Thought for the Day:
“Poems are short stories
with punctuation disorders”
~ Tom Cassidy ~
Gifts for My Writer Friends:
Every novel is made up of a lot of scenes, and we want our scenes to be strong and sharp. HERE K. M. Weiland has a great post on scenes: An Intuitive 4-Step Process for Creating Vibrant Scene Structure.
And while we have scenes on our minds, HERE is a great post from diyMFA with Five Tips for Building Tension into Your Scenes.
Do you ever hear about character-driven stories and plot-driven stories, but you aren’t sure what they mean? HERE is a good article on Jericho Writers that will help you figure that out.
I wasn’t here last weekend because we had a bit of a family reunion for my granddaughter Gracie’s 18th birthday in Seattle. She had a blast at the Taylor Swift concert with my daughter Maggie (Auntie M). They say the noise of the concert shook the place equivalent to a 2.3 earthquake. That place was rocking! My other daughter, Sara, and my grandson Gehrig and I went to a Seattle Mariners/Toronto Blue Jays game, and it was a barn burner. Both teams hit back-to-back home runs, there was a lot of scoring, great defensive plays, a beautiful park on a great day, friendly fans, good bratwurst, and we didn’t have a dog in the hunt, so we just loved it all. So much fun! But our Air B&B rental had a LOT of problems and neither the owner nor the company cared. Next time, VRBO. And then on Sunday, Covid started to hit. First Maggie, then Sara, then Gracie, and I felt pretty rocky on my long drive home, but it didn’t take me down until I got home. We all have had our shots, and all but Gracie qualified for Paxlovid, so we didn’t get devastatingly sick and are all on the mend. Covid is still out there. Don’t get too casual about masking and hand washing. We did and paid for it.
I love finding good poetry collections for middle graders. There aren’t a lot of them. They are incredibly hard to get published. I know. I have two that I’ve sent out. Not many places will not even take such submissions. But I found two collections this year on the review lists, and I grabbed them both. Today, I want to share them with you. BEHOLD OUR MAGICAL GARDEN: POEMS FRESH FROM A SCHOOL GARDEN (reviewed for Seattle Book Review) by Allan Wolf and illustrated by Danial Duncan and COUNTING IN DOG YEARS AND OTHER SASSY MATH POEMS (reviewed for Portland Book Review) by Betsy Franco and illustrated by Priscilla Tey are both a LOT of fun and will work great in the classroom for cross-curricular learning. Here are the reviews I wrote.
A school garden is a great place to set a picture book. It is something all kids should be able to relate to, and it is rich with material for a writer. This book is a collection of twenty-nine poems that tell little stories about so many different experiences, plants, birds, bugs, and even the weather in a school garden, and how all of those things contribute to the joy and learning students find there.
The poems by Allan Wolf are written in many different forms, all of which are discussed in two pages of back matter that can be used by parents and teachers to encourage youngsters to try their hand at writing their own fun poems.
The marvelous illustrations by Daniel Duncan fill every page with so many details about each of the poems, and youngsters will be searching the pictures for all those fun details. Readers will never be disappointed. And there is such a refreshing sense of fun in all these illustrations! Imagine how kids will react when they turn to a page with a thundercloud in his underwear. Yeah. There is a real sense of fun on every page. Don’t miss this book!
“Why do we have to study math,” kids often ask. “I’ll never use this stuff.” But, of course, adults know too well that math is really important, and we use it all the time. How to get that message across to kids is a problem that poet Betsy Franco can help with. This cute book has twenty-nine poems that are all math related and show just how much math shows up in everyday life. The poems touch on fractions, geometric shapes, time, dates, calendars, ingredients in recipes, multiplication, palindromes, gym class, games, phone numbers, and more. There is even a poem for two voices. Early middle-grade readers are sure to rethink their own relationships with math as they read these fun poems. The bright and fun illustrations by Priscilla Tey are filled with lots of details to support the text. She turns numbers into funny monsters and puts people into silly situations all in the name of turning young readers toward appreciating math. Every single page has clever poems and equally clever artwork. Young readers will never be bored and will discover just how much fun math can be as they read this book.
Please don’t forget to check for other Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday posts at Greg Pattridge’s blog HERE.
Rosi Hollinbeck 
Really nice to get some poetry book recommendations for kids, and they both sound great. Glad your trip to Seattle went well though sorry to hear about you accommodation problems (really annoying!) and sorry to her you were all sick! Hope you’ve fully recovered by now!
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I’m almost whole again. Thanks for your good wishes and your nice comment.
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It’s unfortunate to hear that MG poetry collections are so difficult to get published—poetry is definitely something we should be introducing to readers of any age, if possible. As such, I love both of your picks this week—they sound like ones that will engage young readers, and I added both to my TBR list!
And I’m really glad y’all had fun celebrating your granddaughter’s birthday—getting to see a baseball game sounds delightful! And I can confirm, having been to one of Taylor Swift’s concerts this year, that it was enormously loud—earplugs were definitely good to have! The Airbnb troubles sound frustrating, and I’m so sorry you all got COVID—I’m glad Paxlovid has helped you heal up quickly. I also love this week’s meme and quote—thanks so much for the wonderful post, Rosi!
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I hope you get a chance to read these, Max. They are both fun. Glad you enjoyed the post. Thanks, as always, for your kidn and thoughtful comment.
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Sounds like a fun way to get kids interested in math. Sorry to hear that you had such troubles with Aribnb and that the company wasn’t very responsive, but glad that you all are on the mend from Covid.
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Thanks. I think both books will be great for getting kids interested in things they might not otherwise try.
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Hope you are feeling better. I’ll have to take a look at the math poems, but now that the one teacher that assigned a poetry project retired, poetry books hardly ever get checked out. Hope you have a good quiet week of reading while you continue to recuperate.
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Oh, I hope another teacher will step up and keep the poetry going. Kids really need it, and most of them love it. Thanks for your kinds words.
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Alan Wolff ( a fellow NC author) is a great poet. Glad you are feeing better–but what a bummer. Loved your cartoon!! Check out my blog–I’m reviewing/giving away a baseball book!!
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I didn’t know Alan Wolff was a North Carolinian, but it doesn’t surprise me. So many wonderful writers in NC. Thanks for the comment.
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Sorry to hear about COVID. We are still COVID-free, knock on wood. Waiting for the new vaccine this fall. I think poetry should be used to teach every subject. Have you seen This Poem Is a Nest by Irene Latham? I love it, and it’s brilliant! Published by Wordsong, 2020
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I sure hope you avoid Covid altogether. I also think poetry should be used across the curriculum. Thanks for the suggestion. I have This Poem is a Nest on hold at my library. Can’t wait to read it. Thanks for the comment.
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Sorry that you all got COVID. I’m going to be extra careful as my daughter’s wedding gets closer. Counting Dog Years sounds like a good way to get kids interested in math.
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Yes, do be careful around the wedding. Maybe you can find a pretty mask to match your outfit! Thanks for the comment.
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You are having quite the eventful summer. Take care of yourself in the meantime.
Thanks for another set of great links. I had not come across these three so they were quite helpful.
I enjoyed your critiques of these two unique and fun books. I’ll be looking for them on my next library visit. Happy MMGM!
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Yes, maybe a little too eventful! Glad you like the links. I hope your library has the books. Thanks for the comment.
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Nice poetry reviews.
And this COVID thing will live qith us for a long while yet. Stay vigilant.
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Yes, we all need to stay vigilant. Thanks for reading and commenting.
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