Poetry Friday: Part Two of Kinder Color Poems

Thanks to Jama at Jama’s Alphabet Soup for hosting all the Poetry Friday goodness yesterday.

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Poetry Friday: The Color of May

Thanks to Jama at Jama’s Alphabet Soup for hosting all the Poetry Friday goodness today.

I returned to a kinder class a few weeks ago for a day of subbing. Since we had written animal sounds poems, I decided to use Joyce Sidman’s book, RED SINGS FROM TREETOPS, A YEAR IN COLORS. My example poem is at Deowriter.

Today and tomorrow, please enjoy these kinder poems.

Poetry Friday: What the Heart Knows: Chants, Charms, and Blessings

WHAT THE HEART KNOWS: CHANTS, CHARMS, and BLESSINGS by Joyce Sidman was among the seven poetry finalists for the CYBILS.

This is a slim but powerful volume of poetry which contains four sections: Charms and Chants, Spells and Invocations, Laments and Remembrances, and Praise Songs and Blessings. When have you wished for something, felt a loss, or just enjoyed the blessing of the day?

The one thing I love about Sidman’s work is they way she will take a topic and present a unique twist. Her opening sentence in her note to readers says it all, “We speak to send messages to the world.” Once upon a time, chants, charms, and blessings were used to encourage the crops to grow or to place a spell on someone or something.

Today in a world of one hundred forty characters to express your feelings, I am glad Sidman’s book is in the world when I am in need of a lament or an invocation. Sidman’s book is a fabulous as a mentor text for anyone needing to write such a poem.

Then there are the mixed medium illustrations by Pamela Zagarenski. (I missed out on her calendar this year but next year….) The muted tones, the evocative nature of the illustrations pull the collections together for a stunning book.