Poetry Friday: Wrapping up National Poetry Month with even MORE student poetry!

Well, I thought I was putting a great big red bow on National Poetry Month last week when we celebrated two new children’s poetry anthologies,  Bless the Earth (Convergent/Penguin, 2024) and  Bless our Pets: Poems of Gratitude for our Animal Friends (Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, 2024).

But following a recent school visit to West Fairlee, Vermont for a day of poetry workshops, I figured I should probably extend the poetry month festivities and share some of the poems the students and I crowd-sourced this week!

I had been invited to visit Westshire Elementary School, just over the New Hampshire border, to chat with students about writing, poetry, and my journey as an author. So I shared some of my poems along with the many reasons I love poetry, and then we took 10-15 minutes and crafted our little poems, right there on the spot.

As I’ve mentioned in past posts like this one and this one, I often use what I call the MBOE (Most Boring Object Ever) as a way to start thinking creatively. If something as mundane as a hair tie or a chewed-up eraserless pencil can inspire poetry, then pretty much anything can!

So this time, the 4th & 5th-graders chose a piece of dirt as the MBOE. We brainstormed ideas about what it could be – both literally and figuratively – and then started looking for connections and commonalities. I then did the same thing with the preK, K, and 1st-graders, followed by the 2nd and 3rd-graders – both of whom used a piece of driftwood I had brought with me.

Here’s what we came up with:

Piece of Dirt (4th & 5th)

Ants, worms,
…..dandelions, too –
call it home.
Protecting,
…..feeding,
holding us together
here on Earth.

…..
Driftwood (preK-1st)

^{I need this in my office.}

Dead branch,
fence post,
an island tree,

fishing rod,
weapon –
what might you be?

…..
Driftwood (2nd & 3rd)

A century ago,
I was a home –
chair, shelf,
…..gate
my family –
until the storm.

…..
Didn’t they do a great job? These are based on list poems or “re-name it” poems, whereby the students try to come up with as many different things an object could be – or ways of describing the object – and then using some of those ideas as the basis for their poem.

Not bad for 10-15 minutes of crowd-sourcing, I’d say.

And as many times as I’ve done this with different grades in different classes in different schools – I have yet to ever get stumped and not be able to come up with a half-decent poem. (If you’d be interested in having me visit YOUR school, scroll down for the details!)

Well done, kids!

The REALLY cool thing was that my local indie bookstore, MainStreet BookEnds of Warner, NH, donated 75 copies of I Am Today (POW! Kids Books, 2022) so that EACH STUDENT could take one home with them. Talk about an incredible act of kindness!

If you’d like to see more photos of the event, check out the school’s Facebook post about it. And for today’s complete Poetry Friday roundup, head on over to Buffy Silverman’s blog where she has all the poetry links and fun – including a story about a hognose snake in three acts!

---

~~ 2024 SCHOOL VISIT dates still available! ~~

I still have a few dates still available for author visits for the 2024 spring semester! If you think your school might be interested in having me visit, check out all the presentations I offer, then email me at Matt (at) MattForrest (dot) com!

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 imagination and creativity can lead to fantastic careers! 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 crafting origami sea turtles!

Student presentations include:

• The Making of a Picture Book
• How a Child Saved a Book
• “Once Upon Another Time”
• The Most Important 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!

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

Order PERSONALLY-SIGNED copies of my books
from my local independent bookstore!

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

I’m now on BOOKSHOP!

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

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

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

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, and SoundCloud!

Poetry Friday: More students, more poetry!

Last week, I shared a poem I helped a group of students write, based on the Most Boring Object Ever.

This week, we did it again – with different students and completely different MBOE!

Yesterday I visited the students at Sant Bani School in Sanbornton, New Hampshire and discussed writing, picture book creation, and poetry – starting the day off with a poetry workshop for the 6-8 grades.

As I did at the previous school, I shared various forms and styles of poetry and explained why I love the compact, intense nature of the genre. I then worked with students to brainstorm ideas around something I like to call the MBOE: Most Boring Object Ever.

The way I figure it, if you can write a poem about a chewed-up pencil or a rusted paperclip, you can write a poem about nearly anything – and that’s what we did on Thursday with a used hair tie.

The small, black, circular hair tie was perfect because it’s so plain and simple, it lent itself to all sorts of imaginative descriptions and possibilities. I asked students to “re-name it”, wondering what else this seemingly simple object could possibly be.

Students suggested it could be anything from a stretchy weapon to the entrance to a black hole – all great ideas! So I wrote them all down on an easel and then we looked for connections, weeding out the ones that didn’t seem to fit.

Once that was done, piecing together this “Re-Name It” poem, as I call it, wasn’t very hard at all! We came up with one poem – but by simply moving words around, different poems (and images and feelings) emerged:
.

Black Hair Tie

Into the infinite portal:
black hole reflection.
I am the weapon
of universal chaos.

.

Black hole portal
into infinity, looking glass
of chaos.
I am the universal weapon.

.

A weapon of chaos:
reflection, never-ending,
in a black hole universe

.

Another 15-minute poem, complete. It’s amazing how quickly these come together when students start getting into it! (And remember, if you think you might like to have me visit your school – either in person or virtually – please let me know! Details below…)

Speaking of poetry…

^{THIS SUNDAY: I hope you’ll join me, Nancy Tupper Ling, June Cotner, Padma Venkatraman, and many others as we celebrate the official launch of “Bless the Earth” at Peter Reynolds’ bookstore, The Blue Bunny in Dedham, MA from 2-4pm! (Did I mention there will be COOKIES???)}

Speaking of student poetry – Heidi Morhorst is celebrating Earth Day a wee bit early as she shares some wonderful poems by students at today’s Poetry Friday roundup – so head on over to her blog My Juicy Little Universe for all the poetry links and fun! .

---

.
ALSO: Author Lydia Lukidis stopped by a couple of weeks ago to chat about her new picture book, Dancing through Space – and we have a giveaway!

The link I shared last week was bad, so I’m extending the giveaway by one more week – if you’d like to enter to win a FREE COPY of the book, be sure to check out her interview and leave a comment!

---

~~ 2024 SCHOOL VISIT dates still available! ~~

I still have a few dates still available for author visits for the 2024 spring semester! If you think your school might be interested in having me visit, check out all the presentations I offer, then email me at Matt (at) MattForrest (dot) com!

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 imagination and creativity can lead to fantastic careers! 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 crafting origami sea turtles!

Student presentations include:

• The Making of a Picture Book
• How a Child Saved a Book
• “Once Upon Another Time”
• The Most Important 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 Journey of an Author
• 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!

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

Order PERSONALLY-SIGNED copies of my books
from my local independent bookstore!

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

I’m now on BOOKSHOP!

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

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

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

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, and SoundCloud!

Poetry Friday: Crowd-sourcing a poem with students

Whew, what a week!

I spent time yesterday at Newmarket (NH) Elementary School doing a day-long series of presentations about my books, writing, and creativity.

The kids all seemed attentive and engaged, so I’m guessing they must’ve enjoyed it!

But that’s not the only reason I’ve been busy. I spent nearly $900 replacing brakes and sundry parts on our car two days before that; took in my 10-year-old’s spring concert Tue. night; and last night joined two local artisans to give a short talk at our local library about my journey as a professional creator to fellow townspeople.

Oh, and I’m in the process of trying to figure out how to fit my newly-employed 14-year-old’s work schedule into my schedule! Yikes.

I had a lot of fun yesterday, though – as I did a few weeks ago when I visited Dunbarton (NH) Elementary School. During that school visit, I did a poetry workshop with the 6th graders and mentioned in my March 21 blog post that I would share the poem we created here.

Wouldn’t you know, I completely forgot! So I’m remedying that now.

As I mentioned in my initial post, I showed students different forms of poetry, why I enjoy it, and what one can do with it. We then brainstormed ideas around something I like to call the MBOE: Most Boring Object Ever.

I try to get students to find something they feel is totally boring and uninteresting, and then we create a poem around that – because of you can write a poem about a dirty rubberband or a dust bunny, you can write about pretty much anything!

At the Dunbarton visit, one of the students pulled out an eraserless pencil. So we brainstormed ideas about what it meant to be an eraserless pencil, why it was eraserless, and what else an eraserless pencil could be. Taking some of the best suggestions – like a rocket, skyscraper, and a creative tool that cannot be undone (it’s eraserless, remember??) we came up with something!

Eraserless Pencil

Rocketship headed for Mars,
a skyscraper to the stars.
Stange creatures and stories await –
there’s no looking back!
.

Not bad for just ten minutes, I’d say. And considering this was created based on the MBOE, I’d say that “Object” turned out to be far from “Boring”! (By the way, if you think you might like to have me visit your school – either in person or virtually – please let me know! Details below…)

For more poetry, check out today’s Poetry Friday roundup with Jone Rush MacCulloch, as she features an interview with Carol Labuzzetta about Carol’s new poetry anthology, Picture Perfect Poetry: An Anthology of Ekphrastic Nature Poetry for Students!

^{If you find yourself in the Boston area, I hope you’ll join me, Nancy Tupper Ling, June Cotner, Padma Venkatraman, and others as we celebrate the official launch of “Bless the Earth” at Peter Reynolds’ bookstore, The Blue Bunny in Dedham, MA from 2-4pm!}

ALSO: I had a chance to chat with author Lydia Lukidis this past Tue. about her new picture book, Dancing through Space – and we have a giveaway! If you’d like to enter to win a FREE COPY of the book, just check out her interview and leave a comment!

---

~~ 2024 SCHOOL VISIT dates still available! ~~

I still have a few dates still available for author visits for the 2024 spring semester! If you think your school might be interested in having me visit, check out all the presentations I offer, then email me at Matt (at) MattForrest (dot) com!

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 imagination and creativity can lead to fantastic careers! 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 crafting origami sea turtles!

Student presentations include:

• The Making of a Picture Book
• How a Child Saved a Book
• “Once Upon Another Time”
• The Most Important 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 Journey of an Author
• 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!

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

Order PERSONALLY-SIGNED copies of my books
from my local independent bookstore!

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

I’m now on BOOKSHOP!

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

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

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

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, and SoundCloud!

Poetry Friday: A belated “Cereal Day” celebration and TWO new board books!

Hard to believe it’s been nearly a decade since the children’s poetry anthology The Poetry Friday Anthology for Celebrations (Pomelo Books, 2015) was released.

In it, one can find poems about all sorts of celebrations, from Passover and Ramadan to Daylight Savings time and National Pet Week!

National Cereal Day, which I’m sad to say I missed, was on Thursday, March 7 this year – but that’s not going to stop me from sharing my poem about it:
.

Picky Eater

I love my Froot Loops,
love my Trix,
love Cheerios
and even Kix.
I also like
my Apple Jacks –
but please don’t give me
Sugar Smacks,
or stars or squares or flakes
you’ve found –
I only eat, you see,
what’s round.

– © 2015 Matt Forrest Esenwine and Pomelo Books, all rights reserved
.

This was actually one of the poems I shared with the 6th-grade students at Dunbarton Elementary School in New Hampshire this week. I had been invited to do a day-long series of presentations about creating books, the writing process, and why imagination is so flippin’ cool – and I focused on a different book and aspect of writing with each grade.

^{Everyone loved the brilliant artwork of Sonia Possentini in my book THE THING TO REMEMBER ABOUT STARGAZING (Tilbury House, 2023)}

For the 6th-graders, it was a poetry workshop!

I showed them different poetic styles and forms, and explained why I love the tight, compact genre of poetry itself. We even wrote a crowd-sourced poem in just 10 minutes, which I hope to share here next week.

By the way, if you think you might be interested in having me visit YOUR school, scroll down a wee bit for more details – or just send me an email!

IN OTHER NEWS…

I have two new board books out!

From Rainstorm Publishing, the publisher of my very first board book, Elliot the Heart-Shaped Frog, we present:

• 

• 

• 

• 

Don’t be surprised if you don’t find my name on the covers – that’s ok! These were works-for-hire, and they were so much fun to write. These books will be perfect for First and Second birthdays, so I hope you’ll check them out.

ALSO: If you find yourself in the Boston area next month, I hope you’ll join me along with Nancy Tupper Ling, June Cotner, Padma Venkatraman, and several other contributors as we celebrate the official launch of “Bless the Earth” at Peter Reynolds’ bookstore, The Blue Bunny in Dedham, MA on April 21!

For more poetry, head on over to Imagine the Possibilities, where Rose Capelli is hosting today’s complete Poetry Friday roundup with a blog post devoted to Birds, Birds, Birds!

---

~~ 2024 SCHOOL VISIT dates still available! ~~

I still have a few dates still available for author visits for the 2024 spring semester! If you think your school might be interested in having me visit, check out all the presentations I offer, then email me at Matt (at) MattForrest (dot) com!

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 imagination and creativity can lead to fantastic careers! 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 crafting 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!

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

Order PERSONALLY-SIGNED copies of my books
from my local independent bookstore!

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

I’m now on BOOKSHOP!

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

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

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

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, and SoundCloud!

Poetry Friday: Holiday busy-ness and a look back at a “Better Christmas”

December might be the month that everyone says the publishing industry slows down – with agents and editors tying up loose ends and playing catch-up on all their submission piles – but for me, I’m as busy as ever!

(You can also check out a brief clip of one of my presentations)

Between a few final school visits of the year, a couple of holiday book signings, and two new manuscripts I’m trying to wrap up, I’ve been so busy that Poetry Friday almost slipped past me. This past Wednesday alone, I did a half-day school visit about an hour and a half away, came home, then turned around and left three hours later for an author night featuring readings and sales another hour or so away.

For a stay-at-home dad, that’s a lot of travelling!

By the way, you still have time to order PERSONALLY-SIGNED copies of my books:

^{There’s only ONE PLACE to get personally-signed copies of my books!}

After writing last week’s found Christmas poem, today I wanted to share another found poem I’d written five years ago as part of Tabatha Yeatts’ annual Winter Poetry Swap. I’d originally posted it as part of a National Flashlight Day post but felt it was worth dusting off and sharing again.

I created it using words and phrases from past Christmas-themed posts at blogger Donna Smith’s blog, Mainely Write. I then used a photo of our own outdoor Christmas tree as a backdrop:

…..

.

If you’d like to see the original post, which explains a bit more about the poem, click HERE.

Speaking of found Christmas poems, a lot of folks told me they had been trying to determine which carols I used for last week’s poem so I thought I’d provide you the list:

• O Little Town of Bethlehem
• The First Noel
• What Child Is This
• Away In a Manger
• O Holy Night
• God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
• O Come All Ye Faithful

Looking for more poetry? Visit Janice at Salt City Verse where she is celebrating the holidays with Christmas haiku, delicious stollen, and mateaphorical slippers. Check it out!

---

~~ SPECIAL SCHOOL VISIT OFFER! ~~

I’m booking author visits for the 2023-24 school year, and would like to fill my schedule as soon as possible, so I can plan out the rest of my year. SO…if you book me for a full-day, in-person school visit ($700, which includes up to 5 presentations) BEFORE 12/31/23, I will take $100 off! (Or 20% off a virtual visit!) Email me now at Matt (at) MattForrest (dot) com!

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 imagination and creativity can lead to fantastic careers! 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 crafting 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!

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

NOW AVAILABLE EVERYWHERE:
.

.

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

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

I’m now on BOOKSHOP!

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

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

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

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, and SoundCloud!

Poetry Friday: An award, a keynote, and a “Situation”

I have to tell you, I’m worn out!

Last weekend I spent 2 1/2 days in the White Mountains in Jackson, NH with several of my fellow authors and illustrators here in the state – including Lita Judge, Adi Rule, and my Don’t Ask a Dinosaur (POW! Kids Books, 2018) co-author, Deb Bruss – at a writer’s retreat hosted by another of our members, author Emilie Burack and her husband, Tom.

It was a wonderful opportunity to relax and focus on craft, as well spend time catching up with friends. That Sat. night, the New Hampshire Literary Awards were taking place 3 hours south, in Manchester, NH, and I was pleasantly surprised when I received notification that my picture book I Am Today (POW! Kids Books, 2022) WON in the “Children’s” category!

What was extra-nice was that I tied with my friend and critique partner, Tom Tosi, who also won for his picture book, Squashed – AND he won in the Young Adult category for his middle grade novel, 6,000 Doughnuts!

Moreover, my friend and former Portsmouth, NH Poet Laureate Tammi Truax won the People’s Choice Award for her children’s book, The Pearl of Portsmouth.

(Tom also took home People’s Choice Award honors for 6,000 donuts, so a BIG night for him!)

But that was only the beginning of a looong week ahead…

Because in addition to finally putting the wraps on a new picture book biography manuscript I’ve co-authored with the wonderful Helen Wu, I was invited to be the keynote luncheon speaker at yesterday’s conference of the Children’s Librarians of New Hampshire, the children’s/youth services branch of the NH Library Association.

And what fun that was!

I shared my journey as an author, from writing poetry as a child to now having 8 books out with 5 more on the way, and about my process of writing. I also talked about why I write the way I do and what I enjoy most about picture book creation. No one was throwing rotten tomatoes at me by the time I was stepping down from the podium, so I guess they liked it.

One of the poems I shared was the very first poem of mine ever published, anywhere. I wrote it when I was a junior at Weare High School in NH, and it was published in the local college’s literary magazine.

Looking back on it, it reads like a poem written by a high school student! Although I like the premise, I would definitely spend some time revising word choice – I’ve fortunately grown as a writer over the years. But overall, I still like the poem for what it represents. It begins:

The Situation

Nothing.
Absolute nothing.
As not even the immense
vastness of space
can compare.
Such is the setting;
such is the situation
at hand.
Waiting solemnly,
something is going to happen…

(if you are so inclined, you can read the rest at my original post HERE)

And now, dear reader, it’s time to announce a WINNER!

^{(c) 2023 Wordsong, all rights reserved}

Last Friday I welcomed my two friends Rebecca Kai Dotlich and Georgia Heard to share the news about their new poetry collection, Welcome to the Wonder House (Wordsong, 2023), and we had a number of folks enter the giveaway for a FREE COPY! Out of all the names, one was chosen at random. That winner is…

BRIDGET MAGEE!

Congratulations, Bridget! I’m sure you’ll love the book as much as I do.

And since it is Poetry Friday, there’s plenty more poetry around the kidlitosphere! Carol at The Apples in My Orchard is hosting the roundup today with a celebration of her birthday AND International Bat Week! (The week before Halloween – coincidence? I think not!)

---

AND…I’m booking author visits for the 2023-24 shool year!

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 imagination and creativity can lead to fantastic careers! 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!

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

NOW AVAILABLE EVERYWHERE:
.

.

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

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

I’m now on BOOKSHOP!

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

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

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

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 visit to the “Wonder House” with Rebecca Kai Dotlich & Georgia Heard (& a GIVEAWAY!)

Today is a very exciting day for me for THREE reasons:

• This weekend is the New Hampshire Literary Awards, and my picture book I Am Today (POW! Kids Books, 2022) is a finalist in the “Children’s” category!
• In a few hours I’ll be heading north to the White Mountains for a weekend-long writer’s retreat with several of my fellow NH authors and illustrators, including Lita Judge, Cassie Gustafson, and my Don’t Ask a Dinosaur (POW! Kids Books, 2018) co-author, Deb Bruss.
• And today is the day I get to welcome two of my poet friends Rebecca Kai Dotlich and Georgia Heard to the ol’ Triple-R to celebrate their new poetry collection, Welcome to the Wonder House (Wordsong, 2023)!

^{All images (c) 2023 Wordsong, all rights reserved}

First, a little about my guests:

^{Rebecca Kai Dotlich}

Rebecca lives in the midwest where she grew up, and is the author of multiple award-winning picture books and poetry collections. What Can A Crane Pick Up? (Random House) received a starred review from Publishers Weekly; her book Bella and Bean (Atheneum Books for Young Readers) was an SCBWI Golden Kite Honor; and One Day, the End (Astra Young Readers) was a Boston Globe–Horn Book Honor Book.

^{Georgia Heard}

.
Georgia, meanwhile, is the award-winning author of 21 books including My Thoughts Are Clouds: Poems for Mindfulness (Macmillan), and Boom! Bellow! Bleat! Animal Poems for Two Or More Voices (WordSong) She is a founding member of the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project Earlier and the founder of The Poet’s Studio, and this year received the 2023 NCTE Excellence in Poetry for Children Award which honors a living American poet for their aggregate work for children ages 3-13.

First of all, thank you both for taking the time to chat! This book really is an incredible collaborative effort, with two of my favorite poets teaming up with one of my favorite editors (Rebecca Davis, who steered my “Flashlight Night”) and one of my favorite illustrators, Deborah Freedman! Rather than asking how this all came together – because that’s a long, involved process – let me first ask you, whose idea was this initially and how did the concept coalesce into a manuscript?

Thank you, Matt, from all of us, for the complimentary comments, and for highlighting Welcome to the Wonder House on your blog.  The concept for Wonder was born on a long car ride together after one of our Highlights poetry workshops.  We were brainstorming with our editor about a few ideas we had for a collaborative collection of poetry and the idea of wonder bubbled up and we began to think in terms of a museum at first, and then a house, and then what the rooms would be.

The editor was Rebecca Davis, I presume? What input did she have on its development?

Yes, her input was a huge part of this book.  She always has such deep, decisive, and wise thoughts, but always leaves room for the writers and illustrators to use their own imaginations.  Many changes for both rooms and poems were made before this project was completed, and Rebecca Davis was instrumental and supportive along the way.

Q:  How did Deborah become involved, and how did her vision meld with yours?

As you know, writers don’t get to choose the artists who illustrate their books. But we got really lucky! Our editor teamed us up with Deborah Freedman, who is brilliant. It turns out she used to be an architect, and that got us excited about what she could bring to our project.

When we saw her draft illustrations, especially the table of contents with the tiny windows of wonder, we knew our book was going to be beautiful. Her whimsical illustrations add another layer to the poems. Children love looking at all the little details in her pictures.

^{(Click to enlarge)}

Q:  Let’s talk craft, since we’re all writers of poetry here. Did you each determine which “rooms” needed poems, or did you write according to your inspiration and then create a room for them? How often did you share your poems with each other?

We decided on the rooms, (and they did change throughout the process) but the poems were written as we were inspired about different facets of wonder, then we would juggle them to see which room the individual poems fit into best.  On sharing our poems – sometimes it was daily, and other times a week or two might go by before one of us shared a poem, depending on our work and family schedules of course.  But there was a fairly consistent back and forth for months.

Q:  What was the process of revision like? I’m sure Rebecca Davis had her own suggestions, after you each had already polished them to your own satisfaction.

We started by making lists of the topics we planned to write poems about. Then, we would exchange our draft poems with each other. We scheduled phone calls to discuss our work, giving each other feedback on words and lines as we went along.

Rebecca Davis is amazing as an editor. After we wrote our poems, she sent detailed notes and comments about them. Often her revision suggestions are in the form of questions—asking us to dig a little deeper into an image or to consider another word or ending. Her insightful feedback has been invaluable in shaping our poems and taking them to the next level.

Q:  Understanding how many variants there are of a poem before it finally makes it to the printed page is important for new writers to understand. Writing a word, replacing it with a better word, altering the rhythm, changing a line, switching a line, etc., are all important steps in the craft of writing a poem – I assume you went through all of these?

All of the above.  Revising is usually, but not always, a dance of word replacing, rhythm fixing, line moving, etc.  But it is more than that, it is creating an emotion, it is trying to get to the heart of the poem.  It’s making an image or a thought come alive.  And when you work on a collection, it isn’t just the individual poems that are revised, it’s the entire project.  Poems are deleted (which is hard), poems are added, poems are moved from one placement in the book to another.  It’s seeing the parts become a whole. 

^{(click to enlarge)}

Q:  A question for each of you: rather than asking your favorite poem, I’d like to know, what was your most surprising poem?

G: One poem that surprised me as I wrote it is the one about fossils in the Room of Time. I’ve had a fondness for fossils for a long time, but it was during the process of writing this poem that I had an enlightening moment. I suddenly realized that fossils are like nature’s clocks for our planet. To be classified as a fossil, it has to be at least 10,000 years old. These ancient “clocks” provide us with glimpses into the history of life on Earth.

R:  For me, my most surprising poem was in the Room of Imagination.  I don’t know where that came from.  The last line, “as my pencil carves a moon on the door …” I do know was a memory that came to me as I was finishing the poem, and it was a clock my grandfather carved with a half moon on the top.

^{(click to enlarge)}

Q:  OK, now I’d love to know your favorite poem – written by the other!

G: I truly admire all of Rebecca’s poems in this book, but if I had to pick a favorite, it would be her poem about paper in the Room of Praise. I particularly love her surprising similes “like crinkled squares of white sky,” and metaphors, such as “wrinkling out a language of ancient trees.” And her poem’s ending is simply exquisite!

R: Although there are many, my favorite poem of Georgia’s is in the Room of Mystery : “Two trillion galaxies glow in the universe – Where is everyone?” I love the concept of this poem. This is one of those poems that make me say, “I would never have thought of that.” (Matt’s note: see the Room of Mystery graphic above)

^{(click to enlarge)}

Q:  Before we wrap up, is there anything you feel potential book purchasers should know? About Wonder House, about poetry, about children’s books in general?

Our book is a great fit for classrooms, especially those following a STEAM curriculum because it includes science, technology, engineering, and art. Sylvia Vardell has crafted an excellent discussion and educator’s guide for Welcome to the Wonder House that’s packed with ideas for meaningful conversations and hands-on activities related to the poems and illustrations.

It’s also a wonderful book for parents to share with their children. It can spark conversations about what inspires wonder, making it an excellent tool for family discussions and wonder activities.

Q:  Well thank you again, my friends, for stopping by the ol’ blog today! I wish you the best with this beautiful new book.

We all appreciate that very much Matt!

And if you, dear reader, would like to win a copy of Welcome to the Wonder House be sure to let me know in the comments! I will draw one name at random on Thur., Oct. 26 and announce the winner in next week’s Poetry Friday post, Oct. 27.

For today’s complete, unabridged, and unfettered Poetry Friday roundup, head on over to Wee Words for Wee Ones, where Bridget is celebrating her latest trip ’round the sun with a dance party that includes a happy dance, a happy nap, and a happy run!

---

AND…I’m booking author visits for the 2023-24 shool year!

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 imagination and creativity can lead to fantastic careers! 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!

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

NOW AVAILABLE EVERYWHERE:
.

.

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

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

I’m now on BOOKSHOP!

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

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

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

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: “I Am Today” up for an award, more reviews for “Stargazing,” and a preview of a “Wonder”-ful interview!

My newest picture book, The Thing to Remember about Stargazing (Tilbury House), illustrated by Sonia Maria Luce Possentini, just arrived in the world a little over a week ago, and I’ve already discovered more incredibly positive reviews!

I came across Net Galley’s listing for the book, and was blown away by all the kind sentiments…

“Gorgeous.”

“Amazing.”

“Engaging.”

“Fun.”

“Magnificent.”

As an author, I cannot begin to tell you what it means to hear people say this about something you’ve created.

I was also pleasantly surprised earlier this week to learn that my picture book I Am Today (POW! Kids Books, 2022) has been nominated for a New Hampshire Literary Award!

The other finalists in the “Children’s” category include:

• Pearl of Portsmouth by Tammi Truax
• Squashed by Megan and Thomas Tosi
• R is for Rainbow by Kim Ferreira

Both Tammi and Tom are friends of mine, so I’m honored that we’re all on the same list!

For today’s poem, I thought I’d offer you a sample of what’s in store for you NEXT Friday, when I welcome two incredibly talented, award-winning, highly-esteemed friends to the ol’ Triple-R: Rebecca Kai Dotlich and Georgia Heard.

Georgia and Rebecca’s new poetry collection, Welcome to the Wonder House (Wordsong, 2023), just came out this summer and I’ve been wanting to have them visit to share the news and celebration – so I’m very happy that they will be joining me next week!

The book is designed as a house full of rooms, and each room is a different subject of “wonder.” One of the things I asked them prior to the interview was to pick a poem they each considered their favorite, written by the other, and Georgia said she loved Rebecca’s poem about paper, specifically the line about “wrinkling out a language of ancient trees.”

And I do have to agree, that’s a beautiful, thought-provoking conceit. So I thought I’d share the “Praise” room spread here today, to give you a sneak-peek, so to speak, of what we’ll be offering next Friday:

^{(c) 2023 Wordsong, all rights reserved (click to enlarge)}

There’s something about Rebecca’s line, “Rain is everything to a worm” that I really love, as well – its simplicity in form belies a strong, deeper observation on life and nature. And the fact that Georgia considers spiders “quiet as air, patient as monks” is just inspiring.

So be sure to stop by next Poetry Friday, Oct. 20, for our interview! For more poetry TODAY, however, head on over to the Poetry Friday roundup at Reading to the Core, where Catherine celebrates Irene Latham’s new book The Museum on the Moon (Bushel & Peck, 2023) with an original poem of her own!

---

AND…I’m booking author visits for the 2023-24 shool year!

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 imagination and creativity can lead to fantastic careers! 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!

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

NOW AVAILABLE EVERYWHERE:
.

.

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

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

I’m now on BOOKSHOP!

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

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

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

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 Roundup: Celebrating a #BookBirthday by taking a look back at its conception

Welcome to the Poetry Friday roundup! I’m so happy to be hosting the festivities today because I not only get to see the complete, vast, and unadulterated range of poetry blog posts, but I get to celebrate this week’s publication of my eighth children’s book – which is also a poem.

The Thing to Remember about Stargazing (Tilbury House), illustrated by award-winning Italian artist Sonia Maria Luce Possentini, was officially introduced to the world this past Tue., Oct. 3:

^{All images (c) Tilbury House and Sonia Maria Luce Possentini, used with permission.}

Stargazing has been picking up some wonderful reviews, too! In her preview of upcoming titles, Betsy Bird at School Library Journal told readers how much she loved the title: “Ten outta ten. Would recommend. Beautiful.” (Wow!)

BlackRaven at Cannonball Read loved the book, as well, saying, “the poetic, wonder-filled story is contemporary with feeling and emotional.”

I’m also grateful to Instagrammers like Booksource, Just Takes One, and Maria C. Marshall, who called the book “stunning and playful!”

And I can’t thank these four highly-esteemed folks enough for their kind words:

.

Would you believe I can be in two places at once? Well, I can!

In addition to my Poetry Friday roundup hosting duties, I’m very honored to also be guest-blogging at WritersRumpus today with an in-depth look at why it’s so important to rewrite/revise/recycle and be open to change – because Stargazing wouldn’t exist had I not been willing to alter my plans.

^{(Click to enlarge)}

(But wait, there’s more!) I hope you’ll check out some of the following posts as part of Stargazing‘s blog tour:

• KidLit.TV hosted the premiere of the official book trailer for The Thing to Remember about Stargazing.
• Linda Baie featured the book at TeacherDance.
• Maria Marshall shared an interview and review at The Picture Book Buzz.
• Jama Rattigan included a sneak peek at Stargazing on her weekly “9 Cool Things” list at Alphabet Soup.
• Michele Knott shared her thoughts on the book at Reading Through the Ages.
• The very first commercial radio station I ever worked, NH Talk Radio WKXL AM/FM in Concord, NH, was kind enough to invite me to chat about the new book, my writing, and a statewide StoryWalk® event! (details below…)

As with any launch, I’m looking forward to signing books! I’ll be at our local indie bookstore, MainStreetBookEnds.com, this Saturday during our town’s annual Fall Foliage Festival, and next month I’ll be co-signing with my friend and fellow author Deb Bruss at GibsonsBookstore.com in Concord, NH.

The super-big news, however, is a statewide StoryWalk® event coordinated with the Children’s Librarians of New Hampshire. Nearly TWENTY libraries throughout the state are featuring Stargazing on their StoryWalks® this autumn! (some of the local papers have been sharing the news, so please check out my Facebook post for more details on this unusual project!)

.

All right, time for today’s poem!

As I mentioned earlier in this post, Stargazing began as a poem nearly 10 years ago. I wrote “A Beginner’s Guide to Stargazing” for Paul Janeczko’s anthology, The Proper Way to Meet a Hedgehog and Other How-to Poems (Candlewick, 2019). Unfortunately, he passed away before I had a chance to learn why the poem never made it into the book.

Thankfully, our mutual friend Rebecca Kai Dotlich loved the poem and suggested I consider fleshing out the poem a bit and turning it into a picture book manuscript. Good thing I did, too, because even though the poem was never published, I got not one, but TWO picture books out of it! (How is this possible? Check out my WritersRumpus guest blog today and find out how four books and a poem can be all interconnected!)

Here is the first part of the poem that started it all:
.

A Beginner’s Guide to Stargazing

It’s important the conditions be just right.

Wait for a cloudless, moonless night
or one with just a silver sliver
or even a full moon,
……….round and glowing.
Come to think of it,
even a few clouds aren’t a problem.

So let’s say any evening that features at least a few stars
is perfect.

Go outside with someone special
……….or a pet
………………..or no one at all
and find a patch of grass
to lie upon
……….or bring a blanket
………………..or chair
or you can even stand there with your head
craning toward the sky,
and begin counting the stars…
…..

– © 2014 Matt Forrest Esenwine
…..

I hope you like the poem enough to consider checking out the book – it’s been a long time coming, and the fact that the book is a poem unto itself is very comforting and reassuring to me; after all, I got into children’s writing through poetry, so it’s gratifying to know my poetry is being published and enjoyed by readers of all ages.

The book is available everywhere, but if you want a PERSONALLY-SIGNED copy be sure to order through Main Street Book Ends, our local indie store.
(details below)

And since it’s Poetry Friday, drop your links in the comments and I’ll round them up, old-school style! Thanks for visiting, and enjoy the poetry…

.

• Irene at Live Your Poem has constellations on her mind, too – but not exactly the same kind!
• Jone Rush MacCulloch is “playing with pantoums” and helped her 4th grade class to write one.
• Meanwhile, Catherine at Reading to the Core is playing with the “laws of motion” with the Inklings and shares a touching original draft.
• Linda Mitchell also tackles the Inklings’ challenge by putting her “gears” in motion to create a sonnet at A Word Edgwise.
• At Nix the Comfort Zone, Molly Hogan came up with two poems for the challenge and chose the road “more” travelled!
• Mary Lee, who gave the Inklings their challenge, comes up with three poems – a haiku, a type of found poetry, and free verse – that you can read at A(nother) Year of Reading.
• And at Reflections on the Teche Margaret Simon responds to the Inklings challenge by showing how she has been “juggling” life.
• There is beauty even in the images we may at first think are dull or bland, and Alan J. Wright shares an ekphrastic landscape poem that is anything but dull or bland!
• At Alphabet Soup, Jama shows us what happens when you write a tale about an English garden with language that is very decidely British English!
• Have you ever heard of “poison books?” Tabatha Yeatts will fill you in at The Opposite of Indifference.
• At Teaching Authors, Carmela starts off by talking about endings (brilliant!) and wraps up with a beautiful draft of a hummingbird poem.
• As Denise Krebs awaits the arrival of her copy of Fly: An Anthology of Poetry, she decided to write a poem inspired by the book’s art.
• It’s Bird-tober over at There is No Such Thing as a God-forsaken Town, where Ruth is writing poems about a different species each day of the month!
• Linda Kulp Trout has a new book out (I did NOT mean to rhyme that, ha!), and today she shares one of its poems.
• I might have been inspired by the stars, but Michelle Kogan was inspired by the October moon and offers an original poem at More Art 4 All!
• Linda Baie, who posted a wonderful review of Stargazing earlier this week, has had stars on her mind at Teacher Dance and shares a beautiful poem.
• Friends, beauty, darkness – these sound like elements from my book, but they are actually elements of a new poem from Kat Apel at Kat’s Whiskers!
• Sally Murphy wrote a poem to one of her verse novel characters – and he wrote back!
• Libraries can be full of inspiration, and at Wee Words for Wee Ones, Bridget Magee shares a poem that was inspired by a doll and a scooter – in a library!
• Mary Cronin is feeling the beat – and the love – as a local school’s music teacher used one of her poems as part of a project on percussion.
• At The Poem Farm, Amy has a new poem about foxes and fire and all the colors and images of autumn!
• It’s a tale of sunflowers (and a haiku!) that Marcie Flinchum Atkins shares today.
• My poem was inspired by the nighttime, and that – along with a poem by Kate Baer – is also the inspiration behind an original poem by Rose at Imagine the Possibilities.
• At BookSeedStudio, Jan shares a portion of a new YA novel by Han Nolan that, through the use of creative enjambment, reads beautifully as a poem!
• “Diminishing verse” is a fun – if not challenging – form of poetry, and Laura Purdie Salas shares a draft she’s working on, along with her process of writing it.
• Patricia Franz is “painting with words” by creating a concrete poem about something that was “hanging around!”
• Tracey at Tangles & Tails has October on her mind and shares an original poem as well as one from Paul Laurence Dunbar, one of the first African American poets to become popular nationally.
• Also for October, Anastasia Suen kicks off a “small poem challenge” for the month.
• And October is on Donna JT Smith’s mind, too, as she shares an original autumn poem at Mainely Write.
• Carol at The Apples in My Orchard is on a 15-day river cruise through Europe (how cool!) and decided that a castle poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow would be very apropos for a Poetry Friday post.
• At Chicken Spaghetti, Susan Thomsen has swimming on her mind and shares a wonderful poem from Susan Browne.
• Last but not least, our ‘other’ Carol (Varsalona) is celebrating autumn at Beyond Literacy Link with a Golden Shovel that praises those wonderful autumnal moments that mean so much to us as the seasons change.

---

AND…I’m booking author visits for the 2023-24 shool year!

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 imagination and creativity can lead to fantastic careers! 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!

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

NOW AVAILABLE EVERYWHERE:
.

.

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

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

I’m now on BOOKSHOP!

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

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

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

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!

It’s a #BookBirthday for THE THING TO REMEMBER ABOUT STARGAZING!

^{Finally, it’s a book!}

It’s been TEN YEARS in the making, but the day is finally here:

The Thing to Remember about Stargazing (Tilbury House), illustrated by the amazingly talented Sonia Maria Luce Possentini, is out in the world! Sonia is an award-winning artist and teacher from Moderna, Italy with more than a dozen books to her credit.

Stargazing, my eighth children’s book, is a spare, lyrical, ironic sort of book that answers the question: what is the most important thing to remember about stargazing? Is it when to do it, who to do it with, what to look for? (Hint: It’s none of those!) And yes, it’s taken a LONG time to get here – ten years and TWENTY FIVE rejections!

^{Incredible illustrations from Italian artist Sonia Maria Luce Possentini}

You see, it started off as a poem written back in 2013 for Paul Janeczko’s anthology, The Proper Way to Meet a Hedgehog and Other How-to Poems (Candlewick, 2019). And through a series of ups and downs and trials and errors, my friend Rebecca Kai Dotlich suggested I consider fleshing it out and turning it into a picture book manuscript.

So I did! I’ll share more about this coming up this Friday when I host Poetry Friday, and wil also be going more in-depth on why it’s important to rewrite/revise/recycle our work when I guest-blog at WritersRumpus later this month. (see below for the bog tour schedule!)

I need to thank my friends and fellow authors/poets/bloggers for all their support! Stargazing has been picking up some wonderfully positive reviews. Betsy Bird at School Library Journal had some kind words for Stargazing in her preview of upcoming titles, and BlackRaven at Cannonball Read loved the book, saying, “the poetic, wonder-filled story is contemporary with feeling and emotional.”

And of course, my immense gratitude for these comments from four highly-esteemed folks:

.

If you’d care to learn more about the book, the story behind it, or simply my process as a writer, I hope you’ll check out some of the following posts as part of Stargazing‘s blog tour:

• Sept. 13:  KidLit.TV hosts the premiere of the official book trailer for The Thing to Remember about Stargazing.
• Oct. 2: Linda Baie features the book at TeacherDance.
• Oct. 3 (today!): Maria Marshall features an interview/review at The Picture Book Buzz.
• Oct. 3 (also today!): Jama Rattigan includes a sneak peek at Stargazing on her weekly “9 Cool Things” list at Alphabet Soup.
• Oct. 4, 8am: I will be interviewed at the very first commercial radio station I ever worked, NH Talk Radio WKXL AM/FM, in the capitol city of Concord, NH!
• Oct. 4: Michele Knott shares her thoughts on the book at Mrs. Knott’s Book Nook.
• Oct. 24: I will be a guest blogger at WritersRumpus, with a in-depth look at why it’s so important to be willing to rewrite and revise, and be open to change – because Stargazing wouldn’t exist had I not been willing to alter my plans.

^{Sending out StoryWalk(R) copies to two dozen libraries across the state!}

The official launch for Stargazing is a three-part sort of thing. I’ll be signing copies at our local indie bookstore, MainStreetBookEnds.com, during our town’s annual Fall Foliage Festival, when thousands of people from around New England arrive. I’ll also be co-signing with my friend and fellow author Deb Bruss at GibsonsBookstore.com in Concord, NH, next month.

The REALLY BIG part, however, is a statewide StoryWalk® event coordinated with the Children’s Librarians of New Hampshire, who have invited me to deliver a luncheon keynote at their upcoming October conference. As of right now, nearly TWO DOZEN libraries across the state will all be featuring Stargazing on their StoryWalks® during Oct. and/or Nov.!

It’s hard for me to imagine my book being displayed on nearly 24 different StoryWalks® throughout New Hampshire, but I will look forward to seeing the photos, I can tell you that!

I hope you’ll consider checking out the book – it’s been a long time coming, and well worth the wait. It’s available everywhere, of course, but remember that if you want a PERSONALLY-SIGNED copy, the only way to do that is to order through Main Street Book Ends, our local indie store. (more details below)

---

AND…I’m booking author visits for the 2023-24 shool year!

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 imagination and creativity can lead to fantastic careers! 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!

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

NOW AVAILABLE EVERYWHERE:
.

.

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

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

I’m now on BOOKSHOP!

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

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

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

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!