#NPM17 - 3/30 Plus Monday Reading

          "Poetry is a deal of joy and pain and wonder, with a dash of the dictionary."

                                                          Kahlil Gibran 

       My goal for Poetry Month: TINY THINGS. My choices may surprise you, and I'm excited to write, share, and read how everyone writes to meet their special goals for celebrating poetry month.
     

       Poetic things of interest:  
See the page on the bar above for the Progressive Poem's schedule of poets, hosted by Irene Latham at Live Your Poem.  And, if you'd like to see what everyone is doing for Poetry Month, look HERE at Jama Rattigan's post at Jama's Alphabet Soup.

         Bridget Magee and her family have started a project in response to the chaos happening in our government. Go HERE to find out about it, to see how you can help!

Discovered April First

There lies a tiny, bitty book

upon my little shelf

of other teensy items and

among them sits an elf.

One day the book was riffled through

and margin marks were placed.

I noticed that the sneaky elf  

had moved and changed her space.

I know that elves are make-believe,

don’t read or write or speak.

I chuckled to myself at once:

“It’s April Fools they seek.”

 Linda Baie © All Rights Reserved

              Visit Jen at Teach MentorTexts and Kellee and Ricki at UnleashingReaders to discover books you'll love!        tweet #IMWAYR

            I finished this a few days ago, actually put off ending it for a while. I didn't want to leave the story. Many have read it; I'm late to be reading. But too many have said it was terrific, and it is. Life's lessons don't come easily to this boy, Arthur, who's so angry about his father's sudden death. Because of it, he does something so out of character, he sees who everyone calls the junk man wearing his father's hat, and a brick is thrown. Luckily, the junk man leans down at the same time and the brick only breaks his arm. That's an important thing because the result of Arthur's actions sends him on a journey that puzzles, exasperates, and also saves him. I loved every part. This is one of those books that you really must "read on"

            A wordless picture book, created with a comic book format but with larger cells; some illustrations fill the page with simply delightful scenes. A little girl sets off with a friend into the forest to find her stuffed fox. We've seen them playing, and also seen a young "real" fox sneak out and take the beloved stuffy. Off we go into the adventure that is finally resolved, and happily too. It's a page-turner, but one cannot move too quickly because the pictures engage with lots of whimsical detail. The scene when the little girl has so many forest animal friends helping her look for her fox is wonderful, among many others.

        This king and queen were so happy to have a baby, a little princess, but all of a sudden they realize they must bring her up to be a lovely, smart and strong princess, ready to take the throne someday. Poor Cora spends her days taking baths for the nanny who wants to keep her beautiful and clean. Other days are spent with her mother, the queen, studying in the tower, oh such terribly boring books. Her mother would not hear any argument about them. And on the next day, Cora is in the gym (the former dungeon) with her father the King, jumping rope and running faster because a princess must be strong. Cora is unhappy! She wishes to be outdoors, to walk in forests and climb trees, to have adventures with a pet dog and get dirty--to play!

         Laura Amy Schlitz and Brian Floca have given us the story of the unhappy princess who only wants to be a regular kid with few obligations, but her fairy godmother mixes up the problem solving, for she sends a crocodile instead of a dog when Cora sends a letter asking for help. The story is broken into chapters, showing Princess Cora’s three problems, and maybe a fourth when the crocodile arrives! It listens to Cora and resolves to take care of all three in exchange for lots of cream puffs. What follows is a rather hilarious approach to challenges of the nanny and the King and Queen with only a few nips by the croc. And there is a romp of a day for Cora, but much to make right at the end. Young readers will love every antic, and also that everything really does end happily. The story is enhanced with Floca’s pencil and watercolor illustrations, bright, color-filled action. The type is larger, just right for early readers.

           It was a terrific reading week with a variety of books, and am nearly finished with another #MustReadIn2017 book, Blue Birds by Caroline Starr Rose.  I'm also reading Neil Gaiman's The Ocean at The End of The Lane, loving both.

Happy Reading!