EMILY DICKINSON—OUT OF THE MOUTHS OF BABES

Here we are almost at the end of National Poetry Month.  I had to hustle to post this blog in its honor before April slips away—and in honor of Emily.

My sister, who is a kindergarten teacher at James Lewis Elementary School in Blue Springs, Missouri, recently introduced her class to Emily Dickinson. She told them that Emily wrote poetry, therefore she was . . . a student chimed in, “A POET!”

She told the students that Emily lived a long time ago, therefore her clothes were different from the ones they wore. The poet had long hair because women didn’t cut their hair often. (For some reason this especially fascinated the boys in the class.) She told the children that Emily owned a dog that she loved very much.

She explained to the class that poets write with strong feelings.  As she read Emily's poems, she asked the kindergartners to close their eyes and make mental pictures with the poet's words.  The children were instructed to use their metacognitive thinking—those kindergartners certainly know bigger words than I did at their age.

My sister read each poem three times.  Then she showed the children Emily’s picture and asked them to draw a portrait of her.  Here are some of the rather lovely results.  I think Emily would be charmed.

The bee is not afraid of me.

I know the butterfly -

The pretty people in the Woods

Receive me cordially -

The Brooks laugh louder

When I come -

The Breezes madder play;

Wherefore mine eye thy silver mists,

Wherefore, Oh Summer’s Day?

Comments:

The beautiful people are like Tinkerbell.

The bees smell the perfume you are wearing and think you are a flower.  They are not mad.

Butterflies look like fairies with fancy dresses

I’m Nobody!  Who are you?

Are you -  Nobody - too?

Then there’s a pair of us!

Don’t tell! they’d advertise – you know!

How dreary -  to be -  Somebody!

How public - like a Frog -

To tell one’s name - the livelong June

To an admiring Bog!

Comment:

It would be hard to go to Walmart if you are real famous.  I can go to Walmart because I’m not famous!

  

The morns are meeker than they were -

The nuts are getting brown -

The berry’s cheek is plumper -

The Rose is out of town.

The maple wears a grayer scarf -

The field a scarlet gown -

Lest I sh’d be old-fashioned

I’ll put a trinket on.

Comments:

 I would like to see scarves on trees.
 The trees get dressed up in different colors in autumn.

 I think Emily likes autumn best.

CANDICE RANSOM REVEALS WHAT'S ON HER FRIDGE!

Candice Ransom is a prolific and talented author.  She's also my cherished friend of over 20 years.  We were in the same writing group for a decade–Candice actually took me on my first “author trip” to New York City!  Today she answers the burning question, “WHAT’S ON YOUR FRIDGE?"

Candice says, “Outside my house, I’m a successful writer, with 115 children’s books published, and two degrees earned after the age of 50:  an MFA in writing for children from Vermont College and an MA in children’s literature from Hollins University.  I also teach at Hollins University’s Graduate Program in Children’s Writing and Literature.  Inside my house, I’m an ordinary writer plugging away on and struggling with my current project.”

  Drum roll!  Are you ready?  Here's what's on Candice's 14-year-old almond-colored Sears Kenmore fridge.  (Candice describes her fridge as nothing fancy—it was new when they built their house fourteen years go.  At the moment, the ice-maker isn't working, so she's using old-fashioned ice trays.)

Candice says, "The best part of being a writer is that I get to stay home and be near my refrigerator which I raid whenever I’m stuck!  No photographs decorate my refrigerator, no homilies or grocery lists.  Instead there are vintage die-cut food cards, probably from a home economics class in the late 50s.  The cards reflect my love of all things vintage.  I’ve filled our home with shabby junk and family memorabilia, turning our modern farmhouse into a sanctuary that allows me to slip back to 1950 or 1923 or 1934.  I’m better able to work being surrounded by the past, away from the glare and racket of the present.
"

Here’s what Candice likes most on her fridge and why.

"As for my favorite thing on my refrigerator, it would have to be this spatted, tuxedoed gentleman.  He loves the refrigerator even more than I do.
"

Candice, please share your philosophy of life  as demonstrated by WHAT’S ON YOUR FRIDGE.

 “Although the cards on the refrigerator look back to another time, my work is firmly fixed on the project at hand.  You won’t find copies of my books on any shelf in my house—they’re all stashed away.  I don’t want to be reminded of what I did, only concentrate on what I’m doing."

Many thanks to you and your refrigerator, Candice Ransom.

COMICALLY PLEASING: MY FIRST GRAPHIC NOVEL CAME EASY

A few years ago, my easy reader children’s book Prisoner For Liberty  was published by Millbrook Press.  It is superbly illustrated by Craig Orback's paintings.

It tells the story of James Forten, an African American Revolutionary War hero, whose patriotism and courage during and after the war truly inspired me.

This year my book was reborn as a graphic novel— The Prison–Ship Adventure of James Forten, Revolutionary War Captive (published by Graphic Universe).  Amanda Doering Tourville expertly adapted it. The wonderful sequential art was created by Ted Hammond and Richard Pimentel Carbajal.  Thanks to these talented professionals, I just had to twiddle my thumbs and wait for my copies to arrive in the mail!

My publisher calls this new book a graphic novel—not a comic book.  Different authorities disagree somewhat on these terms.  I lean towards Stephen Weiner's (author of 101 Best Graphic Novels) definition.  Basically, a graphic novel is a story with a beginning, middle and end told in the comic book style.  It's bound like a book and sold in a bookstore, not a newsstand.  A good book to read to get a grasp on the whole medium is Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics.

In Prisoner for Liberty the main story is told in 40 pages; The Prison-Ship Adventures of James Forten tells it in 25.  Let's take a look at the first page of Prisoner for Liberty.

Now take a look at the graphic version.

Both books are quite appealing and as different as apples and oranges.  But are they?  They each present a compelling narrative about James Forten in an engaging, accessible, kid-friendly way.  I feel fortunate that young readers will be able choose how they want to read my story about this admirable man.

THE PERSONAL TOUCH

I love the convenience and versatility of my Kindle.  Yes, you can add notes to any content on this clever machine—but that action is somewhat sterile.

Take a look at this tidbit of the conversation John Adams had with English feminist, Mary Wollstonecraft, over 200 years ago. 

No, they weren’t in the same room.  Not even on the same continent.  But Adams manages to succinctly convey his not always high opinion of Woolstonecraft’s book Historical and Moral View of the French Revolution.  Our feisty Founding Father read and then according to the John Adams Library site wrote his “passionate commentary and lively dialogues with the authors in the margins.”  The act is sloppy, intimate, and certainly changes the look of the book.

My wonderful father-in-law, Willard Figley, left this earth almost a decade ago.  One of his treasures has a permanent home on my desk.  It was the most important book in his life . . . his Bible. 

He wrote his thoughts on many of the wrinkled and worn pages.  His Bible looks used, touched, treasured, and loved.

My Kindle looks the pretty much the same as the day it arrived in the mail three yeas ago.