Birthday of POEMS ARE TEACHERS!

Today is the birthday of the book I always wanted to write and finally did.  The concept is not new.  Poems ARE teachers, and writing teachers know this. Strong poetry teaches us how to write strong prose. In this book, I aim to explain some very specific ways that studying poems can lift our prose, from organizing our thinking to choosing a title.

If you want to learn more about the inner workings of this book, you can see inside, download a sample chapter, read some kind words, and learn more details here:

Heinemann Website (Download a sample chapter)

A Year of Reading - See you teacher Mary Lee Hahn uses POEMS ARE TEACHERS to connect poetry with information writing

Amazon (Peek inside the book)

My Website

Irene Latham's Live Your Poem

Robyn Hood Black's Life on the Deckle Edge

Matt Forrest Esenwine's Radio, Rhythm, & Rhyme 

Heidi Mordhorst's My Juicy Little Universe

Two Writing Teachers - Giveaway running through Thursday, November 2 for POEMS ARE TEACHERS and for READ! READ! READ!

#G2Great Twitter Chat - Thursday, October 26, 2017 at 8:30pm with a Book Giveaway for the same 2!

goodreads Giveaway - 5 copies!  Winners chosen on November 10, 2017.

But here, today is a day for gratitude.

From POEMS ARE TEACHERS

First, thank you to my long-time poetry teacher, Lee Bennett Hopkins, brilliant and loving and tough all at once.  I dedicate this book to him with my deep gratitude.

Thank you to the whole team at Heinemann, people and elves both.  My editor, Katie Wood Ray, is an author I've admired for years, and the fact this book went through her hands is clear as day.  Senior production editor Vicki Kasabian and production director Patty Adams held it all together with wisdom and kindness. Wise and generous Katherine Bomer wrote a beautiful foreword that made me teary. Edie Davis Quinn graciously coordinated editorial business, and Maria Czop perfectly took care of permissions.  Suzanne Heiser designed the gorgeous package and chose all images.  Jennifer Brett Greenstein carefully copy edited, Kim Cahill is marketing like crazy, and Steve Bernier does all that needs to be done as manufacturing print buyer.  

Thank you to the talented contemporary poets whose words grace these pages.  Working with them was a complete joy. Thank you: Mary Lee Hahn, Irene Latham, Susan Blackaby, arnold adoff, J. Patrick Lewis, Laura Shovan, Kenn Nesbitt, Steven Withrow, Jeannine Atkins, David L. Harrison, Georgia Heard, Carole Boston Weatherford, Laura Purdie Salas, Robyn Hood Black, Alma Flor Ada, Marilyn Nelson, Jack Prelutsky, George Ella Lyon, Lee Wardlaw, Doraine Bennett, Kristine O'Connell George, Kwame Alexander, Guadalupe Garcia McCall, Heidi Mordhorst, Matt Forrest Esenwine, Heidi Bee Roemer, Michael Salinger, Charles Ghigna, Susan Marie Swanson, Nikki Grimes, April Halprin Wayland, Jane Yolen, Paul B. Janeczko, Joyce Sidman, David Elliott, Deborah Chandra, Ann Whitford Paul, Douglas Florian, Kristy Dempsey, Allan Wolf, Kate Coombs, Janet Wong, Marilyn Singer, Michael J. Rosen, Margarita Engle, Eileen Spinelli, Rebecca Kai Dotlich, Sara Holbrook, Lesléa Newman, F. Isabel Campoy, Reneé M. LaTulippe, Charles Waters, Pat Mora, Naomi Shihab Nye, Juanita Havill, Lee Bennett Hopkins.

Thank you to teachers! I am grateful to many thoughtful teachers who shared beautiful student work.  Teachers, thank you for your generosity and for your back and forth: Helene Albrecht, Heidi Ames, Jenn Bogard, Ashlee Bryant, Cathi Burton, Emily Callahan, Susan Chauncey, Winifred Christopher, Andria Nacina Cole, Ann Marie Corgill, Monica Crudele, Darlene Daley, Mali Dayton, Kim Doele, Debbi Dolce, Michelle Enser, Ketty Fernandez, Catherine Flynn, Michele Gilbert-Tindall, Mona Goodman, Charnetta Harvey, Keith Hinnant, Nicole Jamison, Jessica Ketcheson, Pam Koutrakos, Barry Lane, Nancy Logghe, JoEllen McCarthy, Patty McGee, Alicia McKendrick, Melanie Meehan, Kimberley Moran, Karen Morreale, Kim Oldenburgh, Brianna Person, Ann Piper, Tia Rendine, Mary Anne Sacco, Christine Scheer, Margaret Simon, Tara Smith, Kathleen Sokolowski, Angela Stockman, Holly VanEpps, Darren Victory, Aliza Werner, and David Williams.

Students - As you likely know, I am not sharing your last names in POEMS ARE TEACHERS, but I hope that you see and find your wonderful poems.  Congratulations and much love to you.  You are teaching many future poets with your words.

Thank you to my great agent, Elizabeth Harding, to my friends, especially Karen Caine, to my teachers, and to my dear dear family.  

We did it!

And now, since this is a thank you party, I am offering a giveaway.  Next week I will share a goodreads giveaway for 5 copies of POEMS ARE TEACHERS, but today, I am offering something special to one commenter (with a US address) on this post, chosen at random next Thursday, October 26 at 11pm.

If you noticed the cookie with the book atop this post, or if you saw the cookie I shared last month for the release of READ! READ! READ!, then you know that I am a big fan of Adriana Seuffert's cookie work.  Today, her work is part of my celebratory giveaway!

Book and Cookie Twins

Photo by Amy LV

I wish you luck in winning:

ONE COPY OF POEMS ARE TEACHERS

and

ONE DOZEN COOKIES WITH YOUR FAVORITE BOOK COVER (Poetry?)

by Mama Seuffert Sweets

Please comment by next Thursday at 11pm along with a way to contact you.

xo, Amy

Please share a comment below if you wish.

If you are under 13 years old, please comment only with a parent 

or as part of a group with your teacher and class.

Writers Find Inspiration in Music

Buffalo Philharmonic Poster

Click to Enlarge

Students - I was thrilled this past July when Robin Parkinson, Director of Education and Community Engagement of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra asked if I would be interested in writing for the BPO.  I said, "Yes, please!" 

Robin explained the project, answered my many questions, and I wrote a series of poems for the 2017-2018 Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra's MUSIC FOR YOUTH Concert Series.  The poems go along with Benjamin Britten's beautiful THE YOUNG PERSON'S GUIDE TO THE ORCHESTRA, and they will be read aloud during each concert, between the different musical variations.

It was new for me to write poems to go along with short pieces of gorgeous music.  I listened and listened to the variations over and over again.  I consulted the list of musical terms provided by Robin and asked the members of the BPO as well as musician friends on Facebook and Twitter to share words they would use to describe the sounds of various orchestral instruments.

I read and consulted the following books:

Click to Enlarge

I wrote and listened, wrote and listened.  Wrote and listened and revised, revised, revised.  And I learned so very much. This project was a gift to me, a person who never played an orchestral instrument...and a person who always wanted to learn more about the orchestra.  I did!  

Here is an article about the project and the concert from the Fall 2017 BPO Education Newsletter:

Excerpt from the BPO Fall Education Newsletter

Click to Enlarge

One never knows what any day will bring.  This was a surprise project, and I adored it. Thank you, Robin.  Thank you, BPO.  Thank you, music teachers who recommended me.  I hope you enjoy the poems...all HERE. I certainly love Britten's music.

Music provides endless inspiration.  If you ever find yourself unsure of what to write, try listening to music.  Close your eyes, and let your mind see images connected to what you hear.  Music can help you see new pictures in your head, can help you find new thoughts to write.

In other news, I am grateful to announce that there were two winners of my author visit auction item through KidLit Cares to benefit Harvey Relief.  Thank you to Kate Messner for holding this important auction.  Thank you to Tom Marshall and Helen Khanji of Stony Lane Elementary in Paramus, NJ and to Kristie Miner of Tioughnioga Riverside Academy in Whitney Point, NY for bidding. Together we raised $1125 for the Global Giving for Harvey Relief Fund.  And the whole auction has raised over $93,000.

Boyds Mills Press (donating books) and I (signing and shipping books) are holding a giveaway for my forthcoming READ! READ! READ!, joyfully illustrated by Ryan O'Rourke.

Poems About Reading

This giveaway runs through September 19, and there will be five winners of one signed book each.  You may enter HERE.

Matt Forrest Esenwine is hosting today's Poetry Friday roundup over at Radio, Rhythm, and Rhyme. Please stop by to check out all of the poetry links for this week and to celebrate his new picture book FLASHLIGHT NIGHT, illustrated by Fred Koehler. And please know....Poetry Friday is for everyone.  We welcome you every single week!

Please share a comment below if you wish.

If you are under 13 years old, please comment only with a parent 

or as part of a group with your teacher and class.

Day 22 - National Poetry Month 2015 - Sing That Poem!

Happy National Poetry Month!

Welcome to Day 22 of this Year's Poem Farm Project!

Find the Complete April 2015 Poem and Song List Here

First, I would like to welcome all old and new friends to The Poem Farm this April. Spring is a busy time on all farms, and this one is no exception.  Each April, many poets and bloggers take on special poetry projects, and I'm doing so too.  You can learn all about Sing That Poem! and how to play on my April 1st post, where you will also find the list of the whole month's poems and tunes as I write and share them.  If you'd like to print out a matching game page for yourself, you can find one here, and during April 2015, you'll be able to see the song list right over there in the left hand sidebar.

Yesterday's poem was Cool as You Are.  Here is the tune that goes along with it, below. Did you figure it out?

Welcome again to Margaret Simon's students - Emily and Kielan -  from Caneview Elementary in New Iberia, Louisiana.  Well done, you crazy singing pair!

And here, below, is today's poem.  Look at the song list in the sidebar or on your matching form to see if you can puzzle out which tune matches this one.  If you have been playing along all month, I imagine this is getting much easier, isn't it?  I welcome all classes to send their own audio clips to me through SoundCloud (easy free app), and I will be tickled to post them here on The Poem Farm.

Earth Day Goodness

Photo by Amy LV

Students - Happy Earth Day!  Today, no matter the weather, I hope that you will spend some time outside enjoying the magic and mystery of nature - in the city, in the suburbs, in the country.  Look at a pigeon, listen to the peepers, sketch those gorgeous clouds.  We are very lucky to live on this gorgeous, glorious planet.

For today's poemsong, I decided to really lean on the repetition of lines.  I wanted this to have a very lullaby-easy-to-sing feeling, to celebrate all of the ways we can honor Earth both today and every day.  As I wrote it, I imagined that this could be a fun little play...or that others might write successive verses.  It is a simple tune, with a simple pattern and simple words.  You can sing it below.  Those words in capital letters have the strong beat, so be sure to sing those with a bit more emphasis.

If any classes do write a new verse, I welcome you to share it with me...and I will share it here!

In honor of Earth Day, I will give away three copies of my first book FOREST HAS A SONG (Clarion/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013) today.  One copy will go to a commenter here on today's post, one will go to a person who retweets my announcement on Twitter, and one will go to a commenter on the announcement on my Poem Farm Facebook page.  If you already have the book, I will be happy to sign and mail it to someone else should you win.

Happy Earth Day!  

xo, a.

Learn More About My First Book Here

Please share a comment below if you wish.

An Honor & A Gift in Return

It is an incredible honor that my first poetry book, FOREST HAS A SONG, illustrated by Robbin Gourley and published by Clarion, has been selected by the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators as the 2014 Golden Kite Honor Book Award for Picture Book Text.

Click here to see all of the 2014 Golden Kite Winners & Honor Books!

In celebration of this tremendous surprise and happy day, I would like to donate ten signed copies of FOREST HAS A SONG to a school or organization that will place the books into hands of children who might especially benefit from a literary celebration of the small - and immense - beauties of the world beyond our doorsteps.  (You do not need to tell me who you will give the books to.)

Please simply leave a comment below if you have a thought in mind as to ten children who might like copies of FOREST.  I will draw one name on Thursday evening and will announce the winner this Poetry Friday, March 7, 2014.

Thank you to SCBWI, to the judges, and to all of my good friends who read the poems you find here.

- Amy

Please share a comment below if you wish.

"Once Somebody Asked Me" - Beginning With a Line

Choosing Water
Photo by Amy LV

Students - Yesterday, I went to the big Buffalo library and very much enjoyed reading David Elliott's book illustrated by Holly Meade, IN THE SEA.

Shop Indie Bound

Perhaps this is why I wrote about the sea yesterday.  Or maybe it is because we had the good fortune to have Allan Wolf stay at our home this month, and he acted out some poems from his fabulous book-in-many-voices, THE WATCH THAT ENDS THE NIGHT: VOICES FROM THE TITANIC.

Shop Indie Bound

Or perhaps it was just time for me to - once more - feel fascinated by the fact that a human being has never seen a live giant squid (though they have been recorded).  

It could be that this week of coldcoldcold weather has me dreaming of the ocean.  I do not know the reason why this poem appeared yesterday.  But as soon as I wrote the first line, "Once somebody told me..." I just followed the line on and on until the end.  

It can be interesting to take a line from someone else's poem, sometimes a first line, and follow it for yourself, creating a whole new poem from the same first few words as someone else.  You might wish to try this strategy if ever you feel stuck for an idea.  You could try my line, "Once somebody asked me..." or you might choose a line from a poem you have always loved or a poem you just open up to in a book right now.  It is always good to have a multituide of ways to get writing, even when it seems tough to begin.  

In giveaway news: Margaret Simon is the winner of last week's giveaway of Jeannine Atkins' beautiful, autographed book VIEWS FROM A WINDOW SEAT: THOUGHTS ON WRITING AND LIFE.  Margaret, please just drop me a line at amy at amylv dot com with your address, and I will mail your book next week.

Tricia is hosting today's Poetry Friday extravaganza over at The Miss Rumphius Effect, so you can head on over to her place to see what's brewing poetry-wise all around the Kidlitosphere this week. And do not miss her delightful book review and interview with Joan Bransfield Graham from yesterday.  And while you're there, scroll on back to check out some of Tricia's "Poetry Stretches", her regular Monday feature inviting writers to work their poetry muscles.

Happy Poetry Friday to one and all!

Please share a comment below if you wish.

Bean Mosaics - Making Things & Giving Things

Bean Boat

by Amy LV

Click the arrow to hear me read this poem to you.

Students - This poem goes along with a set of poems I will soon (in a couple of years) publish in a book with Clarion.  The book will be titled WITH MY HANDS: POEMS ABOUT MAKING THINGS.  Today's poem is dedicated to Mary Lee Hahn, supreme teacher and maker and gardener and photographer and so much more.  Last year, she and I were walking and talking about life, and she told me how her after school Environmental Club made bean mosaics together.  

Mary Lee says, "Environmental Club is such a gift because I don't have to be accountable to state or standards or administration about the activities we do. Something as small as observing soup beans that have been soaking for a couple of days until the embryo starts to develop and then making a mosaic on a paper plate with dry beans can be enough to fill an hour with the wonder of creativity and the knowledge that a small bean plant lies dormant in each of the seeds we use for our designs." 

Of course I could not get Mary Lee's thoughts out of my mind, and those mind-thoughts turned into this poem.  This one's for you, Mary Lee and students!

You can find some simple directions for making bean mosaics of your own over at KinderART.

What do you like to make?  You might make that project into the subject of a poem!

I am a maker and am most happy at work with my hands.  Right now I'm making some very easy and cozy knitted handwarmers.  These warm the hands but leave the fingers free for driving or for other work or movement.  They are fun to make and fun to give. Soooo.....

Cozy Handwarmers - Surprise Color Giveaway!

Photo and Handwarmers by Amy LV

Please leave a comment on today's post to win a free pair of hand knitted fingerless mitts...knitted by me in a surprise color!  Please leave your comment by next Thursday, Halloween, to be entered in this drawing.  I will announce the winner on Friday, November 1.

November 3, 2013 - Matt Forrest Esenwine of Radio, Rhythm, and Rhyme  is the winner of the handwarmers!  Please, Matt, send me a private message with information about whether the handwarmers will be for you...or for someone else.  This will help me determine size and color!

Irene Latham is hosting Poetry Friday with 1,000 goodnesses.  Stop by her place at Live Your Poem, and celebrate her 1,000th blog post with all kinds of fun.  

Please share a comment below if you wish.

To find a poem by topic, click here. To find a poem by technique, click here.

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Manuscript Critique Giveaway

If you are a writer who has always wished for a manuscript critique (free!), this is your chance.  In celebration of their blogiversary, the writers behind Teaching Authors:  Six Children's Authors Who Also Teach Writing, are offering this to one lucky winner.  Poetry, picture books, middle grade or young adult novels...if you write it, you may win a critique.  For complete information and how to enter, click here.  Thank you to Carmela, April, Esther, Jeanne, Joann, and Mary Ann for this opportunity.