Susan Marie Swanson - Wonders

Wonders
(after the traditional rhyme “I Saw a Peacock with a Fiery Tail”)
by
Susan Marie Swanson

I saw a tiger
burning bright

I saw the sun
in the middle of the night

I saw a star
torn from a tree

I saw a leaf
holding a key

I saw a pocket
full of art

I saw a book
shaped like a heart

I saw a stone
coming untied

I saw a shoelace
wiggle and hide

I saw some tadpoles
buzzing round a cake

I saw a bumblebee
high above the lake

I saw a cloud
pacing at the zoo

You can see
these wonders too!

© 2010 Susan Marie Swanson. All rights reserved.

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Susan Marie Swanson writes poetry and picture books that pick perfect details and have juuuuust the right words to tell their stories. For a reader, they're a treat, and for a writer, they're a master class if you study them. Perhaps this comes from spending 25 years writing poetry WITH kids not just for them or perhaps it's natural talent (or both!) - check out this interview or her site to see if you can decide - but whatever it is, it is an inherently good thing.

Susan's The House in the Night (2008) received the Caldecott Medal for illustrator Beth Krommes (the second such poet-to-Caldecott mentioned here this week - editors/illustrators take note!) and a slew of other awards and stars and the like. No wonder - it's gorgeous and an amazing read-aloud. You really should share it with children (and parents and grandparents) today so you can understand why I'm such a fan and so happy to have Susan Marie Swanson here as part of 30 Poets/30 Days.

Yesterday gave us Cancion De Mango/Mango Song by Jorge Argueta. Tomorrow, Weeds by Ralph Fletcher! For more on 30 Poets/30 Days and ways to follow along, please click here.