This photo of the view across from our house was taken awhile ago…thanks to Winter Storm Grayson, there’s now 16 inches more snow than there had been, which I suppose underscores the whole point of this haiku!
For more poetry links, please head over to Reading to the Core, where Catherine Flynn is hosting Poetry Friday today with a spotlight on the new children’s poetry book, Can I Touch Your Hair? Poems of Race, Mistakes, and Friendship (Carolrhoda Books) by two friends of mine, Charles Waters and Irene Latham.
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Purchasing personalized signed copies ONLINE? Yes, it’s true!
In case you haven’t heard, there’s a new way to purchase personalized signed copies of not only Flashlight Night, but ANY of my books or anthologies I’ve been part of!
I’ve teamed up with the good folks MainStreet BookEnds in Warner, NH to present an option for people who would love to have a signed copy of one of my books but don’t live anywhere near me. MainStreet BookEnds has ALL but one of my books available for ordering…and the best part is, you can get them personalized!
Just log onto my website and click the cover of whichever book you want, and they will get it to me to sign and send it off to you. Try doing that with those big online booksellers! (Plus, you’ll be helping to support local book-selling – and wouldn’t that make you feel good?)
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- NY Public Library’s “100 Best Book for Kids 2017!”
- KIRKUS Starred review!
- Amazon “Best Books of the Month,” Sept. 2017!
Thank you so much to all who have enjoyed “Flashlight Night” enough to write about it:
- “Delicious language…ingenious metamorphoses” – Kirkus Reviews (starred)
- “The verse is incantatory…a simple idea that’s engagingly executed” – School Library Journal
- An old fashioned, rip-roaring imaginary adventure” – The Horn Book
- “[Esenwine and Koehler] don’t just lobby for children to read—they show how readers play” – Publisher’s Weekly
- “Imaginative…fantastical” – Booklist
- “Favorably recalls Where the Wild Things Are” – Shelf Awareness
- “Readers, you must share ‘Flashlight Night’…as often as you can” – Margie Myers-Culver, Librarian’s Quest
- “Begs to be read over and over” – Michelle Knott, Mrs. Knott’s Book Nook/Goodreads
- “A poetic and engaging journey” – Cynthia Alaniz, Librarian In Cute Shoes
- “Illuminates the power of imagination” – Kellee Moye, Unleashing Readers
- “Readers will be inspired to…create their own journey” – Alyson Beecher, Kidlit Frenzy
- “Beautiful words and stunning illustrations” – Jason Lewis, 5th grade teacher at Tyngsboro Elementary School, Tyngsboro, MA
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Your haiku nails it, Matt. We have less snow, but bitter, brutal cold. Bundle up and keep writing!
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Thanks, Jane – we have both snow AND sub-zero cold now. In fact, we’ve had so much snow this season, it looks like the middle of winter, not two weeks into it.
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Interesting haiku, Matt. I like it, and it challenges me. The only solace I can offer re: your weather is that snow is a good insulator. Keep warm up there!
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With -35 wind chills (which they are anticipating tomorrow), I’m looking forward to next week when the temps are expected to rise to freezing. (How ridiculous is that??)
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I can imagine how cold it is by the description of the sight in your poem, Matt. Stay warm. I think I captured this poem for the winter gallery. I like the fact that it is colorless.
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Thanks, Carol – you’re welcome to use this, if you’d like!
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It is amazing to me how any creature can survive this weather! Hopefully the deer and hare are curled up out of the wind. Stay warm, Matt!
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Thanks, Catherine!
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I was just wondering how the deer are faring in this frigid cold with such a deep snow cover. It’s pretty brutal but at least it can inspire poetry. Keep on writing–with fingerless gloves if necessary!
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I’ve actually come across two separate stories, one about a deer getting stuck in snow up to his shoulders, and one about a MOOSE, which also was stuck…that’s what I call a pretty tough winter.
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Everybody — human and otherwise — seems to be hunkering down to survive the bitter cold!
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Brrrrrrrr. It’s cold out there, Matt! I was watching the birds and squirrels frantically searching for food as the wind howls and swirls the snow around. I can’t keep the feeders filled! Survival of the fittest this winter.
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I’m definitely looking forward to this coming week’s thaw – should be up to 40 by Wed.!
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“dead of winter” for sure, and I imagine many animals have struggled like people there, too. Hoping for higher temperatures for you and everyone in the east, Matt!
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Thanks, Linda – higher temps are on the way. 30 tomorrow, and hopefully 40 by Wed.!
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Oh that dead of winter….it’s onlly because of that dead that spring feels so good. Kind of like stopping hammering one’s head to feel better from not getting knocked in the head! Happy New Year. I love seeing your enthusiasm across social media.
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Thank you so much, Linda!
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I think we got about 18″, Matt. It’s really hard to gauge because the wind left incredibly high drifts. Tomorrow back into the 30s. Hallelujah! (But I wonder where the melting snow will go if everything under it is frozen solid? That’s a problem for next week…)
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Thanks, Diane. Considering WMUR was saying 5-10″ for our area, 16 was quite a shock. …and I have to admit, telling people I’m looking forward to getting UP to freezing definitely sounds odd!
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Brrr..stay warm and toasty while digging out! That haiku nails the cold we’ve had the past few weeks.
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Thanks, Kay – hoping to thaw out this week. We’ll see!
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Nice rhyme.
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Thanks, Brenda!
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“belies life; deer, hare unaware” lovely line Matt and poem too. Ah to be in the deep, deep cold unaware, must take some strong zen concentration. Keep warm, thanks Matt!
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Thank you, Michelle!
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