Harlem Night Song (Monday Poem)

by Langston Hughes


Come,
Let us roam the night together
Singing.

I love you.

Across
The Harlem roof-tops
Moon is shining.
Night sky is blue.
Stars are great drops
Of golden dew.

Down the street
A band is playing

I love you.

Come,
Let us roam the night together
Singing.



from A Family of Poems: My Favorite Poetry for Children
edited by Caroline Kennedy
Hyperion, 2005

Oranges (Monday Poem)

by Mary Oliver


Cut one, the lace of acid
rushes out, spills over your hands.
You lick them, manners don't come into it.
Orange -- the first word you have heard that day --

enters your mind. Everybody then
does what he or she wants -- breakfast is casual.
Slices, quarters, halves, or the whole hand
holding an orange ball like the morning sun

on a day of soft wind and no clouds
which it so often is. "Oh, I always
want to live like this,
flying up out of the furrows of sleep,

fresh from water and its sheer excitement,
felled as though by a miracle
at this first sharp taste of the day!"
You're shouting, but no one is surprised.

Here, there, everywhere on the earth
thousands are rising and shouting with you --
even those who are utterly silent, absorbed --
their mouths filled with such sweetness.



from What Do We Know: Poems and Prose Poems
by Mary Oliver
De Capo Press, 2002 

Creation Day (Monday Poem)

by Edward van de Vendel


Warm and sleepy and inside,
you open up the curtains wide
and see that snow is falling down.
It makes you laugh and dance around,
and now your hands and feet can't wait
to grab and stamp and throw the snow,
so out into the yard you go.
It's great!
You're the king of the cold,
and all this white belongs to you.
You know exactly what you want to do.
You make a ball that you can roll,
and as you roll, you watch it grow.
Today is your creation day,
and tomorrow on the news they'll say:
Little kid
makes a world of snow.



from I'll Root for You and other poems,
by Edward van de Vendel 
illustrated by Wolf Erlbruch
Eerdmans, 2018

Nonfiction Storytelling that Grabs Attention (FAMILY magazine reviews)

These wonderful nonfiction books are amazing factual tales of storied lives. Not necessarily considered biographies, these books are nevertheless about persons who have lived lives of creativity and imagination, fueled by their passions and interests in making the world a better place. Not always recognized as leaders, still these individuals are acknowledged as ground-breakers however unintentional or ambitious they may have been. Share these exceptional picture books with young people who see themselves as future innovators.

The Secret Kingdom: 

Nek Chand, a Changing India, 

and a Hidden World of Art  

By Barb Rosenstock

Illustrated by Claire A. Nivola

            Exiled during partition in 1947, Nek Chand became a refugee in India’s only planned city, Chandigarh. This modern concrete place held none of the magic of the village of Berian Kalan where he spent his childhood, listening to ancient stories, laughing, playing freely, and planting gardens. 

            Dreaming of a place to belong, Nek discovered a hidden jungle wilderness. He began collecting broken pieces of village life to build a secret kingdom. Stones, cracked water pots, broken glass bangles, old sinks and toilets, fractured tiles, half-dead plants from the city dump, rusty pipes, twisted bikes -- all became walls, people, terraces, animals, and archways into courtyards – as Nek reconstructed, from his memories, life in the village he had been forced to flee.

Secret for many years, Nek’s treasured retreat was discovered by a government crew clearing underbrush. After his illegal building was reported, officials prepared to destroy his creation, until the local people came to see the magical world Nek had landscaped, and “insisted on its protection.”

Watercolor and gouache illustrations are detailed, and simultaneously whimsical and realistic. Additionally, they are accompanied by a foldout double page spread, featuring photos of the actual fantastic and extraordinary garden. Built from recycled materials, this imaginative wonderland is spread across more than twenty-five acres, and is the “largest visionary art environment in the world.” This compelling biography includes an Author’s Note and Bibliography at the end.

Candlewick, $16.99

Interest Level: Grades 2-5

When Paul Met Artie: 

The Story of Simon & Garfunkel 

By G Neri 

Illustrated by David Litchfield

             A friendship that produced not just beautiful harmonies and haunting lyrics, but also a groundbreaking movie and best-selling records, began in the Queens neighborhood of New York City in the 1950’s. Two Jewish boys, opposites in many ways, found each other in a sixth-grade production of Alice in Wonderland. They each discovered in the other a love of music, and a shared respect for other musicians, like Elvis Presley, Carole King, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, and the Everly brothers, to name a few.

            Florida author Neri uses free verse in an authoritative and easy to read narrative that presents segments from their lives in double-page spreads, headlined with a song or album title from their collaborations. Accompanied by Litchfield’s intimate digital representations, the brisk, vividly poetic language of the text matches perfectly with the lively expressive illustrations. This nonfiction book is wonderfully integrated and mesmerizing.

The duo’s success was never a certainty and there were many set-backs. The complexities of their friendship, the stimulation of rock’n’roll and do-wop, and their practices and performances shaped a matchless musical balance and blending. Together, they forged a quality of expression that more than captures, it sustains the character of the 1960’s era – its disquiet and hope -- elements that continue to reverberate in the present and into the future. (Included at the end: Afterword, Discography, Bibliography, and Musical Connections.)

             

Candlewick, $17.99

Interest Level: Grades 3-5

 

The Boo-Boos That Changed the World: 

A True Story About an Accidental Invention (Really!)  

By Barry Wittenstein

Illustrated by Chris Hsu

            Everybody uses Band-Aids, right? Who knew that there’s a fascinating story about the invention of this wonder?! Wittenstein tells a humorous and engaging story – set about 100 years ago. Three critical elements turned out to be the necessary ingredients for a new invention: An accident-prone woman partner in a marriage, the man partner who was the son of a doctor, and who also worked for a company that manufactured hospital supplies.

            Earle and Josephine Dickson didn’t set out to change the world. He was just trying to find easier ways to bandage her frequent slicing or burning injuries in the kitchen. She wrapped rags around her cuts, but he tried adhesive tape with sterile gauze and crinoline. When Earle’s boss (of the Johnson & Johnson company) saw Earle’s idea, he was impressed, and the company went into production. But the Band-Aid (a clever combination of the words “bandage” and “first aid”) didn’t fly off the shelves, at first.

            Sepia tones give a retro feel to the mixed media and Photoshop illustrations which are a whimsical accompaniment to the breezy text. The author acknowledges that he has invented the dialogue, but the history of the company giving Band-Aids to Boy Scouts and sending “millions of free Band-Aids to . . . soldiers . . . overseas” is accurate. In the following years these adhesive bandages sold successfully, not only in the US, but all over the world.

            The “accidental boo-boo invention” is a playful, appealing and creatively designed nonfiction narrative about a local, national, and now global success story. (Back matter includes Author’s Note, timeline and websites.)

           

Charlesbridge, $16.99

Interest Level: Grades 2-4

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Warm (Monday Poem)

by Ann Whitford Paul


Winter winds howl, yet
we stay warm, wrapped in cozy
pages of our book.




from Jumping Off the Library Shelves: A Book of Poems
selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins
illustrated by Jane Manning
2015, WordSong