November is Picture Book Month

www.picturebookmonth.com

Let's Celebrate! Things will really be hopping around this library as we celebrate picture books.  We will: learn about some of our local authors; share what we learn about these authors; Skype with other students from a few libraries around the country; and, keep a tally of all the picture books we read as a community, because, amongst these and other activities, we will read a lot of picture books!

Picture Book Month is an international initiative to get November designated as Picture Book Month.  Started by author and storyteller, Dianne de Las Casas along with authors and/or illustrators Katie Davis, Elizabeth O. Dulemba, Tara Lazar and Wendy Martin, they hope to raise awareness of the power of picture books, which I believe is a great message whether you are old or young, or a new, emerging or experienced reader. Celebrate the picture book!   Learn More.

 

Here's one to get us started.

One Monday Morning by Uri Shulevitz

This was favorite of mine, so much so that I recently bought a copy.  It's based upon a French folk song.  A young boy's imagination leads him to a wonderful day where a king and queen (and their entourage) come to visit him.  Lyrical text and detailed illustrations, which capture the setting and the mood, combine to create an engaging reading experience.

On this snowy day a Host of Golden Daffodils!

William Wordsworth's famous poem visually recreated with animated digital imagery and brought to life by Dave Matthews.  Fabulous.  Check it out here: Daffodils. The Poetry Foundation is quickly becoming my favorite poetry resource.

Daffodils by William Wordsworth

I wandered lonely as a Cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and Hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden Daffodils;
Beside the Lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:-
A Poet could not but be gay
In such a jocund company:
I gazed---and gazed---but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude,
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the Daffodils.

By William Wordsworth (1770-1850).

Today it feels as if...

...winter is just around the corner.  Not to rush the seasons mind you, I love fall and I want a month more of light jacket and sweater weather, but good things lie ahead.

Which brings me back to today and why I am feeling conflicted.  I am at a conference this week and enjoying learning new things, yet it appears as if I will miss sharing the first few flakes of snow with my students.  Their anticipation and excitement is infectious (especially as this is one of my favorite events of the year as well)!  I welcome the new season with the same hope and expectations each year.  I hope there will be plenty of snow (when it is convenient) and the perfect weather to play in it.

In celebration (probably prematurely) of these expectations, I began to look for winter poetry.  Given that I am away from my library, I am lacking my best resource - my incredible poetry collection!  I did visit one of my favorite online resources for poetry, The Children's Poetry Archive, which not only has the printed poetry but also recordings of quite a few poets reading their own work.

Follow the links below to read the poems and then hear them read by the authors.  The poets give a brief history or explanation of their poems before they read them.  Enjoy!

Red Boots On by Kit Wright
Winter by Judith Nicholls

Here also is a link to Carol Hurst's winter themed books.
Carol Hurst

Family Matters

Don't take my word for it. Listen to Mary Ann Hoberman, the former Children's Poet Laureate talk about the importance of family experiences.

Tea with Cherries : Children's Poet Laureate : Video : The Poetry Foundation