BEST CHILDREN'S POETRY BOOKS 2014 #bloglikecrazy

Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit Keri at Keri Recommends for Roundup!

Today's #bloglikecrazy prompt from Javacia Bowser is "write about the best book you've read this year."

I find Best Of lists innately flawed and frustrating. Must we pit books against books? I love books for different reasons and find it so hard to separate out my emotional, completely subjective and intensely personal responses to evaluate a book. My enjoyment is rooted in the emotion, however perfectly or imperfectly crafted! Which is why I blog about the books I enjoy as I encounter them, and in no particular order.

This year I've blogged about the following 2014 poetry books for children:

DEAR WANDERING WILDEBEEST AND OTHER POEMS FROM THE WATER HOLE by Irene Latham, illustrations by Anna Wadham  (obviously!)

HI, KOO! by Jon J. Muth

LITTLE POEMS FOR TINY EARS by Lin Oliver

POEM-MOBILES by J. Patrick Lewis & Douglas Florian

A POND FULL OF INK by Annie M.G. Schmidt

CAMINAR by Skila Brown

THE POETRY FRIDAY ANTHOLOGY for SCIENCE compiled by Sylvia Vardell & Janet Wong

BROWN GIRL DREAMING by Jacqueline Woodson

FIREFLY JULY edited by Paul Janeczko


In the queue for blog posts coming soon:

MANGER, edited by Lee Bennett Hopkins (and containing poems by many of my most favorite poets!)

WINTER BEES & OTHER POEMS OF THE COLD by Joyce Sidman

POISONED APPLES: Poems for You, My Pretty by Christine Heppermann

(How 'bout them apples? Ha. Couldn't resist!)

and today, a few words about SANTA CLAUSES: Short Poems for the North Pole by Bob Raczka, illustrated by Chuck Groenink. (Link takes you to a great interview with the author at Today's Little Ditty... and a challenge that could win you a copy of the book!) What a wonderful way to bring poetry to the masses! I love thinking of Santa Claus as a secret poet. I mean, I tell kids all the time that poets are seldom only poets, but doctors & poets, plumbers & poets, teachers & poets, accountants & poets, moms & poets, you name it! You can be a poet and be anything else in addition to being a poet!

My favorite part of SANTA CLAUSES: Mrs. Claus. Clearly she is Santa's muse. Let me show you what I mean:

December 3
Mrs. Clause making
an angel, becoming a
little girl again.

December 11
Kisses from Mrs.
Claus under the mistletoe
tickle like snowflakes.

December 18th
Mrs. Claus and I
wrapped neatly in our bed quilts --
matching packages.

--- Bob Raczka