Hampsters, Shells, and Spelling Bees

Lee Bennett Hopkins' newest book, Hampsters, Shells, and Spelling Bees (HaperCollins) arrived in my mailbox. You can imagine how proud I am to have one of my poems (below) included among those of such greats as J. Patrick Lewis, Alice Schertle, Rebecca Kai Dotlich, Heidi Roemer, and Jane Yolen. The collection of twenty school poems about spelling bees, backpacks, the excitement a bee causes as it buzzes through the classroom are sure to delight young readers. The poems are beautifully illustrated by Sachiko Yoshikawa. Children will see themselves and their classmates in these wonderful poems. It will make an excellent addition to the classroom library.







True Love

Every day
after school
my cat sits
on the windowsill
waiting,
watching
for me
to come home
from school.
I open
the door
to her
purr--ing.

Poetry Friday: It's Never Too Late To Live Your Dream

Toyo Shibata didn't start writing until she was 92.  At the age of 99, her first collection of poetry became a bestseller selling over 1.5 million copies! The title of her book is translated as either Don't Be Frustrated or Don't Lose Heart depending on the source.   I'm hoping there will be an English translation of the book in the near future.

Toyo Shibata's poems are about her hopes and dreams, about falling in love, and the future. 

"I think of various things: memories of my past and my family, my current life. I immerse myself in those memories and write from them." -Toyo Shibata (Reuters, 1/25/11) 

I found her story to be very inspiring and proof that it's never too late for us to achieve our dreams!

You can read more about Toyo Shibata here and here.

A video of her reading her poems here.

Read translations of some of her poems here.