this unusual time, and is now expected to be released in November.

After Dark: Poems about Nocturnal Animals Blog Tour Stop #3 AND A GIVEAWAY!

***UPDATE***

WINNER OF AFTER DARK ANNOUNCED

SUSAN HUTCHENS!

CONGRATS, SUEsan! 

I'll be in touch about address.

I'm so excited to share the news of David L. Harrison's newest book, After Dark: Poems about Nocturnal Animals, releasing on 2/25! (You can order it now here or from your favorite book seller.) And excited to be the third stop on the After Dark blog tour! Toot! Toot!

David is a well-established, award-winning writer and poet for children and educators, so it's no surprise that After Dark is receiving great reviews from the likes of Kirkus and Publisher's Weekly. 

Yes, it's a picture book, but this is truly one for all ages, and one that kids can grow with. Young children will appreciate and learn from Stephanie Laberis' vivid illustrations depicting scenes from the poems, each set against the dark of night. A great example is the ominous illustration for "A Night's Work (Deer Mouse)" which emphasizes the mouse's need to beware of predators.

As children wonder more about the world outside, After Dark will answer their questions about what goes on while they are asleep. The 22 poems draw the readers into a scene with each animal, and fact pages in the back give extra information in easy-to-read bullet points.

Something I love about this book is that its poems feature creatures from a variety of environments, so that readers can learn more about animals that live where they do and learn about animals that are alien to them. My granddaughters readily identified the cougar, noting that we call them mountain lions. The armadillo is something they have only seen in pictures.

David gave his poems tantalizing titles, often using word play, to pique readers' interest. For example, "Don't Let Him Needle You" for the porcupine and "Armored Night Knight" for the armadillo. His poems' vocabulary stretches young readers. An example is his use of the word "pilfer" rather than the simpler "rob" in "No Fooling (Raccoon)": "Know how to pilfer, when to climb,/an escape artist, one of a kind." Readers can understand "pilfer" by using context clues from previous lines: "Light-fingered nighttime thief,/dines in style on what you leave" and interpreting the illustration.

I asked David about his sense of word choice, and here's what he said, "I can’t say I have a set rule or system. Word choice is probably a combination of experience, sense of fit, concern about my reader’s vocabulary, goal of keeping my language fresh, and occasionally choosing between the familiar and a stronger alternative that is more or less defined within the text. Sometimes I feel confident that even if my word choice isn’t in my reader’s reading vocabulary it’s probably in his speaking vocabulary, which should help him decode the word in print."  

Each poem takes the form it needs to tell its story. Some poems rhyme and some are free verse. I enjoy David's poetic language and the observations he makes about each animal. For example, from "Mouth of Doom (Flathead Catfish)": By night--/silent submarine,/solitary stalker...." 

David began his studies and adult career in biology. You may not think that science and poetry have much in common, but in fact, both require keen observation and the ability to describe what one observes. David said that the kernel for this book started when he was 6 years old camping with his parents, and it has finally come to fruition. In this, David's 97th book (!), he combines his love of nature and his mastery of poetry into a book that all ages can enjoy and learn from. 

David L. Harrison’s books for children and teachers have received dozens of honors, including Society of Midland Authors award for best children’s nonfiction book, 2016; Missouri Pioneer in Education Award; and Missouri Library Association’s Literacy Award. His work has been widely translated and anthologized more than 185 times. His poems have been set to music and sandblasted into a library sidewalk. He has been featured at hundreds of conferences, workshops, literature festivals, schools, and colleges. David holds two science degrees and two honorary doctorates of letters. He’s Drury University’s poet laureate. David Harrison Elementary School is named for him. 

He also encourages other poets of all ages and sponsors the Word Of the Month poem on his website. I've played there for many years, sometimes with greater success than others, but always with interest in seeing how other writers treat the word. (This month's word is AGE if you want to play along.)

GIVEAWAY INSTRUCTIONS--Yes, you want this book! And wouldn't it be fun to WIN it? Thanks to WordSong for making this giveaway possible. To enter, please leave a comment on this blog post by midnight CST on Friday, February 21, and a way to contact you if you win (email, FB, twitter handle). Available to those living in the US only. And spread the good news about this book in your own networks!

Catch a ride on the After Dark Blog Tour train! Next stop, Poetry for Children! All aboard!

The World is Too Much With Us: National Poetry Month

(Photo by Mick Baker, https://www.flickr.com/photos/36593372@N04/8573457815,(CC BY-ND 2.0))

The news is sometimes too much to take. It is mostly bad, often tragic, sometimes heart-rending. And in today's world of 24/7/365 newsfeeds, it's everywhere. I'm guessing that you, like me, are sometimes overwhelmed by it. Yet we cannot escape it, and as awful as it is, we need to know. That's when this poem comes to mind, and if possible, I go for a walk and appreciate nature. How do you cope with news overwhelm? Let me know in the comments below.

The World Is Too Much With Us

Related Poem Content Details

BY WILLIAM WORDSWORTH

The world is too much with us; late and soon, 

Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers;— 

Little we see in Nature that is ours; 

We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon! 

This Sea that bares her bosom to the moon; 

The winds that will be howling at all hours, 

And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers; 

For this, for everything, we are out of tune; 

It moves us not. Great God! I’d rather be 

A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn; 

So might I, standing on this pleasant lea, 

Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn; 

Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea; 

Or hear old Triton blow his wreathèd horn.

June's Perfect Summer Days

(Knot Garden, Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, copyright 2012, Jane Heitman Healy)

What is your idea of a perfect day?

Here is James Russell Lowell's:

And what is so rare as a day in June?
Then, if ever, come perfect days;
Then Heaven tries earth if it be in tune,
And over it softly her warm ear lays;
Whether we look, or whether we listen,
We hear life murmur, or see it glisten;


(Isle Royale trail, copyright 2008, Jane Heitman Healy)

Every clod feels a stir of might,
An instinct within it that reaches and towers,
And, groping blindly above it for light,
Climbs to a soul in grass and flowers;


(Clematis, copyright 2012, Jane Heitman Healy)

The flush of life may well be seen
Thrilling back over hills and valleys;
The cowslip startles in meadows green,
The buttercup catches the sun in its chalice,
And there's never a leaf nor a blade too mean
To be some happy creature's palace;

(pronghorn antelope, http://www.public-domain-image.com/fauna-animals-public-domain-images-pictures/antelope-pictures/pronghorn-antelope-pictures/pronghorn-antelope-runs-gingerly-across-a-meadow.jpg.html)

The little bird sits at his door in the sun,
Atilt like a blossom among the leaves,
And lets his illumined being o'errun
With the deluge of summer it receives;
His mate feels the eggs beneath her wings,
And the heart in her dumb breast flutters and sings;
He sings to the wide world, and she to her nest,
In the nice ear of Nature which song is the best?

(Song Thrush, © Copyright Brian Robert Marshall and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence, http://www.geograph.org.uk/reuse.php?id=682555)

Read the entire poem, "The Vision Of Sir Launfal," from which these selections were taken. Learn more about James Russell Lowell . And do let me know your idea of a perfect day or which of Nature's songs you think is best.

Haiku: Nature is Our Playground

(© Copyright Rich Daley and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence)

Many of us learned haiku poetry in elementary school because its three-line form reinforces the concept of syllables. Of course, this is pure mechanics. True haiku is usually about a season in nature and is written in the present tense. When you read a haiku, whatever you read about is happening now. Haiku often contains opposing ideas, giving this short poetic form a complexity not immediately evident.

The ancient poetic form began in Japan in the 1600's. The master Basho is still read and highly regarded today.

An example of Basho's haiku:

old pond . . .
a frog leaps in
water’s sound

Frog in garden pond in Davington, Faversham (pam fray) / CC BY-SA 2.0

Here's an example by Issa:

A red morning sky,
For you, snail;
Are you glad about it?

Snail on flowers by Jon Sullivan

Writing haiku well demands that the poet observe quietly and be mindful of all his or her senses.

This by no means reaches the master level, but is my own example:

luscious lilacs burst
into big purple bouquets
spreading scented spring

(copyright 2012, Jane Heitman Healy)

Monika Thorpe / CC BY 2.0

Author Bob Raczka and illustrator Peter H. Reynolds recognized haiku as a poetry form that boys can enjoy. Here is Raczka's introduction to their book Guyku:



The book features each season's outdoor activities, such as kite flying, rock skipping, listening to crickets, and looking at constellations, in haiku form. It's a fun book for all ages of boys AND girls. However, since some girls felt excluded because of the title, this author-illustrator team is at work on a version for girls.

A fun international haiku site for kids is Children's Haiku Garden. You can read haiku written by children around the world and submit your own (if you're a child).

Outside Japan, most haiku is written in English. There's even a Haiku Society of America!

What did you notice about nature today? Can you turn your observations into a haiku? Please share your observations and creativity in the comments. If you need some inspiration, see Round of the Seasons in Japan blog for beautiful pictures of that country and its gardens.