The Love of Poetry

I finished reading The 20th Century Children Poetry Treasury selected by Jack Prelutsky.  The following are some of my favorite poems from the book (except the one by Bruce Lansky) that are great poems to share with our Esperanza scholars. 

The Dream Keeper

Bring me all your dreams,
You dreamers,
Bring me all your
Heart melodies
That I may wrap them
In a blue cloud-cloth
Away from the too-rough fingers
Of the world.
               ----Langston Hughes   

September

I already know where Africa is
and I already know how to
count to ten and
I went to school every day last year,
why do I have to go again?
              ----Lucille Clifton      

Children's Books by Lucille Clifton

• Three Wishes (Doubleday)
• The Boy Who Didn't Believe In Spring (Penguin)
• The Lucky Stone. Delacorte Press. 1979. ISBN 978-0-440-05122-0.; Reprint Yearling Books, ISBN 978-0-307-53795-9
• The Times They Used To Be (Henry Holth & Co)
• All Us Come Cross the Water ( Henry Holth & Co)
• My Friend Jacob (Dutton)
• Amifika (Dutton)
• Sonora the Beautiful (Dutton)
• The Black B C's (Dutton)
• The Palm of My Heart: Poetry by African American Children. Introduction by Lucille Clifton (San Val)

Robert, Who Is Often
A Stranger to Himself

Do you ever look in the looking-glass
And see a stranger there?
A child you know and do not know,
Wearing what you wear?
                ----Gwendolyn Brooks      





I'm glad to say my homework's done.
I finished it last night.
I've got it right here in this box.
It's not a pretty sight.
My dog chewed up my homework.
He slobbered on it, too.
So now my homework's ripped to shreds
and full of slimy goo.

It isn't much to look at,
but I brought it anyway.
I'm going to dump it on your desk
if I don't get an A.
              ----Bruce Lansky

Great website:  http://www.poetryteachers.com/schoolpoems/mydog.html

The Gentle Cow



The gentle cow is good and kind.
All day she chews with quiet mind.
She eats and eats the green, green grass.
And then I drink it in a glass.
              ----Mary Morris Duane

Tent

My skin is like
A canvas tent
That's stretched
From bone to bone;
It's cut to measure
Just for me,
I wonder where
It's sewn?
And why can't I
Unzip the front
And roam outside,
Then in?
But here I stay
Each night, each day,
Alone,
Within my skin.
         ----Deborah Chandra

Rules

Do not jump on ancient uncles.
                *
Do not yell at average mice.
                *
Do not wear a broom to breakfast.
                *
Do not ask a snake's advice.
                *
Do not bathe in chocolate pudding.
                *
Do not talk to bearded bears.
                *
Do not smoke cigars on sofas.
                *
Do not dance on velvet chairs.
                *
Do not take a whale to visit
Russe's mother's cousin's yacht.
               *
And whatever else you do do
It is better you
Do not.
           ----Karla Kuskin

Movies Can Whet Appetite for Reading

Last night we watched the new movie version of Moby Dick. Then today I finished reading the book When She Was White by Judith Stone. I chose to read this book after watching the movie Skin a story about the same girl, Sandra Laing, and her family in South Africa. This two recent experiences gave me some food for thought concerning the relationship between movies and books. Because of my own experience I am one who tends to feel that they can reinforce each other. In just the last couple of months I have seen some movies that whetted my appetite to read the books on which they were based. I also like seeing movies such as Moby Dick after I have read the book. More often than not I always enjoy the book more than the movie although I often think of the movie while reading the book. In other words, I like both and wouldn't want to exchange one for the other.

The lesson I learned was that encouraging our Esperanza scholars to see movies made from classics and other outstanding books could very well encourage them to do more reading.