Stunned (Monday Poem)

by J. Patrick Lewis


The sound rumbling out
of the microphone is foreign
somehow: words punching
like a heavyweight then
pirouetting like a ballerina.

Someone coughs, someone
sighs.  It is all they can do,
all anyone can do.

As if he's instructing birds,
the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
watches his words flutter up
and drop a blessing of hallelujah-
amen grace notes across the nation.

When he says he has a dream,
I have one too, my dream
blinking on and off like neon
in windows on Georgia Avenue.
My tightrope-wire nerves jolt
and jangle, ripple and trip, and
I know that I will no longer look
back at who it was I was, but
keep my eyes fixed ahead
on who I am becoming.



from Voices from the March on Washington Poems by J. Patrick Lewis and George Ella Lyon, 2014, WordSong

Turn (Monday Poem)

by George Ella Lyon


I'm neither black nor white but it's my March
too.  My March because in Los Angeles
in the spring of 1942, I walked out of
an art class, out of my life, and onto
a bus, bound for an internment
camp with all my family.
Japanese-American
threat was how
they saw us:
120,000
folks
about half
the number
who fill this
mile-long Mall.
Listen.  Our country
takes very wrong turns
and counts on you and me
to set it right.  In most countries
citizens can't do that, but here it's
our job -- to steer toward justice together.



from Voices from the March on Washington Poems by J. Patrick Lewis and George Ella Lyon, 2014, WordSong

Joan Baez (Monday Poem)

by George Ella Lyon


In the blistering sun,
facing the original
rainbow coalition,
I led 350,000 people
in "We Shall Overcome,"
and I was near my beloved
Dr. King when he put aside
his prepared speech and let
the breath of God thunder
through him, and up over
my head I saw freedom,
and all around me
I heard it ring.


from Voices from the March on Washington Poems by J. Patrick Lewis and George Ella Lyon, 2014, WordSong

Lena (Monday Poem)

by J. Patrick Lewis

Instead
Of her
              Most famous song,
"Stormy
Weather,"
              She sang one long,
Strong word,
"Free-eeee-dommmm!"
              And that would be
One fine
Eight-second
              Symphony.



from Voices from the March on Washington Poems by J. Patrick Lewis and George Ella Lyon, 2014, WordSong

Moonlily (Monday Poem)

by Marilyn Nelson


When we play horses at recess, my name
is Moonlily and I'm a yearling mare.
We gallop circles around the playground,
whinnying, neighing, and shaking our manes.
We scrape the ground with scuffed saddle oxfords,
thunder around the little kinds on swings
and seesaws, and around the boys' ball games.
We're sorrel, chestnut, buckskin, pinto, gray,
a herd in pastel dresses and white socks.
We're self-named, untamed, untouched, unridden.
Our plains know no fences. We can smell spring.
The bell produces metamorphosis.
Still hot and flushed, we file back to our desks,
one bay in a room of palominos.


from how i discovered poetry by marilyn nelson, illustrations by Hadley Hooper, 2014, Dial

Fueling Imagination by Sharing Memories (FAMILY magazine reviews)

During January we celebrate the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. This can be an opportunity to remember his historic “I Have a Dream” speech. It can also be a time for reviewing our country’s past and noting changes that move us toward a bright future. The books below offer children and families a chance to spend time reading aloud and talking together. Give your child the gift of time with you to wonder about how the months ahead of us can be transformed by our current national conversation.

Tea Cakes for Tosh by Kelly Starling Lyons 

Illustrated by E. B. Lewis

Putnam, $16.99 

Interest Level: Junior Kindergarten – Grade 2 

(This book may be purchased from local and online booksellers.)

           

Tosh loved his grandma Honey’s delicious golden tea cakes. She matches them with a memorable story from family history. A plantation cook hides tea cakes in her pocket, to give her grandchildren “a taste of sweet freedom.”

            When Honey’s memory begins to fail, Tosh decides to bake tea cakes to share with her. Lyons lyrical text and easy dialog show the strong family ties between generations. 

            Award winning illustrator Lewis’ trademark watercolors match life-like paintings to realistic language. Muted colors help the reader shift into the past, from Honey’s colorful kitchen. This gentle tale emphasizes the importance of sharing memories to strengthen family traditions. A recipe for tea cakes is included at the back.

We March by Shane W. Evans  

Roaring Brook Press, $16.99 

nterest Level: Junior Kindergarten – Grade 3 

(This book is may be purchased from local and online booksellers.)

A family wakens and prepares for this march by attending church, painting signs and traveling by bus. They are participants in the 1963 March on Washington. They walk, sing, and although hot and tired, are hopeful.

The dusky colors of morning brighten into the greens and blues of a golden August day. Brushstrokes add detail, movement and depth. Although largely African American, the pictures clearly reveal a rainbow of participants.

Additionally, illustrations show the Washington Monument, where the march began. Also familiar is the Lincoln Memorial where Martin Luther King Jr. spoke about his dream. 

            Using few keenly chosen words and compelling images, Evans’ conveys a simple but powerful story of why the march happened and how. A note from the author is at the end.

 

Ellen’s Broom by Kelly Starling Lyons 

Illustrated by Daniel Minter

Putnam, $16.99 

Interest Level: Junior Kindergarten – Grade 2 

(This book may be purchased from local and online booksellers.)

           

This cheerful story set during Reconstruction, celebrates the end of slavery. An announcement is made from the church pulpit that former slaves can now register their marriages legally. As part of the beginning of freedom, Ellen and her family join others in merry-making.

Minter’s beautiful hand painted linoleum block prints show the tradition of “jumping the broom” – a ritual slaves used at their weddings. Together, Ellen’s family walks to the courthouse to get a legal marriage certificate. Mama holds the broom, through which Ellen has woven flowers. Later, it is hung, with the certificate, above the home fireplace.

Brown faces, colorful clothing and textures of stone and wood in the artwork glow with vitality. They link emotional expression to the vibrant text and vivid dialog. Quieter colors show scenes from slave times, as Papa explains why the broom was used.

An Author’s Note reveals how Lyons’ family history inspired this lively picture book.

 

ADDITIONAL HISTORICAL TALES

Belle, the Last Mule at Gee’s Bend 

by Calvin Alexander Ramsey and Bettye Stroud, illustrated by John Holyfield

Candlewick Press, $15.99 

Interest Level: Grade 2 – Grade 3 

(This book may be purchased from local and online booksellers.)

Hope’s Gift 

by Kelly Starling Lyons, illustrated by Don Tate

Putnam, $16.99 

Interest Level: Junior Kindergarten – Grade 2 

(This book may be purchased from local and online booksellers.)

Portrait by a Neighbor (Monday Poem)

by Edna St Vincent Millay


Before she has her floor swept
Or her dishes done,
Any day you'll find her
A-sunning in the sun!

It's long after midnight
Her key's in the lock,
And you never see her chimney smoke
Till past ten o'clock!

She digs in her garden
With a shovel and a spoon,
She weeds her lazy lettuce
By the light of the moon.

She walks up the walk
Like a woman in a dream,
She forgets she borrowed butter
And pays you back cream!

Her lawn looks like a meadow,
And if she mows the place
She leaves the clover standing
And the Queen Anne's lace!



from A Few Figs from Thistles, Edna St Vincent Millay, 1948, Harper and Brothers