Happy Poetry Friday!
Today I am sharing a Poetry Break! and a poem draft.Poetry Break!
(if you are not currently familiar with Poetry Breaks, check out my first blog to read about them! For Poetry Friday, a Poetry Break is a poetry book that I am reading and loving)
Book image from GoodReads.
I’m in love with this poetry/picture book, written by Eric Ode and illustrated by Jieting Chen. Stop that Poem! Is a poem that is constructed as the reader is taken on a whimsical journey throughout an ordinary day in an ordinary neighborhood. A young girl wheels a wagon, full of words to a yard, where she stacks her words to make a poem. Soon her words are carried away with the wind. “Stop that poem!” the girl and her friend shout. The words are scattered throughout the neighborhood and new lines in the poem are crafted at each scene; a pond, a clothesline, a tree, and other neighborhood locations. The artwork has more muted background colors, with brighter pops of color in the foreground, that draws the reader into the illustrations. Pair this poem picture book with word cards and a clothesline for children to craft and create their own original poems. This is the perfect read aloud for anytime but especially now, during National Poetry Month!Stop that Poem! has inspired me to draft this poem. It is a work in progress. Please feel free to leave me any feedback in the comments. I would greatly appreciate it.
Poems
by Amy Soto
I gaze out the window
My mind wanders
Like clouds
Poems float by
I try to catch one
but can’t
no matter how hard I try.
Like clouds
Poems float by
Until next time, Happy Reading and Writing, and . . .
I hope your heart strings connect with something wonderful you read!
I've told Eric how much I love the concept for his book - it really is ingenious! Enjoyed your poem, too, Amy. If you want to continue working on it, try thinking about all the connections between poems and clouds - wispy, moving, changing - and see what kind of additional imagery comes to mind. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteThank you for the suggestions! I’ll definitely be playing more with the poem.
Delete"Stop That Poem" looks so good! Thanks for bringing it to my attention :)
ReplyDeleteOh Amy, thank you! I can't wait to get Stop That Poem! I love the idea of how words float away and yet connect to reform new poems.
ReplyDeleteI saw the book somewhere else, Amy, certainly will get it. It sounds & looks great. I like your poem's ending!
ReplyDeleteAmy, thank you for the poetry break and introducing me to Stop that Poem! I like your poem and how sometimes while writing, we try to catch one, but they float right by! I like how these lines
ReplyDelete"Like clouds
Poems float by"
sandwich the attempts of the narrator. Nice!
This book sounds delightful! I've added it to my list to try to track down. Thanks for sharing your inspiration, and your poem with us. It captures that feeling that everywhere around us, we can find poems and inspiration, if we look.
ReplyDelete