This past Tuesday, we celebrated the book birthday of Night Wishes (Eerdmans), one of the late Lee Bennett Hopkins’ final children’s poetry anthologies. (There are still two more on the way, one in 2021 and one in 2022)
In this beautiful book illustrated by Jen Corace, 13 poets imagine how the inanimate objects in a child’s room room might say good night, in their own particular way. The bed, pillow, rocking horse, night light, and more all wish a little girl well as she drifts off to sleep. In addition to Yours Truly, contributors include:
Rebecca Kai Dotlich
Jude Mandell
Prince Redcloud
Alice Schertle
Joyce Sidman
Eileen Spinelli
Irene Latham
Lee Bennett Hopkins
Nikki Grimes
Deborah Ruddell
Darren Sardelli
Renee LaTulippe
I’m honored that Eerdmans chose to spotlight my poem, “Pillow,” on the book’s JACKET FLAP (how cool is that??) and also included the poem, along with my friend Rebecca Kai Dotlich’s opening poem, “Bed,” on their Eerdlings blog post.
I’d also like to thank Eerdmans for interviewing me their official blog, Eerdlings! I chat about what inspires me, how I approach research, how my past radio experience has helped me write picture books, and more…it was a fun interview, and I’m grateful to the publisher.
Since I shared Rebecca’s and my poems in this this past Tuesday’s post, today I thought I’d share the poem Lee himself wrote:
Somehow, it just seems fitting that the Teddy Bear – a symbol of love, reassurance, and calm – would be the subject my friend and mentor chose to write about. The Dear One, as Lee was known to his friends, would indeed be proud of this book.
GIVEAWAY!!!
Would you like to win a free copy of “Night Wishes,” courtesy of Eerdmans Books for Young Readers? Just leave a comment below or share this post or Tuesday’s post on Facebook or Twitter (and be sure to tag me each time, so I can give you your correct number of entries!) – and I’ll pick one name at random at the end of the month, Sept. 30. The winner will be announced right here on Friday, Oct. 2.
Kirkus calls the book “A gentle, comforting ticket to beddy-bye — and good dreams.” And if you’d like to learn more about the book, the process behind the craft of poetry, and the relationship many of us had with Lee, I hope you’ll visit the recent blog post from Maria Marshall, who interviewed me and six other contributors about our work in general and this book, specifically.
Thanks for visiting! And since it is Poetry Friday, please leave your links below and I’ll round them up, old school-style, throughout the day. And if you’d like to see more of the book, be sure to check out my blog post from this past Tuesday.
Here’s what’s happening around the kidlitosphere for Poetry Friday:
- Robyn Hood Black features some poetic excerpts from the beautiful 1979 book The Illuminated Book of Days
- Laura Purdie Salas shares her haiku from Pomelo Books’ upcoming anthology, A World Full of Poems
- Linda Mitchel has drafted a thought-provoking poem to celebrate Constitution Day (yesterday, Sept. 17)
- What’s it like to be a bird? That’s the question Ruth poses…and answers with a poem from Polish poet Anna Kamienska.
- Michelle Kogan offers up a harvest poem and illustration – but it’s not just crops we need to be harvesting.
- Tonight marks the beginning of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, and Laura Shovan is celebrating with challah, apples, honey – and poetry!
- The morning sounds of a kitchen waking up are spotlighted today at Karen Eastlund’s blog.
- What do artist Jackson Pollock, author Jack Kerouac, actor Ed Harris, and Maine poet Alice N. Persons have in common? Today’s post from Jama Rattigan about starving artists and what drives their creativity.
- At Teacher Dance, Linda is celebrating sticks. Yes, sticks! Why? Because it’s Friday, so let’s play!
- Bridget Magee shares some thoughts on “wee silence” – which defines as ways of dealing with difficult situations – and shares a “one word” poem!.
- The 3rd installment of Carol Varsalona’s Embraceable Summer Gallery has been posted, and it’s just as beautiful and enjoyable to peruse as the first two.
- If you’ve never heard of English poet/author/playwright/broadcaster Roger McGough, you’ll definitely want to check out Alan J. Wright’s post featuring some of Roger’s work!
- Dogs and happiness go hand-in-hand, so Tabatha is sharing two poems today, from Ellen Bass and Nomi Stone.
- Mary Lee Hahn shares a poem by Sara Teasdale about my favorite constellation, Orion!
- Tomorrow, SeptembARRRGH 19, is Talk Like a Pirate Day, and Liz Steinglass is celebrating by “Sailing the Swings!”
- Like most folks watching the West Coast wildfires, Heidi Mordhorst has fires on her mind…and offers up some calming words she discovered. Poem? Prayer? Chant? You decide.
- Followin her visit to the Highlights Foundation for one of their “Unworkshops,” Rose Cappelli offers up a poem about a recent ‘visitor.’
- At The Poem Farm, Amy shares her wonderfully poetic way of dealing with death – through the imagery of a school’s class fish.
- What is the opposite of invisible? Irene answers that question with her Artspeak: RED poem!
- Susan Bruck shares her thoughts on “The Zen of Poetry” – and how she’s finding her way back to the comfort of silence.
- Over at The Apples in My Orchard, autumn is arriving – and with it, a couple of poetic seasonal observations!
- Have you ever heard of a duplex poem? It’s a form created by poet Jericho Brown, and Margaret Simon features one written for her, inspired by a picture of her grandmother.
- Fran Haley is celebrating North Carolina’s official state fruit with an acrostic about the scuppernong grape…and yes, you read that correctly!
- Finally, Jone MacCulloch is getting ready to host Poetry Friday NEXT week, and is planning a mathematics theme!
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I’m now a part of the BOOKROO family!
You can create an account to add books to wishlists and be notified of special deals and dates…create custom collections…and discover and follow your favorite authors & illustrators!
Find out more about BOOKROO here!
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Did you know that Radio, Rhythm & Rhyme is one of the TOP 20 children’s poetry blogs, according to FEEDSPOT? That’s right – I’m scratching my head, too! FEEDSPOT is an app that allows you to combine all your favorite news feeds, podcasts, YouTube channels, etc. into ONE newsletter. Be sure to check it out!
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I continue adding to my “Wit & Wordplay” videos ! These videos were created for parents and educators (along with their kids) to learn how to write poetry, appreciate it, and have fun with it. From alliteration and iambs to free verse and 
spine poetry, I’m pretty sure there’s something in these videos you’ll find surprising! You can view them all on my YouTube channel, and if you have young kids looking for something to keep busy with, I also have several downloadable activity sheets at my website.
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Coming Spring 2021! Pre-orders are available:
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Ordering personalized signed copies online?
Oh, yes, you can!
You can purchase personalized signed copies of Flashlight Night, (Boyds Mills Press, 2017), Don’t Ask a Dinosaur (Pow! Kids Books, 2018), and nearly ALL of the books or anthologies I’ve been part of!
Just click the cover of whichever book you want and send the good folks at MainStreet BookEnds in Warner, NH a note requesting the signature and to whom I should make it out to. (alternatively, you can log onto my website and do the same thing) They’ll contact me, I’ll stop by and sign it, and then they’ll ship it! (Plus, you’ll be supporting your local bookseller – and won’t that make you feel good?)
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Thank you to everyone for your support!
- NY Public Library’s “100 Best Book for Kids 2017” AND “Staff Pick!”
- KIRKUS Starred review!
- Kansas NEA Reading Circle Recommended Books!
- “Best Reads of 2017,” Unleashing Readers
- Finalist, 2019 New Hampshire Literary Awards
- Positive reviews from Horn Book, School Library Connection, School Library Connection, Booklist, Publisher’s Weekly, and Shelf-Awareness!
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- “Rollicking rhyme!” – Booklist
- “A wild romp!” – Parenting NH Magazine
- “Cute…intriguing…4 out of 5 stars” – Tulsa Book Review
- “Rhythmic…funny and informative” – Unleashing Readers
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Did you like this post? Find something interesting elsewhere in this blog? I really won’t mind at all if you feel compelled to share it with your friends and followers!
Tricia is hosting today’s Poetry Friday roundup at her blog, 
work! Nikki’s books have won a number awards recently that she has been unable to receive in person due to Covid-19…so we figured we’d do do the next-best thing and recognize her career by sharing some of her books and poems here on Poetry Friday.
The annual 
It’s summer, the kids are home from school, and I’m trying to fit vacation, work, and the daunting task of cleaning out my parent’s house all into one month – and not really succeeding! I’m enjoying the season and my time with the family, certainly; just not finding enough time to squeeze everything in. So today I thought I’d dust off another past Poetry Friday post that I really liked. I wrote and posted it for my son back in Sept. 2013 when he was just 3 years old, and even though it’s not the most spectacularly-penned poem, it’s special to me because of the subject. Hope you like it! For all of today’s Poetry Friday links, head over to 
Looking for more poetry? Carol Varsalona at 
Coming July 2, 2019!