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 

Today's Poetry Friday roundup is being hosted by Matt at Radio, Rhythm & Rhyme.  Be sure to stop over for a lot more Poetry Friday fun!

Until next time, Happy Reading and Writing, and . . . 

 I hope your heart strings connect with something wonderful you read!

#SOL A Little Free Librarian

 Happy Tuesday!  Today is Slice of Life (#SOL) Tuesday!

Photo by Amy Soto

A Little Free Librarian

About a year ago, my church was looking for someone to manage their Little Free Library.  Of course, I jumped at the4 opportunity to help out!  Each week or every few days, I stop by the LFL to organize its contents and add new titles to its shelves.  I am now called the church librarian.  I love the title and love taking care of the adorable little library.  I have ordered a mini flag and hung it on a flag holder next to the library.  The flag reads, “Read, Return, Repeat.” 

Photo by Amy Soto

 Next to the library, there is a bench.  I live across the street from the church and its little free library.  I am able to look out my window and see people sometimes sitting on the bench with a book.  Last summer, there was even an older lady with a young girl in a stroller that visited the library weekly.  Each week, the pair would select books, sit on the bench and the woman would read to the child.  This brought me such joy.  

In a small room of the church, I have a store of donated books that I draw from each week to stock the library.  I often donate my own books as well.  The top shelf usually holds adult books and the bottom shelf contains children’s books, middle grade, picture, and even board books.  It’s fun to see what books get borrowed, what books are donated by LFL patrons, and which books return.  

I follow little free libraries on Instagram and recently saw that someone had decorated the window of the library with shamrocks.  I loved this idea and have decided to do something similar with my little free library.  I think that I will make a seasonal shape, such as umbrellas, bunnies, or eggs and place them on the inside window of the library.  I will encourage library patrons to take one to use as a bookmark.  

Being the librarian of my church’s little free library is so much fun!  Since I am a retired elementary school librarian, it allows me to still enjoy some aspects, in a very small way, of my former position.  

Photo by Amy Soto

                                                              

It’s a beautiful spring day, so I will stop over to the church, visit my book room, and organize and restock my little free library.  It is time for a spring cleaning.  It is also spring break week for the local schools.  So, maybe the little free library will have some extra visitors who might need something good to read while on break from school!

Photo by Amy Soto

Photo by Amy Soto

I hope you have an opportunity to visit a little free library!  Happy Reading!

What is Slice of Life?  Visit Two Writing Teachers to learn more.  To read other Slice of Life stories, please visit here.

4/11/22 #IMWAYR

 Happy Monday!  It's Monday, What Are You Reading? #IMWAYR

Middle Grade Must Reads:

Lately I’ve been diving into the backlist of books that I didn’t get around to reading when they were new or newer in the kidlit scene.  I’m currently finishing up The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill.  Looking at reviews of the book, I see that there are a large number of readers who thought the book was 5 star worthy.  I did see an occasional 3 star review. I am not ready to give it a rating at this time since I’m only about half way through but I can say that I am enjoying Barnhill’s writing style, world building, and character development.   

Picture Book Picks:

I’ve read some outstanding picture  books lately!  Here are two of my favorites.

Being that I am a “pug mom,” I preordered this book as soon as I saw it on social media.  Bug on the Rug, written by Sophia Gholz and illustrated by Susan Batori is a great read aloud with lots of fun word play!  Pug has made himself comfortable on the rug but then along comes bug, wanting to claim the rug for himself.  Pug and bug are in for a battle, until slug comes along to mediate.  So much to read in rhymes, about pug and bug’s battle for the rug!  Adorable and funny illustrations capture the reader’s heart and funny bone!  Bright and bold pictures work perfectly with the sparing text, to cohesively tell of pug and bug’s adventure on the rug!  Bug on the Rug has earned a special place on my, “picture books about pugs” shelf!  Read this book aloud and afterwards have a blast playing with rhyming words and word families.  This a great read aloud for pre-kindergarten through grade three.   

Poetry Break! 

(if you are not currently familiar with Poetry Breaks, check out my first blog, Mrs Merrill's Book Break, to read about them!  For #IMWAYR, a Poetry Break is a poetry book that I am reading and loving) 

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!

Until next time, Happy Reading and . . . I hope your heart strings connect with something wonderful you read!

Follow Me:

GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/10604107-amy-lynn

Instagram: @mother_goose_librarian

YouTube: Mother Goose Librarian

My previous blog: Mrs. Merrill's Book Break!

(Note: book images are linked from GoodReads)

Jen from  Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee and Ricki from Unleashing Readers are co-hosting the #IMWAYR blog hop.  Check out all the links to other blogs and see what great children's literature everyone is sharing; picture books, middle grade, and young adult.