children’s poetry

[review + recipe + giveaway] Fresh Delicious: Poems from the Farmers’ Market by Irene Latham and Mique Moriuchi

~ jama ~ 85 Comments

Grab your shopping baskets and bags, let’s go to the Farmers’ Market!

In Fresh Delicious (Wordsong, 2016), Irene Latham and Mique Moriuchi invite us to join a group of adorable animal friends as they celebrate the wonders of farm fresh fruits and veggies. This mostly free verse smorgasbord of 21 poems is chock full of mouthwatering sensory details, clever imagery and playful metaphors to whet the appetite and tease the imagination.

While nibbling on these whimsical poems, curious munchkins will meet basil (“a bouquet of minty green butterfly wings”), delight in how ears of corn listen to the sun, and consider that okra is really “a mountain of mouse-sized swords/stored in fuzzy sheaths.” Afterwards, they’ll likely be anxious to see, smell, touch and taste the produce in person, making up little scenarios so they can write their own poems.

Does crookneck squash really look like a question mark? How is zucchini like an exclamation point? Will wild honey really make our tongues “buzz with pleasure”? Can’t wait for summer, when it’ll be time to propel those seeds out of our mouths “like shooting stars.”

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chop chop stick stick: a pair of lip smacking poems

~ jama ~ 73 Comments

Raise your hand if you know how to use chopsticks! Do you like them?

Just as I can’t remember first feeding myself with a fork or spoon, I can’t remember a time when I didn’t use chopsticks. When it came to eating, I was a quick and early learner. 🙂 I do remember loving a special pair of children’s chopsticks I once had — they were pink plastic with black and gold specks. Naturally, they made everything taste better.

Mr Cornelius’s favorite chopsticks

Back in the dark ages when I was doing school visits for Dumpling Soup, I always brought wooden chopsticks along. The majority of first graders had never used them before, and they had fun trying to pick up M&Ms, Cheerios, and gummy bears. Some were so pleased with their newfound skill that later in the cafeteria they even tried to eat their lunches with them. Ever try to pick up half a PB&J sandwich with chopsticks? 🙂

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friday feast: David Booth’s Head to Toe Spaghetti and Other Tasty Poems

~ jama ~ 56 Comments

Time to put on your best bib and lick your chops. There’s a new foodie poetry book in town!

In Head to Toe Spaghetti and Other Tasty Poems (Rubicon, 2015), Canadian author, poet, educator and literacy expert David Booth serves up 59 toothsome gems culled from his writings of the last 40 years. These delectable delights are presented in five mouthwatering courses and are sure to “tickle your lips, tangle your tongue, tease your imagination, twist your sentences, and tenderize your heart.”

Begin by wrapping your lips around 10 Fast Food Rhymes featuring kid favorites like “Fish and Chips,” “Chicken Fingers” and “A Dangerous Drink” (burp!). Move on to tasty Snackers and Crackers (“A Thin Slice of Cake,” “A Dumb Plum,” and “Blueberry Lips”). Still hungry? With Food Daze we’re invited to celebrate the “Sounds of Beautiful Food” (courgette, almondine, radicchio, buttermilk), relish the hidden goodness in “Gift-Wrapped” natural foods (coconuts, bananas, oranges), or wiggle, jiggle, and swiggle with glee like a “Jell-o Fanatic.”

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friday feast: fly soup and apple brownies

~ jama ~ 57 Comments
Please help yourself to a cup of tea and an apple brownie (spiders and centipedes optional).

On this crisp and clear Halloween Eve, we’re serving up a tasty poem by London-based author Elli Woollard.

I love noshing at her wonderful blog, Taking Words for a Stroll, which is a gold mine of fun, whimsical, silly and nonsensical rhymes, sure to put a smile on your face and make you want to indulge in some wordplay of your own.

One never knows just what Elli will write about next — ducks? vikings? cats? farting mermaids? I admit I was first drawn to her foodie poems. Who could resist such titles as “Kitchen Bullies,” “Feeling Like Cake,” “Best Biscuit Race”, “The Joys of Toast”? Here’s a poet who’ll riff on cheese even though she doesn’t personally care for it. Oh, and did you know there’s a “Shortage of L’s”? Nasty business, that. I don’t ike it one bit. 🙂

When I saw “There’s a Fly in My Soup,” I knew I just had to share it here. Soup — my middle name! And since it’s almost Halloween and all, it’s a good time to swallow a few flies, spiders and other creatures with rascally relish. Bugs, birds and goats never tasted so good.

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Poetry Friday Roundup is here!

~ jama ~ 84 Comments

WELCOME TO POETRY FRIDAY AT ALPHABET SOUP!

Have I told you lately you’re as cute as a button? 🙂

Although National Button Day isn’t until November 16, Mr. Cornelius and the rest of us here decided we wanted to celebrate it a little early.

That’s because we love a particularly charming poem by Penny Parker Klostermann in the Poetry Friday Anthology for Celebrations (Pomelo Books, 2015).

Most of you probably know that Penny just recently published her first picture book — There Was an Old Dragon Who Swallowed a Knight (Random House, 2015), that showcased her enviable chops as a clever wordsmith and humorist — but did you know that “Buttons” was not only Penny’s first published poem, but her first published work for children?

We’re happy to celebrate this wonderful milestone with a batch of peanut butter button cookies and sugar button cupcakes. Please help yourself, enjoy Penny’s poem and backstory, then leave your PF links with Mr. Linky.

🎉 CONGRATULATIONS, PENNY!🎈

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