Gigi & Mini Read Jack Prelutsky
Photo by Amy LV
This is poem #6 in my series of poems about books and reading and words.
Students - To find a writing idea yesterday, I pretended that I was a little girl again. I imagined I was playing mommy, copying my own mom. What would a mom do? Read aloud, of course. As a little-girl-mom, I imagined reading aloud to my cat, and today's poem was born. Try this sometime. Remember way back to another time in your life. Pretend you are there, and discover writing topics as they float across your brain-canvas.
Teachers - this week I made my first Xtranormal movie. One-and-a-half minutes long, it is about how some schools are losing read aloud time to other programs. The title of the movie is "Teacher, Will You Read Us a Book?"
Parents and teachers - if you don't know it, don't miss Jim Trelease's work about read aloud.
Mary Ann is hosting today's Poetry Friday, over at Great Kid Books. It's sure to be a wonderful poetry party...the last one of February. If you're new to this crowd, please know that all are welcome to share poems or poem news each Poetry Friday. Simply link into the host-post!
(Please click on POST A COMMENT to share a thought.)
Oh, I love that the cat's favorite book is Charlotte's Web. Sweet voice in this poem, Amy--thank yoU!
ReplyDelete"...stories painted on the air." Beautiful!
ReplyDeleteLovely! Meow! :)
ReplyDeleteYour writing delights - and opens the heart.
ReplyDeleteToby, Laura, Charles, Jama, and Cecilia, It's fun to share with the cat and reading lover crowd! I hope you all had a cozy Poetry Friday. I may just have to go snuggle that cat now... A.
ReplyDeleteGood books do make people cry...I love the cat's role in this poem.
ReplyDeleteThis poem has just the right element of disorganization to capture the child's voice, and its moments of appropriate mundanity are lifted by lines like "I learned to read by listening/to stories painted on the air." Wow.
ReplyDeleteBut you know what else I have to comment on--it's your Xtranormal movie. I see your point oh-so-clearly, and yet all I can think is that the sweet, caring, obedient teacher ought to do some nonviolent resistance and READ A DAMN BOOK. She knows it's the right thing to do.
Maybe I'll go make the companion movie...
Tara, Thank you...our cats love BEING in that role! A.
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Heidi, You are right; the teacher does know. But in this movie I wanted to paint the picture of the feeling of frustration on both ends, to have a viewer react as you did! I am plotting the next movie...hee hee! A.
"I learned to read by listening
ReplyDeleteto stories painted on the air."
Wow! I love that line!
Thank you, Cathy! It's the read aloud parade line! A.
ReplyDeleteThank you for letting me use your photo for my Caught in the Act ... of READING! feature. I am starting a jag on posting children reading to pets and I really appreciate your help by giving me this.
ReplyDeleteYou may not remember me but I remember you: we met at KidLitCon 2010. You were that rockin' panel on Poetry Friday and you so inspired me that even I could be a poet. You rock! Thanks again!
Mia (aka PragmaticMom of CoffeeShopBloggers)
Thank you for your kind words! I think that we share this way of writing our way in. Often I feel like a dog going around and around in a circle before I settle into an idea....and I find that 10-15 minutes useful. It may not end up in the finished piece, but it gets me there. (And sometimes I just lie on the couch for a few minutes first, clearing the brain!) Peace, a.
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