New sketches

I'M TIRED

Let's play the why is Meghan tired game. Is it
a) because she is in agonizing pain and couldn't sleep?
b) because she worked so hard last night, er, this morning painting that she didn't go to bed yet
c) she has a school visit

Actually, all of these are quite plausible.

Child friendly?

I've been thinking more lately about what "child friendly" means in terms of children's books, and if it's a valid assessment to evaluate a book. This comes partially out of that old Newbery discussion, and partially because I've found myself using that criticism regarding some books (that will remain nameless). "I liked the book" I've said, "But I just couldn't see kids getting into it." But of course, when that same criticism is made about a book I've edited, I bristle. Who are they to say that a book isn't child friendly? They're underestimating children. A book that some kids hate, others will love. I know this! We all know this! There is a very wide range of work that can be child friendly.

So, shame on me.

I'm fairly out of touch with what kids think of the books I edit, especially picture books. I do give books to kids I know and watch them interact with them, but these occasions are few and far between. I'm mainly drawing on my memory of the types of books I loved as a kid, the ones I read over and over again, and hope that there are kids today that have the same type of sensibility I had/have. (For novels, in terms of feedback, teens will write reviews and post them on blogs. We also get feedback from our hip scouts. Six-year-olds don't generally have blogs.)

One specific example of a book whose child friendliness is in question is Wabi Sabi by Mark Reibstein and Ed Young. Perhaps you've heard of it? (I write about it enough, don't I?) I know that there are people who find this to be a book more for adults, or older kids, but from the moment I read an early draft of the manuscript, I had faith that younger kids would love this story about a cat trying to find out the meaning of her name, and that kids would also respond to the gorgeous collage illustrations. Not every kid, of course, but many of them. And now that the book has been out about six months, the only evidence I have to go on is from what people tell me and from the reviews I read. Some of the reviews on Amazon vary from:

My favorite seven-year-old girl bookworm (and cat lover) begged me to stop reading it at about page three. And my favorite nine-year-old boy bookworm and ravenous reader wanted nothing to do with it.

to:

My four-year old grandson enjoyed the story as did his nine-year old sister.

and:

What a wonderful way to expose a young audience to meaningful simplicity. One reviewer said this wasn't a children's book but I guess it depends on the child. Curled up in bed with his dog and his cat my son pays rapt attention to this story.

One of my favorite reviews was one I read recently online. Here is the bit regarding its child appeal:

This is not your ordinary children’s book. But nevertheless, my almost 3-year old was completely absorbed as I read haiku after haiku. Sometimes I mistakenly believe that complex thoughts and art are beyond my toddler. But really I think if we as adults could appreciate art and words like a toddler must, we might have an unanticipated deep understanding of truth. That is, in one sense, the beauty of wabi sabi.

One thing I've been thinking about lately is how we in publishing will categorize books as "institutional" versus "commercial"--which maybe is another way of saying: "will sell mainly in libraries" versus "will sell mainly in bookstores" and also: "the type of books teachers and librarians need to introduce to a kid in order for him or her to like it" versus "truly kid friendly." I always hope that the books I edit will be successful in both ways, but generally, when I'm acquiring a book I do believe that it will be more successful in one over the other. And in the case of Wabi Sabi, I'm sure my publisher thought it would have more institutional appeal. But now, as it reaches its tenth week on the NYTimes Bestseller list, we've realized that it has become a true commercial hit (not that it hasn't been a success institutionally, too!).

Anyway, I suppose when people say "child friendly" they mean, "will be liked by most children." A good example would be the four "butt" books that Alison Morris highlighted on her PW blog recently (my personal favorite is the last one, Chicken Butt by Erica Perl, illustrated by Henry Cole).

It would be an interesting study to see how many kids, when forced to choose between Chicken Butt and Wabi Sabi, would choose the latter. If any of you lovely blog readers want to do a test study, I'd love to hear the results!

A question: have you ever been surprised by a book, either one that you thought would be a no-brainer in terms of kids liking it, but they turned out to not be interested, or vice versa--a book you were pretty sure they would hate, that it turned out that they loved?

AN OTHER OPINION ON GOOGLE BOOK SEARCH

I hope none of the other ladies get mad at me and I may be the only voice of decent, but I welcome google putting up previews of my books. I wouldn't mind if google put up all of my books in their entirety. In fact, if you go to my website you can read all of one of my earlier works - SHOW DOG - from beginning to end. I hope to be able to get up the rest of my books (with my publisher's permission of course - Random House already said "yes.") This is a time consuming process so heck, if someone else wants to do it for me then more power to them!

Why is this that I don't mind? Because I consider it free advertising. Who the heck would buy one of my books without being able to read it first? If you go into a bookstore you would read it or at least flip through it and with the new flood of online sales I don't want to miss an opportunity because the buyer is in doubt because he/she didn't see my book at the bookstore and can only look at the cover.

Do I think I should get royalties on my books that google puts up? No. Who on earth would sit in front of their computer to have story hour with their child? And I don't get royalties when someone checks out my books from the library either and I consider it the same sort of thing.

HOWEVER - I am talking about picture books. Adults and/or teens may very well try to sit down and read part of a novel... and if they're crazy maybe the whole thing... on their computer. There are already devices to do this! So if I were a novelist and I found out that more than a chapter of my book was on google then I would want some royalties. I still think a chapter or two of a novel can only help a novelist and I think that it's rare to find a whole book on google but those few authors who discover that their whole book is up there should get what they deserve. As a picture book author I'm not going to put myself in the same class. If Libby's book, for example, does end up on google then yeah, I'd urge her to get some cash out of the deal. That's why I’m glad she posted and why she's going through the process to fill out the necessary forms in the event that google does scan her book. I, however, will not bother. I only wish that google would make my art look not so crappy! Blah. They did a bad scan job.

meghan

In response to Laurie's suggestion

In her comment to my post last week, Laurie suggested that someone draft a letter to Congress, so people who wanted to could send it to their representatives. So, here's my attempt for anyone who wants to do that -- or use mine as a taking-off point for her own letter: it's usually easier to rewrite something than to start from scratch. Or maybe we could we all edit and rewrite it using the blog's Comments....I already sent this draft to my Congressman, Joe Courtney, who, I'm proud to say, was one of the only people in Congress who voted against Bush's bail-out to the bankers.

Anyway: here's the letter I sent him. I can always rewrite it according to the Comments and resend it.

Dear Joe:
First, thank you for being our representative in Congresss. I voted for you and I think you're doing a good job.

I am a children's book author, writing to you about how the publishing industry is suffering and how Congress could help, without spending a dime. If you believe that good books are important to children, and that the publishing industry is worth saving, this is important. [EVERYONE: This sentence is clunky, I know...rewrites extra welcome here!]

Once, publishers made most of their money from "mid-list" books: books that sold "only" a few hundred or thousand copies a year. These books provided a steady income for publishers until, in the late 1970s, Congress passed a law saying that publishers had to pay taxes on their inventory.

This meant that these mid-list books were no longer as profitable. At around the same time, small, independent bookstores were being replaced by big chains, and publishing houses were merging and becoming bigger and more corporate.

All of these things -- but especially, having to pay taxes on the backlist -- led publishers to concentrate their resources on "big books," books they hoped would become best sellers. Simple arithmetic shows how this meant fewer books: where once, a publisher would have paid 25 authors advances of $10,000 each, they are now much more likely to pay one author an advance of $250,000.

The publishers' assumptions about what might become a "big" book have also limited what's published. They've stopped publishing, or limited, certain kinds of books. There are fewer books for children aged 8-11 (books for "young adults" sell better). Children's books that are considered "quiet" (no big exciting events) aren't as common -- would SWALLWS AND AMAZONS be published today? Genres that aren't in (like realistic fiction) are harder to get published, even though some children love realistic fiction. In general, the whole trend of children's publishing today is towards fewer books that SOME children might love -- because lots of children might not like them. Children's books are becoming more like TV: trying to appeal to the lowest common denominator.

Could Congress repeal the law about having to pay taxes on unsold books -- "existing inventory"? And clarify the provisions of the Child Safety Act so books don't have to undergo needless and expensive testing? And -- though this one would cost money - give subsidies to schools and libraries not for new buildings but to BUY GOOD BOOKS?

This would support both the arts and education -- and what could be more worthwhile than encouraging children to read by making books that they'd fall in love with readily available to them?

I would be happy to volunteer my time to help this cause and I bet lots of other authors would, too.

Yours sincerely,
Libby Koponen

Claim your books: you could make some money

The BRGs were talking recently about the Google book settlement and whether or not it was worth bothering to fill out online claims for our books. In short: YES.

It only takes about five minutes to fill out the online forms and (if you do and Google scans your books before May), you will be paid at least $60 and maybe as much as $300. That's worth five minutes of MY time!

NOTE: You may need to enter the title, rather than your name -- that's how I found my books.

Here is what the Authors Guild had to say about the settlement:

"The settlement strengthens authors' rights and will, if approved by the court, result in millions of dollars of payments to authors. At least $45 million will be paid to authors and publishers to release claims for books that are scanned by Google by May 5th of this year. But that's not the most significant part of the settlement, in our view. We expect the licensing that this settlement would enable, particularly of out-of-print books, will result in far more revenues for authors over the coming years.

The settlement covers essentially all in-copyright books that were published by January 5, 2009. (Some authors have told us that they think of the settlement as covering only books for adults or nonfiction books. This is incorrect. Books of all types are covered by the settlement.)

We think it's in the strong interest of authors of all books, whether in print or out of print, to go to www.googlebooksettlement.com and claim their books. Here are some of the benefits of doing so:

1. If you file your claim by January 5, 2010, and a book in which you have a copyright interest is scanned by Google before May 5, 2009, you will be entitled to a small share (at least $60 per book, but up to $300, depending on the number of claims) in a pool of at least $45 million that Google is paying to release claims for works that were scanned without rightsholder permission."

(There were more benefits but you can read them yourself at the Authors Guild Web site -- I just wanted to give the main info for those who hadn't seen it.)

POETRY FRIDAY: Pot Roast by Mark Strand

Food is important in my life—and my husband’s. Both Mike and I enjoy cooking. Everything we make is from scratch. Some of Mike’s specialties are homemade pasta and pizza, soup, salsa, stuffed squid, blueberry pancakes, and eggplant lasagna. Sometimes, preparing food puts me in a Zen-like mood. I often find it relaxing.

So much of our lives revolves around cooking and eating. We get together with friends for dinner. We celebrate holidays with family and traditional foods. Making and eating food involves our senses of taste and smell and touch and hearing. Sometimes the eating and preparing food may reawaken thoughts of the past—as it does in the following poem by Mark Strand. I first read the poem in 2001 in Americans’ Favorite Poems: The Favorite Poem Project Anthology, the book that was given to all of us educators who participated in the First Summer Poetry Institute for Teachers at Boston University.

The woman who submitted Pot Roast to the project as her favorite poem wrote: "Eating is something we all do. Sometimes the experience can be totally gratifying. Most of the time we barely remember doing it. This poem reminds me how powerful and evocative this daily ritual can be."

Pot Roast is one of my favorite poems too.

Pot Roast
By Mark Strand

I gaze upon the roast,

that is sliced and laid out

on my plateand over it

I spoon the juices

of carrot and onion.

And for once I do not regret

The passage of time.

I sit by a window

that looks

on the soot-stained brick of buildings

and do not care that I see

no living thing—not a bird,

not a branch in bloom,

not a soul movingin the rooms

behind the dark panes.

These days when there is little

to love or to praise

one could do worsethan yield

to the power of food.

You can read the rest of the poem here.

Here’s a link to the website of The Favorite Poem Project.

********************

At Wild Rose Reader, I have a macaronic verse that I wrote for Tricia’s Poetry Stretch this week. It’s a silly poem called The Exterminator’s List of Things to Do or A Typical Workday for Tom DeLay.

The Poetry Friday Roundup is at Mommy’s Favorite Children’s Books.

nothing to post

I had full intention of posting the rest of the video on arm wrestling today but I can't because I haven't gotten anything done this week. I got REALLY sick and the doctor yelled at me for not going to the emergency room and taking "matters into my own hands," instead, by consuming a dangerous amount of pain meds. The conclusion was that there's nothing I can do for the pain except "sleep." I said " I can't sleep for two weeks!" He didn't have a response. Now I must go to 2 more specialists--another neurologist and a cardiovascular surgeon because my blood pressure is 125/70 in the left arm and 150/90 in the right. 3 doctors. None know why that is.

So yay. More doctors. More drama. No book work done. I'm petrified that the economy is going to eventually affect me. At BN workers are getting their hours reduced. And here I am with no way to get more income. I can't work on a book when I feel like I"m going to puke! Oh well. The next step is a chemo drug. We'll see what happens.

I'm not posting this so that you can think "Oh, poor Meghan." I'm posting this because this is a warning to all self employed people. You are risking A LOT when you go that root. There's no safety net!!!!

Save the Date!

You're invited to the WHERE THE MOUNTAIN MEETS THE MOON booklaunch on at 5:30 on June 6th at the Porter Square Bookstore!

Yes, that's right, I'm having another party. I haven't worked out all the fun (though there will be moon-shaped cookies) but I'm trying to give lots of advance warning so you can mark your calendars. Please come!

For those of you not in the Boston/Somerville area, I'm planning virtual party of sorts at the Grace Lin Books Group on Facebook. Like I said, I haven't worked everything out yet, but I am planning lots of fun and prizes...with the grand prize being your name or your likeness (or your child's, whatever you prefer) in an upcoming book of mine! Stay tuned!

(I promise later to give an update of my time here in sunny San Antonio--it's going to be 80 degrees here and I only have turtleneck sweaters!)

A Tale of Two Hollyhocks

Benjamin Hill over at Dave's Garden blog wrote a lovely article about Priscilla and the Hollyhocks, click here to read. Makes me wish the parking lot behind our building had even the tiniest place to garden. I'll just have to save my hollyhock seeds for the day when we have a yard.

Have we gone too far for safety?

Related to Libby's great post below, I'd just like to mention the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) again. Elaine also touched on this in an earlier post, and I mentioned it in my Kindling Words wrap-up as well.

Publishers, libraries, bookstores, and other industries who earn a living selling, producing, or supporting children's products have been scrambling to try to abide by the CPSIA which was to come into effect this February 10th. Thankfully, a stay of execution was granted for one year (read more info about that here). Of course, nothing has been resolved, still.

Alison Morris had a great post about this last week in Shelftalker, where she linked to this article by a lawyer decrying the NY Times editorial supporting the Act.

Clueless. Disgraceful. Grossly ill-informed. And cruelly hard-hearted toward families and businesses across the country that are facing economic ruin.

Jezebel also linked to this very sharp article in the Guardian. This is probably the most frightening part of the author's take on the Act:

Thus a great many books could very soon become inaccessible. Even when they survive on private shelves, it is technically illegal to pass them on for free. And on top of all that, the law is incoherent: what's to stop a child from being exposed to books for adults published prior to 1985? Why not ban them all? Though I probably shouldn't even say that. The idea of banning books as a health hazard would be all too popular with those politicians who are opposed to freedom of speech, but too mealy-mouthed to come out and say it.

Of course we want to ensure our children's safety, but at what cost? And is this really the right law? Want to know what you can do to help? Check out these sites here and here. (Thanks to Jenny for the links)

****

In happier news, I'm watching the Academy Awards right now. I love watching award shows, but I must say, I keep crying! From the touching clips, to Milk screenwriter Dustin Lance Black's passionate acceptance speech, to Heath Ledger's win (and his family accepting the award on his behalf), it's been an emotional night!

It's one of the things on my "Things to do before I die" list to attend a black-tie awards event. I guess that, technically, I've already crossed this off my list, as I attended the National Book Awards last year, so I guess I'll have to upgrade to attending the Oscars. Now that's going to be a challenge, but hey, I can aim high, can't I? Maybe I can apply to be a seat warmer.

Congress, publishing, and us

One thing the Bush years really showed me is how much government policies can change a country -- I never really got that before, even though I knew it abstractly.

Once, publishers made a steady income-- in fact, most of their money --from their back lists, books that sold a few hundred or thousand copies a year. Sometime in the late 1970s I think, laws changed and publishers had to pay taxes on those backlists. Backlists became less profitable, and publishers began counting more on bestsellers, less on midlist books, for their profits. There were other reasons for this, too -- more chain stores, fewer independent book stores; changes in the ownership and management of publishing companies due to mergers -- but the change in the tax law was definitely one factor.

Of course every house (and let's face it, probably every author, too, including this one) hopes to publish a big book. Although sometimes well-written, literary books make it big, most of the books publishers pay large advances for are commercial books, sometimes at the expense or even to the exclusion of other kinds of books. It's just arithmetic: when one author gets a $250,000 advance (which, by the way, may or may not be earned by its royalties!), twenty-five other authors can't get $10,000 advances.

What bothers me about this is that some of those not-signed books may be stories that smaller numbers of people would have passionately loved. And I don't think there is any way to predict what will or will not become a best-seller -- or even what will appeal to anyone! It's hard to even predict whether or not someone you know well will like a particular book! But it's probably safe to say that the fewer kinds of books there are, the less likely some children (especially those with unusual tastes) are to discover new books they passionately love. Obviously, some big books have passionate followings; but not universal followings. So for readers as well as authors I hope well-written books with good stories and real characters that don't scream Next Big Thing keep getting published. But I'll get to the action item.

While Obama and Congress are still trying to change the economy, why don't all of us write to our Congress people and suggest a simple way to support the arts AND education, as well as create jobs and bail out an industry that in my opinion anyway is a lot more worthy of government help than Wall Street or the auto industry? One simple way: reverse this law taxing backlists. Let publishers keep backlists without paying taxes -- and while they're at it, exclude books from the Child Safety Act, and give schools special book-buying subsidies.

And if anyone wants to know where the publishing history in this post comes from: a long article that appeared in the old, pre-Tina-Brown New Yorker.

Will You Marry Me?

On Valentine’s Day, my daughter’s boyfriend Jerry brought her to the top of a mountain in New Hampshire and proposed to her. My husband Mike and I are thrilled. Sara and Jerry are a great twosome!

The Ring!

There are times I get a bit nostalgic thinking about my daughter’s childhood and how much fun Mike and I had watching her grow and change and experience life. She is ready for the next big “life” step—marriage.

Sara at Three

Sara--All Growed Up!!!

Here’s a poem I’m posting today in honor of the newly engaged couple.

A Red, Red Rose
by Robert Burns

O my Luve is like a red, red rose
That’s newly sprung in June;
O my Luve is like the melody
That’s sweetly played in tune.

So fair art thou, my bonnie lass,
So deep in luve am I;
And I will luve thee still, my dear,
Till a’ the seas gang dry.

Till a’ the seas gang dry, my dear,
And the rocks melt wi’ the sun;
I will love thee still, my dear,
While the sands o’ life shall run.

And fare thee weel, my only luve!
And fare thee weel awhile!
And I will come again, my luve,
Though it were ten thousand mile.

********************

At Wild Rose Reader, I have an original rhyming acrostic.

The Poetry Friday Roundup is at The Holly and the Ivy.

arm wrestling BRG style

So we got together this sunday for a little evening gathering (I came late - not a surprise). somehow the conversation got to the topic of arm wrestling (I think I first suggested it - again, not a surprise) but this time it wasn't my idea, I swear! Linda and I were to face off. This is how we ended the evening. I think we both injured ourselves.

Anyway, I filmed it with my crappy camera. Then of course I needed to make a little opening. Since my laptop needs some space I don't have any room to put the video on it until I get room and can delete some things. I did manage to make an opening for the bit. I will say this: I've been feeling like complete crap all week - a headache that wouldn't go away no matter how much vicodin I consumed and a permanent quesy, vomity feeling. Good times. So somehow this evening after consuming I swear a whole bottle of ibuprofen this week, I actually felt somewhat normal? And what do I do with my time? Make an opening for the video of course. And does it seem like I'm normal? No. More like on heavy drugs. Observe:





Once again, there is at least one typo. Uh, yeah, I forgot it's 2009. So much for that.

Does Linda win? Or do I? Stay tuned....

Heart Day

Here is perhaps a little known fact about me. I usually avoid doing bookstore events like the plague. Don't get me wrong, I heart bookstores. I even heart other author's events at bookstores. But my own? Pass! I did just one too many bookstore event where I was the lonely author in the corner, only spoken to when someone needed directions to the bathroom.

So, I surprised myself when I signed up for the Kids Heart Authors Day put together by Mitali Perkins. But, I wanted to pay back some of the goodwill that people have given me by supporting the small graces project and I also thought, "It's a group signing. Worst case, at least we can be bored together and ALL show that one lost person where the bathroom is."

But the event at the Curious George Store had a lot more than one person:


And, instead of being bored, I was busy having fun signing books and teaching kids how to draw a dog:




So busy in fact I barely got to speak to my lovely fellow authors: Nancy Viau, Mary Brigid Barrett (who was one of my teachers at RISD!), and Laya Steinberg:

I had a good time! Maybe I've changed my mind and I heart bookstore events after all...

BRG gathering in Mystic

In honor of high tea at Libby's on Sunday, some pictures from the day:

More thoughts on censorship

I'm in Mystic, CT with some of my fellow Blue Rose Girls right now, and so am cheating with my weekly post a bit by posting something I wrote on my personal blog last week:

School Library Journal has a great, thought-provoking piece on self-censorship here.

Here's an excerpt:

Self-censorship. It’s a dirty secret that no one in the profession wants to talk about or admit practicing. Yet everyone knows some librarians bypass good books—those with literary merit or that fill a need in their collections. The reasons range from a book’s sexual content and gay themes to its language and violence—and it happens in more public and K–12 libraries than you think.

“It’s probably fairly widespread, but we don’t have any way of really knowing, because people who self-censor are not likely to broadcast it,” says Pat Scales, president of the Association of Library Services to Children and author of Protecting Intellectual Freedom in Your School Library (ALA Editions, 2009). And since most people think librarians are the best champions of books, adds Scales, their jobs give them the perfect cover.

The American Library Association’s (ALA) Office for Intellectual Freedom only documents written challenges to library books and materials (there were 420 cases in 2007), and even then, it estimates that only one out of five cases are reported. But when it comes to self-censorship, it’s almost impossible to quantify because no one is monitoring it or collecting stats, and there’s no open discussion on the subject. We most often hear about it through anecdotes or if someone is willing to fess up.

“In a way, self-censorship is more frightening than outright banning and removal of challenged material,” says author and former librarian Susan Patron, because these incidents tend to “slip under the radar.”

I was especially surprised by this paragraph:

Researchers Jeff Whittingham and Wendy Rickman asked media specialists if their collections offered the most popular gay-, bisexual-, lesbian-, and transgender-themed books published between 1999 and 2005, including Alex Sanchez’s Rainbow Boys (S & S, 2001), Brent Hartinger’s Geography Club (HarperTeen, 2003), and David Levithan’s award-winning Boy Meets Boy (Knopf, 2003). Almost always, the answer came back no.

Boy Meets Boy is one of the sweetest, most delicious YA novels out there. I can't believe that it's not shelved in most/all libraries!

In terms of censorship, I must admit that on occasion I do ask authors to replace certain words that I know teachers, parents, and librarians may object to. Two of the main culprits, aside from the obvious curse words, are "retarded" and "fag." (It actually makes me cringe just to type them.) And yes, I know kids and teens really do use those words when they speak, but personally, I wouldn't mind if they used them less. But I'll only recommend changing or deleting words depending on the usage, and depending on whether the same tone and authenticity can come across using different words. I've also often asked an author to cut down on the cussing by 50% or whatever percentage I feel is appropriate depending on the type of book it is, the intended audience, and the subject matter. But I do leave it up the author to decide. And I would never not acquire a book because of the language.

For you authors and editors, teachers, parents, and librarians out there, do you self censor?


Read my other recent post on censorship here.

A Small Grace

Would you like to know who was the highest bidder in the February Small Graces auction?

Would you like to find out who won this lovely painting by our fabulously talented Blue Rose Girl Grace Lin? Then check out this post at Wild Rose Reader.

Valentine's Party

This is from an old diary....I think it makes sense without any explanations, but maybe not. Let me know! That's one of my reasons for posting: how much explanation things need is a big question, always, for me when I write.

February 14
Tonight the kids and I had a Valentine’s Party. We spent all afternoon — or rather, they did — making cards and decorations. I baked a chocolate cake with chocolate icing, and, at their request, decorated it with a “V” (for Valentine’s Day). They said I couldn’t come into the upstairs living-room, where we were to eat on a card table they’d dragged up from downstairs, until they said they were ready. When I went in, they were all wearing their best clothes: the boys had on grey pants, ties, and navy-blue blazers; Rebecca was wearing her new long dress.
Then we went to my closet to choose what I should put on. They all vetoed my first choice — Steven said:
“No, you wore that every day last summer and I’m sick of it.”
Finally Rebecca picked a long white evening dress. When I tried it on, everyone approved:
“Twirl around again, Libby.”
Nathaniel ran downstairs to get me an apron (his idea) so I could finish cooking. Rebecca said,
“Do you feel shy in your dress?”
I nodded, and she said,
“I did too at first but now I don’t.”
They finished “getting set up” while I finished cooking; I heard Benjamin saying,
“Oh, I’m so excited!”
Finally, they were ready and so was the dinner. When I brought it in, all the lights were turned out, candles lit, a fire made; STAR WARS (DA da, dadada DA da) played, over and over. The table had been lovingly set, with little cards and name tags and small piles of candy (I’d given each of them 8 cents to buy it with) by each place. Balloons covered the floor (Benjamin and Steven’s idea — that you shouldn’t be able to take one step without kicking a balloon).
I suggested that we have a toast. Solemnly, everyone filled their glasses and I said:
“Happy Valentine’s Day!”
Everyone clinked glasses all together, carefully, in the middle of the table, very seriously. Then they looked at each other, gave delighted smiles, and said:
“Let’s do it again!”
This time, everyone said, at the same time,
“HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!”
Their demeanor and conversation were an odd mixture of the formal (imitative of their parents’ Sunday dinners?) and childlike. Clearly, this was a special occasion to them, a time for Party Behavior. Everyone ate very politely. I told them I’d made up a song, which I would sing when I brought in the cake. This, too, was a ceremony: they wanted to be told when it was coming so they could be “ready.” When I said I was coming, they all blew whistle pops simultaneously and shrilly. Then Steven shushed them and I sang the song again.
They liked the song. They all wanted a piece of the “V” on their cake. They commented very politely that the cake was good, only the icing (bittersweet chocolate) “a little too sour.” After the cake, we opened the cards we’d made — Nathaniel had written riddles on all of his, with the answer concealed by a small heart (taped on) that you lifted up.
Then we took the Dixie cups by each plate and threw their contents — confetti they had made by cutting colored paper into tiny pieces — into the air.
I felt like a privileged spy from the adult world, witnessing their fantasy of what a party is. They’d prepared it all so lovingly — the little piles of cards and decorations and confetti (it must have taken them a long time to cut up all that paper) by each plate, the balloons, all the candles, the fire, the music, the very best clothes. It was really one of the nicest parties I’ve ever been to.

(from me now) Happy Valentine's Day to all, especially Benjamin, Nathaniel, Steven and Becca!

To My Dear and Loving Husband & More Love Poems

If you’re in love—skip the flowers and the chocolates and the teddy bears—express your romantic feelings with P-O-E-T-R-Y, fellas! Ladies, too!!!

Here, in honor of Valentine’s Day, is my favorite “love” poem for my husband.

To My Dear and Loving Husband

by Anne Bradstreet

If ever two were one, then surely we.

If ever man were loved by wife, then thee;

If ever wife was happy in a man,

Compare with me ye women if you can.

I prize thy love more than whole mines of gold,

Or all the riches that the East doth hold.

My love is such that rivers cannot quench,

Nor ought but love from thee give recompense.

Thy love is such I can no way repay;

The heavens reward thee manifold, I pray.

Then while we live, in love let's so persever,

That when we live no more we may live ever.



From Poets.org

Poetry Valentines—Poems to email and pdf poem valentines that you can print and cut out

Be Mine: Poems for Sweethearts (Includes poems by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Derek Walcott, Robert Frost, Shakespeare, Christina Rossetti, Emily Dickinson, and e.e. cummings)

Love Poems (Includes links to poems by Paul Laurance Dunbar, Robert Penn Warren, Robert Herrick, Sara Teasdale, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and Lord Byron)

More Poems for Valentine’s Day

Valentine’s Poems from the Poetry Foundation's Online Journal

Valentine Poems for Children by David McCord, Valerie Worth, Jane Yolen, Barbara Juster Esbensen, Jane Yolen, and Shakespeare

********************

At Wild Rose Reader, I have Edward Lear’s ever-popular poem The Owl and the Pussycat and a recommendation for a beautifully illustrated picture book version by Stephane Jorisch.

Kelly Herold has the Poetry Friday Roundup at Big A, little a.