Celebrating Poetry with our Poet Laureate

Ruth Ayres has a link-up on weekends where people link to posts that are celebrations about their week. I love this reminder to celebrate every week.

This week we celebrated Poem in Your Pocket Day at our school. In preparation, students chose or wrote poems in library classes. The night before though, I was still trying to choose mine. I remembered that we have a U.S. poet laureate and realized that I've never talked to my students about him. I read one of his books earlier this month and wrote a blog post about a few of his books. I wondered if I could find a poem of his that would work with my students. When I searched for poems by Juan Felipe Herrera, I found "Jackrabbits, Green Onions, and Witches Stew." I read it and thought since it was an unusual collection of words, it would be a fun one to share, but I wondered if I was reading it correctly so I looked for a video.

I found something even better. I found a lesson plan by Nicolle Stellon O'Donnell that included a video of Herrera reading my chosen poem, but also another helpful video. In the second one, he shares another poem, but also, near end of it, Herrera talks about how he defines poetry (at about 2:45).

I don't totally know what "Jackrabbits, Green Onions, and Witches Stew" might mean, but the text reminds me of Dr. Who. Whether I figured it out or not, Herrera seems to believe the most important thing is spending time with the poem. The poem may simply be meant to cause readers to be baffled or bring a smile to their face. Herrera may not even know what one of his poems is really saying. I'm good with that.

Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge - Juan Felipe Herrera

Alyson Beecher over at Kid Lit Frenzy hosts a Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge and has a roundup every Wednesday. I love the encouragement to explore more non-fiction. My plan is to read at least 100 nonfiction picture books this year.

Calling the Doves/El canto de las palomas by Juan Felipe Herrera/Illustrated by Elly Simmons

Goodreads summary: Calling the Doves is poet Juan Felipe Herrera's story of his migrant farmworker childhood. In delightful and lyrical language, he recreates the joy of eating breakfast under the open sky, listening to Mexican songs in the little trailer house his father built, and celebrating with other families at a fiesta in the mountains. He remembers his mother s songs and poetry, and his father's stories and his calling the doves. For Juan Felipe, the farmworker road was also the beginning of his personal road to becoming a writer.

My thoughts: Juan Felipe Herrera is the United States Poet Laureate so this was a great book to read for poetry month. In Calling the Doves/El canto de las palomas, Herrera shares about his childhood with a lyrical voice. Readers find out about the beauty of the land he lived in and the care and nurture he had from his parents. His parents loved the open sky and the tender earth. They taught him "that inside every word there can be kindness." His parents were migrant farmworkers and life was not easy. Herrera makes it clear though, that he appreciated many aspects of his childhood. His parents were storytellers and they filled the air with poetry, songs and stories. Juan Felipe Herrera shows the many ways in which his childhood was rich and how this shaped him and led him to poetry.

Portraits of Hispanic American Heroes by Juan Felipe Herrera/Illustrated by Raúl Colón

Another book of his that I enjoyed was Portraits of Hispanic American Heroes. 

Goodreads summary: An inspiring tribute to Hispanic Americans who have made a positive impact on the world This visually stunning book showcases twenty Hispanic and Latino American men and women who have made outstanding contributions to the arts, politics, science, humanitarianism, and athletics. Gorgeous portraits complement sparkling biographies of Cesar Chavez, Sonia Sotomayor, Ellen Ochoa, Roberto Clemente, and many more. Complete with timelines and famous quotes, this tome is a magnificent homage to those who have shaped our nation.

In this volume: Adelina Otero-Warren, Bernardo de Galvez, Cesar Chavez, David Farragut, Dennis Chavez, Desi Arnaz, Dolores Huerta, Ellen Ochoa, Helen Rodríguez Trías, Hero Street USA, Ignacio Lozano, Jaime Escalante, Joan Baez, Judy Baca, Julia de Burgos, Luis Alvarez, Rita Moreno, Roberte Clemente, Sonia Sotomayor, and Tomas Rivera.

The Upside Down Boy/El niño de cabeza by Juan Felipe Herrera/Illustrated by Elizabeth Gómez

I haven't had a chance to read this one yet, but I have it at school and am eager to read it soon.

Goodreads summary:

Juan Felipe Herrera's playful language and the colorful, magical art of Elizabeth Gomez capture the universal experience of entering a new school and feeling like a stranger in a world that seems upside down.