[poetry friday] “Woolly Rider” (by Nancy Bo Flood) & Giveaway!

I’m sharing a poem from a new-to-me poet, Nancy Bo Flood. This poem, “Woolly Rider,” is from Cowboy Up!: Ride the Navajo Rodeo (Wordsong, 2013). When I did a young authors conference for a week recently, the theme was hooking your reader with a great beginning. So we started by looking at the first two lines from a bunch of kids’ poems and seeing which ones really caught their
attention and made them want to keep reading. A number of kids picked “Woolly Rider”‘s opening because of the unexpectedness of an angry sheep. (I have mixed feelings about rodeos, but these poems really put me inside the whole experience–always a good thing.).

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Woolly Rider

Sit on top–
sheep’s kicking mad–
fingers curled tight,
one hand held high.
Ready…set…
Ya-a-a-hooo!

1 second      We’re flying! Whole world blurs by.
2 seconds     Stomach up my throat. Crowd cheers. I’m holding on.
3 seconds     Sheep swerves. Oops, sliding off. Yank back up.
4 seconds     Hand hurts. Need to pee.
5 seconds     Fingers numb. Eyes shut. Still on.
6 seconds     Arms ache. Knees shake. Legs squeeze.
7 seconds     Sheep bucks. Starts to roll. Slipping, sliding. Gotta hold…gotta hold…
8 seconds     On!

Roll off, stand up, crowd cheers.
I grin.
Yes, sirree, I’m a mutton-bustin’ woolly rider, me!
–by Nancy Bo Flood, all rights reserved

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[Review copy of Cowboy Up!: Ride the Navajo Rodeo provided by the publisher]

I have a second copy of this book that I’m giving away to someone in the continental U.S.! Just leave a comment and let me know you want to enter the giveaway. And if you could share this giveaway notice via social media (your own blog, Twitter, Facebook, etc.), I’d really appreciate it. Thanks! I’ll be accepting entries until Wednesday night, June 19 (midnight, Central Time). I’ll post the winner on Thursday the 20th, and once the winner sends me a mailing address, I’ll get it into the mail within a week.

.Margaret at Reflections on the Teche has today’s Poetry Friday roundup at her Poetry Blog– enjoy!

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[15 words or less poems] Hay there!

Photo: Laura Purdie Salas

Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!

I was driving home from a school visit in outstate Minnesota when this hay-filled truck passed by. Took a few pix without looking, and this one came out ok. Here’s what this picture makes me think of:

1) A little critter who was nibbling on hay and suddenly finds himself zooming down the highway
2) If the truck turned over and all the hay spilled, we could end up with a meadow instead of a highway. Well, not really. But you know, kind of.
3) If this truck parks at a truck stop and the driver goes in for lunch, a whole herd of cows could descend on the truck from surrounding farms and eat his whole cargo.

And here’s my poem first draft:

How I Nibble
Nibble hay.
Nibble my way.
Munching, crunching
in my shy way.
Nibble, nibble
down the highway.
–Laura Purdie Salas, all rights reserved

Shoot. I’m one word over–oh, well. What do you think of when you look at this picture? Quickly jot down a 15 Words or Less poem. No polish, no pressure. Just a bit of wordplay:>)

[what's up wednesday]

Howdy! Here’s what I’ve been up to this past week:

1. I’m trying to wrangle my writing life into normal working hours. Last week, I focused on identifying all the tasks I’m working on and figuring out a kind of budget for each category. Need to eliminate/reduce many things. This. Is. Stressful.
2. My sister Patty is up visiting from Florida this week! Yay! Today, we are at a library where I am doing a storytime/poetry hour for preschoolers.
3. Maddie graduated from high school and is at her live-in summer job a few hours away. Will be interesting to see how this affects my writing. I miss her lots.
4. I have my June What’s New page up at my site.
5. Can’t wait for the 21st Century Children’s Nonfiction conference next week! My presentations are complete, and I am ready to go!

That’s what’s up with me. How about you?

[my writing life] Waiting for Water

Water Can Be… (Millbrook, 2014) doesn’t come out for eight more months, but it’s been front and center for this past couple of weeks. First, I got to see the fantastic finished art by Violeta Dabija (I hope to get to share a sneak peek soon). Then, I wrote the dedication (to my parents–both nature lovers of the first order). Finally, I’ve been checking over copyediting questions and working with my editor on one rhyming pair that has been a bit imperfect all along. The art is complete, so the concept can’t change. So we’re debating whether to keep the original text or replace it. I’ve fussed with this pair numerous times. I came up with several options, but we have decided to stick with the original. One of the things I love about picture books: the amount of time and consideration that goes into four small words. Next up…marketing materials. I need to get started this summer on a book trailer, teaching guide, etc. So excited!

P.S. I got to have lunch Friday with Carol Hinz, my editor from Millbrook, and take a tour of Lerner’s offices–will share a few pics soon.

[Poetry Friday] “On the Death of Blue Whales” (by J. Patrick Lewis)

I have a special treat today–a poem by U.S. Children’s Poet Laureate J. Patrick Lewis. He tells me tomorrow (June 8) is World Oceans Day, so here’s his haunting poem about one of the most gorgeous, mysterious ocean animals.

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On the Death of Blue Whales

The zeppelins of the sea
Descend through watery rooms
Of barnacle and debris,
Rip-ravaged in their tombs.

A few die on the land
Because they lose their way,
Great beasts upon the sand
The pods will miss at play.

Too big to be believed,
These sentinels by birth
Watch over, till relieved,
Three-quarters of the Earth.

All sing a soulful song
And fountain forth through foam
For decades—oh how long
The awful rowing home.

.–J. Patrick Lewis, all rights reserved

..That ThatThat last line just kills me. Actually, the whole final stanza. The sounds of all those o and ou words. I feel the anguish. What’s your favorite line?

By the way, I love the sea and have shared other ocean-related poems over the years–you can find some of them here. And I shared a poem about bats from Pat’s book World Rat Day, an entire collection of poems in honor of holidays you’ve never heard of, right here. Enjoy!

..And And after you’ve checked those out, visit Tabatha at The Opposite of Indifference for the Poetry Friday roundup.

Thanks for stopping by!

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[15 words or less poems] Eeek!

Photo: Laura Purdie Salas

Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!

Oh, my funny brother-in-law and sister-in-law. When we went to their house for games shortly after Easter, they stashed this Easter decoration in the tub so that I almost had a heart attack when I went into the bathroom. I’m the easiest person in the world to scare–just ask my husband, who’s always sneaking around corners and making me scream. Anyway, here’s what this creepy picture makes me think of:

1) Hide-and-seek gone wrong
2) Voyeurs of the animal kingdom
3) A shy kid on the first day of school who hides in the bathroom

And here’s my poem first draft:

First-Day Escape
Strangers, loudspeakers,
cubbies, hall passes–
I sneak book to bathroom
and breathe free
–Laura Purdie Salas, all rights reserved

What do you think of when you look at this picture? Take any quick idea and jot down a 15 Words or Less poem. It doesn’t have to rhyme or describe this picture. It’s just about whatever you think of when you look at it.

[my writing life] What Was I Thinking?

I posted recently about simplifying my schedule so that I can work only during the weekday. My fear of turning down offered assignments, the fickleness of the freelance workload, and my tendency to make goals based on accomplishing tasks without having a good idea of how long they’ll take (this is especially true of tech and social media tasks that I have to learn as I do!) have combined to make me an unwilling workaholic.

Sunday, as I tried to prepare a realistic schedule for this week, I realized just how much I’m going to have to cut from my to-do list. Ack! So, now begins the prioritizing and the painful, painful cutting…

[nonfiction monday] Finding Hope (by Michelle Myers Lackner)

Finding Hope
by Michelle Myers Lackner, photo-illustrated
Adventure Publications, 2013

In 2010, Minnesota children’s writer Michelle Myers Lackner ended up with an international news sensation happening literally in her back yard. So what did she do? She wrote a book, of course.

25,000 people witnessed via webcam the birth of black bear Hope in northern Minnesota. And when Hope became separated from her mother, the whole world watched the drama unfold and celebrated their reunion.

In this picture book inspired by the real events, Lackner tells the story of Hope’s first entry into the real world and her scary separation from her mother, Lily. The bears were part of a research project of the North American Bear Center, so the entire separation and effort to reunite the bears was well recorded and documented.

The book features captivating photography of Hope and Lily–most of them still captures from video. If the image of Hope and Lily’s reunion doesn’t touch you, you don’t have a pulse!

And engaging, sensory language makes the text both engaging and appealing for young readers/listeners:

Hope scooted down the tree. She peered between branches and spied some sweet blueberry blossoms.

This book is a winner–a great choice for storytimes with themes of motherhood, being lost, bears, woods, and love.

[Full disclosure: Michelle Myers Lackner is a writer friend of mine, and I'm thrilled to share this new book of hers.]

Extension ideas for Finding Hope:

• Meet Lily, Hope’s mom. Click on Live Cameras at the Bear Center’s website to watch videos and slideshows and check out the live webcam into Lily’s den (during certain seasons).
• Discuss safety in the woods. Play some online games and review hiking safety tips from HikeSafe. Perhaps make a poster or bulletin board display with safety tips.
• Put it on paper. Write a story, report, or poem about bears–in a group or individually.

(Review copy of Finding Hope provided by the author–though she didn’t know I was going to review it.)

Jennifer at The Jean Little Library has the Nonfiction Monday Roundup. Go learn something fun!

[15 words or less poems] Hard-Headed

Photo: Laura Purdie Salas

Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!

I love this sculpture inside a building in downtown Minneapolis. I don’t usually like art of people, but abstractions like this are fun. It makes me think of:

1) Decorated skulls and bones in Europe
2) The framework of a skyscraper
3) An X-ray

And here’s my poem first draft:

I Am Art
my steel skeleton,
azurite eyes,
welded skin
needs admirers

I tip my hat
to you

–Laura Purdie Salas, all rights reserved

What do you think of when you look at this picture? Take any quick idea and jot down a 15 Words or Less poem. It doesn’t have to rhyme or describe this picture. It’s just about whatever you think of when you look at it.

I’m teaching at a Young Authors Conference all week and won’t be able to comment on your poems. I hope you have fun with them!

[My Writing Life] A Poetry Gift!

Aw, look at the cute shirt poet Joy Acey sent me!

Joy and I (and Mary Lee Hahn and Charles Waters, too!) both have poems on a Poem in Your Pocket handout that Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong put together). So Joy made the handout into a t-shirt and sent me one. How sweet is that?

These poems are all from the fabulous Poetry Friday Anthology, edited by Sylvia and Janet–and if you’d like to see these poems in slightly bigger, more legible size, you can read Joy’s poem at her blog, see my Poem Starter Video of Mary Lee’s poem, read my poem and see the accompanying Take Five activities here, and watch Charles perform his poem.

Thanks, Joy!