Poetry Friday: 2018 Progressive Poem audio and “Dinosaur” winners!

Well, would you take a look at that calendar!

Ah, yes…May 4th. And although Star Wars has nothing to do with poetry, dinosaurs, or flashlights, it has everything to do with my Geek roots (note the capitalization) and my love of science fiction – so I couldn’t let the day go by without wishing you salutations of the season. (And yes, I’m looking forward to the Ron Howard-directed “Solo,” due in theatres this year!)

Now, then, where where we? Oh, yes…

The 2018 Kidlitosphere Progressive Poem!

A little seed’s adventure is complete…the 2018 Progressive Poem has wrapped up! Each day over the course of April (National Poetry Month), 30 different writers/bloggers added a line to the poem, and early this week, it all came to an end.

Here’s my annual recorded version of the poem, followed by the text so you can follow along, if you’d like…

Sorry about that giant cranium, by the way – I have no control over the size of the photo! (But it’s a reasonable facsimile of the real thing, in case you’re wondering)

Poet’s Jasmine, Blooming Lovely

Nestled in her cozy bed, a seed stretched.
Oh, what wonderful dreams she’d had!

Blooming in midnight moonlight, dancing with
the pulse of a thousand stars, sweet Jasmine
invented a game.

“Moon?” she called across warm honeyed air.
“I’m sad you’re alone; come join Owl and me.
We’re feasting on stardrops, we’ll share them with you.”

“Come find me,” Moon called, hiding behind a cloud.

Secure in gentle talons’ embrace, Jasmine rose
and set. She split, twining up Owl’s toes, pale
moonbeams sliding in between, Whoosh, Jasmine goes.
Owl flew Jasmine between clouds and moon to Lee’s party!
Moon, that wily bright balloon, was NOT alone.
……………………………………………………Jas grinned,

………………………………………………………….stretched,

………………………………………………………………..reached,

……………………………………………………………………..wrapped

…………………………………………………………………….a new,

…………………………………………..     around ………tender
…………………………………………………………rootlet

a trellis Sky held out to her, made of braided wind and song.
Her green melody line twisted and clung.

Because she was twining poet’s jasmine, she
wiggled a wink back at Moon, and began her poem.
Her whispered words floated on a puff of wind,
filled with light and starsong. “Revelers, lean in –
let’s add to this merriment a game that grows
wordgifts for Lee. He’s a man who knows
selection, collection, and wisely advising
these dreamers, word-weavers, and friends.”

Jas enfolded Moon-Sky-Owl into the cup of her petals,
lifted new greens to the warming rays of spring. Sun
smeared the horizon with colour, as Jasmine stretched.
She felt powerful. She felt fresh. She bloomed and took a breath
and filled the earth with a fragrance all her own.
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To see how the poem came to be, check out the following posts:

April
1 Liz at Elizabeth Steinglass
2 Jane at Raincity Librarian
3 Laura at Writing the World for Kids
4 Michelle at Today’s Little Ditty
5 Jan at bookseedstudio
6 Irene at Live Your Poem
7 Linda at TeacherDance
8 Janet F. at LiveYour Poem
9 Ramona at Pleasures from the Page
10 Matt at Radio, Rhythm and Rhyme
11 Brenda at Friendly Fairy Tales
12 Carol at Beyond LiteracyLink
13 Linda at A Word Edgewise
14 Heidi at my juicy little universe
15 Donna at Mainely Write
16 Sarah at Sarah Grace Tuttle
17 Ruth at There is no such thing as a Godforsaken town
18 Christie at Wonderingand Wandering
19 Michelle at Michelle Kogan
20 Linda at Write Time
21 Robyn at Life on the Deckle Edge
22 Tabatha at The Opposite of Indifference
23 Amy at The Poem Farm
24 Mary Lee at A Year of Reading
25 Kiesha at Whispers from the Ridge
26 Renee at No Water River
27 Buffy at Buffy’s Blog
28 Kat at Kat’sWhiskers
29 April at Teaching Authors
30 Doraine at Dori Reads

Care to read Progressive Poems from past years? Click HERE!

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WINNERS, we have WINNERS!

I have TWO names to announce today – each of whom has won a personally-signed copy of Don’t Ask a Dinosaur (Pow! Kids Books)!

One person was selected at random for sharing the news about the book’s release; out of all the folks who commented on the original Book Birthday blog post, shared it, Tweeted about it, etc., only one name could be chosen…and that was…

KIMBERLY HUTMACHER!!

Congratulations, Kimberly – and thank you so much for your support!

Our second winner took advantage of a writing challenge I call “Poetry…Cubed!” If  you’ve ever seen “Chopped!” on The Food Network, this is the same premise, applied to poetry:

• Use 3 images as inspiration to write a poem.
  .
• Include a reference to all three images in the poem. 
  .
• Email your poem to me so I can share them throughout the month. Out of all poems submitted, one writer is chosen at random! And that winner is…

JOYCE RAY!!

Congratulations, Joyce, and thanks for participating! As I always remind folks, this little poetry contest is about participation, not perfection – so please continue to #WriteLikeNoOneIsReading!

My friend Brenda Davis Harsham is hosting this week’s Poetry Friday roundup at her blog, Friendly Fairy Tales – where she is sharing a springtime haiku in addition to all of today’s poetry links.

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“DON’T ASK A DINOSAUR” is now available everywhere!

This is going to be another busy weekend, with TWO APPEARANCES in Massachusetts tomorrow:

• Sat., May 5, 10am: Barnes & Noble, Burlington, MA, Don’t Ask a Dinosaur and Flashlight Night reading/signing
• Sat., May 5, 1pm:  Barnes & Noble, Nashua, NH, Don’t Ask a Dinosaur and Flashlight Night reading/signing
• Sat., May 12, 11am:  Gibson’s Bookstore, Concord, NH, Don’t Ask a Dinosaur and School People reading/signing
• Wed., May 15, 12pm: Concord Hospital Gift Shop, Concord, NH, Don’t Ask a Dinosaur and School People signing
• Sat., May 19, 11:30am-3pm: Barnes & Noble, Salem, NH, National Storytime at 11am, followed by Don’t Ask a Dinosaur and School People reading/signing
• Sat., June 2, 1-3pm: Books-A-Million, Concord, NH, Don’t Ask a Dinosaur and School People reading/signing

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The Dinosaur Tour blog tour continues all month and into May! My thanks to all these bloggers for their support:

April 6:       Michelle H. Barnes (Interview w/month-long writing prompt & GIVEAWAY!)
April 8:       Kate Narita (Book trailer & activity sheet spotlight)
April 11:     Deborah Kalb (Interview w/Matt & Deb)
April 13:     Yours Truly! (Interview w/illustrator Louie Chin)
April 16:     KidLit Exchange (Blog post re: process of illustration)
April 17:     Momma’s Bacon (DAAD review)
April 17:     Yours Truly! (DAAD book birthday news AND GIVEAWAY!)
April 18:     Bonnie Ferrante (DAAD review)
April 19:     KidLit Exchange (DAAD review)
April 19:     Brenda Davis Harsham (DAAD micro review)
April 25:     Bonnie Ferrante (Interview w/Matt & Deb)
May 2:        Unleashing Readers (DAAD review)
May 30:      Bookseedstudio (DAAD review/interview) 

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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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Thank you so much to all the librarians, bloggers, and parents who are still discovering “Flashlight Night!” 

• NY Public Library’s “100 Best Book for Kids 2017” AND “Staff Pick!”
• KIRKUS Starred review!
• Amazon “Best Books of the Month,” Sept. 2017!
• “Best Reads of 2017,” Unleashing Readers

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