January 29, 2009
John Updike, the great American writer, died this week. Just to show you how "literary" I am the only work of his I've ever read or even knew about is A Child's Calendar, a collection of Updike's poems illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman. Hyman is an amazing illustrator in her own right and if you haven't already you must check out, literally if you use the library, books by this Caldecott Medal artist.
Goes to show you the kind of books I read these days.
A Child's Calendar may be "just" a collection of childrens poems but those are my favorite kind. I love poetry. Words that rhyme, or maybe not. Words that capture and celebrate the daily and seasonal rhythms of life. Words that are funny, sometimes hilarious. Words that make shapes* to tell a story, to paint a picture. But sometimes "adult" poetry is just too obtuse for me, too many metaphors I don't understand. And I'm left feeling "huh???" instead of "ahhh....".
All that to say I love this collection of poems. I regularly borrow this book from the library and I'm starting to think I should maybe just buy it.I'm not sure I'm allowed to do this (does anyone know about posting, with full credits, published works on blogs) but here's this month's poem from A Child's Calendar.
Thanks for suggesting a book of poetry that won't leave me feeling "huh?"...pretty tough to teach your kids to love poetry when you feel that way when you read it! I'm glad I'm not the only one!
Nicole,
I totally understand your sentiment. Having discovered poetry I "get" I really love it. The goodreads link below will take you to my recommended poetry reads for children.
More good poetry reads at:
take care, Renee
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nicola on Jan. 29, 2009, 11:08 p.m.
ah, another friend was just lamenting his loss on her blog as well. i think it is okay to post his poem in full as you are crediting him with it!