It's "Dumpling Days" for Julia!

Like Anna and Grace, I’m having work done on my new home. I’m fortunate to be able to have renovations done while still living at my “other” house—the place that I have called home for nearly thirty-seven years.

In late December, I posted a couple of pictures of the built-in bookcases that we had installed in the upstairs office/library/den of our new home.

I’ve already begun filling the shelves—mostly with children’s picture books.

 
Because I have sooooo many books, my husband and I decided to have another built-in bookcase made for our upstairs hallway. Village Woodworking in Topsfield (MA) did such a wonderful job with our bookcases and china cabinet that we also decided to have them make us a media center with bookshelves, drawers, and other storage for our living room.

 Our Built-in China Cabinet

Julia likes to visit the upstairs “library” at our new house, look at the picture books, pull some off of the shelves and “read” them. Sometimes, she insists on taking one of the picture books back over to HER side of the house. 

I often grab my “gram cam” to snap pictures of Julia reading books.

Julia reading Secret Seahorse.

Julia reading Miss Mary Mack.

One of Julia’s new favorites isn’t a picture book. It’s Grace’s novel Dumpling Days. One night last week, she refused to go to bed without the book. On Wednesday afternoon, she sat on the floor of the family room quietly flipping through the pages and looking at the sketches that Grace included in her novel. That night, her dad told me she chose Dumpling Days over her favorite stuffed animal when he put her to bed.

Julia reading Dumpling Days yesterday afternoon.

 Babies loving books! Is there anything better?

It Snowed and Snowed: An Original Poem

Here’s one of the “weather-inspired” poem that I wrote two years ago. The winter of 2011 we kept getting one snowstorm after another here in Massachusetts. There was so much snow piled up around our house that we had no place left to shovel it. I didn't go out much for a while. I DID stay inside a lot and write poetry though.

Here are some pictures that I took in early February of 2011:

Seeing the picture that Anna posted of Tilda out in the snow inspired me to share the following poem, which I wrote that snowy winter:

It Snowed and Snowed

It snowed all day.

It snowed all night.

It snowed and snowed.

Two feet of white

covered everything in sight.

Our yard,

our deck,

our walk,

the road

don’t look the same

because it snowed

and snowed

and snowed

and snowed

and snowed.

I dress up in my winter wear

and step out in the frosty air.

I look around and what I see

is a marshmallow world

waiting for me!

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At Wild Rose Reader, I have a “forgotten” mask poem that I wrote some years ago titled Dinosaur Egg.

Matt has the Poetry Friday Roundup at Radio, Rhythm & Rhyme.

Happy New Year!

My granddaughter Julia continues to love books.

Her grandma made sure that she got lots more for Christmas.

 

The renovations on our new home are nearly complete.

 

The "must have" built-in bookshelves were installed two weeks ago.

I can't wait to begin filling them up with my poetry books and children's books for Julia.

 

 

Happy New Year to all my friends in the Kidlitosphere

from the Nanny Granny!

 





Glad to Be Back!

 

Sorry that I have been away from Blue Rose Girls for so long. I’ve been busy taking care of my granddaughter Julia and with renovation plans for our new home. (You can see some pictures of our new place it here.)

We plan to have some built-ins installed--a china cabinet in our dining area and bookshelves in our upstairs den/office--before we move in. I really need a place to put the thousands of children’s books that I have acquired over the years. I want to keep them for Julia. She LOVES books! She so enjoys looking through her books, pointing to things in the illustrations, and talking as if she is actually reading them. It is such fun to watch and to listen to her—and to have her sit on my lap when I read her the same books.



Yesterday morning, I walked into her bedroom just after she awoke. She stood up in her crib and pointed to the basket of books in a corner of her room. I knew which book she wanted—Clare Beaton’s Action Rhymes. It's one of her favorites. I fetched it for her. She then sat down in her crib and began “reading” it. Sometimes, she insists that we take the book downstairs with us.



I will definitely miss the library that we built in our basement after I retired in 2004. It took me that entire summer to bring all of my children's books home from school.

Here are pictures of my present library.



At Wild Rose Reader today, I have some poetry and two song videos for Thanksgiving.

 



 

Why I've Been Away from Blue Rose Girls & A New Place to Live

 

I apologize for being absent from Blue Rose Girls so much in recent months. My life has changed since I became a nanny granny and began providing daycare for my granddaughter Julia three days a week. Because my daughter and son-in-law lived quite a distance from my house—a 60 to 90 minute drive depending on traffic—I have stayed with them half of every week. Because I’ve been so busy, I have found little time for writing, blogging, or visiting with family and friends. I am also quite tired when I am home—as I have to play catch-up on things around my own house.

A few months ago, my husband, daughter, son-in-law, and I decided that it would be a good idea to find a place where we could all live together. Then I’d always be at home—even when I’m caring for little Julia.

Well, in June, my daughter found a beautiful property: An antique house with a lovely in-law apartment (the former carriage house)—situated on a three-and-a-half-acre lot in a lovely neighborhood. We passed papers on the house a couple of weeks ago.

My husband and I haven't even put our house on the market yet. When I’ve been at my own home, I’ve been trying to clean house and throw stuff away that I no longer need in order to make our eventual move easier. We've also been taking things we don't need at this time and storing them in the barn on our new property. Yup, we have a big old barn that was built around 1850.

Alvina recently wrote about “the elusive work-life balance.” (I'm doing my best to help my daughter with her work-life balance.) I have to admit that I've experienced an elusive blog-life balance since I became a nanny granny. I do miss connecting with people via Blue Rose Girls and Wild Rose Reader—but I can’t seem to carve out enough time to do everything that I have to do AND that I want to do these days. I hope once I’m settled in at my new residence, I’ll find more time to blog, to write poetry, and to connect with my friends in the children’s literature community.

Here are some pictures that I took recently of the grounds around our "new" house:

 

 

Here are two pictures of one-year-old Julia enjoying her first taste of her Grampy’s fabulous homemade lasagna:

 

Here’s a picture that I took of her when we were on vacation in Maine in late August:

 

"The Dirty Cowboy" Banned from Libraries in a School District in Pennsylvania

Yesterday, I wrote a post for Jonathan Turley’s blog about the banning of Amy Timberlake’s book The Dirty Cowboy from elementary school libraries in the Annville-Cleona School District in Pennsylvania. Earlier this year, the parents of a kindergarten child complained about Adam Rex’s illustrations in the book. The parents felt that Adam Rex’s illustrations of the cowboy’s partial nudity in the book were “pornographic” and wanted it banned. After the parents made the complaint, the district’s book review committee voted 5-1 to remove the book. In April, the school board agreed with the parents and voted unanimously to remove the book from school libraries in the district.

School District Bans 'The Dirty Cowboy' Book

Here’s a link to my Turley blog post: “Dirty” Is in the Mind of the Beholder: Children’s Picture Book Banned from Elementary Libraries in Pennsylvania School District

Occupy Writers

More than 3,000 writers have signed their support for Occupy Wall Street and the Occupy Movement around the world. You’ll find their names listed alphabetically at the Occupy Writers website. Some of the writers have submitted “Occupy Writings.” I’m posting excerpts from the Occupy Writings of two authors—Daniel Handler, aka Lemony Snicket, and Alice Walker.

The World We Want Is Us
By Alice Walker

It moves my heart to see your awakened faces;

the look of “aha!”

shining, finally, in

so many

wide open eyes.

Yes, we are the 99%

all of us

refusing to forget

each other

no matter, in our hunger, what crumbs

are dropped by

the 1%.

Click here to read the rest of The World We Want Is in Us and Walker’s other poem the joyful news of your arrest.

**********

Thirteen Observations made by Lemony Snicket while watching Occupy Wall Street from a Discreet Distance

6. Nobody wants to fall into a safety net, because it means the structure in which they’ve been living is in a state of collapse and they have no choice but to tumble downwards. However, it beats the alternative.

9. People gathering in the streets feeling wronged tend to be loud, as it is difficult to make oneself heard on the other side of an impressive edifice.

10. It is not always the job of people shouting outside impressive buildings to solve problems. It is often the job of the people inside, who have paper, pens, desks, and an impressive view.

11. Historically, a story about people inside impressive buildings ignoring or even taunting people standing outside shouting at them turns out to be a story with an unhappy ending.

12. If you have a large crowd shouting outside your building, there might not be room for a safety net if you’re the one tumbling down when it collapses.

13. 99 percent is a very large percentage. For instance, easily 99 percent of people want a roof over their heads, food on their tables, and the occasional slice of cake for dessert. Surely an arrangement can be made with that niggling 1 percent who disagree.

You can read the rest of Lemony Snicket's Thirteen Observations here.

(Note: There's information about how one can join Occupy Writers at their website.)

 ***************

At Wild Rose Reader, I have an original poem about the Petrified Forest titled Fossil Forest.

Karissa has the Poetry Friday Roundup at The Iris Chronicles.

from the BRG archives: Christmas Poems

CHRISTMAS IS A-COMING
English Nursery Rhyme

Christmas is a-coming,
The goose is getting fat,
Please to put a penny
In an old man’s hat.
If you haven’t got a penny,
A ha’penny will do.
If you haven’t got a ha’penny,
God bless you!


FOR ALLAN
Who wanted to see how I wrote a poem
by Robert Frost

Among these mountains, do you know.
I have a farm, and on it grow
A thousand lovely Christmas trees.
I’d like to send you one of these,
But it’s against the laws.
A man may give a little boy
A book, a useful knife, a toy,
Or even a rhyme like this by me
(I wrote it just like this you see),
But nobody may give a tree
Excepting Santa Claus.


DAY BEFORE CHRISTMAS
by Marchette Chute

We have been helping with the cake
And licking out the pan,
And wrapping up our packages
As neatly as we can.
And we have hung our stockings up
Beside the open grate.
And now there’s nothing more to do
Except
to
wait!


CAROL OF THE BROWN KING
by Langston Hughes

Of the three Wise Men
Who came to the King,
One was a brown man,
So they sing.

Of the three Wise men
Who followed the Star,
One was a brown king
From afar.

They brought fine gifts
Of spices and gold
In jeweled boxes
Of beauty untold.

Unto His humble
Manger they came
And bowed their heads
In Jesus’ name.

Three Wise men,
One dark like me—
Part of His
Nativity.


From MARMION
by Sir Walter Scott

Heap on more wood!—the wind is chill;
But let it whistle as it will,
We’ll keep our Christmas merry still.


CHRISTMAS
by Marchette Chute

My goodness, my goodness,
It’s Christmas again.
The bells are all ringing.
I do not know when
I’ve been so excited.
The tree is all fixed.
The candles are lighted,
The pudding is mixed.
The wreath’s on the door
And the carols are sung.
The presents are wrapped
And the holly is hung.
The turkey is sitting
All safe in its pan,
And I am behaving
As calm as I can.


I HEARD THE BELLS ON CHRISTMAS DAY
by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

I heard the bells on Christmas day
Their old familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good will to men!

And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along
The unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good will to men!

Till, ringing, singing, on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime,
A chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good will to men!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!



Originally published December 22, 2006

Things to Do If You Are Santa Claus: An Original List Poem

The year 2011 has indeed been a great one for me. I became a grandmother--which was truly a thrill! I also sold my first book--a collection of "things to do" poems--to Chronicle Press. I signed the contract in the fall. I thought I'd wait until now to make the announcement.

One of the most interesting things about the sale of my poetry manuscript: I didn't submit it to Chronicle. Grace Lin did! She sent it to her editor there--who liked the collection.

I also wrote a biographical poem about Jonas Salk  that will be included in a Kane Miller anthology that is due to be released next fall. The book is to be titled Dare to Dream...Change the World. You can read about the anthology at this Wild Rose Reader post: Dare to Dream…Change the World: A Poetry Anthology Coming in 2012.

As the year 2011 comes to a close, I'd to thank two good friends who helped critique and give me suggestions about my "things to do" poetry collection: Janet Wong and, of course, Grace Lin. I also want to thank my daughter and son-in-law for giving me the most adorable granddaughter in the world!

My Granddaughter Julia Anna

I thought I'd write a special "things to do" Christmas poem to celebrate the sale of my poetry manuscript. I still have to work on the ending. Note: I don't have as much time for blogging and writing now because I spend half the week providing daycare for Julia Anna. She's the gift that keeps on giving!

Things to Do If You Are Santa Claus

Have a big round belly,
Cheeks rosy red.
Wear a furry cap
On top of your head,
A wide black belt
With a buckle of gold.
Live at the top of the world
Where it's cold.
Grow a bushy beard
That's white as snow.
Be jolly and laugh
With a Ho-Ho-Ho!
On Christmas Eve,
Set off on your sleigh
With a red-nosed reindeer
Leading the way
Through a midnight sky
On a chilling night
When a guiding star
Blazes bright.

The Poetry Friday Roundup is at Dori Reads.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!