Greetings, Poetry Lovers!
You might know that Sylvia Vardell and Janet S. Wong met years ago at a conference, and the Kidlit Poetry World has never been the same since. ;0) Their publishing enterprise Pomelo Books has produced many wonderful poetry anthologies for kids in the last decade, all classroom-friendly, too. Several of us Poetry Friday folks are privileged to have poems in them, along with dozens of other poets.
Sylvia just retired from a 30-year career teaching children's literature (and teaching teachers) at Texas Woman's University, and she has been a valued member of several important committees across a variety of literacy organizations. She's also trekked across the world getting good books into the hands of kids, donning her signature one-of-a-kind outfits featuring poetry themes! She's continuing poetry-centric endeavors in her new adventures.
Janet is the 2021 NCTE Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children winner, with 21 books to her credit BEFORE she started co-producing anthologies. Her A SUITCASE OF SEAWEED was released again a couple of years ago as A SUITCASE OF SEAWEED AND MORE, and that version of the suitcase became stuffed with several prestigious awards! She came to the kidlit world after practicing law, and has also volunteered with many literacy organizations.
One group Janet and Sylvia are both involved with is IBBY (International Board on Books For Young People). Proceeds from their latest series of books go to the IBBY Children in Crisis Fund, which connects vulnerable children in several countries with literacy programs.
What is their latest series of books, you ask? It's a group of anthologies with fantastic poems accompanying photographs of kids, and these have grown from the soil of anthhology workshops this Dynamic Poetry Duo started offering last year. The classes are called Antho 101, 201, 301 and 401. I've been enjoying reading lots of Poetry Friday posts about them, and was lamenting that I couldn't make the schedule happen when the workshops first emerged.
But, lo and behold, this summer, when they offered Antho 401 (poetry targeted for ages 8 & up), I WAS able to join in. I've enjoyed watching the videos and writing submissions for the book attached to this class, and helping to evaluate other poems for consideration. Sylvia and Janet generously put participants through ALL the paces of creating and anthology - and let us peek in on their own spirited discussions of which pictures to select and why, etc., etc. I am looking forward to the live, online class gathering in a few weeks.
AND... they are offering Antho 201 (poetry targetd to very young readers) AGAIN this fall! It includes recorded sessions, a live class, and a new book to be created! I'm signing up for this reprise, too, since I missed it before.
Here's the scoop with an overview of the workshops and dates and registration info:
https://pomelobooks.com/anthologies-101
and here's a blog post from earlier in the year with some more information about this workshop series:
http://poetryforchildren.blogspot.com/2022/02/learning-about-poetry-anthologies.html
The published books in this series (so far!) include these collections for younger readers: THINGS WE DO, THINGS WE EAT, and THINGS WE FEEL.
Here's a taste from THINGS WE DO - a delightful poem by one of our Poetry Friday friends that stole my heart, as I'm still basking in becoming a grandmother earlier this summer. (Each poem in this book corresponds to a letter of the alphabet - this one is for 'W'.)
WAVE
by Janet Clare Fagal
When we leave Grandma's,
she stands in the yard.
We get in our car.
I wave really hard.
Her smile is the sun.
My wave is the sky.
I wave from my window
for one more goodbye.
©Janet Clare Fagal. Posted with permission.
Thanks to Janet for letting me share this poem today! The new wee bairn in our family, Sawyer, is not quite waving yet. BUT, this week, he started grabbing the dangling toys from his playmat as he lays beneath them! (I require daily photos and/or videos from Morgan between visits.) And he's just twelve weeks old. Of course, he already love rhymes and songs....
Many thanks also to Tanita for hosting the Poetry Friday Roundup this week over at {fiction, instead of lies}. And unending thanks to Janet and Sylvia, who continue to share so much poetry light in the world.