Meter Stick, New Book, New Look, & Winner!

Pinky Centimeter

Photo by Amy LV

Students - This poem was a lot of fun to write because even when I was a little girl, I loved the sound of centimeter, decimeter, meter, kilometer.  Just those four words are a poem of their own!  I grew up thinking in inches and feet, but I do remember learning about the metric system and will always remember that a centimeter is about the width of a finger.  (If you are a child, your index finger may be a centimeter wide.  My pinky is about a centimeter wide!)

I find it interesting that most people in the world measure using the metric system, while here, where I live in the United States, many do not.  I love the idea of all people measuring length the same way, the idea of feeling connected by how we see our so-big, so-small world.  My husband Mark is a science teacher, and he thinks in metrics. Maybe someday I will too.

You may have noticed the funny line breaks in the last three lines of this verse. Sometimes I play with the way lines break up, but only if it will further the meaning of the poem.  In this case, the way the words move far away from each other mirrors the way that people live far from each other, in many different countries.

'Meter Stick', along with 217 other poems by many, many poets appears in the brand new book, THE POETRY FRIDAY ANTHOLOGY FOR SCIENCE, compiled by Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong of Pomelo Books and the POETRY FRIDAY ANTHOLOGY series fame.  The larger K-5 Teacher's Edition, also available for Kindle, includes a variety of literacy and science activities, and the smaller editions are illustrated and grade specific, just right for little hands.

Stay tuned for April, when I will be giving away a copy of this book each week. (Thank you, Sylvia and Janet!)

THE POETRY FRIDAY ANTHOLOGY FOR SCIENCE

Available through Amazon

This has been a very exciting week at The Poem Farm!  Some of you may have read that on Monday, my first book, FOREST HAS A SONG, won the 2014 Golden Kite Honor Book Award for Picture Book Text, given by the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators.  I was surprised and honored and decided to celebrate by offering a giveaway of ten copies of FOREST to one person who could think of people who might like them.  Today I am happy to announce that the winner of this giveaway is....Janet! Janet - Please send me an e-mail here with your snail mail address as well as a list of names to whom you would like me to sign the books, and I will get them in the mail this week.

In other exciting news, with gratitude to talented web designer Donna Farrell, I invite you to visit my fresh new website over at www.amyludwigvanderwater.com.  On the home page, you can peek at a video of LeVar Burton from Reading Rainbow reading four poems, including one of mine, from I AM THE BOOK by Lee Bennett Hopkins. 

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Margaret is hosting today's Poetry Friday party over at Reflections on the Teche!  Head on over and join us at the table of this week's poetry goodness. We Poetry Friday friends invite everyone to join us, poke around, and share your own links too!

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An Honor & A Gift in Return

It is an incredible honor that my first poetry book, FOREST HAS A SONG, illustrated by Robbin Gourley and published by Clarion, has been selected by the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators as the 2014 Golden Kite Honor Book Award for Picture Book Text.

Click here to see all of the 2014 Golden Kite Winners & Honor Books!

In celebration of this tremendous surprise and happy day, I would like to donate ten signed copies of FOREST HAS A SONG to a school or organization that will place the books into hands of children who might especially benefit from a literary celebration of the small - and immense - beauties of the world beyond our doorsteps.  (You do not need to tell me who you will give the books to.)

Please simply leave a comment below if you have a thought in mind as to ten children who might like copies of FOREST.  I will draw one name on Thursday evening and will announce the winner this Poetry Friday, March 7, 2014.

Thank you to SCBWI, to the judges, and to all of my good friends who read the poems you find here.

- Amy

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Listening to Seasons: Squeaky Snow Secrets

Twelve Below!

Photo by Amy LV

Students - Brrrr!  That's what I have to say this morning.  Winter has been long for us Western New Yorkers this year, and we have truly had a chance to experience all kinds of snow: soft quiet snow, crunchy hard top snow, fat flakes, and today...squeaky snow.  Squeaky snow, some of you may have noticed, is a sound we hear only in the coldest weather.  You can learn about why here.

All seasons come with sights and smells...and sounds too.  Whether you live in a cold place or a warm place, your outside world is full of sounds, and these sounds change as the seasons change.  When you find yourself wondering what to write about, you might consider the sounds of  seasons.  What do you hear outside?  Turn off any electronics, close your eyes, and just listen.

You'll see that today's poem does not rhyme and that it goes down the page like...well...like footprints.  I did not originally write the poem this way, but after playing around with the line breaks a few different ways, this seemed best, most walking-like.  A poem with a shape that is part of its meaning is called a concrete poem.

If you do not live in a squeak-snow-place, I recorded this for you just today!

This beautiful book, written by Judi K. Beach and illustrated by Loretta Krupinski, is one of my favorite books about snow, a lyrical list book naming all of the types of snow including "kitten" for snow that sits on a window and the favorite of our children when they were little, "wings of white butterflies."

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In exciting and breaking news, (it is now Friday afternoon as I write), the Penn State University Libraries and the Pennsylvania Center for the Book have just announced the winner of the 2014 Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award.  "Selected by a panel of teachers, librarians and scholars, the Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award was the first award of its kind in the United States. The Pennsylvania Center for the Book, the Penn State University Libraries and Lee Bennett Hopkins share joint administration of the annual award" (from the website).

Many congratulations to Andrea Cheng for having won for ETCHED IN CLAY: THE LIFE OF DAVE, ENSLAVED POTTER AND POET.

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This year the committee also named two honor books, and they are COALTOWN JESUS by Ron Koertge and RUTHERFORD B., WHO WAS HE?": POEMS ABOUT OUR PRESIDENTS by Marilyn Singer and illustrated by John Hendrix.

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Congratulations to all winners, and thank you to Lee Bennett Hopkins for always recognizing, supporting, and teaching children's poets and for spreading the love of poetry to children in countless visible and invisible ways.

In giveaway land, Linda Kulp Trout the winner of the Samuel Beckett letterpressed quote from last week's giveaway!  Please send your snail mail address to amy at amylv dot com, and I will mail out your piece this week along with the Jeannine Atkins book for Margaret, some signed bookplates, and the rest of my happy, towering pile of outgoing mail.

Anastasia is hosting this week's Poetry Friday smorgasbord over at Poet! Poet!  Swing on by and visit all of the poetry celebrations in the Kidlitosphere this week.  All are welcome!

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Trees Dream - Uncertainty & Personification

Waving Tree
by Amy LV

Students - This morning I sat on the couch as everyone else in my house slept. The cats were awake, one-by-one rubbing against my legs, looking for snuggles. I sat in a pile of blankets, wondering what to write.  Somehow it felt like I had written everything in me already, as if there were no more ideas.  Of course I knew this was not true, but it felt like that for a little bit.  And it was scary.  But I know that ideas can never be used up, so I wrote anyway, through the fear.

I began writing in my notebook, just anything and everything about my days, and then I picked up a book - THE WAY THINGS WORK - thinking that perhaps I would write a nonfiction poem about a piano.

Then I saw the little tree in our front yard, arms reaching up to the sky.  I looked at the snow all around, and wondered if that little tree wishes for spring as much as I do.  I wondered what it would feel like to be a guardian of a nest, such an important job that trees have.  And I remembered Kristine O'Connell George's book OLD ELM SPEAKS, when Old Elm speaks to a young tree about the moon.  All of that looking and thinking and remembering brought me to write today's poem.

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You'll notice that "Trees Dream" does not have a strong meter or rhyme scheme, but if you read closely, you will notice some similar sounds: skies/lands, chatter/flutter, wings/spring.  This is a list poem, a list of what I think my front yard tree may be thinking and doing on this chilly February day.  It is a poem with personification, because you can see that I give the tree the ability to do things that people do: dream, imagine, wave.

In honor of the idea of sticking with something, not giving up, and believing in persevering through failed attempts, today I am hosting a giveaway!  Last week, rummaging through my (messy) desk, I found two beautiful broadsides of this, my favorite Samuel Beckett quote.  This piece was hand letterpressed in muted metallic inks of blue and silver at the Western New York Book Arts Center in November 2011 and is number 289 out of a limited edition of 350. The size is about 9" by 11". One goes to a commenter, and one stays with me!

Winner to be Announced Friday, February 28!

In happy new publishing news...today I am happy to announce that my first nonfiction picture book, EVERY DAY BIRDS, will be published by Scholastic.  It is simple rhyming text identifying many common birds, and it includes extra facts to be embedded in the illustrations.  I am grateful to my husband Mark and to my friend Bill for their expert early reads and birder advice. No word yet on publication date or illustrator, but you can be sure that I will tell you when I know.

Teacher Friends: Author and poet Laura Purdie Salas is sharing poems and readings at her blog, Writing the World for Kids. One post, she shares a poem or picture, and the next post, she "externalizes her process of reading that poem or picture book." We can learn so much from how others read texts, and as Laura is an author herself, her thinking is valuable for our teaching selves. This week, she shares my "Dusk" from FOREST HAS A SONG. Thank you, Laura!

Karen Edmisten is hosting today's Poetry Friday fest over at Karen Edmisten: The Blog with the Shockingly Clever Title.  That's where you'll find this week's menu of poetry selections all around the Kidlitosphere, and we welcome everyone to join us as readers or sharers, each week.

Please share a comment below if you wish.

Frosty Heart & Happy News

Thor & Me, 1971
Photo by George or Debby Ludwig

Students - Today's poem is a love poem, a remembering love poem.  I wrote it because of an event and a conversation from this week: some dear friends are missing their dog who was hit by a car, and I had a talk with a young man about the dog he loved and still misses.  Even after loss, love lives on inside of us, and sometimes writing a poem or reading a poem can help us hold onto and remember a loving time.  Let poems be there for you, all the time, in the reading and in the writing.

When I think of old pets, like Thor in the picture above, I think of Miller Williams' poem, Animals.  Each new and loved animal begins a new chapter in my life.

And now, a little bit of happy news!  Each year, the Cybils (Children's and Young Adult Bloggers' Literary Awards) are announced on Valentine's Day, with one winner in each category chosen from several nominees.  I am honored to share that my book with Robbin Gourley, FOREST HAS A SONG, was chosen as the 2013 Cybils poetry winner.  

Much gratitude to Laura Purdie Salas for the nomination, and to the judges for your kind words and for believing in our book.  My husband woke me up this morning, laptop in hand, to tell me tell me that FOREST had won!

Round One Judges:

Ed deCaria, Think, Kid, Think!

Kelly Fineman, Writing and Ruminating

Jone MacCulloch, Check It Out

Anastasia Suen, Poet! Poet!

Sylvia Vardell, Poetry for Children

April Halprin Wayland, Teaching Authors

Bridget Wilson, What is Bridget Reading?

Round Two Judges:

Linda Baie, TeacherDance

Matt Esenwine, Radio, Rhythm, and Rhyme

Renee La Tulippe, No Water River

Julie Larios, The Drift Record

Irene Latham, Live Your Poem

Linda is hosting today's special Valentine's Day Poetry Friday over at TeacherDance.  Happy Valentine's Day and Happy Poetry Friday both...may your whole weekend be full of love.  xo

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The Owl in the Door - Magic Everywhere!

Third Floor Women's Restroom Door

Webster Central Schools District Office

Photo by Amy LV

Students - Here's a funny little story for you.  So, this past Tuesday I was leading a workshop for wonderful third grade teachers in Webster, NY.  The middle school and district office building is one and the same, and it has beautiful wooden doors.  Leaving the women's restroom on the third floor, I was struck by this marvelous owl you see above in wood grain.  You do see it, don't you?

Well, I decided I needed to take her picture.  But there was a little problem. Another woman was in the restroom.  What would she think?  Who takes pictures in restrooms?  

There was no choice.  I took out my phone/camera and snapped a few photos, mumbling excuses to the woman at the sink, "Um, I'm just taking a picture of this door.  I know it's a little weird."  I didn't explain about the owl; after all, she was busy washing her hands.  I just took the picture.

I heard her voice, "Oh, no. It's not weird."  I wondered if she was backing away slowly, wishing was not trapped in a restroom with a strange door photographer.  She was kind, but I hurried out, tucking my phone safely in my pocket until Wednesday evening when I looked at it again.  Still an owl!  So glad I took the photo.  So glad I took the risk.

Today's poem is written in quatrains, four line stanzas.  I often write in quatrains, did so last week.  But this week's poem was a bit more of a challenge, because instead of just rhyming the second and fourth lines of each stanza, I also rhymed the first and third lines.  I have been thinking about rhyming like this for some time, and this week was that time.  You might wish to look at the poem and find the rhyming words.  Sometimes people mark such rhymes with circles or colors, to see the pattern.  We call this pattern an ABAB pattern because just like in ABAB, the lines alternate in sound.

Sometimes a poem has more cross-outs in part of it than it has words.  Such was the case with the last stanza of this verse.  I simply could not decide how to end it. Finally, I did!  

Many congratulations to Joyce Sidman for her newest reason to celebrate her newest book, WHAT THE HEART KNOWS: CHANTS, CHARMS, AND BLESSINGS.  This book just won the prestigious Claudia Lewis Award, given by Bank Street College for "the best poetry book of the year."  You absolutely, cross my heart, want this book in your collection.  

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Renee is hosting today's Poetry Friday roundup over at No Water River.  Swim over to her beautiful place and enjoy all of the poetic joy in the Kidlitosphere this week! 

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"Once Somebody Asked Me" - Beginning With a Line

Choosing Water
Photo by Amy LV

Students - Yesterday, I went to the big Buffalo library and very much enjoyed reading David Elliott's book illustrated by Holly Meade, IN THE SEA.

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Perhaps this is why I wrote about the sea yesterday.  Or maybe it is because we had the good fortune to have Allan Wolf stay at our home this month, and he acted out some poems from his fabulous book-in-many-voices, THE WATCH THAT ENDS THE NIGHT: VOICES FROM THE TITANIC.

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Or perhaps it was just time for me to - once more - feel fascinated by the fact that a human being has never seen a live giant squid (though they have been recorded).  

It could be that this week of coldcoldcold weather has me dreaming of the ocean.  I do not know the reason why this poem appeared yesterday.  But as soon as I wrote the first line, "Once somebody told me..." I just followed the line on and on until the end.  

It can be interesting to take a line from someone else's poem, sometimes a first line, and follow it for yourself, creating a whole new poem from the same first few words as someone else.  You might wish to try this strategy if ever you feel stuck for an idea.  You could try my line, "Once somebody asked me..." or you might choose a line from a poem you have always loved or a poem you just open up to in a book right now.  It is always good to have a multituide of ways to get writing, even when it seems tough to begin.  

In giveaway news: Margaret Simon is the winner of last week's giveaway of Jeannine Atkins' beautiful, autographed book VIEWS FROM A WINDOW SEAT: THOUGHTS ON WRITING AND LIFE.  Margaret, please just drop me a line at amy at amylv dot com with your address, and I will mail your book next week.

Tricia is hosting today's Poetry Friday extravaganza over at The Miss Rumphius Effect, so you can head on over to her place to see what's brewing poetry-wise all around the Kidlitosphere this week. And do not miss her delightful book review and interview with Joan Bransfield Graham from yesterday.  And while you're there, scroll on back to check out some of Tricia's "Poetry Stretches", her regular Monday feature inviting writers to work their poetry muscles.

Happy Poetry Friday to one and all!

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