Welcome to the Poetry Friday Roundup! I’m so glad you stopped by. You’re in for a real treat! Not only will you find links to other Poetry Friday posts, I’m thrilled to share poems and illustrations from Grumbles From the Town: Mother-Goose Voices With a Twist (WordSong, 2016), Jane Yolen and Rebecca Kai Dotlich’s hot-off-the-press companion volume to Grumbles From the Forest (WordSong, 2013), with illustrations by Angela Matteson. I was lucky enough to receive an F&G (folded and gathered) of this book when I was at The Highlights Foundation’s workshop, “The Craft and Heart of Writing Poetry for Children” with Rebecca Kai Dotlich and Georgia Heard.
These poems, that “remix old songs anew,” have broad appeal. Jane and Rebecca chose fourteen favorite nursery rhymes and gave voices to objects, (Jack’s plum), real or imagined secondary characters (Old King Cole’s daughter), or let the main character speak for him or herself (the Queen of Hearts). Young readers will love the playful nature of these poems. Older readers will appreciate the wordplay, such as learning that the dog from “Hey Diddle Diddle” always “hated playing second fiddle.” Some of the poems, such as “Not Another Fall,” explore the backstory of the original rhyme. What was Humpty Dumpty doing on that wall in the first place?
“A Neighbor Gossips to the Gardener
“Not Another Fall” about the Humpty Brothers”
Humpty Dumpty Here’s what I heard:
skates on a wall, SPLAT!
another big tumble, Said to myself, what was that?
another pratfall. A Humpty had fallen
Another big grin to the other side.
when he jumps to his feet. He was roundish,
He’s got loads of jokes and small. Fell from the wall.
that just cannot be beat. Always in places
He’s our class clown; they shouldn’t be.
that’s never in doubt, The the other one tumbled
but that why he’s sitting from an apple tree.
again News came in twos: a cut and a bruise.
in time-out. (Lucky they didn’t break any legs.)
Those Humpty boys
© Jane Yolen, 2016 are mischievous eggs.
© Rebecca Kai Dotlich, 2016
Angela Matteson’s whimsical illustrations are perfectly suited to these lively rhymes. Her artwork is infused with personality; who wouldn’t want to live in this shoe?
“Shoe Speaks” “Summer in the Shoe”
I love the sound of giggles It was so hot, living in leather
From the lace-swings in the tree, all day and all night. Sunlight
The thump of running feet spilled through the open top,
As children race on home to me. tumbled down stairs,
rested on the cat.
But best is how I love them Imagine this, imagine that….
When they dream inside my toe. read books in a heel,
Do you doubt a shoe can love? ate supper in a toe.
I have a sole, you know. Blew bubbles
from small windows,
© Jane Yolen, 2016 rolled marbles down the tongue,
bump, bumpity, bump.
Played next door
in a pirate ship–
lots of space to roam.
Still, we liked going home.
© Rebecca Kai Dotlich, 2016
Grumbles From the Town also includes the texts of the original nursery rhymes, and I appreciated the fascinating end notes about the origin of each rhyme. The roots of some rhymes have been lost to history, but in most cases the background includes stories that are always interesting, if not always child-friendly.
This collection is a must-have for all elementary classrooms. Students of all ages will enjoy exploring point-of-view through these poems, and the opportunities for children to write their own nursery rhymes “with a twist” are endless! In addition, the possibilities for lessons about vocabulary and word choice abound. But the best reason for sharing this book with children is that these poems are fun to read and full of humor. Thank you, Jane, Rebecca, and Angela for so generously sharing your work today!
Jane gave me a sneak peek at GRUMBLES— such fun to frolic through this book! I think I would like to dream inside a toe, too… though the shoe would have to be very roomy. Happy Poetry Friday, Catherine, and thanks a bunch for hosting!
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Oh wow. I love these poems and now am going to have to order the collection. Thanks for sharing and for hosting today.
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Hi, Catherine – thanks for hosting! I’m so glad we got to bring back this treasure from the workshop last week. Another amazing collaboration from these two, with perfect illustrations for these ever-inventive rhymes. I only wish we were still close enough to “grumble” together!
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Thanks so much for sharing these wonderful poems and for hosting this week.
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I’m not over the twisted fairy tales yet and now this! New nursery rhymes. Thanks for hosting today and sharing this fun poems.
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[…] Notes: The heat hasn’t left New England, and I haven’t stopped daydreaming about the beach. Any fellow beachcombers in the crowd? I have a cup of shells and feathers by my sink to remind me to swim, fly and hunt for treasure. Happy Poetry Friday and thanks to this week’s host, Catherine, a talented teacher and poet, at Reading to the Core. […]
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What a great format. I love the examples. I will look for this, too.
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What a fabulous idea for a fun collection. Rich indeed. Thanks for sharing, and hosting, Catherine.
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Catherine, thank you for hosting and for sharing Grumbles. I’m so glad we got to spend time together at the workshop. I hope we get to see each other again someday.
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this book looks so fun…can’t wait to see it! Thanks for sharing these pages, Catherine – although the links seem to not be working when we click them to enlarge them. Thanks for hosting, as well!
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I’m afraid I’m not that technically proficient. These are photos I took of each spread. Sorry!
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I love the wonderful sounds in Rebecca’s poems and the inventiveness in Jane’s. Must go get this book now!
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Wow! Love the illustration for the Shoe poems. Heading off to request this title now. It will be fun to share with my book club. Loved seeing the pics of you and Linda at the workshop.
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Looks like a fun book — enjoyed the sample poems and looking forward to reading it!
Thanks so much for hosting this week, Catherine.
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I read a few of the poems today to my older granddaughter and she loved them! Thanks for sharing this, Catherine, and for hosting today!
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I love hearing about these fabulous books while they are hot off the press! This one certainly sounds like a must have. Thanks for sharing and for hosting, Catherine!
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Thank you for hosting, Catherine, and for the enticing look at Grumbles!
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An interesting take on the original rhymes and their associated characters. Thank you for bringing this new poetic collection to everyone’s attention.
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[…] lovely and talented Catherine Flynn is hosting the Roundup at Reading to the Core. Click through to check out the full menu of poetic goodness being shared in the blogosphere this […]
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Love these poems. Brings back my favorite memories of childhood, especially jumping rope rhymes.
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Squee!
Appreciations, Catherine, for this rumbly tumble way ’round the wall. And for a neu vue inside the shue 🙂 I’m with Margaret. Here, still wandering in my copy of the deliciously dark forest GRUMBLES, but now, here rolls this light romp with M. Goosie. Too wonderful.
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[…] like to enjoy more poetry (and much BETTER poetry, I might add), then please visit Catherine at Reading to the Core for today’s Poetry Friday Roundup, where she’s featuring Jane Yolen and Rebecca Kai […]
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These poems are rich and imaginative and fun! Love the Shoe ones especially. 🙂 Thank you, Catherine, for hosting and for sharing GRUMBLES. xo
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This is such a neat collection. I am fascinated by the rhymes and stories that live on and love the interplay of different poets’ voices in the same book. Congrats to Rebecca and Jane! Thank you so much for hosting and rounding us all up this week, Catherine. xo
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I really enjoyed the two perspectives in Grumbles From the Forest, & I look forward to reading this companion. Thanks for sharing a glimpse!
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Looks like a fun book! Thanks for hosting. I seem to be having issues with Mr. Linky today. Here is the post link to my septercet at DoriReads. http://bit.ly/2cqC82W
Thanks!
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I think I got it fixed! Thanks.
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Fun, fun, fun! Looking forward to getting my hands on this book. Thanks for hosting today, Catherine! =)
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So much fun!! I love sharing fractured fairy tales with kids, so this sounds right up my alley! Fresh, fun new ways of looking at classic stories. Thanks for sharing this, and for hosting today!
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Fun and a great way to bridge those old rhymes with a new generation. Love them. Makes me want to go try writing some myself.
Thanks so much for hosting this week. I sometimes cannot see the name of the person hosting Poetry Friday. I can see the blog, of course, but not always the name. I will simply need to get to know you better. And, that will be fun over poetry.
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Lots of fun stuff you shared this week — thanks! I’m in with some Robert Frost this week.
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Grumbles looks terrific! Thanks for spotlighting it and for hosting.
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Thanks for hosting, Catherine–how I would have loved to be at that workshop with you all! (Still not over missing it, I guess.) I love these voices from the traditional literature and have my own collection thereof, but I think I’m going to have to self-publish…no way to compete with the Queens of the Scene!
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Catherine, this post is late but I arrived home from Las Vegas late on Thursday night and we have been trying to recoup ever since. I attempted to write about my trip to the Grand Canyon. Thank you for hosting and providing me with a quick insight to the poetry trip. Thanks for sharing.
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It was so nice to see you again, Catherine. Grateful to have done two Highlights Workshops with you!
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