There’s a gentle rain tonight as I write, and the peepers are singing. When I walked outside earlier this evening it felt oh-so normal, in spite of the anxiety that is now a part of our daily life. I’m lucky to live in a rural place where I can walk every day without worrying about […]

Thank you, Poetry Friday friends for helping me celebrate the launch of my new book On a Snow-Melting Day this month! Many of you wrote reviews and shared blog posts, which I greatly appreciated. Thanks to Molly, Margaret, Carol, Linda, Mary Lee and Jama–click on their names if you’d like to read their posts. And […]

Welcome to Poetry Friday. Mr. Linky and I are happy to host the solstice roundup. Please leave your links below. It’s 5:29 pm on Thursday as I begin to write this post, and there’s a faint orange glow on the horizon. One advantage of living on the western edge of a time zone is that […]

Happy Thanksgiving! I am grateful for the support and encouragement that abounds in the kidlit community, and especially among children’s poets. One of the blogs that exemplifies community support is Today’s Little Ditty, where Michelle Heidenrich Barnes has created a place for poets to play, learn, and grow. Each month a guest writer or editor […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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. […]

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 […]

The Kidlitosphere Progressive Poem, brainchild of Irene Latham, took a different turn this year. Matt started us off with a borrowed song line, and suggested that we compose through communal borrowing. All fine and good if you have some knowledge of song lyrics. That might have been me in my youth, but now, not so […]