A Thank You To...

Bookshelf at Home

Photo by Amy LV

Students - This week has been Banned Books Week, and so I decided to write a poem for the greatest champions of books...librarians. When librarians stand up for books, they stand up for you and for me and for all of the ideas we share and for all of the ideas we do not share. Librarians stand up for thought and for freedom. All of my gratitude to them. Librarians are the lifeguards of thought.

To whom are you grateful? This may be one person or it may a whole group of people who do a particular job or who share a characteristic. Thank you notes can be personal and given to one person or general and written for all to read such as mine today. If you write a thank you poem, you may choose to write your poem in your own voice...or you may choose to write it in the voice of another as I did today. Your voice need not even be human! Feel free to title it as I did..."A Thank You to..."

I look forward to Saturday when I will have the good fortune to learn the educators of The Literacy Connection, a professional organization in Ohio. We will be reading and writing poems together, discovering the many ways that poems can teach us about writing and life as we dig into my book POEMS ARE TEACHERS and the poems of so many. 

Tomorrow, Irene will be hosting this week's Poetry Friday roundup over at Live Your Poem. Each Friday, all are invited to share poems, poem books, poetry ideas, and friendship in this open and welcoming poetry community.

Read, my friends...

xo,

Amy

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Are You There, God? Banned Books Week

 

They Count on Us

by Amy LV

 

Click the arrow to hear me read this poem to you.

Students - This is Banned Books Week, from September 30 - October 6.  This means that it is a week to celebrate and think about all of the books that people have tried to keep out of libraries and out of people's hands, a time to speak up for the freedom to read.  I do not believe in keeping books out of people's hands...so I wrote this poem. And I plan to read a challenged book - TO KILL A  MOCKINGBIRD, by Harper Lee - this week. 

One important thing to know about the challenging and banning of books is that there are many people who stand up for books and ideas.  Because of these brave librarians, booksellers, teachers, and others, the characters in the poem above are still alive, still speaking to us from the pages of books we love.  They are not out in the cold at all.  Today's poem is just pretend.

I wanted to write a poem in honor of this important week.  I did not know what the poem would say, but jotting along, I suddenly imagined all of these lovable book characters...sitting on the outside.  And I decided to let Margaret write the poem.  You may recognize some of all of the characters in today's poem for all of them live in books that have been challenged/banned. 

Here is a list of the ten most challenged books of the year over at Huffington Post.  In THE NEW  YORK TIMES, you can find some ways to celebrate Banned Books Week.

Here is my 2010 poem for Banned Books Week - Warning.

Reading is our right.

Reading is freedom.  Or as the banner on bannedbooksweek.org says, fREADom.

Where do we get writing ideas?  We get ideas from our beliefs.  I believe in books.  What do you believe in?  Write about it.

Speaking of beliefs, it is time to nominate books for the 2012 CYBILS awards! Nominations open today, and you may nominate books in any number of categories.  See here for details on how to nominate your favorite books of the past year.

Please share a comment below if you wish.

To find a poem by topic, click here. To find a poem by technique, click here.

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Poetry Friday & #185 - You

The marvelous part about waiting for children, 

and helping them to teach us is what we learn ourselves...

The top teachers, I've found, whether in the center of the city, 

or a rural school, have an insatiable appetite for learning.  

When teachers learn, the children learn.  

Donald Graves

Along with so many writing teachers this week, I am very sad that Donald Graves, mentor and mentor to my mentors, has died.  You can read a notice about his passing at the Heinemann website.

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This is my favorite book by Donald Graves.  Many children's voices have taken flight through the decades due to Donald's kind spirit and wise teaching of teachers.  While I never had the chance to meet or see him, his written words echo inside me as I try to become a better teacher and person each day.

Students - sometimes we write because something is too important not to write about.  This is how I felt about the death of Donald Graves and why I wrote about his passing last night.

Teachers - I encourage you to take one minute and a half to listen to this YouTube clip in which Donald Graves tells us how to begin a writing workshop.  Yes, it is the writing and the sharing that begin it all.

It is still Banned Books Week.  Surprise!  Surprise!  Even the dictionary has been banned.  You can read about "The Eleven Most Surprising Banned Books" at The Huffington Post.

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May this Poetry Friday bring you good thoughts of the inspiring work of Donald Graves.  Jennie over at Biblio File is hosting today's roundup, so mosey on over to find out what is happening poetry-wise in the blogosphere today.

(Please click on COMMENTS below to share a thought.)

My Poem Writing Year #184 - Sticks

Last evening, my husband and hiked up in the woods, noticing newly fallen trees and the black and yellow of aspen leaves sprinkled on the ground.  A sunset bounced off of tree trunks, turning them orange, and somehow the whole forest looked as if it had been touched by a magical light.  Silently, I promised myself, "We will do more of this."  

Sometimes life gets too busy around here: rushing to lessons, sorting piles of laundry, getting frustrated at each other, running out of pet food, and finding moldy peppers in the refrigerator.  We can forget what matters most.  We can forget to slow down and marvel.  We can forget to play.

Students - this poem came from two places.  One was from a wish/plan.  It came from my wish/plan to play outside more with my family.  My plan is to play in the woods more and to play in the creeks more.

Thinking about this reminded me of how Hope, Georgia, and Henry love to sticks into a nearby creek, watching them rush out the other side.  In turn, this reminded me of "Poohsticks", this same game as described in A.A. Milne's  THE HOUSE AT POOH CORNER.

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So, this poem grew from two places.  It grew from a wish/plan, and it also grew from a book I know and love.  You, too, can find ideas in your wishes, your plans, and books you love.  Honestly, you could do this forever.  Such a blending of ideas will yield a lot of writing!

If you would like to peek inside the actual "Poohsticks" chapter in THE HOUSE AT POOH CORNER, watch this brief video clip over at Exploring the Thames.  If you would like to watch a clip of the 2009 World Poohsticks Championships in Days Lock in Oxfordshire, England, also at Exploring the Thames, you can do so here.  You can find the official rules for these Championships here at the official game's website.

But sometimes, instead of clicking your mouse or reading or writing...you should just go outside and play a game of Poohsticks for yourself!  Have fun!

Don't forget, though...it is still Banned Books Week.  Here is your banned book of the day.

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I'll bet you can figure out why some people have wanted to ban this book.  If you guessed because it says "stupid" in the title, you are right.  Pardon me for saying so, but I think that is stupid. 

(Please click on COMMENTS below to share a thought.)

Halfway Day of MyPoWriYe! #183

 

 Toe Jam Girl

by Amy LV

It's The Poem Farm's half birthday!  Let's celebrate with a snack.

Sorry.  I honestly have no idea where that poem came from.  Somehow I got thinking about toe jams.  The idea of putting the word 'jam' next to the word 'jam' just cracked me up.  I like how you could read the title as eating toe jams or dancing about toe jams.

Students - this is another example of just following your silly brain.  See where it goes.  Let one word bump up against another word, like strangers in a subway.  See what they say to each other, and maybe the conversation will make you laugh.  If it makes you laugh, maybe it will make someone else laugh.

You may have noticed a new "Search" box in the upper right hand corner.  This is a half birthday present to the blog, from me!  I hope it will help you find posts you wish to reread or poems you would like to read.

It is still Banned Books Week, through Saturday.  My featured banned book of the day is HATCHET, by Gary Paulsen.  Banned for "graphic descriptions of trauma and injury" (Helium).

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If you have ever wondered about the hoops librarians must jump through in protecting the First Amendment, you can read a school librarian's thoughts at Check It Out.

As I continue to try to stretch the wings of this six-month-old blog, I would be honored if you would send a friend over to celebrate today's half birthday of daily poems!

(Please click on COMMENTS below to share a thought.)

Pumpkin - My Poem Writing Year #182

Georgia & Hope & Pumpkins 2001

Photo by Amy LV

Students - this is another mask poem, or a poem with an object talking.  I have a habit of always imagining what objects are thinking and wondering.  So many things feel alive to me, so choosing pumpkins or Christmas trees is always difficult because I don't want to leave anyone out.  Do you ever wonder what objects or animals are thinking?  Which object or animal do you wonder about?  Just look around for a minute.  Let your eyes land on something, anything.  Now ask yourself, "What might this ________ think about?"  Jot a few notes, and play with them.  Soon you may have the bones of a poem beginning.

It is still Banned Books Week, through Saturday, October 2.  Yesterday's poem, "Warning", is about protecting our rights to read all books.  And here is my featured banned book of the day.

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For more information about this classic and award winning book's challenges, check out Censorship: Wielding the Red Pen.

And if you'd like to read a whole bunch of banned books in protest of the whole idea of banning books, check out amazon's list.

(Please click on COMMENTS below to share a thought.)