Celebrating A New Book of Poetry

                It's September 12th, and more than a week until autumn officially arrives, but a dust of snow is on the way! No, I'm not going to share a snow poem, but just wanted to share that cooler weather is coming, time for the poems of falling leaves, crisp air, apples, and wool sweaters. And it also means a bit more time for reading poetry!

               Today for Poetry Friday, Renée LaTulippe is our host at her blog, No Water River. Thanks Renée!  While we might be nostalgic for our summers, Renée is sharing her nostalgia for her young boys, starting pre-school for the very first time. Be sure to see how she's written about them!

          Although I do purchase numerous books of poetry, and search used bookstores for them, too, I'm not sure I can ever find all of the books that have been published by J. Patrick Lewis. So when I saw that there was a new book of his that has gathered many of the poems he has written, I knew that was a good one to buy. And it is! 



          There are eight sections of poems-topics like animals, reading, and mother nature-and a thoughtful forward. In it, he shares his journey as an opsimath, one who learned late in life.  He speaks of studying the classic poets Edward Lear and Lewis Carroll, then reading many, many others. And he shares Robert Frost's definition of a poem as "one who begins in delight and ends in wisdom," but John Barr (former director of the Poetry Foundation) wrote that "a children's poem begins in delight and ends in...more delight."
          The poems are to be read aloud to children, enjoyed by those who love children's poetry, and celebrated for their, well, delight.

Gorgeous Cover!

Here are a few poems included in the book found online for you to enjoy:

           from Animals:

Snake Song

Toad gets measles

Frog gots mumps

Both gots such

disgusting bumps.

            the rest is here

             from Mother Nature
The Gray of Day

Shy Evening paints all heaven gray.
Erasing blue from balmy Day.

         found at Your Daily Poem here, under the title Dusk, Back Porch, Canada

             from Places

What To Wear Where

When I was a boy

In Looziana,

We wore blue jeans

And a red bandanna.

                the rest here

            In addition to having a treasure of poems from J. Patrick Lewis, the illustrations by Maria Cristina Pritelli fill the pages with color and whimsey, pleasing the eyes like the poems please the ears.