You Poetry Friday participants know that my favorite book of poetry from the past year is Ted Hughes' Collected Poems for Children. It was published in the U.K. and I had to beg my friend Michele to send it to me.
Well, I've got great news for poetry fans in the U.S. Collected Poems for Children will be out on March 30! Published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux, this volume includes Raymond Briggs' (Father Christmas, The Snowman) inspired, realistic ink drawings. This book is perfection and a must for any fan of children's poetry.
Ted Hughes' Collected Poems for Children contains over 250 poems. This new volume begins with the collections written for younger children (The Mermaid's Purse, The Cat and the Cuckoo) and each collection becomes more sophisticated, ending with Season Songs. While you can enjoy Poems for Children with kids as young as three, just make sure you watch your child pack for college or this book may walk out the door with her.
Today's Poetry Friday entry consists of two poems. One, "Pebbles," is from The Mermaid's Purse, a collection written for the very young. The other, "Spring Nature Notes," is from Season Songs, a collection written for older children.
Pebbles
Where blown spray falls
We are the stones.
Of lands that burst
From sleep and bowed
Like animals
To slake their thirst
Where waters flowed
We are the bones.
And now the first part of "Spring Nature Notes" (a six-part poem) from Season Songs.
Spring Nature Notes
I
The sun lies mild and still on the yard stones.
The clue is a solitary daffodil--the first.
And the whole air struggling in soft excitements
Like a woman hurrying into her silks.
Birds everywhere zipping and unzipping
Changing their minds, in soft excitements,
Warming their wings and trying their voices.
The trees still spindle bare.
Beyond them, from the warmed blue hills
An exhilaration swirls upward, like a huge fish.
As under a waterfall, in the bustling pool.
Over the whole land
Spring thunders down in brilliant silence.
Buried in snow and cold, this poem speaks to me. I know and wait for that moment when you first feel spring "thundering down in brilliant silence."
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I'm up for the Poetry Friday roundup, so leave me your comments!
Here's what I've noticed so far:
Elaine has a super-fab review of Twist: Yoga Poems and interview with the author and illustrator over at Blue Rose Girls. (Elaine does Poetry Fridays right! This is quite the post.)
A Fuse #8 Production is in with two posts: a review of Over in the Jungle: A Rainforest Rhyme and a Susan Ramsey poem. (Hmmm...seems as if Fuse's mom is just as cool as Fuse is!)
Mo Willems graces us with his presence and a "poem" of his own. Thanks, Mo! You've made our day.
Tricia is thinking spring with Thomas Nashe over at The Miss Rumphius Effect.
Wendy reviews Good Sports, by Jack Prelutsky, at Blog from the Windowsill.
Michele celebrates Christopher Marlowe and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's birthdays over at Scholar's Blog.
Eisha shows what Poetry Friday is all about with an entry dedicated to her new favorite poet, Alan Dugan, at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast. (Eisha learned of Dugan from Nancy at Journey Woman.)
And Nancy is here with awesome readings of Edgar Allen Poe's The Raven. Be sure to take a listen.
Adrienne brings us some Macbeth over at What Adrienne Thinks About That.
The Old Coot is back with some "Whisky in a Jar" (The Smothers Brothers). It's been a long week--maybe whisky is in order?
Kelly Fineman contributes an excellent poem this week: "Vitæ Summa Brevis," by Ernest Dowson.
Cloudscome celebrates the arrival of spring with bird poems at A Wrung Sponge. (I can't believe Spring has sprung somewhere. Count me jealous!)
Susan talks poetry, The Poetry Foundation, and the Big Gift over at Chicken Spaghetti.
Liz Scanlon shares some group poetry written by 3rd-5th graders during a Young Writer's Worshop. Awesome!
New blogger Charlotte shares Lisa Westberg Peters' "The Yellowstone Whale" (from Earthshake--Poems from the Ground Up) at Charlotte's Library.
HipWriterMama contributes Robert Service's "The Battle of the Bulge." (Drat those Girl Scount cookies!)
Mitali Perkins shares 15-year-old Mel's poem "Mel?" at Mitali's Fire Escape. Mel won the Fire Escape 2006 poetry contest and I can see why. It's a beautiful piece of work. Mel, those "blini s ikroi" are much better than pizza anyday.
Christine M. celebrates The Cat in the Hat at The Simple and the Ordinary.
Liz B. contributes "I am of Ireland" (original and Yeats use of) at A Chair, a Fireplace and a Tea Cozy.
MotherReader is also celebrating the good dr.'s birthday with lines from The Cat in the Hat Comes Back and an original "Ode to Seuss." [It's excellent! I love these lines: And then all the titles/Popped right out at me/With a surreal neon glimmer./(Note: Avoid LSD.)]
Gregory K. tells us to celebrate Poetry Friday by pulling a Dr. Seuss title from the shelf and giving it a read.
Little Willow contributes Lewis Carroll's Jabberwocky with video (!) over at Bildungsroman.
More Lewis Carroll: Miss Erin is in with "The Mad Gardener's Song."
Franki reviews and recommends Jane Yolen's Here's a Little Poem: A Very First Book of Poetry at A Year of Reading.
This just in! Jone celebrates a year of blogging and two new poetry books in her collection over at Check it Out. Happy Blogiversary, Jone!
