Friday, June 10, 2016

Summer Reading and an Unfinished Poem


Summer snuck up on me this year, as it often does in Wisconsin. Cool weather, late snowstorm, cool weather, frost warnings, wham! Everything’s green and growing out of control. I’m tempted to give up on the flower beds, and it’s barely June.

Here’s most of a poem about one of my favorite things to do in summer:

Summer Reading 
On a blanket in the backyard,
Up on a branch in a wide old tree,
Tucked in a tent beneath the stars, or
Sailing on the sea,
In a gently rocking hammock,
D…
Everywhere I go, I always bring a book with me!

Somehow, I can’t seem to find a line beginning with D that works. (You noticed that it’s an acrostic, right?) So I made a list of D words: down, diving, dining, daring, doing, and so on.


That unfinished line also needs to rhyme with tree, sea, and me. So I made a list of rhyming words: bumblebee, knee, wee, free, tea. I consulted a rhyming dictionary: chickadee, glee, canopy, scenery, fernery, memory, meadowy, and shadowy, among many others, some hilariously unfitting. I tried starting over with a different end rhyme and came back to this one.

Perhaps I have painted myself into a corner. I’ll go outside to think. Offer a suggestion in the comments if you like.

Looking for a book to read? You’re in luck! The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) has just released its massive Summer Reading List 2016. The list is divided into 15 author/illustrator geographical regions plus Spanish/bilingual books. Within grade level divisions, titles are listed in alphabetical order. With 130 pages of members’ books listed, the list could keep the hungriest reader happy way beyond summer.

Lin Oliver, SCBWI Executive Director, explains the project in a video. You can download or browse the whole list.

This week’s Poetry Friday Roundup is at Carol Varsalona’s Beyond Literacy Link. Happy reading!

JoAnn Early Macken

14 comments:

Ann Angel said...

How about "Dreaming of the stories inside of me...."

JoAnn Early Macken said...

Thanks, Ann! That line would work except that I used "me" to end the following one. I do like dreaming, though. I'll keep thinking!

Brenda at FriendlyFairyTales said...

How about, "Daring, dreaming and free"

Carol Varsalona said...

JoAnn, I like that you posed a question to all of us to see what fits. When the poem is finished, please think about joining my summer gallery with an offering. I enjoyed reading this post and watching the video.

Anonymous said...

Or, 'Dawdling, dangling, dreaming and free.'?

Or 'Drifting'?

Have fun. :)

jan godown annino said...

Hello dear JoAnn, Fun poem process, to share with everyone. It's a great teaching post to return to. I don't
have anything to add to the 2 gre8t eyedears here. But will come back if I think of something.
Hope you go back to those flower beds :)
Happy summer to everyone.

Jan

jan godown annino said...

I do have a line for the D part of this sweet acrostic

Dozing with dandelion memories.

Victoria Zigler said...

How about...

"Draped on the sofa lazily"

Books4Learning said...

I really like what you have so far. Good luck on getting that last line. Thanks for the SCBWI reading list link.

jan godown annino said...

I didn't say the most important part of my thoughts -
I love this poem. Especially the memory of reading in on a brancheof a tree. a

Julie Phend said...

How about: Diving in with delighted glee

Violet N. said...

Thinking along the lines of a summer cottage... "Down, under top bunk canopy"

JoAnn Early Macken said...

Oh, what lovely suggestions! I've been outside gardening, walking, & reading for much of the weekend. What fun to return to these helpful comments! Thank you all!

Cynthia Cotten said...

How about "Dreaming, flying free" ?