Thursday, February 17, 2011

Welcome Poetry Friday! A Dazzling Display of Dogs, by Betsy Franco & Michael Wertz (ages 6 - 10)

Welcome to Poetry Friday! It's with pleasure that I share a treasure trove of goodies from around the internet. If you're here to leave a tidbit to share, please add a comment and I'll update throughout the day.


Late night treats:

Huge thanks goes to all Kidlitosphere members who served on the Cybils panels or helped promote the Cybils Awards in any way. These awards bring recognition to such a variety of books for children. The Cybils winner for poetry was Mirror Mirror: A Book of Reversible Verse, by Marilyn Singer.It's a standout choice, full of inventiveness, humor and creativity. Hooray!

I must say that it's been a treat to hear from so many friends I met at the Kidlit Convention last fall. If you have a chance to go this fall in Seattle, it was a wonderful experience to meet and share our passion for children's literature and especially poetry. So this post is dedicated to my Poetry Friday pals.

My tasty treat to share is A Dazzling Display of Dogs, concrete poems by Betsy Franco and illustrations by Michael Wertz. If you're a dog loving family, or if you want to share colorful, creative poetry with your children, make sure you read my review below at the bottom of this post!

A great morning to share a poem

It's lovely to wake up with poems and messages from all my Poetry Friday friends. What a perfect way to start the day!

Tabatha Yeatts has a lovely offering of PoemArt. Absolutely beautiful!

At the Poem Farm, Amy is sharing a series of poems about reading to a cat. My daughters would adore these poems!

Toby Speed write about the full snow moon at The Writer's Armchair. We had a beautiful moon here last night, with the clouds racing across the sky. Thank you, Toby, for sharing!

The Blacker the Berry (Ala Notable Children's Books. Middle Readers)At A Year of Reading, Mary Lee is Thinking Outside the Box. What a perfect thing to do, and to encourage our children to do!

Carol Rasco at Rasco from RIF is sharing one of my favorite poetry books: The Blacker the Berry, by Joyce Carol Thomas and Floyd Cooper.

At Carol's Corner, you'll find a new collection: Emma's Dilemma - Big Sister Poems, by Kristine O'Connell George. Perfect! I'll need to share this with my girls!

The Color of Lost Rooms
This week on The Stenhouse Blog we have "Astronomy Lesson" by Alan Shapiro. Thank you!

The weather has warmed up, so Irene Latham is thinking beach season. I'm in with an original "beach scene" poem that was inspired by a painting and appears in her new book, The Color of Lost Rooms. Congratulations on your new book, Irene!


Diane Mayr is checking in with lots of offerings! At Random Noodling, she has an original poem, "Oh, To Be a Squirrel." Kurious Kitty has "Alms" by Anne Morrow Lindbergh, and, at Kurious K's Kwotes the P.F. quote is by Lindbergh. And, at The Write Sisters she also has a short weather poem by Anonymous.

David Elzey is back this week with more original "'nother goose" rhymes over at fomagrams. Perfect to add a twist to your morning, and a laugh to your day!

Laura Salas in with a poem called "Let Me Die A Young Man's Death" from J. Patrick Lewis' grown-up poetry collection. And check out this week's 15 Words or Less poems (come write one!).

Today, Jama Rattigan is sharing Barbara Crooker's "Ode to Olive Oil" and dreaming about summer.I'll be right over!

Dori Bennett is sharing Shipwreck by Luis Vaz de Camos. Reposted from My Daily Poem.

It's raining in Haiti, and Ruth has a poem called "Before the Rain".

Lunch break - more poems to feed your soul!

Over at Chicken Spaghetti, Susan is in with a post from the archives, which links John Updike's short poem "Saying Goodbye to Very Young Children."

Heidi Mordhorst is in today with a reflection on getting more poems published--bookable.

Hooray! Karen Edmisten is feeling in sync with our dog-loving theme, but and is in this week with a little haiku her daughter wrote about their dog. :) It's here.

Phillis Sings Out Freedom: The Story of George Washington and Phillis WheatleyCheck It Out is sharing a Phillis Wheatley poem as a follow up to a review of the book Phillis Sings Out Freedom. See the poem "On Imagination" by Phillis Wheatley here, and the review here.

"The Days Are Growing Green Again!" at The FATHER GOOSE Blog.
Hooray! Signs of spring are definitely in the air. Thank you to Charles Ghigna, a.k.a. Father Goose.

Sara's Poetry Friday contribution today at Read Write Believe is The Civil Wars's "Poison and Wine" and a small rumination on love and being known.

At Wild Rose Reader, Elaine Magliaro has an original fairy tale poem titled "Apartment for Rent"--which is written in the form of a classified ad. Lots of fun! And over at Blue Rose Girls, Elaine is sharing a post titled "Let It Snow...Let It Snow...Let It Snow: Repetition in Poetry."

Today Blythe Woolston offers a visual poem "It's the way they do ordinary things" by François-Marie Banier. Blythe, I love the idea of a visual poem. I was about to highlight Shadow, by Suzy Lee as a wordless poem because I think her wordless book is poetic in the way it plays with images and ideas. Banier's visual poem is amazing - thank you for sharing!

The Cuckoo's Haiku: and Other Birding PoemsJanet Squires is sharing The Cuckoo's Haiku, by Michael Rosen. It looks like beautiful verse paired with amazing watercolors!

Carlie has an original poem about the winter woodpile today on her blog Twinkling Along.

Priya has posted Mary Oliver's "Breakage" on her blog Book Crumbs.

Melissa Wiley, at Here in the Bonny Glen, snapped a photo on her morning walk the other day that sort of begged a pairing with a favorite Emily Dickinson poem: "The Brain is Wider than the Sky". Wonderful pairing, indeed. I can feel the wind blowing and the clouds racing along.

Today Jill Corcoran shares some of Ralph Fletcher's early love poems, from Buried Alive, the Elements of Love. As Jill writes, Ralph Fletcher gives "young adults reassurance that  their feelings are important, universal, and necessary." Definitely worth checking out!

Late afternoon check-in:

Do you want to bring your poetry along with you? Check out Poetry of the Day app for the Android Market.

Phoebe is sharing her first Poetry Friday - head over to Fly, envious time, till thou run out thy race, to welcome her to our event! She has a poem by her husband, Sean, in honor of Faustine's Day.

After dinner treats:

MotherReader has three wonderful poetry books to share for African American History Month: My People, by Langston Hughes, with photographs by Charles R. Smith, Jr.; Stitchin' and Pullin': A Gees Bend Quilt, by Patricia McKissack; and Speak to Me (and I Will Listen Between the Lines), by Karen English.

More after dinner! Keep sharing these lovely poems and books! Remember to leave a link to your specific post if you'd like me to share.


A tasty sampling from Mary Ann at Great Kid Books:

Today I'd like to share A Dazzling Display of Dogs - a wonderfully fun collection of concrete poems by Betsy Franco, illustrated by Michael Wertz. So grab a cup of coffee and stay for a bit.
A Dazzling Display of DogsA Dazzling Display of Dogs
Concrete Poems by Betsy Franco
Illustrations by Michael Wertz
Berkeley, CA: Tricycle Press, 2011
ages 6 - 10
available on Amazon and at your local library
Betsy Franco and Michael Wertz team up again to celebrate the love we have for our pets: this time, they shed light on our lovable dogs. As in A Curious Collection of Cats, Franco and Wertz create playful, fun concrete poetry that is bursting with color. These poems arrange words within the illustrations, where the words gain meaning from where they are placed within the picture, and the words form part of the picture themselves.




The color leaps off the pages, and kids will love following the words, figuring out the jokes and inside meaning. Franco and Wertz share their love of dogs, whether it's a tiny Pekinese peaking out from a backpack as it travels everywhere with its owner, or it's a Bassett Hound that goes "in and out / in and out ... again and again / and again and again." In "Emmett's Ode to His Tennis Ball," the text is enclosed in a circle held firmly in the dog's mouth. It begins, "Slobbery, sloppy, slimy, sphere-oh, tennis ball, I hold you dear..."

This will delight kids (and teachers), inspiring them to combine words and images in a fun, new way. I plan on sharing them using our document camera, so the kids can see the poems projected on the screen. The visuals are exciting and draw them right into the poetry, as they figure out how to read each poem.

Michael Wertz is a local print maker and illustrator, here in Oakland, CA. His dynamic illustrations are full of action and color, but they are carefully created balancing colors, typeface and details that make reading the poems a joy to figure out; the overall effect is never confusing or crowded, but rather punchy and humorous. Head over to his website Wertzateria and his blog to find out more.

Betsy Franco is an accomplished poet, author and actress. Her work ranges from fun school poems like Messing Around on the Monkey Bars, to poems about the natural world around us as in Birdsongs and Pond Circle, to books that capture the voice of teens and young adults, as in Metamorphosis and Things I Have to Tell You.

A Dazzling Display of Dogs has been given a starred review in the School Library Journal. Also see reviews by Jen Robinson and Becky's Young Readers.

The review copy came from our local bookstore, Mrs. Dalloway's on College Ave in Berkeley, and will be part of our personal library. A Curious Collection of Cats was given the 2010 Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award honor award - here's hoping the dogs get noticed too!

Review ©2011 Mary Ann Scheuer, Great Kid Books. All images ©2011 Michael Wertz; shared with permission by the illustrator.

35 comments:

  1. Hi Mary Ann! Thanks for hosting. My offering today is
    PoemArt.

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  2. Happy Poetry Friday, Mary Ann. What a joyful post! Today I have another poem in my series of poems about reading, this one about reading to a cat. http://poemfarm.blogspot.com/2011/02/poetry-friday-poem-324-every-night.html A.

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  3. I can't wait to see this book!

    Today I'm thinking about Thinking Outside the Box:

    http://readingyear.blogspot.com/2011/02/poetry-friday-thinking-outside-box.html

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  4. Thanks for hosting Mary Ann, and thanks for sharing DAZZLING DISPLAY OF DOGS! As someone who loves, dogs, poetry, and Betsy Franco, it sounds like this is a book I need to own.

    I'm in this week with a review of Kristine O'Connell George's newest gem, EMMA DILEMMA: BIG SISTER POEMS.

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  5. This week on The Stenhouse Blog we have "Astronomy Lesson" by Alan Shapiro. Happy Poetry Friday!

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  6. Mary Ann, thanks so much for hosting! I love this type of eye-popping art... smart publishing to pair poetry with such color and vibrance. I'll check it out! Meanwhile, the weather has warmed up, so I'm thinking beach season. I'm in with an original "beach scene" poem that was inspired by a painting and appears in my new book. http://irenelatham.blogspot.com/2011/02/coming-soon-beach-season.html

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  7. Thanks for the introduction to Dazzling Display of Dogs! What a riot of color in those illustrations!

    At Random Noodling I have an original poem, "Oh, To Be a Squirrel."

    Kurious Kitty has "Alms" by Anne Morrow Lindbergh, and, at Kurious K's Kwotes the P.F. quote is by Lindbergh.

    And, at The Write Sisters I also have a short weather poem by Anonymous.

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  8. i love that the pug is pink!

    thanks for hosting. i'm back this week with more original "'nother goose" rhymes over at fomagrams.

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  9. Ooh, I hadn't heard of this one yet. Thanks for sharing, Mary Ann, and for hosting.

    I'm in with a poem called "Let Me Die A Young Man's Death" from J. Patrick Lewis' grown-up poetry collection. That's at http://laurasalas.livejournal.com/261925.html

    And this week's 15 Words or Less poems (come write one!) are at http://laurasalas.livejournal.com/261852.html

    Thanks!

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  10. Oh, what a fun book. Can't wait to see it!

    Today I'm sharing Barbara Crooker's "Ode to Olive Oil" and dreaming about summer.

    http://jamarattigan.livejournal.com/511945.html.

    Thanks for hosting, Mary Ann!

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  11. Thanks for hosting. This looks like a fun book. Love the colors.

    I'm sharing Shipwreck by Luis Vaz de Camos. Reposted from My Daily Poem.

    http://dorireads.blogspot.com/2011/02/poetry-friday-shipwreck.html

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  13. It's raining in Haiti, and I have a poem called "Before the Rain" here.

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  14. Thank you for rounding up the poetry talk today. I'm in with a post from the archives, which links John Updike's short poem "Saying Goodbye to Very Young Children."

    http://bit.ly/fDSSjK

    Susan
    Chicken Spaghetti

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  15. Thanks for hosting Mary Ann...and thank you for sharing these titles...they look absolutely gorgeous, I can't wait to have a peek inside them!

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  16. Hi, Mary Ann--

    In today with a reflection on getting more poems published--bookable. See y'all later!

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  17. I almost never feel in sync with the theme of the host, but I'm in this week with a little haiku my daughter wrote about our dog. :) It's here.

    Thanks for hosting!

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  18. I have a Phillis Wheatley poem as a follow up to a review of the book Phillis Sings Out Freedom on February 7. It's here: http://maclibrary.wordpress.com/2011/02/18/poetry-friday-2/
    Thanks for hosting.

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  19. Thanks, Mary Ann!

    "The Days Are Growing Green Again!" at
    The FATHER GOOSE Blog

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  20. Thanks so much for doing the roundup this week!

    At Wild Rose Reader, I have an original fairy tale poem titled "Apartment for Rent"--which is written in the form of a classified ad.

    http://wildrosereader.blogspot.com/2011/02/apartment-for-rent-original-fairy-tale.html

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  21. Thank you for doing the roundup. Thank you, too, for citing the hard work done by the Cybils judges. I am simply in awe of the service they have done. And thank you three for the books about dogs.

    Today I offer a visual poem "It's the way they do ordinary things" by François-Marie Banier.

    http://blythewoolston.blogspot.com/2011/02/its-way-they-do-ordinary-things-for.html

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  22. Thanks! Poems about (at least) two strong women facing down disaster. Women's History Month is coming up!

    http://dustbowlpoetry.wordpress.com

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  23. Thanks for hosting.
    My selection is "The Cuckoo's Haiku and other birding poems" written by Michael J. Rosen and illustrated by Stan Fellows.

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  24. Thank you for your hospitality in hosting all of us! And I just have to say that I just think those cover illustrations are swoony!

    I have an original poem about the winter woodpile today on my blog Twinkling Along.
    http://twinklingalong.blogspot.com/2011/02/poetry-friday-woodpile-plans.html

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  25. Thanks for doing the roundup today! I've posted Mary Oliver's "Breakage" on my blog: http://priyaganesan.blogspot.com/2011/02/breakage.html

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  26. Good morning! Thanks for hosting this week, Mary Ann. :)

    I snapped a photo on our morning walk the other day that sort of begged a pairing with a favorite Dickinson poem of mine. http://melissawiley.com/blog/2011/02/18/poetry-friday-wide/

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  27. At Blue Rose Girls, I have a post titled "Let It Snow...Let It Snow...Let It Snow: Repetition in Poetry."

    http://bluerosegirls.blogspot.com/2011/02/let-it-snowlet-it-snowlet-it-snow.html

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  29. Thanks for hosting, Mary Ann. Today I shared some of Ralph Fletcher's early love poems.

    DISCOVERING RALPH FLETCHER'S AMAZING POETRY

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  30. Mary Ann, It's good to see you here with the dazzling dogs and others. I was on the road today so didn't get time to pull together a post, but I'm looking forward to reading these and more -- and wanted to say hello!

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  31. poetry friday you say?! then perhaps u should download my android app =]
    Poetry for Android

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  32. Hello Mary Ann, I am posting late with a poem inspired by a classroom conversation.Thanks! http://lookingforthewritewords29.blogspot.com/2011/02/earlier-in-week-i-mentioned-my.html

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