Or...The Blog Contest That Almost Was
Okay! Somebody’s got to alert the publishers of the GUINNESS BOOK OF WORLD RECORDS for me. I have a new entry for their next edition: Shortest Blog Contest in History.
Yep! I really know how to come up with an idea for a blog contest, don’t I? I post my contest question—and within seconds some Googler comes up with the correct answer!
Check out my contest question:
Win a Children's Poetry Book!
So much for my first attempt at a blog contest! Are there any self-help groups or books you know about that could provide some good advice to an inept blog contest runner like me? Please let me know. I can’t go on like this. What will all the other sponsors of blog contests think of me? I will become known as “The Pariah of Blog Contests.” People will begin making snide remarks about me. They’ll start calling my contests “Speed of Light Competitions.” You know—the answers are posted as soon as the question appears. The speed of light’s pretty fast—186,000 miles per second! I can’t keep up with that kind of celerity. Please tell me I’m not doomed to be a failure at this endeavor of blogging contests.
But seriously, folks, I had more than a contest in mind when I posted my “Win a Children’s Poetry Book” contest today. Actually, I was trying to heighten people’s awareness of the National Council of Teachers of English Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children. So few people I have met have heard of this award. All elementary school teachers and librarians should know the names of the poets on this list.
Why should they know them? Funny you should ask me. Let me just say that these poets, some of whom have passed away in the last two decades, are the best of the best of children’s poets. Look for their names in the indices of children’s poetry anthologies. Buy their poetry books—at least those that are still in print. Share their poems with children. Encourage kids to read their poetry books.
Go visit this page of the NCTE Poetry Award Site for profiles of these outstanding poets and for a printable list of their names.
P. S. Let me know if any of these award-winning poets wrote a children’s poetry book that happens to be a favorite of yours. I just might have another poetry book to give away!
5 comments:
Laughing... these blog contests are tough, aren't they? If it makes you feel better, Mental Floss has that happen all the time. Though they stipulate that you can't use google or other search engines to answer their questions now, so their questions take about a minute to end instead of a second.
Elaine, don't forget to send me your address info so I can get your prize out to you. I'm at nrkii on AOL.
Nancy,
I already emailed you my snail mail address. I'll try again. I sometimes have trouble sending emails to aol.
Okay Elaine. Or if you can give me your email address, I'll send you my phone number.
Or, we can arrange to meet when I'm up in MA for Thanksgiving (parents in Springfield).
Sorry your contest was over so quickly. These are truly some wonderful poets (though many of my favorites are not on the list). Barbara Juster Esbensen's Swing Around the Sun is one of my all-time favorite poetry collections! The re-release a few years ago with a different artist illustrating each season is just beautiful!
Laura,
Esbensen is one of my favorite children's poets. I was happy to see the reissue of SWING AROUND THE SUN with the full-color illustrations. It is a lovely book. I also have a copy of the 1965 edition of it.
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