POETRY - April is National Poetry Month
This guide will provide ideas and resources for exploring everything POETRY.
RESERVE a book for class discussion
Visual Poetry
Derek Beaulieu often works at the edges of language, using isolated letters to create visual, instead of verbal, patterns and deconstructing found texts to tease out hidden meanings. His "untitled (for Natalee and Jeremy)," produced for two of his friends, is either a visual poetry epithalamium or simply a joyous celebration of the physical beauties of letter shape and writing. The resulting poem, which is created with press-on type, gains most of its effects from the repetition of identical letters, visual poetry's equivalent to rhyme, consonance, and assonance.—Geof Huth
Jesse Patrick Ferguson is a Canadian visual poet working in both visual and textual forms. His "Mama" shows how little text it takes to make a successful visual poem. Consisting of nothing but the letter "e," variously presented, this poem represents the simple warbling cry of a child. The poem is both a touching visualization of an aural event and a strong example of how xerographic transmogrification can add character and meaning to text.—Geof Huth
by József Bíró
Gustave Morin's primary form is the collage poem. His "toon tune" is a remarkable piece of craftsmanship. Its sixty-three individual fragments of text are cut into the shapes of jigsaw puzzle pieces and are fit perfectly together in a rectangular grid. The "words" of the poem consist almost entirely of the extravagant visualizations of onomatopoeia from comic books, producing a visual symphony of crashes and cries.—Geof Huth
Jörg Piringer works in many forms, including visual, digital, and sound poetry, as well as music. In "fallen," piringer combines a visual sensibility with computer programming skills to tumble text from the English translation of The Communist Manifesto into a pile at the bottom of the page. The result is a mass of letters stripped of their original meaning and representing the failure of an idea.—Geof Huth
Guillaume Apollinaire [1880-1918], part of the Modernist set of artists, writers and thinkers who gathered in Paris around the turn of the century, was a unique poet who combined text and images into a new form of poetry, the Calligramme.
The poem “Forsythia” (1966), by Mary Ellen Solt.
“The Wreck,” by SJ Sloat. In the Winter 2017 issue of Sixth Finch
John Hollander, “Swan and Shadow”
Carole Boston Weatherford
Author ~ Poet ~ Professor
and Jeffrey Boston Weatherford
Artist ~ Poet
will be visiting with BRMS via Zoom on April 15th &16th.
Check them out!
"VISITING" AUTHOR - Carole Boston Weatherford
Mother/son-author/illustrator duo Carole & Jeffery Boston Weatherford
Baltimore-born and -raised, Carole composed her first poem in first grade and dictated the verse to her mother on the ride home from school. Her father, a high school printing teacher, printed some of her early poems on index cards.
Since her literary debut with Juneteenth Jamboree in 1995, Carole’s books have received three Caldecott Honors, two NAACP Image Awards, an SCBWI Golden Kite Award, a Coretta Scott King Author Honor and many other honors.
For career achievements, Carole received the Ragan-Rubin Award from North Carolina English Teachers Association and the North Carolina Literature Award, among the state’s highest civilian honors. She holds an M.A. in publications design from University of Baltimore and an M.F.A. in creative writing from University of North Carolina, Greensboro. She is a Professor of English at Fayetteville State University in North Carolina.
A New York Times best-selling author, Carole is one of the leading poets writing for young people today. She believes that poetry makes music with words. And she mines the past for family stories, fading traditions and forgotten struggles. Her work spans poetry, nonfiction, biography and historical fiction. Her latest releases are Freedom in Congo Square and You Can Fly: The Tuskegee Airmen. Her 40-plus books include many award winners.
Carole Boston Weatherford and her son, Jeffery
Jeff Weatherford is an award-winning children’s book illustrator, spoken word poet/performer, digital designer, born doodler and former game reviewer. He earned his Master of Fine Arts from Howard University, where he was a Romare Bearden Scholar and his Bachelor’s degree from Winston-Salem State University, where he was a Chancellor’s Scholar majoring in art with a concentration in graphics/animation.
Watch Jeffrey perform his spoken word poetry! NC Bookwatch | Jeffery Boston Weatherford "Footnote" | PBS NC
Be a King by ISBN: 9780802723680Publication Date: 2018-01-02Featuring a dual narrative of the key moments of Dr. King's life alongside a modern class as the students learn about him, Carole Weatherford's poetic text encapsulates the moments that readers today can reenact in their own lives. See a class of young students as they begin a school project inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and learn to follow his example, as he dealt with adversity and never lost hope that a future of equality and justice would soon be a reality. As times change, Dr. King's example remains, encouraging a new generation of children to take charge and change the world . . . to be a King.
Before John Was a Jazz Giant by ISBN: 9780805079944Publication Date: 2008-04-01Young John Coltrane was all ears. And there was a lot to hear growing up in the South in the 1930s: preachers praying, music on the radio, the bustling of the household. These vivid noises shaped John's own sound as a musician. Carole Boston Weatherford and Sean Qualls have composed an amazingly rich hymn to the childhood of jazz legend John Coltrane.
Birmingham 1963 by ISBN: 9781590784402Publication Date: 2007-09-01A poetic tribute to the victims of the racially motivated church bombing that served as a seminal event in the struggle for civil rights. In 1963, the eyes of the world were on Birmingham, Alabama, a flashpoint for the civil rights movement. Birmingham was one of the most segregated cities in the United States. Civil rights demonstrators were met with police dogs and water cannons. On Sunday, September 15, 1963, members of the Ku Klux Klan planted sticks of dynamite at the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, which served as a meeting place for civil rights organizers. The explosion killed four little girls. Their murders shocked the nation and turned the tide in the struggle for equality.
BOX: Henry Brown Mails Himself to Freedom by ISBN: 9780763691561Publication Date: 2020-04-14In a moving, lyrical tale about the cost and fragility of freedom, author and an acclaimed artist follow the life of a man who courageously shipped himself out of slavery. In stanzas of six lines each, each line representing one side of a box, celebrated poet Carole Boston Weatherford powerfully narrates Henry Brown's story of how he came to send himself in a box from slavery to freedom.
Dear Mr. Rosenwald by ISBN: 0439495229Publication Date: 2006-09-01Based on the true story of the Rosenwald schools built in the rural African-American South in the 1920s, award winning writer and poet Carol Boston Weatherford tells the lyrical story of third grader Ovella as her family and community help each other build a new, and much-prayed for, school. Renowned, award winning illustrator Gregory Christie joins Weatherford with provocative gouache illustrations with this empowering story about an African-American community who builds their own school.Inspired by Booker T. Washington, Julius Rosenwald, the son of an immigrant and the president of Sears, Roebuck and Co., donated millions of dollars to build schools for African-American children in the rural South.
First Pooch by ISBN: 0761456368Publication Date: 2009-11-01Throughout their father's twenty-two month campaign for president, Malia and Sasha Obama begged their parents for a dog. Finally, when their father became the 44th president of the United States, he rewarded their patience and good behavior in his victory speech: "Malia and Sasha will get their new puppy." Would the girls choose a Foxhound like President George Washington's? Or a chocolate Labrador Retriever like the Clintons'? Maybe a shelter dog? Finally, on February 25, 2009, they decided to look for a Portuguese Water Dog to move into the White House.
Freedom in Congo Square by ISBN: 9781499801033Publication Date: 2016-01-05This poetic, nonfiction story about a little-known piece of African American history captures a human's capacity to find hope and joy in difficult circumstances and demonstrates how New Orleans' Congo Square was truly freedom's heart. As slaves relentlessly toiled in an unjust system in 19th century Louisiana, they all counted down the days until Sunday, when at least for half a day they were briefly able to congregate in Congo Square in New Orleans. Here they were free to set up an open market, sing, dance, and play music. They were free to forget their cares, their struggles, and their oppression. This story chronicles slaves' duties each day and builds to the freedom of Sundays and the special experience of an afternoon spent in Congo Square.
Freedom on the Menu by ISBN: 9780803728608Publication Date: 2004-12-29A portrait of the 1960 civil rights sit-ins at the Woolworth's lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina, as seen through the eyes of a young Southern black girl.
Gordon Parks by ISBN: 9780807530177Publication Date: 2015-02-01His white teacher tells her all-black class, You'll all wind up porters and waiters. What did she know? Gordon Parks is most famous for being the first black director in Hollywood. But before he made movies and wrote books, he was a poor African American looking for work. When he bought a camera, his life changed forever. He taught himself how to take pictures and before long, people noticed. His success as a fashion photographer landed him a job working for the government. In Washington DC, Gordon went looking for a subject, but what he found was segregation. He and others were treated differently because of the color of their skin. Gordon wanted to take a stand against the racism he observed. With his camera in hand, he found a way.
I, Matthew Henson by ISBN: 9780802796899Publication Date: 2007-12-26Matthew Henson was not meant to lead an ordinary life. His dreams had sails. They took him from the port of Baltimore, around the world, and north to the pole. No amount of fear, cold, hunger, or injustice could keep him from tasting adventure and exploring the world. He learned to survive in the Arctic wilderness, and he stood by Admiral Peary for years on end, all for the sake of his goal. And finally, after decades of facing danger and defying the odds, he reached the North Pole and made history. At last, Henson had proved himself as an explorer--and as a man.
In Daddy's Arms I Am Tall by ISBN: 1880000318Publication Date: 2000-12-01Illustrated by Javaka Steptoe Twelve poets give testimony to the powerful bond between African American fathers, children and grandchildren in the brilliantly illustrated volume.
In Your Hands by ISBN: 9781481462938Publication Date: 2017-09-12A black mother expresses the many hopes and dreams she has for her child in this powerful picture book masterpiece that's perfect for gift-giving. When you are a newborn, I hold your hand and study your face. I cradle you as you drift to sleep. But I know that I will not always hold your hand; not the older you get. Then, I will hold you in my heart And hope that God holds you in his hands.
Jesse Owens by ISBN: 9780802795502Publication Date: 2007-01-01Jesse Owens grew up during the time of Jim Crow laws, but segregation never slowed him down. After setting world records for track in high school and college, he won a slot on the 1936 U.S. Olympic team. That year, the Olympics were in Berlin, then controlled by the Nazis, and Hitler was certain they would be a chance to prove to the world that Aryans were superior to all other races. But the triumph of Jesse's will helped him run through any barrier, winning four gold medals and the hearts of millions, setting two world records, and proving the Nazi dictator unmistakably wrong.
Leontyne Price by ISBN: 9780375956065Publication Date: 2014-12-23A stunning picture-book biography of iconic African American opera star Leontyne Price. Born in a small town in Mississippi in 1927, the daughter of a midwife and a sawmill worker, Leontyne Price might have grown up singing the blues. But Leontyne had big dreams--and plenty to be thankful for--as she surrounded herself with church hymns and hallelujahs, soaked up opera arias on the radio, and watched the great Marian Anderson grace the stage. While racism made it unlikely that a poor black girl from the South would pursue an opera career, Leontyne's wondrous voice and unconquerable spirit prevailed. Bursting through the door Marian had cracked open, Leontyne was soon recognized and celebrated for her leading roles at the Metropolitan Opera and around the world--most notably as the majestic Ethiopian princess in Aida, the part she felt she was born to sing.
The Library Ghost by ISBN: 9781602130173Publication Date: 2008-09-01
Michelle Obama by ISBN: 0761456406Publication Date: 2010-09-01Written in free verse, this book tells the life of Michelle Obama from her birth and early years in Chicago through her career and early marriage to Barack Obama and ends with his inauguration.
Moses by ISBN: 0786851759Publication Date: 2006-09-01I set the North Star in the heavens and I mean for you to be free... Born into slavery, Harriet Tubman hears these words from God one summer night and decides to leave her husband and family behind and escape. Taking with her only her faith, she must creep through woods with hounds at her feet, sleep for days in a potato hole, and trust people who could have easily turned her in. But she was never alone. In lyrical text, Carole Boston Weatherford describes Tubman's spiritual journey as she hears the voice of God guiding her north to freedom on that very first trip to escape the brutal practice of forced servitude. Tubman would make nineteen subsequent trips back south, never being caught, but none as profound as this first one.
A Negro League Scrapbook by ISBN: 9781590780916Publication Date: 2005-03-01Imagine that you are an outstanding baseball player but banned from the major leagues. Imagine that you are breaking records but the world ignores your achievements. Imagine having a dream but no chance to make that dream come true. This is what life was like for African American baseball players before Jackie Robinson broke Major League Baseball's color barrier. Meet Josh Gibson, called "the black Babe Ruth," who hit seventy-five home runs in 1931; James "Cool Papa" Bell, the fastest man in baseball; legendary Satchel Paige, who once struck out twenty-four batters in a single game; and, of course, Jackie Robinson, the first black player in Major League Baseball, and one of the greatest players of all time.
Obama by ISBN: 0761456414Publication Date: 2010-04-01From birth to getting elected as president, a biography told in lyrical prose.... From his childhood in Indonesia to his teenage years in Hawaii, from his father's homeland of Kenya to the halls of Harvard Law School and, later, the South Side of Chicago, Barack Obama searched for a place where he belonged. His search led him to the White House, where, as president, he would fight for "the god-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness." In elegant, cadenced language, award-winning author Carole Boston Weatherford provides a biographical tribute to a citizen of the world who journeyed from "Barry" to "Barack" to "Mr. President".
Respect by ISBN: 9781534452282Publication Date: 2020-08-25Aretha Franklin was born to sing. The daughter of a pastor and a gospel singer, her musical talent was clear from her earliest days in her father's Detroit church where her soaring voice spanned more than three octaves. Her string of hit songs earned her the title "the Queen of Soul," multiple Grammy Awards, and a place in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. But Aretha didn't just raise her voice in song, she also spoke out against injustice and fought for civil rights.
The Roots of Rap by ISBN: 9781499804119Publication Date: 2019-01-08Explore the roots of rap in this stunning, rhyming, triple-timing picture book! The roots of rap and the history of hip-hop have origins that precede DJ Kool Herc and Grandmaster Flash. Kids will learn about how it evolved from folktales, spirituals, and poetry, to the showmanship of James Brown, to the culture of graffiti art and break dancing that formed around the art form and gave birth to the musical artists we know today. This book beautifully illustrates how hip-hop is a language spoken the whole world 'round, and it features a foreword by Swizz Beatz, a Grammy Award-winning American hip-hop rapper, DJ, and record producer.
Schomburg: the Man Who Built a Library by ISBN: 9781536208979Publication Date: 2019-08-06Amid the scholars, poets, authors, and artists of the Harlem Renaissance stood an Afro-Puerto Rican named Arturo Schomburg. This law clerk's life's passion was to collect books, letters, music, and art from Africa and the African diaspora and bring to light the achievements of people of African descent through the ages. When Schomburg's collection became so big it began to overflow his house (and his wife threatened to mutiny), he turned to the New York Public Library, where he created and curated a collection that was the cornerstone of a new Negro Division.
Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer by ISBN: 9780763665319Publication Date: 2015-08-04Despite fierce prejudice and abuse, even being beaten to within an inch of her life, Fannie Lou Hamer was a champion of civil rights from the 1950s until her death in 1977. Integral to the Freedom Summer of 1964, Ms. Hamer gave a speech at the Democratic National Convention that, despite President Johnson's interference, aired on national TV news and spurred the nation to support the Freedom Democrats. Featuring vibrant mixed-media art full of intricate detail, Voice of Freedom celebrates Fannie Lou Hamer's life and legacy with a message of hope, determination, and strength.
You Can Fly by ISBN: 9781481449397Publication Date: 2017-07-04I WANT YOU! says the poster of Uncle Sam. But if you're a young black man in 1940, he doesn't want you in the cockpit of a war plane. Yet you are determined not to let that stop your dream of flying. So when you hear of a civilian pilot training program at Tuskegee Institute, you leap at the chance. Soon you are learning engineering and mechanics, how to communicate in code, how to read a map. At last the day you've longed for is here: you are flying! From training days in Alabama to combat on the front lines in Europe, this is the story of the Tuskegee Airmen, the groundbreaking African-American pilots of World War II. In vibrant second-person poems, Carole Boston Weatherford teams up for the first time with her son, artist Jeffery Weatherford, in a powerful and inspiring book that allows readers to fly, too.
More Ways to Celebrate Poetry Month -- Poetry of All Sorts!
AMERICAN poetry can be found in the 811 section.
ENGLISH poetry can be found in the 812 section.
What Is Goodbye? by ISBN: 0786807784Publication Date: 2004-04-01Jerilyn and Jesse have lost their beloved older brother. But each of them deals with Jaron's death differently. Jerilyn tries to keep it in and hold it together; Jesse acts out. But after a year of anger, pain, and guilt, they come to understand that it's time to move on. It's time for a new family picture-with one piece missing, yet whole again. Through the alternating voices of a brother and sister, Nikki Grimes eloquently portrays the grieving process in this gem of a book that is honest, powerful, and ultimately hopeful. Nikki Grimes is the distinguished author of more than two-dozen children's books. She received the 2003 Coretta Scott King Award for her novel Bronx Masquerade and a 2003 Coretta Scott King Honor citation for Talkin' About Bessie. Many of her books have been cited as Notable Books by the American Library Association, including Come Sunday, a picture book in verse; Something on My Mind; and Meet Danitra Brown, which also won a Coretta Scott King Honor. She lives in southern California.
The Other Side by ISBN: 9780531071670Publication Date: 2000-03-01A collection of poems reminiscent of growing up as an African-American girl in Shorter, Alabama.
Black Cat Bone by ISBN: 9781568461946Publication Date: 2006-09-01Legend credits his success to a midnight pact at a crossroads, but what is the real story of bluesman Robert Johnson?
Here in Harlem by ISBN: 0823418537Publication Date: 2004-10-01Acclaimed writer Walter Dean Myers celebrates the people of Harlem with these powerful and soulful first-person poems in the voices of the residents who make up the legendary neighborhood: basketball players, teachers, mail carriers, jazz artists, maids, veterans, nannies, students, and more. Exhilarating and electric, these poems capture the energy and resilience of a neighborhood and a people.
A Light in the Attic by ISBN: 059013471XPublication Date: 1995-12-01A collection of humorous poems and drawings.
Blues Journey by ISBN: 0823416135Publication Date: 2003-03-01The blues aren't all sad. There's joy in the blues as well as heartbreak. Love discovered. Love lost. Love just around the corner. In this beautiful tribute to the poetry and art of the blues, renowned author Walter Dean Myers collaborates with his son, award-winning illustrator Christopher Myers, in a true masterpiece of picture book creation filled with struggle, grief, hope, joy, and love. Each original blues-style verse on a page calls out a response from the artist in striking tones of brown, black, white, and blue. Together, father and son weave an enchanting story of the creation of the blues through the experiences of African Americans from the end of slavery through the beginning of the civil rights movement. This book is for older children who love music and their parents who will appreciate the layered sophistication of the striking artwork and interplay between art and text. Includes an author's note explaining the birth and development of the blues, a timeline of blues milestones, and an explanatory glossary of terms in the blues. Together this content deepens the appreciation for the blues as a truly original art form. A Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award Honor book An ALA Notable book Horn Book Fanfare Selection Kirkus Reviews Editor's Choice New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age A Children's Book of the Year, Child Study Children's Book Committee at Bank Street College
Leaves of Grass, a Textual Variorum of the Printed Poems, 1855-1856 by ISBN: 0553211161Publication Date: 1983-06-01One of the great innovative figures in American letters, Walt Whitman created a daringly new kind of poetry that became a major force in world literature. Leaves Of Grass is his one book.nbsp;nbsp;First published in 1855 with only twelve poems, it was greeted by Ralph Waldo Emerson as "the wonderful gift . . . the most extraordinary piece of wit and wisdom that America has yet contributed."nbsp;nbsp;Over the course of Whitman's life, the book reappeared in many versions, expanded and transformed as the author's experiences and the nation's history changed and grew.nbsp;nbsp;Whitman's ambition was to creates something uniquely American.nbsp;nbsp;In that he succeeded.nbsp;nbsp;His poems have been woven into the very fabric of the American character.nbsp;nbsp;From his solemn masterpieces "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd" and "Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking" to the joyous freedom of "Song of Myself," "I Sing the Body Electric," and "Song of the Open Road," Whitman's work lives on, an inspiration to the poets of later generations.Acts of Light by
ISBN: 082121098XPublication Date: 1987-04-01A collection of eighty poems by the 19th century reclusive poet accompanied by paintings and drawings.
Selected Poems by ISBN: 0871401533Publication Date: 1994-10-01"At the time of his death in 1962 E.E. Cummings was, next to Robert Frost, the most widely read poet in America. Combining Thoreau's controlled belligerence with the brash abandon of an uninhibited Bohemian, Cummings, together with Pound, Eliot, and William Carlos Williams, helped bring about the twentieth-century revolution in literary expression. He is recognized on the one hand as the author of some of the most beautiful lyric poems written in the English language, and on the other as one of the most inventive American poets of his time. This is the first selection from the poems of E.E. Cummings to be published since 1959, three years before his death. The one hundred and fifty-six poems selected by Richard S. Kennedy, Cummings's biographer (Dreams in the Mirror), are arranged in twelve sections, with introductions by Kennedy for each section. Also included are thirteen drawings, oils, and watercolors by Cummings, most of them never before published." "The selection includes most of the favorites plus many fresh and surprising examples of Cummings's several poetic styles. The corrected texts established by George J. Firmage have been used throughout."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved
This Same Sky by ISBN: 0689806302Publication Date: 1996-05-01A beautiful collection of poems from around the world selected by renowned anthologist Naomi Shihab Nye. This award-winning multicultural compilation of poetry introduces more than 125 poems from sixty-eight countries around the world, many translated into English for the first time, and offers glimpses of similarities across people despite cultural differences.
Haiku by ISBN: 0684124947Publication Date: 1971-09-01A collection of haiku about nature each illustrated with two related color photographs.
Selected Poems by ISBN: 9780060882969Publication Date: 2006-07-03Selected Poems is the classic volume by the distinguished and celebrated poet Gwendolyn Brooks, winner of the 1950 Pulitzer Prize, and recipient of the National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. This compelling collection showcases Brooks's technical mastery, her warm humanity, and her compassionate and illuminating response to a complex world. This edition also includes a special PS section with insights, interviews, and more--including a short piece by Nikki Giovanni entitled "Remembering Gwen." By 1963 the civil rights movement was in full swing across the United States, and more and more African American writers were increasingly outspoken in attacking American racism and insisting on full political, economic, and social equality for all. In that memorable year of the March on Washington, Harper & Row released Brooks's Selected Poems, which incorporated poems from her first three collections, as well as a selection of new poems. This edition of Selected Poems includes A Street in Bronzeville, Brooks's first published volume of poetry for which she became nationally known and which led to successive Guggenheim fellowships; Annie Allen, published one year before she became the first African American author to win the Pulitzer Prize in any category; and The Bean Eaters, her fifth publication which expanded her focus from studies of the lives of mainly poor urban black Americans to the heroism of early civil rights workers and events of particular outrage--including the 1955 Emmett Till lynching and the 1957 school desegregation crisis in Little Rock, Arkansas.
The Firefly Letters by ISBN: 9780805090826Publication Date: 2010-03-16The freedom to roam is something that women and girls in Cuba do not have. Yet when Fredrika Bremer visits from Sweden in 1851 to learn about the people of this magical island, she is accompanied by Cecilia, a young slave who longs for her lost home in Africa. Soon Elena, the wealthy daughter of the house, sneaks out to join them. As the three women explore the lush countryside, they form a bond that breaks the barriers of language and culture. In this quietly powerful new book, award-winning poet Margarita Engle paints a portrait of early women's rights pioneer Fredrika Bremer and the journey to Cuba that transformed her life. The Firefly Letters is a 2011 Pura Belpre Honor Book for Narrative and a 2011 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.
The Surrender Tree by ISBN: 9780805086744Publication Date: 2008-04-01It is 1896. Cuba has fought three wars for independence and still is not free. People have been rounded up in reconcentration camps with too little food and too much illness. Rosa is a nurse, but she dares not go to the camps. So she turns hidden caves into hospitals for those who know how to find her. Black, white, Cuban, Spanish--Rosa does her best for everyone. Yet who can heal a country so torn apart by war? Acclaimed poet Margarita Engle has created another breathtaking portrait of Cuba. The Surrender Tree is a 2009 Newbery Honor Book, the winner of the 2009 Pura Belpre Medal for Narrative and the 2009 Bank Street - Claudia Lewis Award, and a 2009 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.
Joyful Noise by ISBN: 0060218525Publication Date: 1988-03-01From the Newbery Medal-winning author of Seedfolks, Paul Fleischman, Joyful Noise is a collection of irresistible poems that celebrates the insect world. Funny, sad, loud, and quiet, each of these poems resounds with a booming, boisterous, joyful noise. The poems resound with the pulse of the cicada and the drone of the honeybee. They can be fully appreciated by an individual reader, but they're particularly striking when read aloud by two voices, making this an ideal pick for classroom use. Eric Beddows′s vibrant drawings send each insect soaring, spinning, or creeping off the page in its own unique way. With Joyful Noise, Paul Fleischman created not only a fascinating guide to the insect world but an exultant celebration of life.
One Last Word by ISBN: 9781619635548Publication Date: 2017-01-03"One Last Wordis the work of a master poet." --Kwame Alexander, Newbery Medal-winning author ofThe Crossover From theNew York Times bestselling and Coretta Scott King award-winning author Nikki Grimes comes an emotional, special new collection of poetry inspired by the Harlem Renaissance--paired with full-color, original art from today's most exciting African-American illustrators. Inspired by the writers of the Harlem Renaissance, bestselling author Nikki Grimes uses "The Golden Shovel" poetic method to create wholly original poems based on the works of master poets like Langston Hughes, Georgia Douglas Johnson, Jean Toomer, and others who enriched history during this era. Each poem is paired with one-of-a-kind art from today's most exciting African American illustrators--including Pat Cummings, Brian Pinkney, Sean Qualls, James Ransome, Javaka Steptoe, and many more--to create an emotional and thought-provoking book with timely themes for today's readers. A foreword, an introduction to the history of the Harlem Renaissance, author's note, poet biographies, and index makes this not only a book to cherish, but a wonderful resource and reference as well. A 2017 New York Public Library Best Kids Book of the Year AKirkus ReviewsBest Book of 2017, Middle Grade ASchool Library JournalBest Book of 2017, Nonfiction
The Dream Keeper and Other Poems by ISBN: 9780679844211Publication Date: 2007-11-13"HOLD FAST TO DREAMS / For if dreams die / Life is a broken-winged bird / That cannot fly." The Dream Keeper, the great African-American writer Langston Hughes's only collection of poems for children, includes some of his best loved works. It is being reissued in a handsome hardcover edition in celebration of its 75th anniversary. Filled with elegant scratchboard illustrations by Caldecott Honor winner Brian Pinkey, and featuring an introduction by noted children's poet Lee Bennett Hopkins, this gift edition is sure to be cherished by young readers and longtime poetry lovers alike.
Picture Book Poetry
Picture Book Poetry
Picture Book Poetry
Picture Book Poetry
Predator and Prey: a Conversation in Verse by ISBN: 9780763695330Publication Date: 2019-04-09
The Undefeated by ISBN: 9781328780966Publication Date: 2019-04-02
Life Doesn't Frighten Me by ISBN: 9781556702884Publication Date: 1996-02-06
Hoops by ISBN: 0152014500Publication Date: 1997-10-01
A Song for Gwendolyn Brooks by ISBN: 9781454930884Publication Date: 2019-01-01
Can I Touch Your Hair? by ISBN: 9781512404425Publication Date: 2018-01-01
Harlem by ISBN: 0590543407Publication Date: 1997-02-01
We Are America by ISBN: 9780060523107Publication Date: 2015-05-26
Poet by ISBN: 9781561458257Publication Date: 2015-09-01
Out of Wonder: Poems Celebrating Poets by ISBN: 9780763680947Publication Date: 2017-03-14- The Young Inferno byISBN: 1845077695Publication Date: 2009-04-28
What is 'novel in verse'?
Verse novels (novels in verse) are an extraordinary way to read a story. The entire story is written in verse–rather than prose. Prose are usually what fiction books are written in. That means the story is told in sentences which become paragraphs then pages and turn into chapters. In a verse novel the story is told through poems–rhyming or not, it doesn’t matter. Each turn of the page leads to poetry. The rhythm of verse novels becomes hypnotic making this type of book a very quick read. (Source:Dear Librarian - Ask Me Anything)
When searching our library catalog for this style of poetry, type NOVELS IN VERSE into the Destiny Discover search bar.
Solo by Call Number: F ALEISBN: 9780310761839Publication Date: 2017Seventeen-year-old Blade, who endeavors to resolve painful issues from his past to navigate the challenges of his former rockstar father's addictions, scathing tabloid rumors, and a protected secret that threatens his own identity.
Finding Wonders by ISBN: 9781481465656Publication Date: 2016-09-20A gorgeously written novel in verse about three girls in three different time periods who grew up to become groundbreaking scientists. Maria Merian was sure that caterpillars were not wicked things born from mud, as most people of her time believed. Through careful observation she discovered the truth about metamorphosis and documented her findings in gorgeous paintings of the life cycles of insects. More than a century later, Mary Anning helped her father collect stone sea creatures from the cliffs in southwest England. To him they were merely a source of income, but to Mary they held a stronger fascination. Intrepid and patient, she eventually discovered fossils that would change people's vision of the past. Across the ocean, Maria Mitchell helped her mapmaker father in the whaling village of Nantucket. At night they explored the starry sky through his telescope. Maria longed to discover a new comet--and after years of studying the night sky, she finally did. Told in vibrant, evocative poems, this stunning novel celebrates the joy of discovery and finding wonder in the world around us.
The Canyon's Edge by ISBN: 9780316494694Publication Date: 2020-09-08Hatchet meets Long Way Down in this heartfelt and gripping novel in verse about a young girl's struggle for survival after a climbing trip with her father goes terribly wrong. One year after a random shooting changed their family forever, Nora and her father are exploring a slot canyon deep in the Arizona desert, hoping it will help them find peace. Nora longs for things to go back to normal, like they were when her mother was still alive, while her father keeps them isolated in fear of other people. But when they reach the bottom of the canyon, the unthinkable happens: A flash flood rips across their path, sweeping away Nora's father and all of their supplies. Suddenly, Nora finds herself lost and alone in the desert, facing dehydration, venomous scorpions, deadly snakes, and, worst of all, the Beast who has terrorized her dreams for the past year. If Nora is going to save herself and her father, she must conquer her fears, defeat the Beast, and find the courage to live her new life.
They Call Me Güero by ISBN: 9781947627079Publication Date: 2018-11-27Bluebonnet Award Master List 2020-2021 Pura Belpré Author Honor Book, 2019 ALSC Notable Children's Book, 2019 Walter Award Honor Book, 2019 Twelve-year-old Güero is Mexican American, at home with Spanish or English and on both sides of the river. He's starting 7th grade with a woke English teacher who knows how to make poetry cool. In Spanish, "Güero" is a nickname for guys with pale skin, Latino or Anglo. But make no mistake: our red-headed, freckled hero is puro mexicano, like Canelo Álvarez, the Mexican boxer. Güero is also a nerd--reader, gamer, musician--who runs with a squad of misfits like him, Los Bobbys. Sure, they get in trouble like anybody else, and like other middle-school boys, they discover girls. Watch out for Joanna! She's tough as nails. But trusting in his family's traditions, his accordion and his bookworm squad, he faces seventh grade with book smarts and a big heart. Life is tough for a border kid, but Güero has figured out how to cope. He writes poetry. In Spanish, "Güero" is a nickname for guys with pale skin, Latino or Anglo. But make no mistake: our red-headed, freckled hero is puro mexicano, like Canelo Álvarez, the Mexican boxer. Güero is also a nerd--reader, gamer, musician--who runs with a squad of misfits like him, Los Bobbys. Sure, they get in trouble like anybody else, and like other middle-school boys, they discover girls. Watch out for Joanna! She's tough as nails. But trusting in his family's traditions, his accordion and his bookworm squad, he faces seventh grade with book smarts and a big heart. Life is tough for a border kid, but Güero has figured out how to cope. He writes poetry. Claudia Lewis Award for Excellence in Poetry, Bank Street 2019 NCTE 2019 Notable Verse Novels Tomás Rivera Mexican American Children's Book Award TIL Jean Flynn Award for Best Middle Grade Book 2018 Skipping Stones Award Ámericas Award, Commended Title School Library Journal's 2018 Best Books Shelf Awareness 2018 Best Children's & Teen Books of the Year, Middle Grade Favorites of 2019, Americas Society / Council of the Americas A product of a Mexican-American family,David Bowles has lived most of his life in deep South Texas, where he teaches at the University of Texas Río Grande Valley. Recipient of awards from the American Library Association, Texas Institute of Letters and Texas Associated Press, David has written several books, including the Pura Belpré Honor BookThe Smoking Mirror,Feathered Serpent, Dark Heart of Sky: Myths of Mexico,The Chupacabras of the Rio Grande (The Unicorn Rescue Society series), and the middle grade graphic novelRise of the Halfling King (Tales of the Feathered Serpent #1).
Caminar by ISBN: 9780763665166Publication Date: 2014-03-25Set in 1981 Guatemala, a lyrical debut novel tells the powerful tale of a boy who must decide what it means to be a man during a time of war. Carlos knows that when the soldiers arrive with warnings about the Communist rebels, it is time to be a man and defend the village, keep everyone safe. But Mama tells him not yet - he's still her quiet moonfaced boy. The soldiers laugh at the villagers, and before they move on, a neighbor is found dangling from a tree, a sign on his neck: Communist. Mama tells Carlos to run and hide, then try to find her. . . . Numb and alone, he must join a band of guerillas as they trek to the top of the mountain where Carlos's abuela lives. Will he be in time, and brave enough, to warn them about the soldiers? What will he do then? A novel in verse inspired by actual events during Guatemala's civil war, Caminar is the moving story of a boy who loses nearly everything before discovering who he really is.
All the Broken Pieces by ISBN: 0545080924Publication Date: 2009-04-01A remarkable literary debut by a stunning new voice in children's fiction. Two years after being airlifted out of war-torn Vietnam, Matt Pin is haunted: by bombs that fell like dead crows, by the family -- and the terrible secret -- he left behind. Now, inside a caring adoptive home in the United States, a series of profound events force him to choose between silence and candor, blame and forgiveness, fear and freedom. By turns harrowing, dreamlike, sad, and triumphant, this searing debut novel, written in lucid verse, reveals an unforgettable perspective on the lasting impact of war and the healing power of love.
Jazz Owls by ISBN: 9781534409439Publication Date: 2018-05-08From the Young People's Poet Laureate Margarita Engle comes a searing novel in verse about the Zoot Suit Riots of 1943. Thousands of young Navy sailors are pouring into Los Angeles on their way to the front lines of World War II. They are teenagers, scared, longing to feel alive before they have to face the horrors of battle. Hot jazz music spiced with cool salsa rhythms calls them to dance with the local Mexican American girls, who jitterbug all night before working all day in the canneries. Proud to do their part for the war effort, these Jazz Owl girls are happy to dance with the sailors--until the blazing summer night when racial violence leads to murder. Suddenly the young white sailors are attacking these girls' brothers and boyfriends. The cool, loose zoot suits they wear are supposedly the reason for the violence--when in reality these boys are viciously beaten and arrested simply because of the color of their skin. In soaring images and powerful poems, this is the breathtaking story of what became known as the Zoot Suit Riots as only Margarita Engle could tell it.
Lion Island by ISBN: 9781481461122Publication Date: 2016-08-30In a haunting yet hopeful novel in verse, award-winning author Margarita Engle tells the story of Antonio Chuffat, a young man of African, Chinese, and Cuban descent who became a champion of civil rights. Asia, Africa, Europe--Antonio Chuffat's ancestors clashed and blended on the beautiful island of Cuba. Yet for most Cubans in the nineteenth century, life is anything but beautiful. The country is fighting for freedom from Spain. Enslaved Africans and nearly-enslaved Chinese indentured servants are forced to work long, backbreaking hours in the fields. So Antonio feels lucky to have found a good job as a messenger, where his richly blended cultural background is an asset. Through his work he meets Wing, a young Chinese fruit seller who barely escaped the anti-Asian riots in San Francisco, and his sister Fan, a talented singer. With injustice all around them, the three friends are determined that violence will not be the only way to gain liberty.
Hidden by ISBN: 9780374382216Publication Date: 2011-05-10When Wren Abbott and Darra Monson are eight years old, Darra's father steals a minivan. He doesn't know that Wren is hiding in the back. The hours and days that follow change the lives of both girls. Darra is left with a question that only Wren can answer. Wren has questions, too. Years later, in a chance encounter at camp, the girls face each other for the first time. They can finally learn the truth--that is, if they're willing to reveal to each other the stories that they've hidden for so long. Told from alternating viewpoints, this novel-in-poems reveals the complexities of memory and the strength of a friendship that can overcome pain.
Inside Out and Back Again by ISBN: 0061962783Publication Date: 2011-02-22Inside Out and Back Again is a #1 New York Times bestseller, a Newbery Honor Book, and a winner of the National Book Award! Inspired by the author's childhood experience as a refugee--fleeing Vietnam after the Fall of Saigon and immigrating to Alabama--this coming-of-age debut novel told in verse has been celebrated for its touching child's-eye view of family and immigration. For all the ten years of her life, Hà has only known Saigon: the thrills of its markets, the joy of its traditions, and the warmth of her friends close by. But now the Vietnam War has reached her home. Hà and her family are forced to flee as Saigon falls, and they board a ship headed toward hope. In America, Hà discovers the foreign world of Alabama: the coldness of its strangers, the dullness of its food . . . and the strength of her very own family. This moving story of one girl's year of change, dreams, grief, and healing received four starred reviews, including one from Kirkus which proclaimed it "enlightening, poignant, and unexpectedly funny." An author's note explains how and why Thanhha Lai translated her personal experiences into Hà's story.
The Red Pencil by ISBN: 9780316247825Publication Date: 2015-11-03The powerful story of one girl's triumphant journey, inspired by true tales of life in Sudan -- now in paperback. Life in Amira's peaceful Sudanese village is shattered when Janjaweed attackers arrive, unleashing unspeakable horrors. After losing nearly everything, Amira needs to find the strength to make the long journey on foot to safety at a refugee camp. She begins to lose hope, until the gift of a simple red pencil opens her mind -- and all kinds of possibilities.
Long Way Down by ISBN: 9781481438254Publication Date: 2017-10-24A Newbery Honor Book A Coretta Scott King Honor Book A Printz Honor Book A Los Angeles Times Book Prize Winner for Young Adult Literature Longlisted for the National Book Award for Young People's Literature Winner of the Walter Dean Myers Award An Edgar Award Winner for Best Young Adult Fiction Parents' Choice Gold Award Winner An Entertainment Weekly Best YA Book of 2017 A Vulture Best YA Book of 2017 A Buzzfeed Best YA Book of 2017 An ode to Put the Damn Guns Down, this is National Book Award finalist and New York Times bestseller Jason Reynolds's fiercely stunning novel that takes place in sixty potent seconds--the time it takes a kid to decide whether or not he's going to murder the guy who killed his brother. A cannon. A strap. A piece. A biscuit. A burner. A heater. A chopper. A gat. A hammer A tool for RULE Or, you can call it a gun. That's what fifteen-year-old Will has shoved in the back waistband of his jeans. See, his brother Shawn was just murdered. And Will knows the rules. No crying. No snitching. Revenge. That's where Will's now heading, with that gun shoved in the back waistband of his jeans, the gun that was his brother's gun. He gets on the elevator, seventh floor, stoked. He knows who he's after. Or does he? As the elevator stops on the sixth floor, on comes Buck. Buck, Will finds out, is who gave Shawn the gun before Will took the gun. Buck tells Will to check that the gun is even loaded. And that's when Will sees that one bullet is missing. And the only one who could have fired Shawn's gun was Shawn. Huh. Will didn't know that Shawn had ever actually USED his gun. Bigger huh. BUCK IS DEAD. But Buck's in the elevator? Just as Will's trying to think this through, the door to the next floor opens. A teenage girl gets on, waves away the smoke from Dead Buck's cigarette. Will doesn't know her, but she knew him. Knew. When they were eight. And stray bullets had cut through the playground, and Will had tried to cover her, but she was hit anyway, and so what she wants to know, on that fifth floor elevator stop, is, what if Will, Will with the gun shoved in the back waistband of his jeans, MISSES. And so it goes, the whole long way down, as the elevator stops on each floor, and at each stop someone connected to his brother gets on to give Will a piece to a bigger story than the one he thinks he knows. A story that might never know an END...if WILL gets off that elevator. Told in short, fierce staccato narrative verse, Long Way Down is a fast and furious, dazzlingly brilliant look at teenage gun violence, as could only be told by Jason Reynolds.
White Rose by ISBN: 9781328594433Publication Date: 2019-04-02"In a searing indictment of silent complicity, White Rose shines a light on one remarkable young woman's insistence on the power of truth, no matter the cost. A timely call to resistance." - Joy McCullough, author of Blood Water Paint "White Rose is a resonant testament to courage. In a time of horrific brutality, young people found a nonviolent way to resist. Told in the form of poetry, the story of their hopes is honored and brought back to life, still relevant today, when regimes that spread hatred are once again thriving, and words are our most powerful defensive weapon." - Margarita Engle, author of Newbery Honoree The Surrender Tree and 2017-2019 Young People's Poet Laureate. "Both heart-wrenching and inspiring, Sophie Scholl's story, as retold by Kip Wilson in White Rose, is a stunning reminder to stand against evil, even when you stand alone. This is the kind of book that sticks in your heart long after you've finished. An incredible story of heroism incredibly told." - Mackenzi Lee, author of New York Times Bestseller The Gentleman's Guide to Vice & Virtue "White Rose is a deftly plotted, absorbing read. A bold tribute to a brave hero of the German resistance during World War II. Wilson's debut is a triumph!" --Melanie Crowder, author of National Jewish Book Award finalist Audacity "A graceful, moving portrait of a heroic young woman's defiant refusal to remain complicit with Nazi oppression." - Julie Berry, Printz Honor author of The Passion of Dolssa A gorgeous and timely novel based on the incredible story of Sophie Scholl, a young German college student who challenged the Nazi regime during World War II as part of The White Rose, a non-violent resistance group. Disillusioned by the propaganda of Nazi Germany, Sophie Scholl, her brother, and his fellow soldiers formed the White Rose, a group that wrote and distributed anonymous letters criticizing the Nazi regime and calling for action from their fellow German citizens. The following year, Sophie and her brother were arrested for treason and interrogated for information about their collaborators. This debut novel recounts the lives of Sophie and her friends and highlights their brave stand against fascism in Nazi Germany.
Paper Hearts by ISBN: 9781481439831Publication Date: 2015-09-01Amid the brutality of Auschwitz during the Holocaust, a forbidden gift helps two teenage girls find hope, friendship, and the will to live in this novel in verse that's based on a true story. An act of defiance. A statement of hope. A crime punishable by death. Making a birthday card in Auschwitz was all of those things. But that is what Zlatka did, in 1944, for her best friend, Fania. She stole and bartered for paper and scissors, secretly creating an origami heart. Then she passed it to every girl at the work tables to sign with their hopes and wishes for happiness, for love, and most of all--for freedom. Fania knew what that heart meant, for herself and all the other girls. And she kept it hidden, through the bitter days in the camp and through the death marches. She kept it always. This novel is based on the true story of Fania and Zlatka, the story of the bond that helped them both to hope for the best in the face of the worst. Their heart is one of the few objects created in Auschwitz, and can be seen today in the Montreal Holocaust Memorial Centre.
Before the Ever After by ISBN: 9780399545436Publication Date: 2020-09-01WINNER OF THE CORETTA SCOTT KING AUTHOR AWARD! National Book Award winner Jacqueline Woodson's stirring novel-in-verse explores how a family moves forward when their glory days have passed and the cost of professional sports on Black bodies. For as long as ZJ can remember, his dad has been everyone's hero. As a charming, talented pro football star, he's as beloved to the neighborhood kids he plays with as he is to his millions of adoring sports fans. But lately life at ZJ's house is anything but charming. His dad is having trouble remembering things and seems to be angry all the time. ZJ's mom explains it's because of all the head injuries his dad sustained during his career. ZJ can understand that--but it doesn't make the sting any less real when his own father forgets his name. As ZJ contemplates his new reality, he has to figure out how to hold on tight to family traditions and recollections of the glory days, all the while wondering what their past amounts to if his father can't remember it. And most importantly, can those happy feelings ever be reclaimed when they are all so busy aching for the past?
RECITE it, DANCE it, SING it.....
POETRY OUT LOUD!
- Amanda Gorman Recites 'The Hill We Climb' | TIME
Amanda Gorman recites her inauguration poem 'The Hill We Climb'. Directed by Awol Erizku for TIME. - Wake Up! (spoken word poetry) | Jesse Oliver | TEDxPerth
Slam Poetry Artist Jesse Oliver - Harvard grad wows crowd with spoken word commencement address
2016 Harvard graduate Donovan Livingston delivered a powerful, inspirational and poetic speech during commencement. - PAUSE: Lincoln High Slam Poets at TEDxLincoln
This group of Slam Poets just started working together as high school students in 2012 and ended their year as state champions. Members Lillian Bornstein, Charlie Curtis-Beard, Reagan Myers and Paul Schack, make a big splash on the stage as they perform their poem "Pause". - Sherrie Silver and Amanda Gorman's Spectacular Dance/Poetry Performance
Amanda Gorman, the 21-year-old inaugural Youth Poet Laureate of the United States of America, opened the 2019 Women in the World Summit with a stunning reading of her empowering poetry. Accompanying Gorman onstage was a troupe of dancers led by legendary choreographer Sherrie Silver, the mastermind behind Childish Gambino's award-winning music video "This Is America." Together, the two artists combined their talents to create a potent combination of words and movement. #WITW #AmandaGorman #SherrieSilver #dance #poetry - Taylor Mali - Totally Like Whatever, You Know
Taylor Mali, a TED “Best of the Web” speaker, spent nine years in the classroom teaching everything from English and history to math and S.A.T. test preparation. He has performed and lectured for teachers all over the world and has performed or taught poetry in over 50 foreign countries and in every state of the U.S. (except Wyoming!).
Formerly president of Poetry Slam, Inc., the non-profit organization that oversees all poetry slams in North America, Taylor Mali makes his living entirely as a spoken-word and voiceover artist these days, traveling around the country performing and teaching workshops as well as doing occasional commercial voiceover work.
LISTENING to Poetry
