[review] Clara’s Kooky Compendium of Thimblethoughts and Wonderfuzz by Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong

November 15, 2024November 15, 2024 ~ jama ~ 42 Comments

Well, well, well . . . ready for some fun?

Just when you think children’s poetry anthologies can sometimes be a tad predictable, up pops a new one that almost defies description. Is it a junk journal? a graphic novel? a writer’s notebook? a playground for list makers and doodlers? It’s actually all of the above, in addition to being an engaging collection of 150+ lighthearted poems by 100+ uber cool contemporary poets!

In Clara’s Kooky Compendium of Thimblethoughts and Wonderfuzz by Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong, illustrated by Frank Ramspott (Pomelo Books, 2024), readers ages 8-14 are invited to spend a week with spunky Clara, a fourth grader who’s making a compendium for Mrs. Booker’s class.

The assignment is to copy or cut-and-tape poems, collect facts and trivia connected to the poems (thimblethoughts), jot down questions (wonderfuzz), add drawings or illustrations, and simply record whatever one deems noteworthy. There are no limits to this creative exercise, with Mrs. Booker emphasizing, “Put in ANYTHING you want.”

THIMBLETHOUGHT: Scientists say that people who doodle can remember 29% more than people who don’t doodle.

So we meet Clara (animal lover, cookie baker, popsicle eater and skateboard, soccer, pickleball, basketball and video games enthusiast), as well as her family, friends, neighbors, and classmates at school and at play.

Poems and all their related tidbits are largely framed throughout the book by a series of writing exercises Mrs. Booker has assigned the class — everything from describing friends and pets, to considering math, science, language arts, and social studies takeaways, to pondering dream jobs.

Kids will be happy to see many pages devoted to wild animals, both weird and wonderful, and the visually appealing scrapbook-like format will inspire them to imagine, explore, rethink, reflect, dig deeper, and have a ball writing their own poems.

WONDERFUZZ: When we write, do our words become brain tattoos?

Clara’s enthusiasm is infectious as she shares all the funny, sometimes silly, irresistibly wacky poems (a chewy smorgasbord of delightful poetic forms and devices). Robots? Pirates? Chickens? Artists? Slumber Parties? Check! Clara herself writes many poems, and even her toes get in on the action. Why not? Anything goes!

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[rising review] Still There Was Bread by Lisl H. Detlefsen and David Soman

November 12, 2024November 12, 2024 ~ jama ~ 7 Comments

Imagine the heavenly aroma of homemade bread baking in the oven as you anticipate biting into a soft, warm slice slathered with butter and honey. Nothing else says love and comfort in quite the same way.

In Still There Was Bread (HarperCollins, 2024), Lisl H. Detlefsen and David Soman celebrate intergenerational connections and the joy of sharing a treasured recipe that can sustain a family through good times and bad.

As this heartwarming story opens, Little Pickle excitedly greets his nana, who’s come to teach him how to make their special family bread. It’s the same recipe for “Nana rolls” his mother learned from her grandmother when she was his age.

As they move through each step, Nana compares their process to how her nana made the rolls a long time ago. First, Nana and Little Pickle gather all the ingredients (eggs, milk, flour, oil, sugar, salt, yeast, water). While theirs came from the grocery store, Nana’s nana “had to collect eggs from the chicken coop and milk a cow to get what she wanted.”

Next, Nana shows Little Pickle how to preheat the electric oven, explaining that her nana baked in a woodburning stove, using the “By guess and by gosh” method. While they can easily combine all their ingredients in a stand mixer, Nana’s nana mixed the dough with a wooden spoon. But there are a couple of things they do the same way: knead the dough by hand, then place it in a big bowl before covering it with a damp towel.

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“Fall Sanctuary” by Kory Wells

November 8, 2024November 8, 2024 ~ jama ~ 30 Comments

“Within you there is a stillness and sanctuary to which you can retreat at any time and be yourself.” ~ Herman Hesse

FALL SANCTUARY
by Kory Wells

                  ~ after Jeff Hardin

I slept in a room that glowed with fireflies,
though it was late autumn on a frosty bluff
high above Lost Cove. The room was a salve
of spun honey and light, and a hundred
little windowpanes gauzed with tranquility.

In a wide bed I slept alone, surrounded
by pillows and books, by poets I love.
In the night I lit a candle and a tiny string of lights
against the darkness. They were a comfort.
So was the darkness.

Outside I found an astonishment of stars,
a clear sky, spangled and deep.
How long had it been since I’d seen the stars?

This is how I fell asleep: my skin on soft cotton,
my body awaiting the gentle touch of fireflies,
their silent sparks. This is how I awoke:
unencumbered and enthralled, the early sun
casting over the mountain autumn into my room,
casting through the morning chill a stained-glass chapel,

                                    a splendor of stillness, stirring.
 
~ from Sugar Fix (Terrapin Books, 2019)

This lyrical gem provided me with a welcome moment of calm and beauty in these uneasy, turbulent times.

I especially love the “hundred little windowpanes gauzed with tranquility” and the “astonishment of stars,” feeling as though I was right there in the room, levitating in this sacred space, away from trouble and noise.

Wells’s use of light — glowing fireflies, starlight, candlelight, and finally, the rising sun — gives me hope, though even the darkness, she says, can be comforting.

I am reminded that in those instances when we aren’t able to physically retreat from the world, we can always find solace in the embrace of a luminous poem like this, or perhaps, within.

What does your fall sanctuary look like?

*“Silver Pheasant in Autumn Forest” by Asia Spettel.*

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nine cool blue things on a special tuesday

November 5, 2024August 22, 2025 ~ jama ~ 6 Comments

1. Happy November and Happy Election Day! We’re going full-tilt 💙BLUE💙 for maximum good luck in today’s critical race. First, behold several blue beauties from Vermont artist-author-illustrator Ashley Wolff’s A Year of Birds Challenge.

Each day in 2022, Ashley painted a different bird, an awesome opportunity for her to study one of the most varied and fascinating groups of animals on earth. Love seeing so many new-to-me species rendered in luscious, vibrant gouache.

Each 5″ x 7″ signed painting is a OOAK original, and Ashley is donating 20% of the proceeds to wildlife conservation. Why not treat yourself or a special someone to one of these gorgeous pieces? 🙂

To see many more birds (of various plumage colors), visit Ashley Wolff’s Etsy Shop. For info about her children’s books, workshops, and other projects, visit her Official Website, Facebook Page, and Instagram.

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starry-eyed and optimistic

November 1, 2024October 31, 2024 ~ jama ~ 27 Comments

“Like a bolt out of the blue, faith steps in and sees you through. When you wish upon a star your dreams come true.” ~ Cliff Edwards

*“Starry Night Sky Galaxy” by Brittany Drollinger.*

BLUE STARS
by Richard Jones

Yesterday I made a to-do list,
a dozen tasks I would undertake
and check off the list one by one.
But what did I do with my list?
Did I put it on the piano?
Did I set it down by the coffeepot?
I remember this morning
in my robe at the back door
contemplating frost icing the grass
and seeing a dark-eyed junco at the bird feeder.
How did I know it was a junco
and not a sparrow?
Maybe juncos and sparrows are cousins.
I thought about birds in nests
of twigs, reeds, briars, and straw.
The clear, cold sky brought to mind
the image of my late father, high up
and far away, flying
once again in his silver plane,
and I closed my eyes to admire
the many blue paintings
hanging in the gallery of my childhood heart.
Perhaps at that moment
I had the to-do list in my hand
and during my azure reverie
the paper slipped from my fingers.
I only know that when I opened my eyes
I saw it would be wise
to give my blue paintings away --
only then would my heart be free
to help those in need.
I resolved to put that on my to-do list,
and that's when I noticed
my to-do list had vanished.
Now the frost has died,
the sun is pushing noon,
and I'm still in my robe
with eternity hovering in the balance.
But no day is without its victory.
Because it is hiding,
I'll search for the lost little piece of paper,
and when I find it
I'll write down my heart's resolution.
Then I'll dress for the day and go out into the world.
With pen and to-do list in my hands,
I'll draw little blue stars
beside all the accomplished tasks --
buying milk,
picking up the laundry,
driving to the library,
and paying the fines for my overdue books.

~ from Stranger on Earth (Copper Canyon Press, 2018).