by Naomi Shihab Nye
A boy told me
if he roller-skated fast enough
his loneliness couldn't catch up to him,
the best reason I ever heard
for trying to be a champion.
What I wonder tonight
pedaling hard down King William Street
is if it translates to bicycles.
A victory! To leave your loneliness
panting behind you on some street corner
while you float free into a cloud of sudden azaleas,
pink petals that have never felt loneliness,
no matter how slowly they fell.
from A Family of Poems: My Favorite Poetry for Children
Selected by Caroline Kennedy
Hyperion, 2005
Monday, August 26, 2019
Monday, August 19, 2019
Sea Shell (Monday Poem)
by Amy Lowell
Sea Shell, Sea Shell,
Sing me a song, please!
A song of ships and sailormen,
And parrots, and tropical trees,
Of islands lost in the Spanish Main,
Which no man ever may find again,
Of fishes and corals under the waves,
And seahorses stabled in great green caves.
Sea Shell, Sea Shell,
Sing of the things you know so well.
from A Family of Poems: My Favorite Poetry for Children
Selected by Caroline Kennedy
Hyperion, 2005
Sea Shell, Sea Shell,
Sing me a song, please!
A song of ships and sailormen,
And parrots, and tropical trees,
Of islands lost in the Spanish Main,
Which no man ever may find again,
Of fishes and corals under the waves,
And seahorses stabled in great green caves.
Sea Shell, Sea Shell,
Sing of the things you know so well.
from A Family of Poems: My Favorite Poetry for Children
Selected by Caroline Kennedy
Hyperion, 2005
Monday, August 12, 2019
Sea Joy (Monday Poem)
by Jacqueline Bouvier
When I go down by the sandy shore
I can think of nothing I want more
Than to live by the booming sea
As the seagulls flutter round about me
I can run about -- when the tide is out
With the wind and the sand and the sea all about
And the seagulls are swirling and diving for fish
Oh -- to live by the sea is my only wish.
from A Family of Poems: My Favorite Poetry for Children
Selected by Caroline Kennedy
Hyperion, 2005
When I go down by the sandy shore
I can think of nothing I want more
Than to live by the booming sea
As the seagulls flutter round about me
I can run about -- when the tide is out
With the wind and the sand and the sea all about
And the seagulls are swirling and diving for fish
Oh -- to live by the sea is my only wish.
from A Family of Poems: My Favorite Poetry for Children
Selected by Caroline Kennedy
Hyperion, 2005
Monday, August 5, 2019
Daddy Fell Into the Pond (Monday Poem)
by Alfred Noyes
Everyone grumbled.The sky was gray.
We had nothing to do and nothing to say.
We were nearing the end of a dismal day,
And there seemed to be nothing beyond,
THEN
Daddy fell into the pond!
And everyone's face grew merry and bright,
And Timothy danced for sheer delight,
"Give me the camera, quick, oh quick!
He's crawling out of the duckweed." Click!
Then the gardener suddenly slapped his knee,
And doubled up, shaking silently,
And the ducks all quacked as if they were daft
And it sounded as if the old drake laughed.
O, there wasn't a thing that didn't respond
WHEN
Daddy fell into the pond!
from A Family of Poems: My Favorite Poetry for Children
Selected by Caroline Kennedy
Hyperion, 2005
Everyone grumbled.The sky was gray.
We had nothing to do and nothing to say.
We were nearing the end of a dismal day,
And there seemed to be nothing beyond,
THEN
Daddy fell into the pond!
And everyone's face grew merry and bright,
And Timothy danced for sheer delight,
"Give me the camera, quick, oh quick!
He's crawling out of the duckweed." Click!
Then the gardener suddenly slapped his knee,
And doubled up, shaking silently,
And the ducks all quacked as if they were daft
And it sounded as if the old drake laughed.
O, there wasn't a thing that didn't respond
WHEN
Daddy fell into the pond!
from A Family of Poems: My Favorite Poetry for Children
Selected by Caroline Kennedy
Hyperion, 2005
Thursday, August 1, 2019
Feeling Growly? Go for Gleeful instead of Grouchy (FAMILY magazine reviews)
Although it’s
summertime,
the grumps sometimes show up.
But, never fear,
there are a few
possibilities
for changing crabby to cheerful
in these lively picture books.
If
one of those you love is grumbly, irritable
and out of sorts,
this may not
change it up,
but at the very least
reading these stories reminds us that
we
all have a bad day occasionally,
and gives an opportunity to laugh at ourselves
by laughing at the characters
whose lives aren’t so different from our
own.
Grumpy Pants
by Claire Messer
Penguin is peeved. “He didn’t know
why and he didn’t care.” He tries to shake it off by pulling off his grumpy
coat, boots, socks, overalls – even his grumpy underpants! But he’s still
grumpy! So -- he counts to three and
splashes into the bathtub. The nice cold water, time to play with his duck,
make a bubble beard, and then put on his favorite pajamas, drink a cup of hot
chocolate, and read his favorite book, “little by little,” help him to feel
much better.
Linoleum prints use bright colors to
show Penguin’s grouchy to glad change. His fretful face wearing a sunshiny
yellow raincoat and hat, under a cloudy, rainy sky is a sensitive show of
contrasts. Lots of white space allows readers to watch his cranky face and
gestures. Accented by the large font and lean language, this artful blend of
narrative and image creates a reassuring framework for managing strong
emotions.
Finding his favorite teddy, climbing
into bed, and falling asleep, Penguin knows that tomorrow will “be a good day
because all the grumpiness has been washed away,” – a totally satisfying ending
to a day, and for a story!
Albert Whitman, $16.99
Interest Level: Pre-Kindergarten – Grade 1
Grumpy Bird
by Jeremy Tankard
Bird wakes up grumpy, too grumpy to
eat, too grumpy to play, too grumpy to fly! Deciding to walk, grumbling bird
meets a series of cheerful animals (sheep, rabbit, raccoon, beaver, fox) all of
whom greet him, ask what he’s doing and decide to walk, following bird. As time
passes the walk evolves into an unexpected game of follow-the-leader. Bird
becomes so tickled he forgets he’s grumpy and invites everyone to fly back to
his nest for a snack. And surprisingly, everyone does!
The ink and digital illustrations
are a mixed media treat with cartoon-like animals outlined boldly in black, and
layered over photos of farm, meadow, trees, and ocean with fanciful stars,
flowers, grass and bubble shapes doodled in various colors on each double page
spread. Expressive faces and bodies show the animal characters dancing across
the pages as their joyful energy helps to transform Bird’s grumbling
grouchiness. Enchantment makes for a winsome ending.
Scholastic, $6.99 (board book) $15.99
(hardcover)
Interest Level: Pre-Kindergarten – Kindergarten
Grumpy Monkey
by Suzanne Lang
illustrated by Max Lang
With a wonderful red cover to accent
the huffiness of the title character, this mesmerizing picture book deftly
captures the importance of valuing emotions and encourages readers to simply
recognize our feelings. Jim Panzee wakes up to discover that nothing is right
with the day – “the sun was too bright, the sky was too blue, the bananas were
too sweet.” The animals Jim meets describe him as grumpy, but Jim insists that
he is not!
“You’re all hunched,” says Norman the
gorilla. Jim loosens up. Lemur mentions his bunched-up eyebrows. Jim unbunches.
Jim trips over Snake, who notices his frown. Jim makes a smile that looks
happy. But Jim still doesn’t feel happy inside. Many other animals suggest
singing, swinging, rolling, strolling, splashing, hugging, napping, jumping,
even dancing. But Jim doesn’t “feel like doing any of that.” He yells at his
animal friends, storms off -- and then feels sorry.
The watercolor illustrations change
colors from page to page, allowing the varied feelings to emerge through both
the cartoonish characters and their expressions, as well as the jungle-like
backgrounds, and even the careful use of white space to feature the animals
engaging in their own choices of ways to enjoy the wonderful day.
Jim and Norman compare grumpiness
when Norman acknowledges that perhaps it was a mistake to dance with a
porcupine. Both agree, “I’ll probably feel better soon enough.”
Although a chimpanzee is an ape, not a monkey, this doesn’t need to
distract from this tantalizing tale. Sometimes we all just need time and space
to be grumpy.
Random House, $8.99 (board book) $17.99
(hardcover)
Interest Level: Pre-Kindergarten – Grade 1
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