Harvest Moon

When I was a little girl, I loved riding in the backseat of the car watching the moon follow us home. There's something spiritual and magical about the moon.

It's been cloudy here the past few nights, so I'm hoping the sky will be clear enough to see the harvest moon (my favorite!) tonight.  In anticipation, I wrote a quick little poem.  I not sure if the meter works but here goes.



Too Shy 

Tonight

I watched

a harvest moon

tiptoe

across the sky.

It hid behind

a wisp of clouds,

looking very

shy.

I said,

Don’t worry

Harvest Moon,

for I’m a lot

like you.

When I’m  feeling 

shaky, shy—

    

I try

to hide it

too.

-Linda Kulp Trout

Here are two beautifully written  and illustrated moon-themed books you'll want to check out:  HELLO, HARVEST MOON by Ralph Fletcher and IF YOU WERE the MOON by Laura Purdie Salas.

A big thank you to Laura for hosting this week at Writing the World for Kids.

Dreamers

Several years ago, I had an idea for a novel-in-verse inspired by the experiences and dreams of some of my students. I wrote a bunch of poems, but I had no idea how to weave them together into a novel.  (It’s so much harder than it looks!)  I saved them in a file and almost forgot about them. Today I'm sharing a poem from the collection.  The title comes from my belief that we should all be dreamers!  (Please forgive white background behind some of the words in the poem.) 

Dreamers

In El Salvador,
my parents

worked and saved

to come to the U.S.

Thieves stole

their money,

they walked

nearly 2,000 miles

on blistered feet

carrying baby me

and a backpack

full of dreams.

Today

I carry

a backpack

full of books.

My dream:

first in my family

to go to college.

Will I be

a doctor,

scientist,

teacher...

It’s up to me!

Papi says

the best thing

about dreams is

no one

can take them

away.

-Linda Kulp Trout

Last year, I discovered a beautiful picture book titled DREAMERS by Yuri Morales.  Yay!

After reading this description on Amazon, I had to have it.

Dreamers is a celebration of what migrantes bring with them when they leave their homes. It's a story about family. And it's a story to remind us that we are all dreamers, bringing our own gifts wherever we roam. Beautiful and powerful at any time but given particular urgency as the status of our own Dreamers becomes uncertain, this is a story that is both topical and timeless.

Both the text and the illustrations are gorgeous. I wish I had DREAMERS when I was teaching.  Yuri's story is similar to the ones I heard my students tell. This book gives their stories a voice.

Here's a video I think you will enjoy.

A special thank you to Sylvia and Janet for hosting this week's Poetry Friday at Poetry for Children.