children’s poetry

friday feast: fishing for cookies

~ jama ~ 49 Comments
Newton and me at Grandma’s house.

 

OH PLEASE TAKE ME FISHING!
by Jack Prelutsky

“Oh please take me fishing, oh please, pretty please,”
insisted my sister the pest.
She drives me bananas when she’s at her worst,
she bugs me when she’s at her best.

She wouldn’t give up, so I’ve got her along,
but I’ve not decided her fate.
Maybe I’ll patiently teach her to fish —
maybe I’ll use her for bait!

~ from A Pizza the Size of the Sun (Greenwillow Books, 1996).

* * *

Unlike the sister in Prelutsky’s poem, I was never a pest (*cough*), but the narrator sounds very familiar.

While my brother and Dad went fishing, I stayed home and played with my Ruthy doll and read Madeline’s Rescue. When it was time to take a picture of the day’s catch, I was only too happy to oblige. Even though I didn’t go fishing, this is still my favorite childhood picture. It hangs in our den and makes me very happy.

Newton and I spent a lot of time together growing up because we were latchkey kids. During the summer we rode our bicycles all over, bought fuzzy chicks at the carnival, tried to sell the macadamia nuts from my grandma’s tree, played marbles and ate hamburgers at Dairy Queen.

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friday feast: greg pincus dishes on the late bird

~ jama ~ 49 Comments

“The Late Bird”
by Greg Pincus

The early bird gets the worm
All slime and muck and dirt,
But here’s what they don’t tell you, friend …
The Late Bird gets dessert.

***

Look! Up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s . . .It’s . . .

Um, he should be here any minute. Greg may be just a tad late. This sometimes happens when you’re faster than a speeding cannoli, more powerful than a rum baba, able to leap tall croquembouches in a single bound.

Hey, I don’t mind waiting. When it comes to dessert, Greg Pincus and I are totally simpatico. Time stands still for tiramisu and tarte tatin. Because he writes a lot of foodie poems, he’s totally worth waiting for.☺

As soon as he arrives, we’ll chat about his new E-book, The Late Bird, which contains more than 50 funny, quirky, smirky poems, and then Chef Greg will serve up three mouthwatering verses and a favorite dessert recipe. I’ve always believed that behind every great author/poet/writer there is great food. If you’ve always wanted to know what inspires Pincus’s pastry poetry, you’ve come to the right place. He’ll take the lid off his chocolate sauce and reveal just what keeps his creative juices bubbling.

So, brace yourselves. There will be drooling. Divine decadence. Nuts and whipped cream. Even a little flaky flirtation.

Oh look, here he is now (with a good reason for being late)!

*trumpet flourish*

Friends, poets, dessert lovers, hand me your plates!

I give you Greg Pincus, the Late Bard who wrote every word of The Late Bird!

***

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2012 Poetry Potluck Archive

~ jama ~ 9 Comments

COMPLETE POTLUCK MENU

1. April Pulley Sayre:  “Vegetable Poetry,” “U.S. 31 Thoughts,” Waldorf Salad

2. Mary Quattlebaum:  “Recipe for a Party,” Pirate Pie

3. Helen Frost:  “Awake,” Grandma Viney’s Oatmeal Bread

4. Linda Ashman:  “Catastrophic Coco,” Orzo with Spinach, Feta and Olives

5. Gail Gerwin:  “With or Without Rice, A Kitchen Ballet,” Cele Stern Fishman’s Stuffed Cabbage

6. Martha Calderaro:  “Special Delivery,” Blueberry Muffins

7. Kathi Appelt:  “Pecan Pie,” Southern Pecan Pie

8. Robyn Hood Black:  “Spooky Brew in Black and White,” Oatmeal Jam(a) Bars

9. Charles Waters:  “Santa Fe Chili,” Santa Fe Black Bean Chili

10. Adele Kenny:  “Chosen Ghosts,” Staffordshire Irish Stew

11. Linda Baie:  “Grandmother’s Biscuits,” Country-Fresh Biscuits

12. Lesa Medley:  “The Winds of Change,” Asparagus Pasta

13. Leslie Muir:  “Witch’s Jambalaya,” Witch’s Jambalaya

14. Margarita Engle:  “Treasure,” Batido (Mango Smoothie)

15. Sondra Gash:  “Rugelah, 5 a.m.,” Apricot Rugelah

16. Doraine Bennett:  “The Lump in My Throat,” Easy Quiche

17. Janet Wong:  “Grandmother’s Almond Cookies”

18. Jill Corcoran:  “Dare to Dream,” Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

19. Lill Pluta:  “Lillian’s Pocket,” Pita Pocket Sandwiches

20. Heidi Bee Roemer:  “The Skater,” Vegetarian Lentil Soup

21. Lee Wardlaw:  “A Catku,” Kitty Litter Cake

****

♥ A permanent link to this menu can be found in the blog’s sidebar under “Archival Lists”

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Copyright © 2012 Jama Rattigan of Jama’s Alphabet Soup. All rights reserved.

jill corcoran: dreaming of big things . . . and cupcakes!

~ jama ~ 28 Comments

#19 in the Poetry Potluck Series, celebrating National Poetry Month 2012.

Jill Corcoran wears many hats in the world of children’s books — she’s an award-winning author, poet, literary agent and editor who’s creating a new series of poetry anthologies for Kane Miller Books.

You may already know that the first anthology, Dare to Dream . . . Change the World, will be released this Fall, and I’m especially happy because it includes the work of many previous Poetry Potluck noshers, like Jane Yolen, Joyce Sidman, J. Patrick Lewis, Marilyn Singer, Lee Bennett Hopkins, Elaine Magliaro, Tracie Vaughn Zimmer, Rebecca Kai Dotlich, Laura Purdie Salas, Kelly R. Fineman, and of course, Janet Wong, who was just here yesterday.  How can you go wrong with a line-up like that?

Since I first “met” Jill online years ago through Poetry Friday, when she shared a touching poem inspired by her sister, it’s nice that for her first visit to Alphabet Soup she’s sharing a poem that just happens to be the title poem from the new anthology, which is fully illustrated by J Beth Jepson. She’s also brought a special recipe that she enjoys making with her daughter. (Those who know me, know that I get a tad ecstatic at the mention of cupcakes.)  If you need me, I’ll be drooling over by the dessert table.

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leslie muir, my cajun queen

~ jama ~ 41 Comments

#14 in the Poetry Potluck Series, celebrating National Poetry Month 2012.

Who dat? My beb Leslie Muir!

Choooh, she cute, no?

Laissez les bon temps rouler!

Leave it to Leslie, one of my favorite picture book authors, to two-step into our little shindig and kick it up three, four, ten thousand notches. No surprise, dis hot mama peppery poet is always cookin’. When she’s not baking her famous bread or assembling yet another doughnut cake, she’s tossing together a bunch of tasty, chewy, spicy words and making new stories. We don’t call her “Bakery Babe” for nothing.

Cafe du Monde beignets via Chuck Yaeger

Remember when she had those mice baking a birthday cake in the middle of the night? What about that grumpy hedgehog sucking down his celery soup and shaking his maracas with his neighbor Paprika? Maybe you prefer sinking your fangs into something juicy or chomping on crispy beetles? Whatever your pleasure, Leslie knows how to serve it up!

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