{"id":281,"date":"2006-11-10T00:01:07","date_gmt":"2006-11-10T05:01:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=281"},"modified":"2006-11-11T12:06:02","modified_gmt":"2006-11-11T17:06:02","slug":"poetry-friday-ive-got-the-cybil-bug","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=281","title":{"rendered":"Poetry Friday: I’ve got the Cybil Bug"},"content":{"rendered":"

*{Note: Visit\u00a0Journey Woman<\/strong><\/a> for this week’s Poetry Friday round-up} . . .<\/em><\/p>\n

Howdy, strangers.\u00a0 I know, it’s been a while.\u00a0 As Julie mentioned, I’ve been kinda busy with school lately, and haven’t been posting nearly as often as I’d like to.\u00a0 But thanks to Mistress Cybil<\/a><\/strong>, I’ve definitely been reading\u00a0a LOT of excellent poetry for children.\u00a0 I thought I’d use my share of the Poetry Fridays to highlight some of the nominees that I’ve been especially tickled about.\u00a0 For example:<\/p>\n

\"HeyHey There, Stink Bug!<\/strong><\/a><\/em>\u00a0 <\/strong>by <\/strong>Leslie Bulion<\/strong><\/a>,<\/strong> illustrated by Leslie Evans<\/a>.<\/strong>\u00a0 This book is a complete package \u2013 excellent linoleum block-and-watercolor illustrations (love them, LOVE THEM!!!); clever, fun, and largely read-out-loud-able poetry; and fascinating facts about insects sure to please the budding entomologist, or anyone who likes trivia of the gross-out variety.\u00a0 For example, did you know that aphids reproduce asexually, and already have new live aphids developing inside them when they’re born?!?\u00a0 And that skipper caterpillars can “force-fire” their own poop over three feet away?!?\u00a0 Dude… that’s just nasty.<\/p>\n

Here’s a swallowtail butterfly’s “Advice to a Caterpillar,” a limerick (with a sly Alice<\/a><\/strong> reference for a title?) that also explains the swallowtail caterpillar’s, um… unusual<\/em> appearance:<\/p>\n

Said the swallowtail, “Kid, here’s the scoop:<\/p>\n

That ravenous robin’s a snoop.<\/p>\n

Once you pupate you’ll be<\/p>\n

quite as dazzling as me,<\/p>\n

but for now just pretend you’re bird poop.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Each poem highlights a different bug, and is followed by notes describing the insect and whatever trait the poem highlights.\u00a0 Also included are a glossary (no pronunciation guide, though), a guide to the various poetic forms used (a wide range \u2013 sonnet, cinquain, haiku, tanka, free verse\u2026), and a list of web and print resources, for the curious and inspired.<\/p>\n

The compact size (about the same as a beginning reader) and occasionally complex vocabulary (glossary notwithstanding) make this best suited for the middle-grader, although it could certainly go younger for readalouds.\u00a0 Not to mention adults \u2013 every grown-up I’ve shown it to got a kick out of it, and learned something to boot.\u00a0 As did I.<\/p>\n

So thanks, Leslie Bulion<\/a><\/strong> and Leslie Evans<\/a><\/strong>, for an excellent collaboration;\u00a0 thanks to Charlesbridge<\/a><\/strong> for the review copy, and thanks to Debbie<\/a><\/strong> for nominating it for\u00a0a Cybils Poetry<\/a><\/strong> award.\u00a0 And if you haven’t nominated your favorite book of children’s or young adult poetry for 2006, there’s still time!\u00a0 Go now!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

*{Note: Visit\u00a0Journey Woman for this week’s Poetry Friday round-up} . . . Howdy, strangers.\u00a0 I know, it’s been a while.\u00a0 As Julie mentioned, I’ve been kinda busy with school lately, and haven’t been posting nearly as often as I’d like to.\u00a0 But thanks to Mistress Cybil, I’ve definitely been reading\u00a0a LOT of excellent poetry for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-281","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-intermediate","category-poetry-friday"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/281","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=281"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/281\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=281"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=281"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=281"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}