The Best Poetry Tip Lee Bennett Hopkins Ever Taught Me

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Howdy, Campers, and Happy Poetry Friday! (my poem and the PF link are below)

Perhaps some of you really ARE camping right this very minute! Boy, that sure sounds good now: aromatic pines, refreshing dips in a clear lake, scent of wood smoke and that close-your-eyes crackling as you gather 'round to roast marshmallows and sing...ahhhhh.

This round, TeachingAuthors will each share a favorite piece of  writing advice.

Mine came from Lee Bennett Hopkins, who told me: 

Root out all unnecessary "the"s.

It's such a simple idea, yet it can change a poem profoundly.

Or at least clean it up.

(In the paragraph describing your camp-out above, I deleted four "the"s.)

THE

by April Halprin Wayland

It's a simple word, really,

but wait...do you need it?

Watch deer tug a tree

for a banquet of greens...

he steers clear of each "the,"

but devours those leaves.

poem © 2020 April Halprin Wayland. All rights reserved

Or, as Laura Shovan just shared so succinctly in the comments below, "every word must earn its place in a poem."

So try Lee's tip...and then report back and tell me about it--I can't wait to hear!

Thank you, Ruth, for hosting a Poetry Friday party at 

There is no such thing as a God-forsaken town

posted with love by April Halprin Wayland and Eli, who is tuckered out after this morning's walk:

you can see Eli in the distance

writing poetry can be exhausting!

Thank you, Lee Bennett Hopkins

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Howdy, Campers, and Happy Poetry Friday! My poem, the link to our current book giveaway, and the PF link are all below.

Our current Book Giveaway, which ends September 25th, is for a copy of Deanie Yasner's debut middle grade novel, Essie Rose's Revelation. To enter, go to Esther's latest Student Success Story.

We lost a great one in August—"passionate educator and prolific children's poet and anthologist,* Lee Bennett Hopkins.  

Towards the end of August, Amy Ludwig VanDerwater offered her blog, The Poetry Farm, as a space to honor Lee, who died on August 8th. We at TeachingAuthors are celebrating Lee today.

I first met Lee about 35 years ago through my teacher, poet Myra Cohn Livingston, who was one of Lee's good friends. Over the years, Lee's praise, his honest--and at times, blunt--editorial notes, and the hand he held out to me to write my own books and to write poems for his anthologies, changed my life. Thank you, Lee.

Lee Bennett Hopkins ~ photo by Charles J Egita 

One of Lee's suggestions that I hear every time I write a poem or teach poetry, is: consider each time you use "the" and "a;" can you delete them?  It's amazing how intimate a poem can become without them.

Here is the cover of his anthology, SURPRISES (Harper and Row, 1984), which was the first I CAN READ poetry book.

And here is "Last Laugh," from that collection, one of my favorite LBH poems. (Keep in mind that in an I CAN READ book, there could only be 36 characters per line, including punctuation and spaces.)

LAST LAUGH
by Lee Bennett Hopkins

They all laughed when I told them
I wanted to be

A woman in space
Floating so free.

But they won't laugh at me
When they finally see
My feet up on Mars
And my face on TV.

Thank you, Lee.

Fellow TeachingAuthor Esther Herschenhorn writes: "Lee's Pass the Poetry, Please! remains my go-to book on poetry for children - re the poems, the reading, the writing."

"He shared what he called his signature poem, "Good Books, Good Times!" in the Afterword of the 1998 Third Edition of this book. He created this poem in 1985 when he was chosen the Children's Book Council's National Book Week Poet. I love the poem. I also love the book's dedication - "To my Poet-friends who make it all possible.'" Click here for the full poem.

In 2009, when Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong asked me to write a poem to be included in their anthology honoring Lee for winning the 2009 NCTE Excellence in Children's Poetry award, I was scared. 

What could I contribute that others wouldn't?  I thought about Lee--what did I really know about him?  I knew that he loved Sondheim. I knew that his mailing address included the word "cove" in it. I pictured a cabin next to a quiet lake. Then I thought about the art of being an anthologist. What must it entail? Gathering, collecting, arranging.  

Although an early draft was from a poem's point of view, I'm glad that this is the version that was published:
.COLLECTOR 

for LBH 

by April Halprin Wayland

Walking along the shore at sunset in sandals,

you bend to collect the right rock, the best twig,

the perfect poem.

Washing them in a blue enamel bowl,

you turn on Mozart low,

barefoot in your kitchen by the cove.

Sitting on your heels on the wooden porch,

you position, then reposition each piece.

Here?  Here?

Stomping inside, slamming the door,

you turn on Sondheim

LOUD. 

At sunrise in your slippers,

you come out on the porch

to shuffle them again.

Suddenly seeing it:

sequence, order, symmetry—

done.

poem © 2019 April Halprin Wayland. All rights reserved

How I imagine an anthologist works...
collecting, rearranging, creating unity.
photo by April Halprin Wayland

Hark! One more of Lee's anthologies is coming soon!  According to *Publishers Weekly obituary, "His most recently completed work, I Remember: Poems and Pictures of Heritage, features poems from award-winning, diverse authors paired with artwork from illustrators of similar backgrounds, providing portraits of growing up in America. It will be published by Lee & Low in October."

Lee Bennett Hopkins expanded the world of poetry for children. 

Thank you, Lee.

To find out more about him, start with Renee Latulippe's 2013 interview of him at No Water River.

And don’t forget to enter our latest Book Giveaway: win a copy of Deanie Yasner's Essie Rose’s Revelation Summer!  Details here.

Thank you, wonderful Linda B, for hosting at TeacherDance today!

posted with love by April Halprin Wayland with help from Eli, Penny and Gin (Penny and Gin are short-term rentals)

3 Dogs in My Writing Room!

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Howdy, Campers, and Happy Poetry Friday!  (My poem and the link to PF is below.)

For a short and sunny summer read, we TeachingAuthors are posting the view from my / of my work space.  So far, Bobbi's shared summer windows and her animal editors , Mary Ann shared two rooms with a view...and coffee, Esther offered us picture book author Zakieh Mohammed's Wednesday Writing Workout, and then she shared a photo of the "one wonderous addition" from her summer windows.

If I turned around from my desk, I'd see Eli chewing on whatever toy he's chosen from his toy drawer...

...but usually I'm poeming, politicking and bouncing on the BOSU ball I stole from my husband years ago:

working at my desk, August 2013.
Photo by Jone MacCulloch
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This is Our Summer of Dogs. My son and his fiancee are overseas, so Eli's two "nieces," Penny (the smart, shy, territorial butterscotch and white 8-year-old) and Gin (the bouncy, licky black 9-month-old puppy whose sibling's name was Tonic), are staying with us. For six weeks.

Everyone has chosen a toy from Eli's toy drawer.

Since Jone took the photo of me on the Bosu ball above, I've turned my desk to face the wall. (I rescued the letters from a business that was changing its name.)

Three dogs has been an adjustment.

That's the understatement of the year. I know it's not the same as moving to another state, changing my name, or becoming an electrician. Still, it feels as if I'm working on a master's degree in walking three dogs and picking up more than one poop at a time.

THREE DOG WALK

by April Halprin Wayland

One dog is just one.

Him and me.

Hear me hum.

Two dogs are just fine.

Two dogs.

In two straight lines.

Three dogs?  My gosh—unstoppable!

Friends say they will strengthen me.                                                   (I say they are all adoptable!)

poem (c) 2019 April Halprin Wayland. All rights reserved.

Have a wonderful last whiff of summer or beginning of a new school year, Campers!

And thank you, Amy, for hosting Poetry Friday at The Poem Farm! 

This week, Amy's hosting a celebration of the life of Lee Bennett Hopkins; she invites everyone who wishes to share a poem inspired by or including a line from a LBH poem. Tag with #DearOneLBH.  

Stay tuned! TeachingAuthors will continue the appreciation
of Lee's poetry on September 20th.

posted by April Halprin Wayland, with the help of Eli, Penny and Gin, with love

The Crowned Prince of Poetry

Photo by Charles Egita

We continue celebrating National Poetry month. Esther started off our celebration of National Poetry Month; April had a fabulous time at the Poetry Rodeo created and sponsored by Pomelo Books. As she puts it, “Truly P-o-e-t H-e-a-v-e-n.”

As we celebrate National Poetry Month, we also celebrate its luminaries, and none shines brighter than Lee Bennett Hopkins. If ever there was royalty in poetry, then surely the crowned Prince of Poetry would be the irrepressible Lee Bennett Hopkins. Educator, poet, author, and anthologist, he has written and edited over 100 books for children.Once a senior consultant to Bank Street College's Learning Resource Center, and a curriculum specialist for Scholastic Magazines, Inc, Lee has written and edited numerous award-winning books for children and young adults,  professional texts and curriculum materials. He has taught elementary school and served as a consultant to school systems throughout the country. In 1989, Lee received the University of Southern Mississippi Medallion for “outstanding contributions to the field of children’s literature” in recognition of his work; 2009 brought him the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) Excellence in Poetry for Children, in recognition of his body of work. In 2010 he received the Florida Libraries’ Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2016, Hopkins received the prestigious Regina Medal award sponsored by the Catholic Library Association. Lee founded several poetry awards, including  the Lee Bennett Hopkins Award for Poetry in 1993 in cooperation with Pennsylvania Center for the Book.

No wonder Lee is, according to Guinness World Records, "the world’s most prolific anthologist of poetry for children.”

Been to yesterdays,
lived through todays.
Looking on toward tomorrows -
new characters, new plays.
The whys of life change,
and so do ways,
new scenery is built,
to fill an empty stage.

(Been to Yesterday, Poems of a Life, Boyds Mill Press, 1995)


Lee has an amazing new collection out this very month: World Make Way: New Poems Inspired by Art from The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

 Of all his anthology collections, this is – in my opinion – his most stunning, inspired by the Leonardo Da Vinci quote, "Painting is poetry that is seen rather than felt, and poetry is painting that is felt rather than seen." 

 As Lee explains during an NPR interview, “… the whole book is really based on a form from the Greek called ekphrastic poetry, where poems are inspired by art. I assigned these varied paintings to 18 of the top children's poets in America who would then write their emotions toward the painting. Rather than describing the painting, it's what they feel.”





The artists represented include Mary Cassatt and Winslow Homer. A painted plaster fragment from Egypt 1390-1353 B.C inspired Irene Latham's "This Is the Hour.” An illustrated manuscript "Book of the Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices" by al-Jazari inspired Naomi Shihab Nye’s “It’s All Magic.” Marilyn Singer’s “Paint Me”, inspired by Gustav Klimt's " Mada Primavesi, 1912-13," celebrates the painting’s defiant subject with the resolute phrase and title of the collection: “World, make way.”

One of the more dramatic poems comes from Cynthia Cotten, inspired by Rosa Bonheur's oil painting, The Horse Fair.

 

The Horse Fair, Rosa Bonheur (French, Bordeaux 1822–1899 Thomery). Public Domain.

RESISTANCE

He calls himself a handler,
this puny person
with his rope, his shouts,
his “I am your master”
attitude.


Thinks he can subdue me,
stifle my spirit,
bend me
to
his will.


But no, I say,
no!
I will not be broken,
controlled,
tamed.


Let others trot willingly
towards servitude,
obedience,
confinement—
towards mere
existence.


I choose life.
Alone
in the light of my
magnificence,
I will fight
until no fight
remains.

(©Cynthia Cotten 2018. All rights reserved)

For more history on Lee, check out these interviews with Joanna Marple and Miss Marple Musings interview from 2016 and Cynthia Leitich Smith’s interview from 2009, in which he discusses “... his unflagging belief that poetry is a necessity for children, at home and in the classroom.” 

Bobbi Miller

Punctuation! Punctuation? Punctuation.

In honor of National Punctuation Day, we Teaching Authors are addressing punctuation in this new series of posts. I’ve seen plenty of run-on sentences lately, so I thought I’d address them here.

This sign shows one of many solutions I’ve seen to the “How do I punctuate this?” dilemma: Do nothing.

Here are some helpful suggestions for what to do with a run-on instead:

• Run-ons - Comma Splices - Fused Sentences from The Purdue Online Writing Lab

• How to use a semicolon: The most feared punctuation on earth, created by The Oatmeal

• Khan Academy’s Recognizing run-ons and comma splices

Thinking about punctuation, I remembered Lilian Moore’s wonder-filled poem “Winter Dark,” about the punctuation she saw in New York City.

“Soon
there’s a comma of a moon...”

You can read Lilian Moore’s biography and watch Renee LaTulippe and Lee Bennett Hopkins discuss her life and work in the Spotlight on NCTE Poets series at No Water River.  (Scroll down to read the whole poem in the spread from Mural on Second Avenue.) While you’re there, be sure to check out the rest of the series!

Just for fun, watch Victor Borge’s hilarious Phonetic Punctuation routine. And don’t forget to enter our Teaching Authors Book Giveaway to win a copy of Cheryl Klein’s The Magic Words. The giveaway is open to U.S. residents and ends September 26.

I’m thrilled to be heading to Poetry Camp at Western Washington University in Bellingham, WA, where I’ll meet in person many poets I know only through poems and blog posts. And our own April will be there, too! Yippee!

Today’s Poetry Friday Roundup is at Reading to the Core. Enjoy!

JoAnn Early Macken

Butterfly Laughter and Nana's Lap

No. 1 Granddaughter

Teaching Authors continues to celebrate National Poetry Month! And especially National Poem in Your Pocket Day! 

I have so enjoyed the wisdom of my fellow TAs when it comes to poetry. April started with Steven Withrow’s “What Makes a Turbine Turn” from Janet Wong and Sylvia Vardell's new anthology, The Poetry of Science: The Poetry Friday Anthology for Science for KIDS.

Mary Ann shared the moving and memorable “92” by e.e. cummings, and April returned with a Wednesday Writing Workout about rhyming patterns in poetry. Finally, JoAnn introduced us to her darling Rosy.

I am not so wise on poetry. I do not know how to write poetry. I am in awe of those that do. Mr. Poetry Himself, Lee Bennett Hopkins, defines the artform as an experience (Pass The Poetry Please, 3rd Ed., 1998)  that has been distilled to its emotional core. Life itself, he says, is embodied in poetry, and each poem reveals a bit of life. (12).

Recently I became a grandmother for the first time. I am a Nana. These words are profound to me. Too big for me to explain in simple sentences. I never knew my grandparents. And, because life happens, my daughter did not know her grandparents, at least not very well.  Her memories are  fuzzy images  that lack touch, sound and smell.

So the little poems in my pocket are my cheatsheets, teaching me what it means to be a Nana.

Butterfly Laughter by Katherine Mansfield

In the middle of our porridge plates
There was a blue butterfly painted
And each morning we tried who should reach the
butterfly first.
Then the Grandmother said: "Do not eat the poor
butterfly."
That made us laugh.
Always she said it and always it started us laughing.
It seemed such a sweet little joke.
I was certain that one fine morning
The butterfly would fly out of our plates,
Laughing the teeniest laugh in the world,
And perch on the Grandmother's lap.

photo by morguefile.com

 

Why We Tell Stories by Lisel Mueller

Because we used to have leaves
and on damp days
our muscles feel a tug,
painful now, from when roots
pulled us into the ground

and because our children believe
they can fly, an instinct retained
from when the bones in our arms
were shaped like zithers and broke
neatly under their feathers

and because before we had lungs
we knew how far it was to the bottom
as we floated open-eyed
like painted scarves through the scenery
of dreams, and because we awakened

and learned to speak

2
We sat by the fire in our caves,
and because we were poor, we made up a tale
about a treasure mountain
that would open only for us

and because we were always defeated,
we invented impossible riddles
only we could solve,
monsters only we could kill,
women who could love no one else
and because we had survived
sisters and brothers, daughters and sons,
we discovered bones that rose
from the dark earth and sang
as white birds in the trees

3
Because the story of our life
becomes our life

Because each of us tells
the same story
but tells it differently

and none of us tells it
the same way twice

Because grandmothers looking like spiders
want to enchant the children
and grandfathers need to convince us
what happened happened because of them

and though we listen only
haphazardly, with one ear,
we will begin our story
with the word and

Bobbi Miller, Nana In Training

Three Favorite Sparklie Poems

I so enjoyed April Halprin Wayland's interview with Paul B. Janeczko! Thank you, April!

And congratulations to Jone M, who won IN DEFENSE OF READ-ALOUD!


Continuing our celebration of poetry, here's another of my favorite poets.

morguefile.com

 Cynthia Cotten   is a gentle writer. Her poetry sparkles like the water on a creek chanced upon during an early morning walk. Very gentle and soothing, and unexpected. Cynthia’s poetry, like all good poetry, is an emotional exchange. The language of the poem, as Mary Oliver taught us, is the language of the particulars. And Cynthia’s language incorporates images that are at once tender and sensuous. Her rhythm twinkles, as in her Night Light, and sometimes the rhythm pops like a good smirk, as in her Ack!

But sometimes, just like that early morning creek, Cynthia's poems sends shivers up our spine, as in her poem, Missing.

Night Light

 Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
 I know what you really are:
a blinking bug in flickering flight,
 lighting up my yard tonight,
in the treetops, near the ground,
 winking, flashing all around.
 I watch you and I'm mystified--
 how did you get that bulb inside?


(from Switching on the Moon: A Very First Book of Bedtime Poems, collected by Jane Yolen and Andrew Fusek Peters. Illustrated by G.Brian Karras. Candlewick Press, 2010)

  ACK!

 I always know just what to say.
 The perfect words are there--
words that render others speechless,
uttered with such flair.
My comments are insightful,
my wit is unsurpassed.
Oh, yes, I know just what to say--
too bad the moment's passed.

(from The Poetry Friday Anthology for Middle School - compiled by Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong. Pomelo Books, 2013)

Missing

 My brother is a soldier
 in a hot, dry
sandy place.
He's missing--
missing things like
baseball, barbecues,
fishing, French fries,
chocolate sodas,
flame-red maple trees,
 blue jays,
and snow.


I'm missing, too--
missing
his read-out-loud voice,
his super-special
banana pancakes,
his scuffed-up shoes
by the back door,
his big-bear
good night
 hug.



There are people
with guns
in that land of sand
who want to shoot
my brother.


I hope
 they miss him,
 too.

 (from America at War - Poems selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins. Illustrated by Stephen Alcorn. Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2008)




morguefile.com

“Hello, sun in my face. Hello you who made the morning and spread it over the fields...Watch, now, how I start the day in happiness, in kindness.” -- Mary Oliver 

And don't forget our giveaway!   Enter here to win an autographed copy of Paul's newest anthology, his 50th book, Death of a Hat, illustrated by Chris Raschka.  You can enter between now and 4/22/15 (which just happens to be TeachingAuthors' 5th Blogiversary!)


Bobbi Miller