Hooray, hooray!
Dare to Dream . . . Change the World (Kane Miller, 2012) is officially out tomorrow, September 1st!
I’d been anxious to see this new poetry anthology conceived and edited by author/poet/agent Jill Corcoran ever since she shared the title poem for our 2012 Poetry Potluck back in April. What a beautiful book!
You may remember that Jill’s inspiration for this collection “came during a car ride, listening to NPR cover the uprising of the Egyptian people against their oppressive government.” Jill was overcome by their courage and determination, thinking that their tweets were like poetry, capturing in just a few words the essence of their strength, resilience, hopes, fears, and dreams for the future.
Why not ask 30 of the nation’s best children’s poets “to share the spirit of dreaming + action = change,” by writing pairs of poems (1 biographical + 1 inspirational) illuminating the achievements of 14 notable individuals who changed their own lives and ultimately changed the lives of people all over the world?
And why not? In just 48 pages, Jessie has accomplished the seemingly impossible, chronicling Julia’s entire amazing life!: as a “gangly girl from Pasadena,” her prankster days at Smith College, her stint doing Top Secret work for the OSS in WWII and marrying bon vivant Paul Child, learning to cook at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, traveling to Germany and Norway, writing and publishing her cookbook masterpiece, and finally launching her TV chef career. Yes, it’s all here, in this frenetic comic-scrapbook hybrid that perfectly captures Julia’s boundless energy and contaigious joie de vivre. There’s even a 32-step recipe for Chicken Galantine (“Here’s a little something I just whipped up!”) and Jessie’s very own recipe for Crepes. I’m sure Julia would get a kick out of every scrumptious detail. Formidable!
Jama's Alphabet Soup 