Thursday, September 29, 2016

September DMC Wrap-Up + Giveaway


"Floraison de mots (3)" by Louise Leclerc


“Take a step, breathe in the world, give it out again in story, poem, song, art.” 
                                        – Jane Yolen


At the beginning of this month, Jane Yolen challenged us to write a septercet that featured reading or writing. A septercet is a poetry form she invented that has lines of seven syllables organized into three-line stanzas. It may be rhymed or not, with any number of stanzas.

The response to Jane's challenge was tremendous, with the added perk of seeing so many new participants! With more than 50 poems collected, it pains me that I couldn't feature more of them. It also took me a while to figure out how to organize such a large group, but eventually I wrangled them into four categories:
Words, words, words...
Adventures in Reading
The Writer's Life, and
Reading the World Around Us.

Tea's nearly ready, so please stay as long as you like to enjoy the entire collection.

To those who met the challenge,
tapping on seven fingers
over and over again,

and to Jane Yolen, poet,
storyteller and teacher—
here's my septercet of thanks. 


Scroll through the poems below, or for best viewing, CLICK HERE.




Inspired to write a septercet of your own?

Post it on our September 2016 padlet by the end of today (September 30th) and I will add it to the wrap-up presentation.



Participants in this month's challenge will automatically be entered to win a personalized copy of The Alligator's Smile and Other Poems by Jane Yolen with photographs by Jason Stemple (Milbrook Press, 2016). One entry per participant, not per poem.

Alternatively, you may enter the giveaway by commenting below. Comments must be received no later than Tuesday, October 4th. If you contribute a poem and comment below, you will receive two entries in total.

The winner will be determined by Random.org and announced next Friday, October 7th, when we reveal our new Spotlight ON interview and ditty challenge.


The winners of last week's giveaway for You Just Wait: A Poetry Friday Power Book by Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong (Pomelo Books, 2016) are:

David Jacobson, Diane Mayr, BJ Lee,
Damon Dean, and Ann Magee.

Congratulations to all of you!

Please send your address to TodaysLittleDitty (at) gmail (dot) com.



Thanks to Karen Edmisten for hosting this week's plump and juicy Poetry Friday roundup.





DMC: "Nomad" by Donna JT Smith





NOMAD

Book spines stripe the wall and I
In tall, quiet word-halls sprawl
Between the shelves on belly.

Bare feet crossed, soles to ceiling,
Elbows propped, paging finger
Lingers in fantastic worlds;

I roam through Heidi’s Swiss Alps,
Skip along Dorothy’s path,
Tumble down rabbit’s deep hole,

Journey in Marty’s spaceship,
Dwell with black ants underground—
All with a flick of the page.   
          
“It’s time to lock,” tocks the clock,
Too soon for Pippi and me;
I grab her hand, she scrambles,

Dives in my bag for tonight;
Till curled up under blankets,
My flashlight as stage footlights,

Pippi reads alive again;
In my room I’m voyaging
To Villa Villekulla.


© 2016 Donna JT Smith. All rights reserved.


Jane Yolen has challenged us to write a septercet that features reading or writing this month. What is a septercet?  Click HERE for more details.

Post your poem on our September 2016 padlet. All contributions will be included in a wrap-up celebration TOMORROW, September 30th, and one lucky participant will win a personalized copy of her fabulous new collection of science poetry:





Wednesday, September 28, 2016

DMC: "Children's Writer" by Robyn Campbell




CHILDREN'S WRITER

My mind paints pictures in words.

Scattered images soaring,

traveling through my backdrop.



I sketch syllables and verbs,

rhyme schemes, rhythm and meter.

They twirl and bop, cavorting.
 

Winking at me with spirit,
they scintillate with ditty,
title me writer, poet.




The words give children a voice,
speaking a kids melody—


music, euphony, friendship.

© 2016 Robyn Campbell. All rights reserved.


Jane Yolen has challenged us to write a septercet that features reading or writing this month. What is a septercet?  Click HERE for more details.

Post your poem on our September 2016 padlet. All contributions will be included in a wrap-up celebration this Friday, September 30th, and one lucky participant will win a personalized copy of her fabulous new collection of science poetry:





Tuesday, September 27, 2016

DMC: "Learning to Read" by Tabatha Yeatts




LEARNING TO READ

Tromping my way down the line,
Tussling one word at a time—
It was either them or me.

I persevered, muscles flexed,
First one word and then the next,
Speaking them aloud slowly.

They raised the white flag, this batch,
During our word-wrestling match,
As they told their tale to me. 


© 2016 Tabatha Yeatts. All rights reserved.


Jane Yolen has challenged us to write a septercet that features reading or writing this month. What is a septercet?  Click HERE for more details.

Post your poem on our September 2016 padlet. All contributions will be included in a wrap-up celebration this Friday, September 30th, and one lucky participant will win a personalized copy of her fabulous new collection of science poetry:






Monday, September 26, 2016

DMC: "Septercet of a Septercet" by Lynzee





SEPTERCET OF A SEPTERCET

TEACHER:
Three lines, Seven syllables,
Is it hard? No, it isn't,
Go on try a septercet.

STUDENT:
Fine, I'll do it! how 'bout this?
Moon, why are you awake now?
What time do you go to sleep?

TEACHER:
I saw the moon yesterday,
Bright in early morning sky,
Give a septercet a try!

© 2016 by Lynzee, 2nd grade student of Margaret Simon. 

All rights reserved.


Jane Yolen has challenged us to write a septercet that features reading or writing this month. What is a septercet?  Click HERE for more details.

Post your poem on our September 2016 padlet. All contributions will be included in a wrap-up celebration this Friday, September 30th, and one lucky participant will win a personalized copy of her fabulous new collection of science poetry:






Thursday, September 22, 2016

Finding my voice: YOU JUST WAIT (Giveaway!)


Moonlit by AReeeD

While I've always been creative, when I decided to channel that creativity into a writing career, suddenly the playing field looked different. For a long time I struggled with how to be proactive—to dial up my muse and direct the creative flow. Who am I kidding? I still struggle with that! But I've learned a valuable lesson along the way: inspiration breeds inspiration. Creativity is about making connections, following leads, trusting the journey.

You may not end up where you expected, but you'll always end up where you're meant to be.

When you lead a jam-packed life like mine—fueled by distractions and a never-ending to-do list—you can't afford to wait for inspiration to strike. You need to find it where it lives.

Buy it at Amazon.com
That's why I'm thrilled that Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong recently unveiled YOU JUST WAIT: A POETRY FRIDAY POWER BOOK (Pomelo Books, 2016).

Think of this book as your guide and companion as you set out in search of your own creative voice.

A mash-up between a poetry anthology, verse novella, and an activity book in the style of Wreck This Journal, tweens and teens are going to go ga-ga over this book. I should know, I have two of my own. At a time when they're exploring who they are and experimenting with how to make their mark, why not encourage them to mark up the pages of this book!

But why should young people have all the fun?

Although Janet and Sylvia may not have had this in mind, YOU JUST WAIT is also the perfect resource for those of us who, despite our "advanced" age, may be itching to write a novel-in-verse and don't know where to begin. 

Hello! We've got your do-it-yourself verse novel workbook right here!


Find out more about the Poetry Friday series at Pomelo Books

The Vardell-Wong team have established themselves as experts at linking poetry with teaching and learning—you can trust them to know what they're doing.

At the core of YOU JUST WAIT are twelve poems from a previous collaboration, The Poetry Friday Anthology for Middle School (an NCTE Poetry Notable), which are used as a jumping-off point. Janet Wong then wrote twenty-four new poems, weaving together a story about identity, sports, dreams, and frustrations, featuring a diverse cast of characters that young readers will be able to identify with on multiple levels. There's Paz, an Asian-Latina soccer player with dreams of athletic stardom, Lucescita, her feisty movie-loving cousin, and Joe, an older brother with dreams of his own.

While the story line, itself, will engage readers, for me, the magic comes from the way that the reader interacts with ALL the poems—outside poems, response poems, and mentor texts—on a personal level.
YOU are the one who sees the connection between them, hears the voices in your mind, and can write your own poems to weave those poems together to create a story only you can tell.
                                 – from the introduction to YOU JUST WAIT (Vardell/Wong)

YOU JUST WAIT includes twelve "PowerPack" groups to guide you through the process of reading, thinking, writing, and responding. Aided by Sylvia Vardell's fun and helpful PowerPlay activities and Power2You writing prompts, you have a winning formula for spurring creativity, making connections, and allowing your own words and ideas to flow.

Come with me on a power walk through PowerPack 6 and I'll show you what I mean.


—from You Just Wait: A Poetry Friday Power Book
by Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong ©2016 Pomelo Books


POWERPLAY ACTIVITY: FRESH INK
What do you see when you look at this inkblot?

—from You Just Wait: A Poetry Friday Power Book
by Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong ©2016 Pomelo Books (click to enlarge)

This is a great activity for me! I'm not much of an artist, but I can draw one heck of a splotch.


OUTSIDE POEM (FROM ANOTHER POETRY BOOK)

When my muse has gone AWOL, I can usually find her hanging out with the poetry collections on my bookshelf! She told me she loves this poem by Joseph Bruchac.

—from You Just Wait: A Poetry Friday Power Book
by Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong ©2016 Pomelo Books


A RESPONSE POEM . . .

This poem and the next one were written by Janet Wong.

—from You Just Wait: A Poetry Friday Power Book
by Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong ©2016 Pomelo Books


AND A MENTOR TEXT . . .

—from You Just Wait: A Poetry Friday Power Book
by Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong ©2016 Pomelo Books


POWER2YOU WRITING PROMPT: CONCRETE POEM

Now it's your turn!


—from You Just Wait: A Poetry Friday Power Book
by Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong ©2016 Pomelo Books


What I immediately thought of was our recent full moon. Did you see it? It was positively wondrous!

Last week, many Asian nations celebrated the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival. In Vietnam, it is called Tet Trung Thu and is also known as the Children's Festival. Traditionally held on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month, it's sort of a mix between our Halloween and Thanksgiving. Children dress up and celebrate the full moon with masks and lanterns, parades and traditional dances, while parents enjoy family time and celebrate their love for their children.

Duc

Writing my poem about Tet Trung Thu, I envisioned a narrator who looks something like this little girl I found on Flickr Creative Commons. In my imagination, her name is Kim, which means "gold" or "golden" in Vietnamese.



And now, a golden opportunity from Janet and Sylvia...

Mooncake, anyone?

No, not a moon cake, though I would like to try one.



I have several copies of YOU JUST WAIT to give away!

You may request 1, 2, or 3 copies—for yourself, tweens or teens in your life, for family, for friends, it's up to you—but you must leave a comment on this post no later than Tuesday, September 27th, in order to be entered. I'd love to hear how you plan to use the books. (For those who have trouble leaving comments, email me at TodaysLittleDitty (at) gmail (dot) com and I will post your comment for you.) Winners will be chosen randomly until all the copies are gone. I'll announce the winners next Friday, September 30th. Good luck!


We're heading into the last week of our September DMC challenge, courtesy of Jane Yolen. What an amazing turnout we've had so far—keep those septercets coming! This week's daily ditties included work by David McMullin, Jone Rush MacCulloch, Karen Eastlund, and Linda Mitchell. Also enjoy septercets posted today by Doraine Bennett, Diane Mayr, Elizabeth Steinglass and another one from Jone Rush MacCulloch. See you next Friday for our wrap-up celebration (...assuming I can get them all organized!).



Thanks to Catherine at Reading to the Core for hosting this week's Poetry Friday roundup.







DMC: "New Girl Literacies" by Linda Mitchell




NEW GIRL LITERACIES

We shared a computer desk,
side by side, first day of school.
I asked her, what is your name?

Shiny braids shook back and forth.
Oh, I see. Where are you from?
Left and right, the braids – no, no.

Español? Or Arabic?
Her hair now quite talkative.

All the words quite clearly, NO.

I clicked on a map, her eyes
swept right, then she clicked a spot.
The braids at rest. Oh, Nepal!


© 2016 Linda Mitchell. All rights reserved.


Jane Yolen has challenged us to write a septercet that features reading or writing this month. What is a septercet?  Click HERE for more details.

Post your poem on our September 2016 padlet. All contributions will be included in a wrap-up celebration on Friday, September 30th, and one lucky participant will win a personalized copy of her fabulous new collection of science poetry:






Wednesday, September 21, 2016

DMC: "Bus Bummer" by Karen Eastlund





BUS BUMMER

In he stomped, furious, rude
"They put gum in my hair! Why?
Because I read!" Then the tears.


© 2016 Karen Eastlund. All rights reserved.


Jane Yolen has challenged us to write a septercet that features reading or writing this month. What is a septercet?  Click HERE for more details.

Post your poem on our September 2016 padlet. All contributions will be included in a wrap-up celebration on Friday, September 30th, and one lucky participant will win a personalized copy of her fabulous new collection of science poetry:






Tuesday, September 20, 2016

DMC: "Gossipers" by Jone Rush MacCulloch




GOSSIPERS

Library books sit on shelves
,
wait for lights off and begin

hushed voices with each other.

Conversations in the dark
:
Whoa, she dogeared my pages.

I felt his tears on THE END.

Forgotten, not been checked out.

A first grader stole a book,

tucked it under her rag coat.

Blue moon shines through the window.

Library books, gossipers,

whispering words without sleep.

© 2016 Jone Rush MacCulloch. All rights reserved.


Jane Yolen has challenged us to write a septercet that features reading or writing this month. What is a septercet?  Click HERE for more details.

Post your poem on our September 2016 padlet. All contributions will be included in a wrap-up celebration on Friday, September 30th, and one lucky participant will win a personalized copy of her fabulous new collection of science poetry:







Monday, September 19, 2016

DMC: "Syllables" by David McMullin





SYLLABLES

Syllables are funny things.
Some rush by at a brisk clip,
others stretch and twist the tongue.

Quick as did-dle did-dle dee,
or taking a bit longer
like schwarmfst skwirlp twoolm preefts brawlg thrunch.

© 2016 David McMullin. All rights reserved.



Jane Yolen has challenged us to write a septercet that features reading or writing this month. What is a septercet?  Click HERE for more details.

Post your poem on our September 2016 padlet. All contributions will be included in a wrap-up celebration on Friday, September 30th, and one lucky participant will win a personalized copy of her fabulous new collection of science poetry:







Thursday, September 15, 2016

DMC: "No Words of My Own" + The Poetry Friday Roundup


TheDigitalWay (public domain)


WELCOME! 
You've found your way to the Poetry Friday roundup. 

Find out more about Poetry Friday HERE.


At Today's Little Ditty, I've been sharing septercets that feature reading or writing— Jane Yolen's DMC challenge for September. (Read my interview with Jane HERE.) A septercet is a poetry form she invented that has lines of seven syllables organized into three-line stanzas. Your septercet can be rhymed or not, and have as many stanzas as you like. This week I posted the work of Jane Baskwill, Jan Godown Annino, and Julie Larios, as well as Jane Yolen's response to her own challenge.

 

Visit our September 2016 padlet to read all the septercets collected so far, or to leave one of your own. All contributions will be included in a wrap-up celebration on Friday, September 30th, and one lucky participant will win a signed copy of THE ALLIGATOR'S SMILE (Millbrook Press, 2016)— a fantastic new collection of nonfiction poetry by Jane Yolen, with stunning photography by Jason Stemple.


Here is my contribution to the septercet challenge.

NO WORDS OF MY OWN

I have no words of my own.
They travel in a suitcase—
nouns and verbs and adjectives,

adverbs with no place to be—
crammed in like hotel soaps and
tiny bottles of shampoo.

Words like bumble and wallop,
humdinger and pernicious,
they moisturize, volumize,

but otherwise come and go
as they please. Such is the way
with some travel companions.


© 2016 Michelle Heidenrich Barnes. All rights reserved.


THE POETRY FRIDAY ROUNDUP


For those who have words to share, please leave your links below.




Come back next Friday when I'll be power walking through PowerPack 6 of Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong's YOU JUST WAIT: A Poetry Friday Power Book, including my own "shapely" poem in response. (Ah, if only exercise were that easy!)







DMC: "Valedictory Septercet" by Jane Yolen




VALEDICTORY SEPTERCET

Tomorrow I'm on the plane,
Chasing west and going home.
Shedding hours as I fly.

Behind me I leave Scotland,
Heart's home, and men who wear kilts.
Consonants that burr so hard

They sound like a tea kettle
On the boil: One lump or two?
After each rain a rainbow.

It's a hard life, that I know,
But I'm taking that bullet
For all my writer buddies.

Some day you will all thank me,
Drinking tea in my Great Hall,
And talking about great books.

© 2016 Jane Yolen. All rights reserved.



Jane Yolen has challenged us to write a septercet that features reading or writing this month. What is a septercet?  Click HERE for more details.

Post your poem on our September 2016 padlet. All contributions will be included in a wrap-up celebration on Friday, September 30th, and one lucky participant will win a personalized copy of her fabulous new collection of science poetry:






Wednesday, September 14, 2016

DMC: "To See the Sea" by Julie Larios





TO SEE THE SEA

I’ve never seen the ocean
but I know it’s fierce and wide
and governed by the moon’s tide.

I’ve never smelled the seaweed,
never touched a gold starfish
though I wish and wish and wish.

I’ve seen the photos, read books
with pictures, heard a seashell
sing a  song and cast a spell.

Someday I’ll see the ocean,
feel wet sand between my toes,
see where the green sea grass grows.

Someday, I’ll taste the bright salt
flavor of the waves. I’ll say,
“Delicious!” Someday. Someday.

© 2016 Julie Larios. All rights reserved.



Jane Yolen has challenged us to write a septercet that features reading or writing this month. What is a septercet?  Click HERE for more details.

Post your poem on our September 2016 padlet. All contributions will be included in a wrap-up celebration on Friday, September 30th, and one lucky participant will win a personalized copy of her fabulous new collection of science poetry:






Tuesday, September 13, 2016

DMC: "Entertaining Words" by Jan Godown Annino




ENTERTAINING WORDS

Unexpected words spill me
on hard sand, at drifted stick:
Ahoy, mate! Here be dragons!

Unexpected words thrill me
in thick mud, by twisted twig:
Something wicked this way comes!

Unexpected words chill me,
finger-writ, on windowpane:
Hey! Jack Frost is here to play!

Unexpected words fill me,
letters on hot pie, beckon:
Taste me immediately!

© 2016 Jan Godown Annino. All rights reserved.
 

Inspired by my father's writing on our frosted windows in New Jersey 
and by my mother's writing in the Florida sand after our family traded 
mid-Atlantic winters for summer hurricanes. - jga


Jane Yolen has challenged us to write a septercet that features reading or writing this month. What is a septercet?  Click HERE for more details.

Post your poem on our September 2016 padlet. All contributions will be included in a wrap-up celebration on Friday, September 30th, and one lucky participant will win a personalized copy of her fabulous new collection of science poetry:





Monday, September 12, 2016

DMC: "Once Upon a Time" by Jane Baskwill




ONCE UPON A TIME

Once upon a fairy tale,
Once upon a magic rhyme,
Once upon and long ago,

Once upon another time,
Dragons lived upon the earth,
Mermaids swam under the seas,

Talking fish granted wishes,
Beanstalks grew from magic beans,
And there lived a red-capped girl

In a cabin by a brook;
Once upon a fairy tale,
Ever after in my book.

© 2016 Jane Baskwill. All rights reserved.



Jane Yolen has challenged us to write a septercet that features reading or writing this month. What is a septercet?  Click HERE for more details.

Post your poem on our September 2016 padlet. All contributions will be included in a wrap-up celebration on Friday, September 30th, and one lucky participant will win a personalized copy of her fabulous new collection of science poetry: