Apples and Butterflies by Shauntay Grant
From patchwork-quilt farmland to the winding red roads, from sandy beaches to the endless stars at night, Apples and Butterflies shows Prince Edward Island shining in the bright blue and gold light of fall.
Shauntay Grant is a writer and storyteller from Halifax, NS. She was Halifax's Poet Laureate from 2009 until 2011. You can learn more about her on her website.
Everybody's Different on Everybody Street by Sheree Fitch.
Sheree Fitch's playful words lead you into this beautiful children's book and invite you to celebrate our gifts, our weaknesses, our differences, and our sameness. Fitch displays her wit and mastery of words in quick, rollicking rhymes that are complemented by Emma FitzGerald's lively illustrations.
Sheree Fitch is one of PARL's former Writers-in-Residence. She is a well-known writer, storyteller, podcaster, and owner of Mabel Murple’s Books Shoppe and Dreamery located in River John, NS. You can learn more about Sheree Fitch on her website.
Although not specifically for children, Song of Rita Joe: Autobiography of a Mi'kmaw Poet by Rita Joe is very important to acknowledge. Rita Joe has become known as the Poet Laureate of the Mi'kmaq people. She faced intolerance, ignorance and abuse—searched her culture for strength—and wrote poems of clarity and encouragement that continue to inspire. Song of Rita Joe includes 75 of her poems. I Lost My Talk is one of Rita Joe's most powerful poems about her experiences in a residential school. It has been published as a children's picture book, illustrated by Pauline Young. You can find copies of that book in our library branches but unfortunately we do not have it available to borrow digitally.
Exploring poetry with children can be a fun way to exercise some creativity. Here are a few activities you can try at home:
Book Spine Poetry
It's pretty simple... grab a bunch of books and stack them in such a way to create a poem using the titles on the book spines. Check out this post on the Scholastic website for more information. Here is an example so you can see how this works:
Dog Days
Super sketchy
Tricks and games to teach your dog
How to speak dog.
Click, clack, splish, splash,
Holes!
Top dogs: true stories of canines that made history.
OK, it's not great. Give it a try and see how what you can come up with!
Found Words Poetry
Cut words out of an old magazine, flyer, or newspaper and use the words to create a poem. You can even glue them on a piece of paper or start a poetry journal.
Poem in Your Pocket
National Poetry Month is an initiative of the League of Canadian Poets. One of the activities suggested on their website is "Poem in Your Pocket Day" which takes place on April 30. The idea is to take a poem with you in your pocket to share with others. Since that is not possible during all of the social distancing measures that are in place another option could be to share favorite poem with family or friends through a chat or video message.
Happy Poetry Month!
No comments:
Post a Comment