Scaredy Cat

This month’s challenge at Today’s Little Ditty is a monstrous one. Rebecca Herzog asked us to consider another viewpoint. “Most everyone is afraid of monsters. But what are monsters most afraid of?” Here’s my very-recently written (aka Friday afternoon) answer: Scaredy Cat She’s buried in her human’s tomb,stuffed with sand, wrapped in gloom.With leathery skin […]

Pumpkins and Bones!

There’s a frost forecast for Michigan tonight. I picked the last green tomatoes this afternoon and admired the trees’ new cloaks of red, yellow, and orange. The weather has taken a decidedly fall turn, and I’ve got a couple of new seasonal picture books to share (thanks to Candlewick Press for the review copies!) Patricia […]

Honoring Lee

The world of children’s poetry lost a legend a couple of weeks ago. Lee Bennett Hopkins, author of 120 books and anthologies, poet extraordinaire, and champion of children’s poetry and children’s poets, passed away on August 8. How does one remember such a man? Jone MacCulloch suggested that we find inspiration in a line of […]

It’s Poetry Friday!

Welcome to Poetry Friday. I’m happy to be your summer host. I’m traveling back in time today and reviewing a beautiful book I received in spring (thank you, Candlewick Press!) Helen Frost and Rick Lieder’s Hello, I’m Here tells the story a newly-hatched sandhill crane chick through a clever, first-person poem and gorgeous close-up photography. […]

Feathers On My Mind

There’s a new prompt over at Today’s Little Ditty. Liz Steinglass, talented poet, supportive pal, and author of the forthcoming collection Soccerverse, has challenged us to write a poem giving instructions to an inanimate object about how to do its job.  When I was considering what to write for the challenge, a male goldfinch flew […]

Happy Poem in Your Pocket Day!

To celebrate Poem in Your Pocket Day (April 18th) I’ve written a poem about…pockets! I have vivid memories of collections that came home in my older offspring’s pockets–pebbles, seeds and other treasures. That memory and the aforementioned Pocket Day inspired this poem: Hidden in Your Pocket Pebbles from the playgroundOreo cookie crumbs, still tastyChalk for […]

First Snow

Monday morning we awoke to the season’s first heavy snow. Branches had fallen, including a tree that took out the power to my neighborhood. We survived the one day outage, and got to enjoy a morning of cross-country skiing on Wednesday. There’s nothing more magical than that first snow. Every twig and branch sparkled. We […]