Poetry Friday - "Family Poems"

Buffy Silverman at Buffy's Blog is hosting today's Poetry Friday. Thanks, Buffy! Wishing everyone a bit of peace and quiet on this second day of winter. I hope you had a special Solstice celebration, a Happy Hanukkah and will soon enjoy a Merry Christmas.

         I wrote last week about writing for Mary Lee Hahn's #haikuforhealing challenge and today, am inviting anyone to join us if you can. My son and family arrive late Friday night and winter came to us in Colorado with a clichéd vengeance, dropping from 66 degrees Wednesday to snow and 22 on the Solstice. Aside from enjoying writing haiku, I've had time to read poetry, too, and discovered this book out this past September. I just shared two other books that are bilingual and trilingual this past Wednesday. Now here is another that will reach many others because it is written in both Spanish and English. 

          Sadly, not too long after this book was almost finished, the poet Francisco X. Alarcón died. He was a renowned poet and educator and a three-time winner of a Pura  Belpré  Author Award Honor for his bilingual Cycle of the Seasons series of poetry for children, among other honors. It is lovely to have this beautiful book of his poems that celebrate the days of the week. 
         I see this as a mentor text to inspire students to write their own poems about the days of the week. It's fun to imagine what they might write! 
      
In an author's note written before his death, Alarcón says these poems reflect "the multicultural life experiences of many Latino children in the United States today." Other reviews tell that much of his writing is based on his own life, too. He also gives a brief history of the names of the days of the week and how we ended today with our Sunday through Saturday. 



           Alarcón's poems vary in their tone and feelings conveyed. Family is celebrated with Sunday "dedicated to the sun--/with family around/it's always sunny/on Sunday"  Then, Monday, the speaker whispers "on Monday I feel like a dragon". Yet later in that day, "a friendly 'hello!" is enough/to douse the fire/after I greet and chat/and laugh out loud/with my classmates."  Wednesday, "Time is very tricky/through recess and games/time races at full speed/like a hare"  But later, "during class hours/time slows to the pace/of a tortoise." 

         All through the week, days are described by a child with emotion, describing feeling alone when meeting new people, learning from a Grandmother who advises we are never alone for "the wind/the stars/the sea/never stop/speaking to/each of us."  And, glorious Saturday for children, that day "to get to play/nonstop all day --/on Saturday." I am reminded that one of my granddaughters asks about this day, too, when she says, "How long till stay-at-home-day?" 

         Maya Christina Gonzalez's bold and vibrant illustrations swirl through the words and bring the poems to life in rainbows of colors. She finds the poems' focus in larger pictures with bits and pieces of what one might imagine happening on that day. Here is one example, that awesome, looked-forward-to day, SATURDAY (Saturn day)!

In her note, she says that "the art is heavily inspired by the eternal beauty of Mexico's indigenous crafts."       I hope you'll be able to discover and enjoy this book sometime soon. It is a joyful celebration of a culture, children, and family life. The end poem shares that this child has concluded that he sees
                                    "every day as part
                                      of one big family
                                      where every family
                                       member is unique
                                       so worthy and special."