Poetry Friday: A 5-year-old ‘Pick Five” poetry challenge, rediscovered!

I hadn’t planned on sharing a five-year-old poem, but sometimes the poem asks to be shared – and I have no choice but to oblige.

Case in point: I had been searching for springtime poems a week or so ago and came upon the one I’m sharing today. I had written it back in August 2018, but when I searched my blog I could find no sign I’d ever shared it here. Likely, because I’d originally written it as a prompt on a friend’s blog.

That friend is Irene Latham, and in August 2018 she had published a post encouraging her readers to pick five words from a poster filled with verbs, and write a poem using all five. Knowing that just because a word might be a verb doesn’t necessarily mean that word is always a verb (does “march” mean to step in time, or is it a group of people stepping together? Or is it a month??)

So I took on her challenge and was quite happy with the result; granted, it’s four short lines, but I packed as much internal rhyme as I could into those four lines!

.
March sweeps in
to slowly wring
the melt of winter;
welcome, Spring.

– © 2018 Matt F. Esenwine, all rights reserved

The other thing I’m proud of is that considering the poem only uses 12 words, that means that nearly half the poem consists of words I needed to include for the challenge! I hope you like it. Since it’s Mother’s Day weekend, Robyn Hood Black is hosting a special Poetry Friday roundup today at Life on the Deckle Ege with a haiku she wrote for her grandchild, Sawyer.

.

---

I’m still booking author visits for the 2023 Spring Semester (and Fall 2023, too)!

I love chatting with elementary and middle school classes about writing: why poetry is fun to read and write, the importance of revision, and how one’s imagination and creativity can lead to a fantastic career! My presentations are tailored to fit the needs of the classes and students’ ages. One day I might be sharing details of how a picture book like Flashlight Night (Astra Young Readers, 2017) was created; the next, I’ll be discussing dinosaur breath or origami sea turtles!

Student presentations include:

• The Making of a Picture Book
• How a Child Saved a Book
• “Once Upon Another Time”
• The Most Imporant Thing about Writing Poetry
• “I Am Today”
• “A Beginner’s Guide to Being Human”
• “Everybody Counts: Counting to 10 in Twelve Languages”

Adult presentations include:

• The Making of a Picture Book
• The Most Important Thing about Writing Poetry
• Free Yourself with Free Verse
• Tight Language, Loose Narratives: Crafting a Non-Traditional Picture Book

Learn more at MattForrest.com!

If you or someone you know might be interested in having me visit your school, library, or other organization, please email me
at matt(at)mattforrest(dot)com!

=====================================================

AVAILABLE EVERYWHERE:
.
EVERYBODY COUNTS!
(The Little Fig, LLC, 2023)

Order a PERSONALLY-SIGNED copy of this or or ANY of my books
from my local independent bookstore!

=====================================================

I’m very happy to be part of the BOOKROO family!

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!

=====================================================

Ordering personalized signed copies online? Oh, yes, you can!

You can purchase personally-signed copies of Flashlight Night, (Astra Young Readers, 2017), Don’t Ask a Dinosaur (Pow! Kids Books, 2018), and nearly EVERY book or anthology I’ve been part of!

Click here to view all my books and to order!

Just click the cover of whichever book you want and send a comment to the good folks at MainStreet BookEnds in Warner, NH requesting my signature and to whom I should make it out. (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?)

======================================================

Thank you to everyone for your support!

FLASHLIGHT NIGHT:

• 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!

DON’T ASK A DINOSAUR:

• “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

======================================================

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!

To keep abreast of all my posts, please consider subscribing via the links up there on the right!  (I usually only post once or twice a week – usually Tues. and Fri. – so you won’t be inundated with emails every day) . Also feel free to visit my voiceover website HERE, and you can also follow me via Twitter , Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and SoundCloud!

Poetry Friday: A “Springsations Gallery” preview with Carol Varsalona

I hope you’ve enjoyed my recent National Poetry Month reviews and interviews with Laura Shovan and Bob Schechter – and I’ve got ONE MORE on the way, too, next week, with my friend Ryan G. Van Cleave: author, poet, editor, and root beer connoisseur!

Today, though, I wanted to share a poem I wrote for Carol Varsalona’s “Springsations Gallery of Artistic Expressions,” an upcoming feature she will publish on her blog, Beyond Literacy Link.

Carol has asked me a couple of weeks ago if I had any spring-related poems I might be willing to share, and as I looked through some of my April/May photos I happened upon the one that inspired me to write the poem I ultimately sent her. You can view the poem along with a few others at her blog. I hope you like it! (Thank you, Carol!)

For today’s complete Poetry Friday roundup, head on over to Karen Edmisten’s blog where she is celebrating National Poetry Month with the Ted Kooser poem, “A Spiral Notebook.”

.

---

I’m still booking author visits for the 2023 Spring Semester (and Fall 2023, too)!

I love chatting with elementary and middle school classes about writing: why poetry is fun to read and write, the importance of revision, and how one’s imagination and creativity can lead to a fantastic career! My presentations are tailored to fit the needs of the classes and students’ ages. One day I might be sharing details of how a picture book like Flashlight Night (Astra Young Readers, 2017) was created; the next, I’ll be discussing dinosaur breath or origami sea turtles!

Student presentations include:

• The Making of a Picture Book
• How a Child Saved a Book
• “Once Upon Another Time”
• The Most Imporant Thing about Writing Poetry
• “I Am Today”
• “A Beginner’s Guide to Being Human”
• “Everybody Counts: Counting to 10 in Twelve Languages”

Adult presentations include:

• The Making of a Picture Book
• The Most Important Thing about Writing Poetry
• Free Yourself with Free Verse
• Tight Language, Loose Narratives: Crafting a Non-Traditional Picture Book

Learn more at MattForrest.com!

If you or someone you know might be interested in having me visit your school, library, or other organization, please email me
at matt(at)mattforrest(dot)com!

=====================================================

AVAILABLE EVERYWHERE:
.
EVERYBODY COUNTS!
(The Little Fig, LLC, 2023)

Order a PERSONALLY-SIGNED copy of this or or ANY of my books
from my local independent bookstore!

=====================================================

I’m very happy to be part of the BOOKROO family!

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!

=====================================================

Ordering personalized signed copies online? Oh, yes, you can!

You can purchase personally-signed copies of Flashlight Night, (Astra Young Readers, 2017), Don’t Ask a Dinosaur (Pow! Kids Books, 2018), and nearly EVERY book or anthology I’ve been part of!

Click here to view all my books and to order!

Just click the cover of whichever book you want and send a comment to the good folks at MainStreet BookEnds in Warner, NH requesting my signature and to whom I should make it out. (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?)

======================================================

Thank you to everyone for your support!

FLASHLIGHT NIGHT:

• 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!

DON’T ASK A DINOSAUR:

• “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

======================================================

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!

To keep abreast of all my posts, please consider subscribing via the links up there on the right!  (I usually only post once or twice a week – usually Tues. and Fri. – so you won’t be inundated with emails every day) . Also feel free to visit my voiceover website HERE, and you can also follow me via Twitter , Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and SoundCloud!

Poetry Friday: Spring mountain haiku (Happy Spring!)

This post was originally published four years ago on March 22, 2019. Wow, everything pre-Covid seems like ancient history, doesn’t it? But since New Hampshire is finally melting away the winter snow and ice and we’re actually starting to see real ground (I saw the first butterfly of the season two days ago!), I thought it was apropos to share this again. Hope you like it! And for all of today’s poetry and links, head over to (A)nother Year of Reading, where Mary Lee is hosting the Poetry Friday roundup with a Poetic Quadfecta! =============================================================

(click to enlarge)

REMINDER:  You have less than one week to enter my drawing for a FREE copy of Laura Purdie Salas’ new book, In the Middle of the Night: Poems from a Wide-Awake House (Wordsong, 2019)! This children’s poetry collection imagines what the inanimate objects inside a home are doing after the lights go out…and between neckties and hair combs and cap-less markers, the house is a much busier place than one might expect. So check out my blog post featuring Laura (well, actually, it’s an interview with Laura’s inanimate objects!), and leave a comment to be entered in the drawing. =========================================================

AVAILABLE EVERYWHERE: EVERYBODY COUNTS! (The Little Fig, LLC, 2023)

Order a PERSONALLY-SIGNED copy of this or or ANY of my books from my local independent bookstore

    

---

I’m booking author visits for the 2023 winter/spring semester!

I love chatting with elementary and middle school classes about writing: why poetry is fun to read and write, the importance of revision, and how one’s imagination and creativity can lead to a fantastic career! My presentations are tailored to fit the needs of the classes and students’ ages. One day I might be sharing details of how a picture book like Flashlight Night (Astra Young Readers, 2017) was created; the next, I’ll be discussing dinosaur breath or origami sea turtles! . Student presentations include:

• The Making of a Picture Book
• How a Child Saved a Book
• “Once Upon Another Time”
• The Most Imporant Thing about Writing Poetry
• “I Am Today”
• “A Beginner’s Guide to Being Human”
• “Everybody Counts: Counting to 10 in Twelve Languages”

Adult presentations include:

• The Making of a Picture Book
• The Most Important Thing about Writing Poetry
• Free Yourself with Free Verse
• Tight Language, Loose Narratives: Crafting a Non-Traditional Picture Book

Learn more at MattForrest.com!

If you or someone you know might be interested in having me visit your school, library, or other organization, please email me at matt(at)mattforrest(dot)com!

=====================================================

I’m very happy to be part of the BOOKROO family!

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! =====================================================

Ordering personalized signed copies online? Oh, yes, you can!

You can purchase personally-signed copies of Flashlight Night, (Astra Young Readers, 2017), Don’t Ask a Dinosaur (Pow! Kids Books, 2018), and nearly EVERY book or anthology I’ve been part of!

Click here to view all my books and to order!

Just click the cover of whichever book you want and send a comment to the good folks at MainStreet BookEnds in Warner, NH requesting my signature and to whom I should make it out. (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?) ======================================================

Thank you to everyone for your support! FLASHLIGHT NIGHT:

• 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!

DON’T ASK A DINOSAUR:

• “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

======================================================

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! To keep abreast of all my posts, please consider subscribing via the links up there on the right!  (I usually only post once or twice a week – usually Tues. and Fri. – so you won’t be inundated with emails every day) . Also feel free to visit my voiceover website HERE, and you can also follow me via Twitter , Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and SoundCloud!

Poetry Friday: Halloween, campfires, and a BEGINNER’S GUIDE winner!

^{All images©2022 Beaming Books, all rights reserved}

Well, these past two weeks have been quite the whirlwind!

Since my newest book, A Beginner’s Guide to Being Human (Beaming Books, 2022), was officially published back on Oct. 18, I’ve been doing my best trying to keep up with all the well-wishers, reviewers, and influencers who have been sharing the news. Thank you so much, everyone!

In my last few posts I’ve shared links to many of the reviews that bloggers and others have published, but today I wanted to share a couple of new ones that just came out this past week – including an amazing review from The KidLit Mama herself, Elizabeth, who says she loves the real-world examples we include as well as my “Pro-Tips” for being a better human!

(and by the way, many thanks to Elizabeth for also giving my previous picture book, I Am Today (POW! Kids Books, 2022) some love by including it in an Instagram reel she just posted yesterday!)

I’d also like to thank Mrs. BookDragon for her kind words about Beginner’s Guide this past week, as well as the Reading Eagle, who called it an “exceptional book…worthy of repeated readings,” and JustaBXMom who want the book to be normalized as a go-to baby shower gift!

One of the ways I celebrated the book’s birthday was with a special blog post and GIVEAWAY – and I want to congratulate our winner,

FEDERICO EREBIA!

Thank you so much for sharing the news about Beginner’s Guide, my friend, and I hope you enjoy the copy that’s headed your way!

Now, then – the poetry! I was thinking about what I should share today, and I realized Halloween is only a few days from now. What happened to summer?? But indeed, it is almost upon us…
.

Imminent

When clouds hang heavy in the sky
like serpent tails lit by the moon…
when bats and brooms begin to fly,
Halloween will be here soon.

When shadows cloak a curious trail
and night wind croons a mournful tune…
when specters prowl and spirits wail,
Halloween will be here soon!

– © 2022 Matt Forrest Esenwine, all rights reserved
.

^{Happy Halloween from Bob Ross and his Happy Tree!}

Speaking of the holiday, while I never thought of my book Flashlight Night (Astra Young Readers, 2017) as a “Halloween” book, per se, apparently a lot of other folks do!

Over the last few years numerous bloggers and reviewers have been sharing their Halloween picks and I’m simultaneously surprised and humbled to see my book showing up on lists that include titles by folks like Neil Gaiman, Dr. Seuss, Aaron Reynolds, Charles Ghigna, and Patricia Toht, among others.

So, if you’re looking for some Halloween/outdoors/camping/autumn-themed books for your little ones, here are a few suggestions:

•  We Are Teachers: 35 of the Best Halloween Books for Classroom Shelves
• Jennifer Lambert: Favorite Halloween Books
• Dr. Lori Friesen: 10 Best Halloween Books
• Barnes & Noble: 9 Picture Books for Kids with October Birthdays
• Diamond Montessori: Holiday Books, Halloween Edition
• Los Angeles Public Library: Not-so-scary Stories for Halloween
• Raising a Legacy: Glow in the Dark Water / Book recommendation
• Book Scrolling: The Best Children’s Halloween Books
• Santa Clara County Library
• Literacious: Campfire and Flashlight Books
• Bookelicious: Action, Adventure, and Travel

^{Thrilled to be a First Round panelist for the Poetry Category!}

Thank you to everyone who has been reading my books, reading about my books, and sharing the news about my books – I couldn’t do what I do without you! For more poetry, plese head over to my friend Jone Rush MacCulloch’s little home on the web for today’s complete Poetry Friday roundup and a celebration of a new book she contributed a poem to, The Poeming Pigeon!

---

I’m also booking author visits for the 2022-23 school year!

^{Click the graphic for more details!}

I love chatting with elementary and middle school classes about writing: why poetry is fun to read and write, the importance of revision, and how one’s imagination and creativity can lead to a fantastic career!

I tailor my presentations to fit the needs of the classroom. One day I might be sharing details of how a picture book like Flashlight Night (Astra Young Readers, 2017) was created; the next, I’ll be discussing dinosaurs, tree ferns, or origami sea turtles!

Student presentations include:

• The Making of a Picture Book
• How a Child Saved a Book
• “Once Upon Another Time”
• The Most Imporant Thing about Writing Poetry
• “I Am Today”

Adult presentations include:

• The Making of a Picture Book
• Poetry: An Introduction to the Most Important Genre
• The Most Important Thing about Writing Poetry
• Free Yourself with Free Verse
• Tight Language, Loose Narratives: Crafting a Non-Traditional Picture Book

Learn more at my website!

If you or someone you know might be interested in having me visit your school, library, or other organization, please email me
at matt(at)mattforrest(dot)com!

=====================================================

AVAILABLE EVERYWHERE:
A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO BEING HUMAN
(Beaming Books, 2022)

Order a PERSONALLY-SIGNED copy of this or or ANY of my books
from my local independent bookstore!

=====================================================

^{Be sure to check out all the cool new picture books arriving this year from my PB22Peekaboo partners!}

=====================================================

I’m very happy to be part of the BOOKROO family!

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!

======================================================

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.

=====================================================

Ordering personalized signed copies online? Oh, yes, you can!

You can purchase personally-signed copies of Flashlight Night, (Astra Young Readers, 2017), Don’t Ask a Dinosaur (Pow! Kids Books, 2018), and nearly EVERY book or anthology I’ve been part of!

Click here to view all my books and to order!

Just click the cover of whichever book you want and send a comment to the good folks at MainStreet BookEnds in Warner, NH requesting my signature and to whom I should make it out. (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?)

======================================================

Thank you to everyone for your support!

FLASHLIGHT NIGHT:

• 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!

DON’T ASK A DINOSAUR:

• “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

======================================================

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!

To keep abreast of all my posts, please consider subscribing via the links up there on the right!  (I usually only post once or twice a week – usually Tues. and Fri. – so you won’t be inundated with emails every day) . Also feel free to visit my voiceover website HERE, and you can also follow me via Twitter , Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and SoundCloud!

Book review: “S is for Sea Glass”

It’s my last week of vacation, so I thought I’d re-share this post from summer 2014. Since I’m living life oceanside at this moment – with a few pieces of sea glass I’ve found along the shore – I figured this particular post would be quite apropos! 

Jan at BookSeed Studio has today’s complete Poetry Friday roundup, including a couple of original sijo poems and a poetic library just to my south, in Cambridge, MA!

=====================================================

I write poetry in a variety of styles and forms – some rhyming, some free verse. Some structured, some not quite so.

You can therefore imagine how refreshing it was for me to see a children’s poetry collection that offered this same sort of variety – not the cut-and-paste sing-song of simple rhyming verse, nor the page-after-page of non-rhyming, uneven line-length free verse (which can sometimes get heavy for children’s poetry). In the case of Richard Michelson’s S is for Sea Glass: A Beach Alphabet (Sleeping Bear Press, 2014), we’re talking about a smart, well-structured book that carries one theme – poems about the beach – but presents that theme in 26 different ways.

Because a trip to the beach or ocean carries with it so many different moods, sights, and feelings for a child, this book makes good use of poetic forms to highlight those differences. One minute the reader is contemplating the ebb and flow of tides, and the next he or she is chuckling over the author’s query of what, precisely, a mosquito is good for.
…..

H is for Horizon

Where does the sea stop and the sky begin?
Where does the sun rise when the dawn slips in?
Where does the ship sail when its sails disappear?
Is it under the ocean? Is it up in the air?

If I travel the world or stay here on this beach,
The horizon will always be just beyond reach.
But its real as my dreams and it’s always nearby –
That magical line where the sea meets the sky.

– Richard Michelson, reprinted with permission, all rights reserved

.

Doris Ettlinger’s illustrations perfectly match the poems, as they are neither trite nor bold nor ornate…but are simultaneously happy and calm, fun and reflective, cool and warm. The fact that it’s an alphabet book is almost superfluous.

Which, I suppose, is a good thing, as I feel many of the poems – most, in fact, read above the level of a child who would need to learn the alphabet. As a collection of poetry, as a book about the beach, as a book that reflects the wonders, mysteries, and joy of being ocean side…S is for Sea Glass is beautiful. The fact that it’s an alphabet book seems unnecessary.

Here’s another one of my favourites:
…..

R is for Rain

Nobody’s  at the beach today. ‘Most everyone’s complaining.
…..The sky is dark. The clouds are thick. And I, the Rain, am raining.

…..…...Folks let waves splash them head to toe. Do you hear any whining?
……….……….No!
…..…..…..They think it’s fun to get wet when their friend, the sun, is shining.

…..…..…..…..I cool the breeze. And fill the seas. Who’s not a rainbow lover?
…..…..…..…..…..So why, when I come out to play, do they all run for cover?

– Richard Michelson, reprinted with permission, all rights reserved

Like I said, smart, beautiful, relatable  poetry. And it’s poetry that makes children think as much as smile. Hopefully, the next time they go to the beach, some of the images will be fresh in their heads. I know many of the images are fresh in my head – but then again, I’ve been spending all week here by the ocean.

And I think it’s time I did some more refreshing. I hear the surf calling my name…

 

And a huge THANK YOU to everyone who has been part of this journey with me! I couldn’t have made it this far without your support, and I truly appreciate it.

^{Check out all the cool new picture books arriving this year from m PB22Peekaboo partners!}

=====================================================

Be sure to PRE-ORDER my upcoming new creative nonfiction picture book,
A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO BEING HUMAN (Beaming Books, Oct. 2022)!

Order a PERSONALLY-SIGNED copy of my latest picture book, I AM TODAY (POW! Kids Books),
or ANY of my books from my local independent bookstore!

 

=====================================================

I’m now a part of the BOOKROO family!

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!

======================================================

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.

=====================================================

Ordering personalized signed copies online? Oh, yes, you can!

You can purchase personally-signed copies of Flashlight Night, (Astra Young Readers, 2017), Don’t Ask a Dinosaur (Pow! Kids Books, 2018), and nearly EVERY book or anthology I’ve been part of!

Click any of the covers below to order!

^{Available now!}

Just click the cover of whichever book you want and send a comment to the good folks at MainStreet BookEnds in Warner, NH requesting my signature and to whom I should make it out. (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?)

======================================================

Thank you to everyone for your support!

FLASHLIGHT NIGHT:

• 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!

DON’T ASK A DINOSAUR:

• “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

======================================================

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!

To keep abreast of all my posts, please consider subscribing via the links up there on the right!  (I usually only post once or twice a week – usually Tues. and Fri. – so you won’t be inundated with emails every day) . Also feel free to visit my voiceover website HERE, and you can also follow me via Twitter , Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and SoundCloud!

 

 

Poetry Friday: “Spring,” a final #PoetryCUBED offering

^{(click to enlarge)}

Last week, we wrapped up a month’s worth of #PoetryCUBED poems – responses to my unique writing prompt based on the Food Network show, “Chopped” – but I just couldn’t let it end there!

You see, my friend Carol Varsalona, a literacy advocate who participated in the #PoetryCUBED challenge, created a special National Poetry Month “Padlet” for Earth Day titled “Poetrylicious,” and shared a few of my poems. One of them was a new poem I wrote specifically for the challenge, titled “Spring.”

I didn’t actually plan it that way – but as anyone who’s written poetry can attest, poems don’t often turn out the way you expect. I had planned on simply writing a poem about spring, but as I got into it I decided to add the challenge of working within the constraints of #PoetryCUBED, and it turned out quite well, I think!

By the way, in case you don’t know, #PoetryCUBED uses the same basic premise of the TV show, “Chopped!”, where chefs compete against one another by creating dishes with specific ingredients, but with poetry:

• Use the 3 images (“cubed,” get it??) below as inspiration to write a poem.
• The poem can be any form, any number of lines, rhyming or not. 
• A reference (vague or overt) to all three images needs to be included in the poem.

Many thanks, again, to all who participated – I’ll do it again! But that’s not the only giveaway I have for you…

In honor of National Teacher Appreciation Week, I’m giving away TWO copies of any of my books to ONE teacher: one for them, and one for their classroom! If you’d like to enter, just check out my original Twitter post HERE and leave a comment and/or retweet – but don’t wait! The contest will close tonight, May 6, 2022, at 11:59pm and I’ll announce the winner this Monday. Just my way of giving back to all the folks who’ve supported me – as an author and a student!

For today’s complete Poetry Friday roundup, please head over to Jama’s Alphabet Soup, where the wonderful and inimitable Jama Kim Rattigan is hosting the festivities with a special Mother’s Day celebration. (And with Jama, you KNOW there’ll be plenty of refreshments!)

^{Be sure to check out all the cool new picture books arriving this year from my PB22Peekaboo partners!}

=====================================================

Order a PERSONALLY-SIGNED copy of my newest picture book, I AM TODAY (POW! Kids Books),
from my local independent bookstore!

=====================================================

I’m now a part of the BOOKROO family!

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!

======================================================

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.

=====================================================

Ordering personalized signed copies online? Oh, yes, you can!

You can purchase personally-signed copies of Flashlight Night, (Astra Young Readers, 2017), Don’t Ask a Dinosaur (Pow! Kids Books, 2018), and nearly EVERY book or anthology I’ve been part of!

Click any of the covers below to order!

^{Available now!}

Just click the cover of whichever book you want and send a comment to the good folks at MainStreet BookEnds in Warner, NH requesting my signature and to whom I should make it out. (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?)

======================================================

Thank you to everyone for your support!

FLASHLIGHT NIGHT:

• 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!

DON’T ASK A DINOSAUR:

• “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

======================================================

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!

To keep abreast of all my posts, please consider subscribing via the links up there on the right!  (I usually only post once or twice a week – usually Tues. and Fri. – so you won’t be inundated with emails every day) . Also feel free to visit my voiceover website HERE, and you can also follow me via Twitter , Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and SoundCloud!

Poetry Friday: “Spring at Pond Meadow”

This post was originally published six years ago, in the spring of 2016 (where have the years gone??). Although it’s still too early for the geese to return (they’ll probably show up in another week or two), I wanted to dust this off and share it again today because the sooner we start thinking about spring and talking about spring, the sooner spring will get here.

That’s the way it works, right?

======================================================

About a week and a half ago, I shared a short video on my Facebook page, taken behind our house, along our property line. It was simply 10 seconds of a babbling brook, but it’s a quiet little place I like to go and bring the kids to relax and listen.

Today, I’m sharing something from the front of the house!

Actually, it’s right across the street from the front of our house.

On the other side of the road, you see, a hay field and pond are home to a variety of frogs, ducks, snapping turtles, deer, red-winged blackbirds, and a Great blue heron – as well as a family of Canada geese that has been growing the last few years:

(click either image to enlarge)

Five or six years ago, it was one pair of geese. This spring, I counted 5 pairs, most with their own gaggle of goslings, and one lone adult straggler. (Hey, there’s always that one confirmed bachelor in every family, right?)

Spring at Pond Meadow

Goslings follow Mama’s lead,
through tall grass and jewel-weed;
Father watches wily fox
hiding kits from hungry hawks.

– © 2016, Matt Forrest Esenwine, all rights reserved

For the complete Poetry Friday Roundup, head over to The Poem Farm where Amy Ludwig VanDerwater has all of today’s links and poetry!

And by the way, many thanks to everyone who has been picking up copies of my new picture book, I Am Today (POW! Kids Books), and sharing such kind words about it! It’s available wherever books are sold, of course, but if you’d like a PERSONALLY-SIGNED copy, there’s only one place to go – and that’s my local independent bookstore!

^{Be sure to check out all the cool new picture books arriving this year from my PB22Peekaboo partners!}

=====================================================

Order a PERSONALLY-SIGNED copy of my newest picture book
I AM TODAY (POW! Kids Books)
from my local independent bookstore!

=====================================================

I’m now a part of the BOOKROO family!

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!

======================================================

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.

=====================================================

Ordering personalized signed copies online?
Oh, yes, you can!

You can purchase personally-signed copies of Flashlight Night, (Astra Young Readers, 2017), Don’t Ask a Dinosaur (Pow! Kids Books, 2018), and nearly EVERY book or anthology I’ve been part of!

Click any of the covers below to order!

^{Available now!}

Just click the cover of whichever book you want and send a comment to the good folks at MainStreet BookEnds in Warner, NH requesting my signature and to whom I should make it out. (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?)

======================================================

Thank you to everyone for your support!

FLASHLIGHT NIGHT:

• 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!

DON’T ASK A DINOSAUR:

• “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

======================================================

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!

To keep abreast of all my posts, please consider subscribing via the links up there on the right!  (I usually only post once or twice a week – usually Tues. and Fri. – so you won’t be inundated with emails every day) . Also feel free to visit my voiceover website HERE, and you can also follow me via Twitter , Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and SoundCloud!

Poetry Friday: A trip back to my alma mater…AND Poetry Out Loud!

.

Me standing outside Woodruff Hall

Yesterday was a great day.

I was asked to speak to the creative writing class at Castleton University, the school I graduated from way back in 1989, when it was still called Castleton State College.

And the really cool, coincidental thing is…the class was run by the very same professor whom I’d had as a freshman!

More specifically…a professor who began working for the college the same semester I began attending the college! You see, Dr. Florence Keyes was an adjunct who was still working on her PhD at the time, and her class was the first class I ever took at the college.

Little did we know we’d reconnect last fall and it would lead to this day. Funny how life works, isn’t it?

Anyhoo…Dr. Keyes had asked me to talk about poetry, which had been the recent focus of the class, as well as publishing. So I shared some poems as well as insights into the craft, talking about everything from free verse and villanelles to ulteriority and the benefits of specificity.

Oh, yes, we covered an awful lot in an hour and 15 minutes!

One of the poems I shared was this one, published in the TallGrass Writer’s Guild’s Seasons of Change (Outrider Press, 2010):

With this poem in particular, I showed importance of enjambment and internal rhyme as well as what happens to a poem if a few words are edited out; it can change the entire poem. If you don’t believe me, check out the original version HERE and note the words in the last couple of stanzas that were inadvertently removed.

The poem needed those extra words because the entire scene is about The Giving Tree – what happened to the stump 50, 75, 100 years later? Without those words, this poem is about a simple scene in the woods featuring a stump; with those few words, however, the scene becomes something else entirely.

It was also nice to stop into the university’s library and find two of my books! Dr. Keyes teaches a children’s lit course in the fall and has invited me back to chat to that class, so there’s something else I can look forward to!

Speaking of things I’m looking forward to…tonight is the night of the NH State Poetry Out Loud finals, and I’m very honored to be one of the judges.

I’ve been a judge for the state regional finals for a umber of years, but this will be the first time I’ve ever judges the state finals at the statehouse, so I’m really looking forward to it!

If you’re not familiar with Poetry Out Loud, it’s a national recitation competition – and the winning students are truly incredible! I wish there had been something like this when I was in high school.

Students will be reciting poems as varied as “The Charge of Light Brigade” by Alfred Lord Tennyson, “Whenever You See a Tree” by Padma Venkatraman, “Emily Dickinson at the Poetry Slam” by Dan Vera, and my all-time favorite poem, ever: “Ozymandias” by Percy Bysshe Shelley.

It’s a wonderful event and a great cause, so I’m happy and proud to be able to be a part of it every year. (Especially this year, as everything needed to be prerecorded last year due to the pandemic and much of the excitement and energy that comes from a live performance was lost)

Thanks for visiting today! For the entire Poetry Friday roundup, be sure to head on over to Poetry for Children, where Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong are hosting the festivities with a brand-new food anthology!

^{Be sure to check out all the cool new picture books arriving this year from my PB22Peekaboo partners!}

=====================================================

Order a PERSONALLY-SIGNED copy of my newest picture book, I AM TODAY (POW! Kids Books),
from my local independent bookstore!

=====================================================

I’m now a part of the BOOKROO family!

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!

======================================================

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.

=====================================================

Ordering personalized signed copies online? Oh, yes, you can!

You can purchase personally-signed copies of Flashlight Night, (Astra Young Readers, 2017), Don’t Ask a Dinosaur (Pow! Kids Books, 2018), and nearly EVERY book or anthology I’ve been part of!

Click any of the covers below to order!

^{Available now!}

Just click the cover of whichever book you want and send a comment to the good folks at MainStreet BookEnds in Warner, NH requesting my signature and to whom I should make it out. (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?)

======================================================

Thank you to everyone for your support!

FLASHLIGHT NIGHT:

• 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!

DON’T ASK A DINOSAUR:

• “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

======================================================

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!

To keep abreast of all my posts, please consider subscribing via the links up there on the right!  (I usually only post once or twice a week – usually Tues. and Fri. – so you won’t be inundated with emails every day) . Also feel free to visit my voiceover website HERE, and you can also follow me via Twitter , Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and SoundCloud!

Poetry Friday: Dusting off a “January Shoreline”… and gearing up for publication day of I AM TODAY!

Wow.

That’s all I can say, when I realize I’ve written 19 poems in less than a week.

But that’s exactly what happened! I mentioned in last week’s Poetry Friday post that I’d written seven new poems for a new poetry collection I’m putting together…but that number didn’t include the poems I wrote that Friday, or the poems I wrote on Saturday. So the grand total turned out to be 2 revised poems and 17 brand-new ones, written betwen Wed.- Sat.

I’ve been tweaking them a bit and getting submissions ready (I probably won’t send the manuscript out until next week), so for today I thought I’d share a favorite poem of mine that I wrote 6 years ago. Given the time of year and weather outside, I felt it was more than apropos:

^{(click to enlarge)}

We could be looking at wind chills of -20 to -40 in the northern part of the state tomorrow (Sat.) and around -10 where I am…so the shoreline is definitely a place I plan to avoid for the time being. (Remind me why I live here?)

^{I already have half a month’s worth of PB ideas!}

In other news, I Am Today (POW! Kids Books) is still on track to be pubished one Jan 25, just 11 days from now! It’s been delayed 4 times since last year due to supply chain problems, but everything appears good to go at this point.

(Now that we have what appears to be a definite date, I’ve updated what wil hopefully be the final version of the book trailer, in case you’d like a sneak peek, below!)

If you’d like to learn more about the book, my process for writing it, and my approach to the craft of writing in general, I hope you’ll check out some of the wonderful posts that folks have shared as part of the official I Am Today blog tour!

The Blog Tour:

• Nov. 14: Unleashing Readers
• Nov. 29: You May Contribute a Verse
• Nov. 30: Picture Book Spotlight
• Dec. 2: Celebrate Picture Books
• Dec. 3: Beyond Literacy Link
• Dec. 4: Vivian Kirkfield’s “Will Write for Cookies”
• Dec. 7: Writer’s Rumpus
• Dec. 20: Maria C. Marshall’s “Picture Book Buzz”
• Dec. 24: Maria C. Marshall’s “Perfect Picture Book Friday”
• Jan. 4: Future Bookworms (Instagram) / The Momma Spot (blog)

I Am Today (POW! Kids Books) is available for pre-orders everywhere books are sold – but if you order from my local indie bookstore, I can personally-sign ANY of my books and have them in the mail usually within 12-24 hours!

Care for a sneak peek?

(REMINDER: On Feb. 1 my friends at KidLitTV host the official COVER REVEAL of my NEXT picture book, The Beginner’s Guide to Being Human (Beaming Books), which comes out this fall.)

Mary Lee Hahn is hosting today’s Poetry Friday roundup with a poem dedicated to one of her favorite fruits (and min): the beautiful pomegranate. I hope you’ll check it out!

=====================================================

=====================================================

I’m now a part of the BOOKROO family!

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!

======================================================

I’d love to visit with you or your child!
Learn more by clicking the graphic!

======================================================

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.

=====================================================

Ordering personalized signed copies online? Oh, yes, you can!

You can purchase personally-signed copies of Flashlight Night, (Astra Young Readers, 2017), Don’t Ask a Dinosaur (Pow! Kids Books, 2018), and nearly EVERY book or anthology I’ve been part of!

Click any of the covers below to order!

^{Arriving Jan. 25, 2022! Pre-order now!}

Just click the cover of whichever book you want and send a comment to the good folks at MainStreet BookEnds in Warner, NH requesting my signature and to whom I should make it out. (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?)

======================================================

Thank you to everyone for your support!

FLASHLIGHT NIGHT:

• 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!

DON’T ASK A DINOSAUR:

• “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

======================================================

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!

To keep abreast of all my posts, please consider subscribing via the links up there on the right!  (I usually only post once or twice a week – usually Tues. and Fri. – so you won’t be inundated with emails every day) . Also feel free to visit my voiceover website HERE, and you can also follow me via Twitter , Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and SoundCloud!

Poetry Friday: A National Flashlight Day WINNER – and a Merry Christmas!

We celebrated National Flashlight Day just a few days ago on Dec. 21 – the winter solstice, naturally – and I offered a free, personally-signed copy of my picture book Flashlight Night (Astra Young Readers, 2017) as a giveaway.

So congratulations to the winner: JILANNE HOFFMAN!!

Many thanks to everyone who entered – and a big thank you as well to Maria Marshall, who is featuring my upcoming picture book, I Am Today (POW! Kids Books, 2022) as part of her “Perfect Picture Book Friday” feature at her blog today.

I’m thrilled to read maria’s post because this follows on the heels of her post fro earlier this week, when she shared an interview with both illustrator Patricia Pessoa and me at her blog, the Picture Book Buzz.

The complete list:

• Nov. 14: Unleashing Readers
• Nov. 29: You May Contribute a Verse
• Nov. 30: Picture Book Spotlight
• Dec. 2: Celebrate Picture Books
• Dec. 3: Beyond Literacy Link
• Dec. 4: Vivian Kirkfield’s “Will Write for Cookies”
• Dec. 7: Writer’s Rumpus
• Dec. 20: Maria C. Marshall’s “Picture Book Buzz”
• Dec. 24: Maria C. Marshall’s “Perfect Picture Book Friday”
• Week of Dec. 27: Future Bookworms (Instagram) / The Momma Spot (blog)

I Am Today (POW! Kids Books) is available for pre-orders everywhere books are sold – but if you order from my local indie bookstore, I can personally-sign ANY of my books and have them in the mail usually within 12-24 hours!

My friend Buffy Silverman is hosting the Poetry Friday roundup – so head on over for all of today’s links and fun. I hope you have a wonderful holiday season, no matter what holiday you celebrate…and for my fellow Christians and others who celebrate it, I wish you a happy, Merry Christmas!

^{Click to enlarge}

=====================================================

=====================================================

I’m now a part of the BOOKROO family!

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!

======================================================

I’d love to visit with you or your child!
Learn more by clicking the graphic!

======================================================

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.

=====================================================

Ordering personalized signed copies online? Oh, yes, you can!

You can purchase personally-signed copies of Flashlight Night, (Astra Young Readers, 2017), Don’t Ask a Dinosaur (Pow! Kids Books, 2018), and nearly EVERY book or anthology I’ve been part of!

Click any of the covers below to order!

^{rriving Nov. 30, 2021! Pre-order now!}