The Poetry Friday Anthology

I've taken a bit of a blogging break, but am back to promote the project that has been absorbing so much of my time over the last two months. It's another collaboration with friend and poet Janet Wong: THE POETRY FRIDAY ANTHOLOGY!

Coming just in time for the 2012-2013 school year, The Poetry Friday Anthology is available now. It's a new anthology of 218 original poems for children in kindergarten through fifth grade by 75 popular poets including J. Patrick Lewis, Jack Prelutsky, Jane Yolen, Margarita Engle, X. J. Kennedy, Kathi Appelt, Guadalupe Garcia McCall, Georgia Heard and Nikki Grimes and many more.

The book includes a poem a week for the whole school year (K-5) with curriculum connections provided for each poem, each week, each grade level. Just five minutes every “Poetry Friday” will reinforce key skills in reading and language arts such as rhyme, repetition, rhythm, alliteration, etc.

Thanks to the lovely blog world of the "kidlitosphere," I've been a fan of "Poetry Friday" since the beginning (in 2006). The idea of pausing for poetry every Friday is so appealing to me, maybe because Friday has always been my favorite day of the week. I think it is a natural fit for busy teachers and librarians who can build on that Poetry Friday tradition by incorporating a weekly poetry break into their regular routines. That's the first "hook" in our book-- the idea of sharing a poem every Friday! (More often is even better, but Friday is the hook!)

The other hook is the call for connecting with the new Common Core standards (and in Texas where the Common Core was not adopted-- don't get me started-- connecting with the TEKS, Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills). We've always had curricular standards of one kind or another, but poetry hasn't always been an explicit component. It is now! Of course this worries me a bit as poetry may also be abused and butchered in the name of test preparation. But the challenge is to provide guidance in sharing poetry that respects the integrity of the poem, celebrating the pleasures of language, while reinforcing the necessary skills. That's the second book "hook"-- we've tied every poem in The Poetry Friday Anthology to the Common Core standards (and TEKS standards in Texas) for poetry.

This book is first and foremost a quality anthology of 218 original poems for children written by 75 of today’s most popular poets. Children in any state (or country) can enjoy, explore, and respond to these poems. However, we have also come to realize that educators, librarians, and parents are looking for guidance in how to share poetry with children and teach the skills within the curriculum as well. Thus, this book offers both. It's part poetry collection and part professional resource guide-- quality poetry plus curriculum-based suggestions for helping children enjoy and understand poetry more deeply.

You'll find more information about the book at the PoetryFridayAnthology blog here. Our official launch date is Sept. 1 when we hope to offer an e-book version of the book as well-- projectable and searchable! But the print version of the book is available NOW to help jumpstart the school year with poetry. I'll also be posting a few nuggets from the book here in the near future-- as well as more about our new joint publishing venture, Pomelo Books. Meanwhile, Janet and I hope you'll give the book a look and help us spread the word.

Be sure to check out the rest of the Poetry Friday sharing this week at Mary Lee's A YEAR OF READING and Andi's A WRUNG SPONGE.


Posting by Sylvia M. Vardell © 2012. All rights reserved.

My new book: The Poetry Teacher's Book of Lists

I'm so excited to share the news that my latest book is out today-- The Poetry Teacher's Book of Lists. This book has been in the works for 4 years, but took a back seat while I fulfilled my editorial duties for Bookbird, the international children's literature journal (which was wonderful, but all-consuming). I picked up the thread again last summer and just wrapped it up this spring-- just in time for National Poetry Month. I hope you'll help me spread the word. Here's the lowdown:

The Poetry Teacher's Book of Lists is intended to be a comprehensive resource for teachers, librarians, and parents packed with poetry bibliographies and research-based strategies for selecting and sharing poetry with young people (ages 0-18). Need help finding the perfect poem for a holiday celebration or a science unit? A funny riddle poem or a bilingual poetry book? The Poetry Teacher’s Book of Lists contains 155 different lists featuring 1500 poetry books for children and teens in the following categories:

(1.) Poetry Awards and “Best” Lists,
(2.) Seasonal and Holiday Poetry Booklists,
(3.) Multicultural and International Poetry Booklists,
(4.) Thematic or Topical Poetry Booklists,
(5.) Poetry Booklists Across the Curriculum,
(6.) Booklists Highlighting the Form of Poetry,
(7.) Creating a Poetry-Friendly Environment,
(8.) Sharing and Responding to Poetry Out Loud,
(9.) Teaching Poetry Writing, and
(10.) General Poetry Teaching Resources.

You’ll find recommended lists of poetry books tied to calendar events throughout the year, poetry that targets the needs of students acquiring English as a new language, poetry to help children through worries, adjustments or difficult times, 20 lists of poetry to support the study of science, social studies, and language arts, lists organized by different poetic forms, question prompts to guide meaningful discussions, preparation and presentation pointers, display ideas, poetry quotes, lesson plan tips, poet birthdays, and a poetry scavenger hunt and treasure hunt for kids—all tools to help jumpstart a poetry program and keep it energized and fresh all year long. Click here to check it out!

Meanwhile, swing by poet Heidi Mordhorst's blog, My Juicy Little Universe, to join the Poetry Friday crew this week. See you there!

Last week's contest winner
For those of you who commented on my "election year" post last week, the winner of the free Janet Wong books is Elizabeth McBride. Thank you also, Mary Lee, Myra, Keri, Laura, Charles, and Mrs. Davis for reading and commenting. If you will each send me your mailing address, I'll send Elizabeth her prize and each of you one of the extra ARCs (advance copies) or poetry paperbacks I have. Just write me at svardell AT Gmail DOT com.

Coming soon: My 5Q Poet Interview Series-- a poet a day for April!

NCTE Poetry Award Winner J. Patrick Lewis + TOOLBOX

Although I announced the news about the NCTE Excellence in Poetry for Children Award last year, J. Patrick Lewis officially received his award at the most recent NCTE Convention in Chicago. He also presented at a solo session where he read from his works and even shared some “outtakes” from his wonderful SPOT THE PLOT book of book-riddle poems. I shared a tiny clip of him reading two posts ago, fyi.

Today I’d like to highlight a new tool that my graduate students (of librarians and teachers) collaborated on this fall to promote the work of Lewis, our NCTE Poetry Awardee AND Children’s Poet Laureate. In September, I gave the students in two of my classes a list of all his poetry books. Each student chose a different book and then worked to create either a readers’ guide for classroom and library use OR a digital trailer designed to highlight and promote the book. They came up with some very rich and interesting resources for more than 40 of Pat’s books. Check out the J. Patrick Lewis Poetry Toolbox.

I’m also excited to share info about Pat’s forthcoming books in 2012 (subject to change):

• Take Two! A Celebration of Twins (with Jane Yolen), Candlewick, Ill. by Sophie Blackall, March 2012.
• Edgar Allan Poe’s Pie: Math Puzzlers in Classic Poems, Harcourt, Ill. by Michael Slack, April 2012.
• Last Laughs: Animal Epitaphs (with Jane Yolen), Charlesbridge, Ill. by Jeffrey Stewart Timmons, Spring 2012.
• When Thunder Comes: Poems for Civil Rights Leaders, Chronicle Books, Ill. by "a showcase (6) of illustrators," Fall 2012.
• Never Spit from a Roller Coaster (tentative title, 140+ poems), Wordsong/Boyds Mills Press, Ill. by Matt Cordell, Fall 2012.
• The Book of Animal Poetry (200 poems), edited by J. Patrick Lewis, National Geographic, with photos, December 2012.

Don’t these sound terrific? Lots to look forward to! (And I’ll post my usual “sneak peek” list of all anticipated children’s poetry titles in January. Watch for it.)

One final note: For those of you who are educators or work with groups of students, this notion of creating a collaborative blog (or wiki or other e-site) is something to consider. It’s been very rewarding for my students and for me (and I know other colleagues have also experienced success in similar Web ventures). My students create assignments that are all the more meaningful for being shared with a “real” audience (beyond the professor for a grade). I started with a “toolbox” site to promote the Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award (and am working on another “toolbox” site to promote the Promising Poet Award). We’ve made several blogs now and I plan on creating more—and welcome any thoughts about where there’s a need in the children’s poetry world.

PLUS PTT: And of course, Janet Wong and I have used the blog format to anchor our e-books of poetry in our Poetry Tag Time series.

• PoetryTagTime Tips
• P*TAG (photoblog)
• Gift Tag (photoblog)
  

Isn’t it wonderful how the Web offers us opportunities to share our work and support one another so readily? I’ve been teaching for 30 years and have always tried to make it possible for students to share with each other, but this takes it to a whole new level. And who knows what’s next? Janet and I have plans for a children’s poetry “app” and then… 



Join the rest of the Poetry Friday crew at Carol's Corner. See you there!



Posting by Sylvia M. Vardell © 2011. All rights reserved.

Poetry Tidbits

The Texas Bluebonnet Award Master List was just announced for 2010-2011 and it includes TWO recent works of poetry:

• Amazing Faces compiled by Lee Bennett Hopkins
• Mirror, Mirror by Marilyn Singer

Congratulations, Lee and Marilyn, and the Bluebonnet committee. It’s always great to see poetry titles included on “mainstream” reading lists.

I’m honored to be “profiled” on poet, author, and literacy advocate Pat Mora’s blog, ShareBookJoy (on October 14). She is focusing on CREATIVITY and it was a treat to consider this topic in my own work. She has a wonderful new resource book out, ZING! Seven Creativity Practices for Educators and Students. It’s full of her wisdom and insight, as well as practical steps for exploring one’s own creative urges.

I have two poetry presentations coming up that I’d like to invite you to (if you’re coming to the YALSA Symposium or the NCTE conference). I’ll be at the biennial YALSA Symposium in Albuquerque (Nov. 5-7) with a wonderful panel of poets that includes Jen Bryant, Ann Burg, Margarita Engle, Betsy Franco, Pat Mora, and April Halprin Wayland. We’re trying something different for this audience of teen services librarians—I’ve planned a series of “interview” questions that poets will answer (like “If you were to pair your poetry with music, what music would you choose?”) and then we’ll have time for a “Poetry Improv” exercise where the poets will share poems in response to prompts (i.e., “No one gets me” or “My current Facebook status”). It should be fun! 



My session at NCTE (National Council of Teachers of English) in Orlando (Nov. 19) includes two fellow poetry bloggers (Tricia Stohr-Hunt and Elaine Magliaro) and 4 poets: Lee Bennett Hopkins, Pat Mora, Jame Richards (her FIRST time!), and Marilyn Singer. We three bloggers will be featuring the poets on our blogs for 2 weeks before the conference, inviting reader participation. Then we’ll share the results as well as other strategies for using technology to connect kids with poets and poetry. Finally, we’ll share the conference highlights on our blogs afterward, as well. It’s a new model for conference presentations that I’m excited about and extends the conference for people who can’t be there.

Finally, I’d also like to plug a new project that my students and I have created to promote the #1 award for young adult literature: the Printz award. It’s a blog devoted entirely to digital trailers featuring only the Printz award and honor books. (So far that includes several works of poetry: A Wreath for Emmett Till by Marilyn Nelson, Keesha’s House by Helen Frost, Heart to Heart: New Poems Inspired by Twentieth Century American Art compiled by Jan Greenberg, True Believer by Virginia Euwer Wolff—although only the Frost book has a movie trailer posted thus far.) Although these are amateur productions, we hope they will lead more people to read and share the Printz books. Enjoy: http://printzpreviews.blogspot.com

Posting (not poem) by Sylvia M. Vardell © 2010. All rights reserved.

Poetry Buzz

I’ve been running across some poetry news nuggets here and there that I thought I would gather and share here. Just FYI; just for fun.

Poetry is an app
Did you see the latest from Poets.org? It’s about a new poetry “app” for the iPhone and iPod Touch and it sounds extremely cool. (And I don't even have a fancy phone!) Here’s the lowdown:

“Poets.org is proud to announce the launch of the Poem Flow app for the iPhone and iPod Touch, developed in creative collaboration with TextTelevision... A veritable box of light with words and thought in fluid motion, Poem Flow is an entirely new way to experience poetry on a handheld screen. In Portrait view, each poem is presented in its traditional format; turned to Landscape, the poem literally flows over the screen.

Each day, a new poem becomes available to app subscribers, while those from previous days remain on the device, building the equivalent of an ever-expanding anthology of the best-loved poems in the English language. Historical trivia and contextual information, compiled by Poets.org, are provided for each daily poem.”

Poem Flow is a free download and includes 20 great poems and a full week of poem-of-the-day. Readers can subscribe to 3 months of poems (100) for $0.99, or a full year (365) for $2.99. A portion of the proceeds support the Academy of American Poets programs, including Poets.org.”

“Can Children’s Poetry Matter?”
Poet J. Patrick Lewis has published an intriguing article, “Can Children’s Poetry Matter?” in Hunger Mountain, the VCFA Journal of the Arts. It’s so provocative and beautifully written. Here’s just one nugget:

Poetry is the tunnel at the end of the light; prose, bent out of shape; the idiom of djinns; the sound of silence…amplified. Poetry predates books, predates the alphabet, and once we graduated from humming, it was the first vehicle to bring music to our ears. What are nursery rhymes if not the irresistible echoes of the siren songs of ancient whimsy?

And I loved Sue Corbin’s response, too: “Children are poetry. Their language is poetry. Their wonder of the world is poetry. If children’s poetry doesn’t matter, then children don’t matter. And sadly that’s the reality in some peoples’ worlds. Test scores matter. AYP matters.”

New Poetry Resource Book
Richie Partington has a new book out, I Second that Emotion: Sharing Children’s and Young Adult Poetry: a 21stCentury Resource Guide for Teachers and Librarians published by LC Source. It sounds terrific—and we know Richie’s reviews are always right on. Here’s the blurb on his new book:

"I Second That Emotion is an entertaining guide for teachers and librarians who want to really bring poetry to young people. The author provides a series of steps for becoming an expert on children's and young adult poetry, and a great variety of ideas on sharing poetry with young people all year long. Included are extensive appendices, including listings of books of poetry currently used in summer reading programs; an exploration of how poetry is incorporated into various states' standards; poetry resources for preschoolers; and information on over 500 American and British authors of poetry books for children and young adults."

I ran into some difficulties using the Web site, so found the 800 number more helpful. Call toll-free: 1-800-873-3043.

Guest Poet: Hope Anita Smith
The fantastic librarian Roxanne Feldman recently posted the following on one of my favorite listservs (and gave permission to share it here): "We had the great pleasure of having Hope Anita Smith (The Way a Door Closes, Keeping the Night Watch, and Mother Poems) conduct poetry workshops for our 7th and 8th grade students. The six workshops (with three different contents) were simply fabulous and inspiring. For anyone who wishes to have a generous, inspiring, and effective poetry workshop leader, definitely contact her." Roxane posted an open thank-you letter to her on her Fairrosa Cyber Library site too.

FYI: Hope has been part of my Poetry Round Up held annually at the Texas Library Association conference and was a terrific presenter, so I add my whole-hearted endorsement. I would also like to make a plug for inviting poets in general to do school visits—many enjoy them, indeed count on them, but so often schools gravitate only to fiction authors, with an occasional poet speaker during April (National Poetry Month). But poets write year round and make inspiring speakers any time! Most have web sites (see the links here on my blog) and would love to hear from you! (BTW, the line up of poets for my 2010 Poetry Round Up includes: Laura Purdie Salas, Leslie Bulion, Pat Mora, Jen Bryant, Robert Weinstock, and Douglas Florian. If you’re planning to come to San Antonio for TLA, please join us: Thursday, April 15, 2010, 10:15am. We always have a great time!

Children’s Poet Laureate
Another interesting post written by Neal Whitman at Short Poem (on Feb. 1), shared by Paula Morrow on CHILD_LIT (and posted here with permission) about the post of Children’s Poet Laureate. What a sweet compliment to Charles Ghigna (Father Goose)—who will also be presenting at the annual Fay Kaigler Children’s Literature Festival at the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg April 7-9. I’ll be there, too, plugging the latest and greatest poetry for kids. It’s time again for the next Children’s Poet Laureate to be chosen, so stay tuned for that news—which should be out in October.

Knit Your Own Poem
I ran across this craziness: a “Knit Your Own Poem” link courtesy of Great Britain’s Poetry Society! You can input the words of a poem which will magically appear in individually knitted letters—way cool! Those clever Brits!

Posting (not poem) by Sylvia M. Vardell © 2010. All rights reserved.
Image credit: ala.org;poetryfoundation.org;poetrysociety,hungermountain

Happy Day 100

Today is the 100th day of 2008. Many schools use this as an occasion to teach young children about math, gathering 100 of some object (paperclips, canned goods, etc.) to count, sort and categorize. 100 seems like such a big number when you’re 4 or 5 and counting to 100 is an enormous accomplishment! So, let’s make a poetry connection with this 100th day. Look for the poetry of Betsy Franco who loves to weave math into poetry. In fact, find her collection, Counting Our Way to the 100th Day! She shares a sample poem on her Web site:

One Hundred Puddles
by Betsy Franco

One hundred puddles make a pond.
One hundred ponds would make a lake.
One hundred lakes would make a sea.
Just add some salt and sail with me.

One hundred drops can be a cloud.
One hundred clouds can be a storm.
One hundred storms is winter weather.
Let's make a fire and read together.

One hundred words can be a poem.
One hundred poems can be a book.
One hundred books can fill a shelf.
Come read of dragons, bears, and elves.

From: http://betsyfranco.com/work3.htm

And while I’m at it, allow me to mention Betsy’s professional resource book, Conversations with a Poet, Inviting Poetry into K-12 Classrooms (Richard C. Owen, 2005). I’ve posted about Betsy before (on her birthday on August 15, 2007) and had the chance to work with her when she presented on my poetry panel at ALA last summer. I knew she had compiled these wonderful collections of poetry BY teens, as well as authored many nature and math-themed poetry books of her own, but I had not realized that she had also created this lovely guide for grown ups. (Thanks, Richard, for bringing this to my attention.) It’s much like Georgia Heard’s work (For the Good of the Earth and Sun; Teaching Poetry and Awakening the Heart: Exploring Poetry in Elementary and Middle School) since it represents the POET’S perspective and focuses on guiding children in writing poetry and understanding its varying forms. She calls it a “frank discussion of writing and teaching poetry from a poet’s point of view.”

But Betsy offers even more nuts and bolts that the classroom teacher or librarian or parent will find tremendously helpful. She provides discussion questions to guide talking about poetry (which should help reduce the intimidation factor that so many people seem to face), tips for teacher demonstration, warm ups and poetry starters, even a helpful and sound rubric for assessing student efforts (that is very positive and not punitive).

Her section on 16 poetry forms is a gem all by itself. For each form (from acrostics to haiku to sestinas), she offers background info, characteristics of, how to approach this with younger or older students, samples, and listings of other examples. She even offers what she calls “think throughs” that describe what the poet is thinking when writing or responding to a poem. She also provides “read through” lessons designed to be read aloud verbatim, if desired. That may sound odd, but they are clear and concise and in a charming voice—so helpful for teachers who just feel at a loss in talking about poetry. A glossary of poetry terms with examples also helps demystify poetry jargon. These tools will all help jumpstart the dialogue about poetry that comes so naturally for some and not at all for others. Check it out. It’s a great addition to any professional library on sharing poetry with kids.

Picture credit: amazon and http://www.rcowen.com/ProfBks.htm#Betsy%20Franco

Poetry for Seniors

I recently fielded a question from a student about sharing poetry with senior citizens. This is an interest area of mine, too, since I have older family members who have found poetry to be meaningful to them. Several years ago, I read about a nursing home project in which people were invited to share memories and stories from their younger years and then guided in writing about them through poetry—almost a “found” poetry approach, placing key words, ideas and phrases in poetic arrangements. One of my favorite resource books that includes activities used with seniors is:

Morice, D. 1996. The Adventures of Dr. Alphabet. New York: Teachers and Writers Collaborative.

Dave Morice provides options for creating poems in unusual formats with people of all ages, but he also specifically shares examples of working with seniors. His ideas are generally quite playful and unorthodox, but can be lots of fun, too. Here is just a sampling of the 104 choices:
*Autumn leaf poems
*Postage stamp poems
*Rolodex poems
*Thumb book poem
*Poetry poker
*Poetry checkers
*Poetry mazes
*Social security poem
*Shakespearean sonnet maker
*And many more

Another resource book that sounds promising is From Deep Within: Poetry Workshops in Nursing Homes (New York, NY. Haworth Press, 1989) by Carol F. Peck.

And if you're looking for a few poetry books for young people that might also be particularly appealing to seniors, you might consider:

Harrison, David L. 2004. Connecting Dots: Poems of My Journey. Honesdale, PA: Wordsong, Boyds Mills Press.
Heard, Georgia. 2002. This Place I Know: Poems of Comfort. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick.
Hoberman, Mary Ann. 1991. Fathers, Mothers, Sisters, Brothers: A Collection of Family Poems. Boston: Joy Street Books.
Hopkins, Lee Bennett. 1995. Been to Yesterdays: Poems of a Life. Honesdale, PA: Wordsong, Boyds Mills Press.
Lansky, Bruce. 1994. If We'd Wanted Quiet, We Would Have Raised Goldfish. Meadowbrook Press.
Mora, Pat. 2001. Love to Mama: A Tribute to Mothers. New York: Lee & Low Books.
Nye, Naomi Shihab, comp. 1992. This Same Sky: A Collection of Poems from Around the World. New York: Four Winds Press.
Steptoe, Javaka, comp. 1997. In Daddy's Arms I Am Tall: African Americans Celebrating Fathers. New York: Lee & Low Books.
Willard, Nancy, comp. 1998. Step Lightly: Poems for the Journey. San Diego: Harcourt.
Wong, Janet. 1999. The Rainbow Hand: Poems about Mothers and Children. New York: Margaret K. McElderry.

Here’s one “grandma” poem that really speaks to me—across the generations and across cultures. It’s by a Pakistani poet and comes from Naomi Nye’s amazing collection, This Same Sky: A Collection of Poems from Around the World (Four Winds Press, 1992).

Grandmother
by Sameeneh Shirazie
(Pakistan)

I hadn’t asked her much,
just how she felt,
and she told me all about her day,
and how she’d washed the sheets,
and how she could not understand
why the towel got so heavy
when it was wet.
She’d also sunned the mattresses,
such tired bones and so much to do,
and my eyes filled with tears
when I thought of how I was simply
going to say “Salaam” and walk away
and so many words would have been
trapped inside her.
I would have passed by as if
what lay between those bedclothes
was just old life
and not really my grandmother.

[Note: “Salaam” meaning “peace,” is often used as a greeting.]
From: This Same Sky collected by Naomi Shihab Nye (Four Winds Press, 1992)

For more poetry, join the Poetry Friday crew at my former student's blog (go, Becky!) Becky’s Book Reviews.

Picture credit: www.blushbutter.com

Blog anniversary: Meet POETRY PEOPLE

I’m tickled pink to celebrate the one year anniversary of my blog! My first entry set my purpose: to “explore what's new in the field of poetry published for children and young adults.” And my first entry was also a shameless plug of a new book I wrote to promote poetry with young people entitled, Poetry Aloud Here, a practitioner's guide to sharing poetry with children (ages 5-12) in ways that are fun, meaningful and participatory. Well, brace yourself for more brazen self promotion. I’m pleased to announce I have published another resource to help with promoting poetry with kids entitled, Poetry People; A Practical Guide to Children’s Poets (available now from Libraries Unlimited).

This new book provides a comprehensive introduction to more than 60 contemporary poets writing for young people, from Arnold Adoff to Douglas Florian to J. Patrick Lewis to Naomi Shihab Nye to Gary Soto to Janet Wong, and many more. The entry for each poet includes brief biographical information, highlights selected poetry books authored, showcases awards won, notes related web sites, and provides suggestions for making connections (programming ideas, related books, and activities across genres).

Additional supplementary information is also provided, including further lists of poets to know, awards for children’s poetry, helpful poetry web sites, a list of poems about libraries and reading, recommendations of must-have poetry anthologies, a poetry practices checklist, tips for poet promotion activities, and a calendar of poet birthdays to celebrate month by month.

Poet and anthologist Lee Bennett Hopkins calls it a “poetry treasury” and a “readable, useful, not-to-be-missed resource… a reference volume that will leap from the shelves.” Thank you, Lee!

If you’re looking for more help in promoting poets or simply want to familiarize yourself with many of the wonderful poets writing for children today, I hope you’ll check it out. And I welcome any input on the blog as a whole, especially any suggestions or questions for future content. Thanks for stopping by!

Picture credit: Libraries Unlimited

Happy Birthday, Judy Sierra

Today is Judy Sierra’s birthday: librarian, puppeteer, author, poet, and speaker. In Sharron McElmeel’s profile of Sierra we learn that Judy took to poetry like a fish to water. Her mother reminisced about “two-year-old Judy going to her doctor and reciting a Robert Louis Stevenson poem for him. Sierra herself said, "As a child, I was a great fan of Dr. Seuss and Wanda Gag and shared my parents' enthusiasm for Ogden Nash, Cole Porter, and Gilbert and Sullivan." Her father paid her a dollar for every poem she learned by heart. She memorized poems by many poets, including Lewis Carroll and T.S. Eliot. Second-grade reports were written in rhyme.”

Many of her works for children are rhyming picture books that bridge the worlds of poetry and folklore, with a strong dash of humor. She enjoys parodying or spoofing classic children’s rhymes from Mother Goose to “The Night Before Christmas” to “The Lady Who Swallowed a Fly.” Sierra has a knack for creating rhymes and rhyming text that are musical and song-like, often injecting a bit of wordplay a well. Look for:

Schoolyard Rhymes: Kids' Own Rhymes for Rope Skipping, Hand Clapping, Ball Bouncing, and Just Plain Fun
Wild About Books
Counting Crocodiles
Antarctic Antics (which was also animated by Weston Woods)
'Twas the Fright Before Christmas
There's a Zoo in Room 22
Thelonius Monster's Sky-High Fly-Pie
Good Night, Dinosaurs
Monster Goose

Sierra worked as a librarian, toured with her own puppet theater, and earned a Ph.D. in Folklore and Mythology Studies from UCLA. Besides her work for children, she has also authored professional books and storytelling and folklore collections for librarians and teachers, including:

The Flannel Board Storytelling Book
Cinderella, part of the Oryx Multicultural Folktale Series
Multicultural Folktales: Stories to Tell Young Children
Nursery Tales Around the World
Fantastic Theater: Puppets and Plays for Young Performers and Young Audiences
Children's Traditional Games
Can You Guess My Name?: Traditional Tales Around the World
Storytellers Research Guide
Mother Goose's Playhouse

Picture credit: http://www.judysierra.net/