Poetry Friday

Poetry Friday is hosted today by Teaching YoungWriters.

For Poetry Friday -- "Change-up: baseball poems" written by Gene Fehler with illustrations by Donald Wu.

Fehler takes baseball fans through a year of the sport beginning with a winter's  game with snowballs. The poems, in the voice of a young player, share the joys and frustrations of winning and losing and highlight baseball experiences: practice, broken windows, a "catch" with Gramps who played in the minors and more.  Verses in a variety of forms encompass the baseball experience.

 Gramps's Tough Pitches

1. Knuckleball

It floats.

It dips like a pirate ship

riding on waves that toss it

up

and

down.

 

Bat in hand,

I wait and wait

and here it comes,

pulled by strings

this way

and  that-- 

where's it at? 

Wu fills in the blanks with smiling children actively engaged in their favorite sport.

Poetry Friday

Poetry Friday is hosted today by Jama's AlphabetSoup.

For Poetry Friday -- "Behold the Bold Umbrellaphant: and other poems by Jack Prelutsky with illustrations by Carin Berger.

 

Prelutsky's trademark humor stars again in this collection of poems about imaginary animals.  Prelutsky pairs animals with inanimate objects to create unique creatures that include Alarmadillo, Clocktopus, Ballpoint Penguins, Lynx of Chain, and the Umbrellaphant whose trunk can blossom into an umbrella to shed the rain. 

"The Ballpoint Penguins, black and white,

Do little else but write and write.

Although they've nothing much to say,

They write and write it anyway.

Prelutsky  has plenty to say and Berger's collage art is a smart visual pairing with these whimsical verses.

Writers Wednesday

Are you considering Indie Publishing as a possible means of making your work available to the public? 

Check out this post from J.A. Kazimer titled "7 Things I Wish I Knew Before I Indie Published."

Kazimer is traditionally published, small press published, and indie published so she brings a unique perspective to the process. 

Her conversational post is worth reading if you are weighing your publishing options.

Nonfiction Monday

Nonfiction Monday is hosted today by Perogies &Gyoza.

For Nonfiction Monday --  "Giant Squid: searching for a sea monster" written by Mary M. Cerullo with Clyde F.E. Roper.

 

Monsters, mystery and a real-life adventure: no wonder this topic appeals to young readers.  Giant Squid have eyes as large as dinner plates and tentacles armed with rows of sharp suckers capable of leaving scars on their natural enemy the sperm whale.  The largest specimen ever recorded was 43 feet long but despite their enormous size, these creatures remain elusive and difficult to study.

Cerullo has teamed up with marine biologist/Giant Squid expert Roper to provide her audience with the latest information and current research on this remarkable animal.  Roper's decades of study, together with the work of a Japanese expert, form the basis for the book.  Photographs, drawings, maps and a glossary are paired with the facts and fiction that surround this little known monster from the deep to invite young scientists begin their own exploration.      

Poetry Friday

Poetry Friday is hosted today by Think Kid, Think!

For Poetry Friday -- "Imaginary menagerie: a book of curious creatures" -- poetry by Julie Larios with paintings by Julie Paschkis.

 

Larios offers readers a cross-cultural collection of poems that explore the nature of fourteen mythical creatures.  The familiar dragon and phoenix serve as bookends for the less well known beings that include the thunderbird of Native American traditions, naga of Hindu and Buddhist lore, and the Russian firebird along with hobgoblin, troll and will o the wisp. 

Boldly colored paintings by Paschkis appear inspired by the folk art traditions of each creatures' cultural heritage and enrich the reading experience with every turn of the page.  

Nonfiction Monday

Nonfiction Monday is hosted today by InstantlyInterruptible.

For Nonfiction Monday --  "An eye for color: the story of Josef Albers" by Natasha Wing and illustrated by Julia Breckenreid.

 

Wing offers readers a thoughtful look at the life and work of Josef Albers, a man she first knew as the kindly gentleman who strolled her childhood neighborhood.  Only in later years would she come to understand the remarkable life that Albers led from his days as part of the German Bauhaus Movement in the 1920s to a nearly thirty yearlong study of color.  He began his experiment, titled Homage to the Square, to determine the way colors reacted when placed side by side and noted the optical illusions and the effect of afterimages that occurred as a result. His study culminated in the 1963 publication of his book, Interaction of Color, which forever changed the way the way artists understand color theory.

A comprehensive Author's Note, photographs, and Glossary complete the book.

Breckenreid's paintings illustrate Albers' life and demonstrate his painting style which utilized flat colors and geometric shapes.

Nonfiction Monday

Nonfiction Monday is hosted today by Booktalking.

For Nonfiction Monday --  "Hold your horses!" (and other peculiar sayings) written by Cynthia Amoroso and illustrated by Mernie Gallagher-Cole.

 

Hold Your Horses is one of four titles by Amoroso that include I'm All Thumbs, It's a Long Shot and That's the Last Straw.  Each title explores idiomatic English sayings by explaining their meaning, using them in context, and providing readers with an entertaining introduction the peculiarities of English language. 

Gallagher-Cole's cartoon-style illustrations make literal use of the phrases under discussion which provides readers with ample opportunities to smile while helping to clarify word usage.

Poetry Friday

Poetry Friday is hosted today by Elizabeth Steinglass Poet.

For Poetry Friday -- "Dogku" by Andrew Clements with illustrations by Tim Bowers.

Just for fun -- the story of a dog told in page-by-page haikus that successfully capture the humor, drama and suspense of a stray's search for a home.  Clements follows his story with a short author's note about haikus.  Dogku is a simple introduction to the haiku that invites readers to play with this poetry form and demonstrates the power of this simple verse.

Bowers' charming illustrations enrich the plot points as they unfold.