It's a Fiesta. It's a Carnival. It's a blast!

Get thee to Chicken Spaghetti and view the 14th Carnival of Children's Literature. There's a great selection of posts that line up with the theme of the event, then there's a bunch of slackers like me who simply picked something not quite on point! But mix 'em all together, and it's a mighty good time.

Dusty... dirty... done.

With a big ol' contingent of hardworking fellow volunteers, we managed to recover from a month or two of library neglect, bring a slew (defined officially as 1500) of books out of their staging area and onto the shelves, and kicked up a lotta book-dust. All in all, a good time.

But as we put books on the shelves, we started to have piles of the great unknown. Those books that defy classification for the un-Dewey indoctrinated... or maybe for anyone. What do you do with a book that's written in two languages, but the name of the second language is never identified and sure doesn't look familiar to anyone around. And does our library really need -- and where should we put -- a copy of The Courtin', a poem by James Russell Lowell illustrated by Winslow Homer. Yes, that Winslow Homer.

In the end, sans internet connection, we ended up with a few boxes that returned from whence they came, awaiting another day of volunteering fun. But any day you add hundreds and hundreds of new picture books to the shelves is a good day in my book.

Friday. Poetry. They mix, I tell ya.

My attempt this week to write an "end of school year" poem was, well, it was an attempt, but not a successful one. So instead of posting an original poem on this lovely Friday, I direct you to Kelly's blog for the Poetry Friday roundup!

Shelving. And then some.

So, here as we approach the end of the school year, finally, at long last, we're getting a day in the library to organize, re-organize, alphabetize, and shelve, shelve, shelve. Yes, with 5 weeks to go! Still, I'm excited, as the beast has gotten out of control, and this is the chance to tame it.

I recently typed up a list of the read-alouds from the last two years, and realized that I have, indeed, spent at least some of my time well. It's a fine list of around 160 titles, with a great range, I must say with everything from the funny to poignant, silly to sublime, fiction to non-fiction, poetry to wordless picture books, and a lot of stuff in between. Have I hit my goal of making sure that every student in the school has seen their life reflected in something we've read? It's surely possible, though there's room for improvement there. I hope to spend the summer reading tons of books I don't know, so I can find the ones that hit sweet spots I've missed.

But for now... boy, do I want to simply get everything put away once! Here's hoping....

A quick spin...

... around just a tiny bit of my blogroll leads me to

Remind: it's the upcoming Carnival of Children's Literature at Chicken Spaghetti. Submit a link by Thursday.


Don Tate deserves kudos!

I'm sure I missed linking to The Edge of the Forest, and that's just plain wrong, cuz it's mighty fine reading.

And... oh, heck. There's too much! Get thee to my blogroll and enjoy!

Moms, you should know...

... that late at night, your spouses and children and others who love you are plying the internet...

Searching...

Getting increasingly desperate...

Hoping to find a love connection with...

A poem for you.

Yes, a poem, if the Google searches coming my way are to be believed. And the odds are, whatever they find, you deserve it and then some.


So happy Mother's Day to all the moms in my life... on and offline!

Hmmm. I want to...but should I?

Oh, heck. I must.

Someone asked me if they could put some of my poetry on their blog for Poetry Friday! Well, yes. Of course. Look, there I am a few entries above Shakespeare....

I know. I know. I could add witticisms here, but instead I need to direct Mom to a computer....

Hip Writer Mama has the Poetry Friday roundup right here.

And thanks again, Tabatha!

Poetry Wednesday?

Why not? So, a little shout out and tip o' the cap to Straight Goods, Canada's leading independent magazine, for running my Mother's Day poem in their current issue. It's under "humour" which makes me happy both by the title and by the extra U for us under the border types. Good times indeed!

Searched out... but why?

So, I admit that every now and then I look at the search terms that drive people here. Stop laughing! I can define "now and then" however I'd like, thank you very much. Mostly I do this for amusement and education. But there's ego gratification, too, as I get a lot of folks searching for specific poems of mine along with my name. However, this weekend got me something different entirely:

Someone entered a complete poem of mine in Google. Not my itty, bitty Pluto one, either. Nope, this was a longer one, and they entered the whole text. So the question is... why?

My first reaction is cynical -- it was a teacher who had a student turn this poem in as their own and decided "Hmmm. This has rather sophisticated wordplay. I wonder...." Does anyone else share this idea? Teacher-readers o' mine... does this happen?

Now, it's also possible someone had copied the poem and couldn't remember where they'd gotten it and wanted to see from whence such witty or putrid verse came. Or they wanted to give me fair attribution in a report/paper/email. Or... well, I'm open to other reasons.

Anyone got any? Curious, indeed, at least to me....

Ooooh. The Summber SCBWI Conference!

Perhaps it's not with the same excitement that Steve Martin greeted the phone books in The Jerk, but I was quite jazzed today to see that the SCBWI summer conference information is up!

As always, the highlights are numerous. Lee Bennett Hopkins is back! Lisa Yee! Linda Sue Park! And... and... AND! I can't go on. Too much. But what's truly exciting is the nice showing from the kidlitosphere. Among those highlights are Kelly, Cynthia, and the Class of 2k7, and... and... and...! This means, hard as it is to believe, that the Conference will likely be even more fun and more blogged than last year.

Will I be seeing you in LA from August 3 to 6? I hope so....

A Search Fib for Poetry Friday...

This is certainly an original composition, though as with most Search Fibs, it's not clear that it's a poem, per se. But heck, some mighty fine search terms have rolled in of late, and this is as good a way for sharing as any. And again let me say... boy there are a lot of different search mechanisms out there!

Kelly's been nice enough to round up the Poetry Friday links today. Go on and check it allll out.


Fib
Flib
Tell fibs
Prune bathroom
Good scrotum supports
Is Mother's Day time to play sports?

Link overflow...

So, after the extravaganza of last month, I find the links on the right hand side of my blog looking pretty... well... linky. I mean, there are a LOT of links over there. My blogroll, full of remarkable places everyone should visit, has slid farther down as my links of poems has grown to around 80! Then again, I remember when my blogroll was three or four. Times change.

Still, I'm trying to come up with organizational techniques for those poem links. I do want them all there, since they get a lot of action, so to speak, but there must be more efficient ways to group them. Anyone with thoughts on this, feel free to send 'em my way.

And don't get me started on how many other fantastic blogs there are out there, with new ones popping onto my radar all the time. Today, thanks to Barbara Jean Hicks (out with the wonderfully titled (and living up to it) The Secret Life of Walter Kitty), I learned about the chock full o' info and anecdote Editorial Anonymous -- another must read for us kidlit writer types. Good stuff out there, indeed. If only there were 25 hours in a day, with one hour designated "blog reading time." Someone call Congress and make it so!

He speaks!

OK, it's not like I was silent in April. In fact, I probably had more total posts in the month than any other one this year. But I felt a tiny bit out of touch. So...

How are you? I'm fine. What's been going on? Oh, that's nice. Same here.

May promises to be exciting around these parts, just cuz I say so. Poetry will continue (and I thought it would be funny if I'd simply posted another poem today). I'm overdue and Oddaptation (requests?). And... well, you gotta stay tuned.

Tired -- a being tired poem and a writing poem

TIRED
By
Gregory K.

I’m tired of reading.
My books are so boring.
I’m tired of sports,
All that running and scoring.
I’m tired of sleeping.
Who needs all that resting?
I’m tired of laughing.
I want no more jesting.
I’m tired of eating --
I’m so bored of chewing.
I’m tired of people
And how-do-you-doing.
I’m tired of learning:
It's far from exciting.
I’d tell you some more...
But I’m too tired of writing.


Thanks, y'all, for joining me for my April poem-a-day postings (of which this is the last). Links to all my blogged poems are over to the right -- under the headline The Poems -- and it's getting to be quite a nice sized list! Now, as noted, I really am tired... so I gotta book. See you in May!

If you want to get all my new poems (and only the poems) emailed to you for freeee as they hit the blog, enter your email address in the box below then click subscribe!

Chocolate Mousse! -- a dessert poem and a chocolate poem

CHOCOLATE MOUSSE!
By
Gregory K.

It’s creamy and dreamy – a chocolaty treat.
Like rich, whipped-up pudding that’s so fun to eat.
Just give me a bowl and I know that you’ll find...
Only a moussetache will be left behind!


(I'm posting an original poem-a-day through April in celebration of National Poetry Month. Links to this and other poems here on GottaBook (and there are lots of others, because poetry is NOT just for April) are collected over on the right of the blog under the headline "The Poems".)

If you want to get all my new poems (and only the poems) emailed to you for freeee as they hit the blog, enter your email address in the box below then click subscribe!

Book Report on The Dictionary - a homework poem/a dictionary poem/a book report poem

BOOK REPORT ON THE DICTIONARY
by
Gregory K.

I found the plot missing,
The dialog weak.
I kept waiting and waiting for someone to speak.

The characters bored me.
In fact, there weren’t any!
The jokes were not funny, and there weren’t too many.

The book started slowly.
The middle lacked energy.
And what type of ending is “zymotic, zymurgy”?

The authors have talent
But need to refine it...
'Cause if there's a point here, they failed to define it.

(I'm posting an original poem-a-day through April in celebration of National Poetry Month. Links to this and other poems here on GottaBook (and there are lots of others, because poetry is NOT just for April) are collected over on the right of the blog under the headline "The Poems".)

If you want to get all my poems emailed to you for freeee as they hit the blog, enter your email address in the box below then click subscribe!

How I Save Money -- a money poem and a saving poem

HOW I SAVE MONEY
By
Gregory K.

My parents always tell me “Saving money is the key!”
So I’ve figured out a lot of ways that saving works for me.

Today, in fact, I saved a dollar eight from being sad --
I used it for some candy, and I know that made it glad.

Last week, I saw some quarters in a fountain at the mall…
So I saved them all from drowning (then they bought a basketball).

My allowance funds get lonely, but I save them if I spend ‘em,
And I get them into registers where lots of bills befriend ‘em.

And just the other day I bought … well… I don’t know what you call it,
But I saved two twenty dollar bills from rotting in dad’s wallet.

I know a lot of other tricks, but I don’t want to bore you…
Instead just send me all your cash. I’ll gladly save it for you!


Happy final Poetry Friday of National Poetry Month. Go check out the collected links nicely gathered up over on A Wrung Sponge.

(I'm posting an original poem-a-day through April in celebration of National Poetry Month. Links to this and other poems here on GottaBook (and there are lots of others, because poetry is NOT just for April) are collected over on the right of the blog under the headline "The Poems".)

If you want to get every poem (and only the poems) I post here emailed to you for freeee as it hits the blog, enter your email address in the box below then click subscribe!

Only four to go...

Yes, only four more poems to finish off the month of April's "poem a day" extravaganza. I view this with a mix of sadness and relief, I'll admit. One big personal goal for me in doing the public posting was to "force" myself to make more time for poetry writing. This was ultimately successful, but I it was a rocky start! As y'all can likely guess, I love me poetry... but it's not the only writing I do, and it often takes a back seat. This month it started driving again, and it's been a hoot. But coming up with solid poems that I want to share with y'all... well... I don't think I'd want to do that every day in May, too!

Still, while May will bring the return of more typical GottaBook posting... that mix includes Fibbisnhess, Oddaptations, and, you guessed it, poetry! Some things never change, even if they don't happen daily.

Oh, and thanks for coming along for the April ride!

My Balloon -- a balloon poem

MY BALLOON
By
Gregory K.


“Why, oh why, oh why, oh why????
Oh, please come back!” I moan and sigh.
I jumped but you had gone too high.
Now you’re flying in the sky.
I think I’m really gonna cry….
Goodbye, my poor balloon. Goodbye.


(I'm posting an original poem-a-day through April in celebration of National Poetry Month. Links to this and other poems here on GottaBook (and there are lots of others, because poetry is NOT just for April) are collected over on the right of the blog under the headline "The Poems".)

If you want to get all my new poems (and only the poems) emailed to you for freeee as they hit the blog, enter your email address in the box below then click subscribe!

My Friend Eileen -- a friendship poem and a food poem

MY FRIEND EILEEN
by
Gregory K.

My friend Eileen is made of food.
She’s always fresh and never chewed.
When we go walking down the street,
I think we shock the folks we meet.
Yes, lots of people stop and stare
And say “my word, that’s broccoli hair!”
It sits atop her apple head
With cherry eyes, so deep and red.
Her legs are herbs that grow in rows
She walks around on tater toes.
Her arms are crackers, great to munch.
She’d give you any part for lunch.
There’s nothing she won’t do for you --
Eileen is great... and tasty, too!

(I'm posting an original poem-a-day through April in celebration of National Poetry Month. Links to this and other poems here on GottaBook (and there are lots of others, because poetry is NOT just for April) are collected over on the right of the blog under the headline "The Poems".)

If you want to get all my poems emailed to you for freeee as they hit the blog, enter your email address in the box below then click subscribe!