Poetry Friday

This week's Poetry Friday will be held at Carol's Corner. Don't miss it, and have a fabulous Friday.

Crossover Review

Hello, everyone, from Scotland! I have a review of Siobhan Dowd's latest (last?) novel, Solace of the Road, up over at Crossover.

Poetry Friday

This week's Poetry Friday will be hosted by Brian Jung at Critique de Mr. Chompchomp. Enjoy!

I have a book review of an adult mystery teens will love up over at Crossover. You can check it out here!

Poetry Friday is Back at Big a little a/Crossover

First and foremost: An enormous thanks goes out to Mary Lee of A Year of Reading who helped me during my great blog crisis of 2008-2009. She organized hosts and kept Poetry Friday going when I was unable to keep track of things. Thank you, Mary Lee!

I'll be posting the schedule here, and at Crossover, and on the kidlistosphere group from now and into the future. As a reminder, here's who's up next:

June 12: Brian Jung at Critique de Mr. Chompchomp
June 19: Carol Wilcox at Carol's Corner
June 26: Kelly Herold at Crossover
July 3: Tabatha Yeatts at Tabatha A. Yeatts
July 10: Jama Rattigan at Jama Rattigan's Alphabet Soup
July 17: Becky Laney at Becky's Book Reviews
July 24: Mary Lee Hahn at A Year of Reading
July 31: Sylvia Vardell at Poetry For Children
August 7: Tricia at The Miss Rumphius Effect
August 14: Andromeda Jazmon at a wrung sponge
August 21: Kyle at The Boy Reader
August 28: Kate Coombs at Book Aunt

Thank you all for hosting, and I can't wait to join in the fun again.

Poetry Friday review: A River of Words: The Story of William Carlos Williams

Jen Bryant's biography of poet William Carlos Williams for the grade-school reader is just the type of biography any poet would want. In A River of Words: The Story of William Carlos Williams, the poetry and its writing remain more important to the tale than the events of the poet's life.

So, while we learn William Carlos Williams loved to spend time outdoors, wandering, as a child, we also discover what was most important about these childish excursions: "...as he walked through the high grasses and along the soft dirt paths, Willie watched everything" and "the river's music both excited and soothed Willie. Sometimes, as he listened to its perfect tune, he fell asleep."

Bryant tells us of William Carlos Williams as a student, but most importantly about his study of poetry:

Poetry suited Willie. Every night,
he looked forward to sitting at his desk
and writing a few lines.

But after a while, he grew frustrated.
He had pictures in his mind that didn't fit exactly
into steady rhythms or rhymes.
'I have never seen a swan or an archer,' Willie thought.
'I want to write about ordinary things--

A River of Words is a biography of a poet--of how a young person becomes, lives, and works as a poet. Indeed, William Carlos William's career as a doctor plays second fiddle to practical, yet lyrical, descriptions of how he managed to write poetry in the evenings after work.

Melissa Sweet's illustrations are warm and make much use of Williams's poems and other textual elements (notepads, drafts, textbooks). A River of Words: The Story of William Carlos Williams is a first-class biography, and one to use in the classroom to learn not only about Williams, or more about poetry, but also to learn more about biography and how different biographical approaches can approach a life in radically different ways.
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A River of Words: The Story of William Carlos Williams
by Jen Bryant, illustrated by Melissa Sweet
Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, 2008
ISBN: 0-8028-5302-8

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Other Blog Reviews:

One Minute Book Reviews
Fairrosa's Reading Journal
A Fuse #8
Achuka
Bookends
Don't miss Jama Rattigan's interview will illustrator Melissa Sweet at Alphabet Soup.
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Susan Taylor Brown has the roundup at Susan Writes.

The Elephant in the Room

Good morning! If you have a moment and some opinions on the Twilight series, I am seeking your help over at Crossover.

Starting Over

Hi Everyone:

Yes, I've been gone for weeks. Months, even. But, I am returning to the blog world now, primarily at another location. Here is my new location:

Crossover

I'll still be posting here at Big A little a with Grandma book reviews, my own book reviews of non-crossover books, and with odds and ends.

Here are some other notes:

1. I've transferred my blogrolls. If I'm missing someone, please let me know. I still want to keep these up.
2. I'm going to work on archiving my reviews and interviews at Big A little a for the inevitable time it shuts down (a year from now, probably)
3. If anyone wants to take over Weekend Reviews...let me know, and I'll give you all my resources
4. If anyone wants to know the story of academic year 2008-2009, I'll be happy to share. I just don't want to broadcast it over the internet...

and, most importantly:

5. I've declared my e-mail and my reader bankrupt. If I didn't reply to an important e-mail, please write again.

Spam!

My blog is being hit by spam. I've heard posting something helps. So, I thought I'd check in and say:

1. I hope to be back and soon.
2. I'm headed to London tomorrow for a conference!

I hope you all are well and I can't wait to jump back in the kidlitosphere.

A (Major) Poetry Friday announcement

Mary Lee of A Year of Reading is going to help me out this spring and take over the Poetry Friday scheduling through February, March, and April. If you're interested in hosting, please do let her know.

I'll be back in action in May, and hopefully will begin posting on Fridays again soon.

(P.S. This past week's PF roundup will take place on Wednesday and Thursday of this week. So many good posts, I want to comment on them all.)