U.S. Children's Poet Laureate Celebrates National Poetry Month: Interview, Poems, Poetry Tips

 

Who hides behind the chocolate mustache?
J. Patrick Lewis

Hooray for National Poetry Month! Every April, National Poetry Month celebrates poetry and poets. This month (and throughout the year), Children's Poet Laureate J. Patrick Lewis (selected by the Poetry Foundation) is traveling to schools across the country to fire up children's enthusiasm for poetry. The author of more than 80 books of poetry, his work has been widely anthologized.
  
Welcome, Pat! Would you begin by telling us why poetry matters to children?

Poetry is beautiful speech; it's the tunnel at the end of the light; a blind date with enchantment; the sound of silence, amplified. Poetry—good poetry—can transport children and adults to places they have never been . . . all from the comfort of an easy chair.

What types of poetry do you find that children enjoy in your visits to schools?

Humorous verse, naturally. Riddle verses are probably the most enjoyable form for children, simply because they are interactive. But serious poetry can be every bit as enjoyable and entertaining, and I read that to them as well.

What are some fun ways teachers, librarians and parents can share poetry with children?

Children will not gravitate to poetry; it must be brought to them. Surround your classroom, library, and home with poetry books of every stripe—free verse and formal metrics. Adopt a DEAR (Drop Everything and Read) program. Poetry should be part of every child's every day experience. At all costs, avoid the term "poetry unit," which implies two or three days devoted to poetry, and then, "Thank the heavens, we're done with it," as many teachers inherently believe.

In your writing, you experiment with poetic form. Do you have any verse forms you've invented that you'd like to see more of?

Three new forms of my own design, and they all involve wordplay:

1. "One-Worders"

Hangman's Lament: Neckckckst!

Joey's House: Kangaroom
 
Green Poodle: Broccoli

2. "Homophoems"—I define a homophoem as a two- to sixteen-line poem, which contains at least one homophone or neologism.

The poem must end with a homophone as the surprise end-word or phrase. Homophones are words that share the same pronunciation, irrespective of their spelling, but differ in meaning, such as bear/bare, ceiling/sealing, lay/lei.

For example:

Zen Football

The quarterback folds
his hands under the center—
“18, 6, X, haik-!"

What Color is Your Orangutan?

He’s not exactly orange.
There is a big dispute
About this brownish-reddish-tannish
Borneo galoot.

Why call him an Orangutan
When you can see he’s not
Quite tan? Orang deserves the name
Orangutapricot.

Foul Ball

The high school band took their places
In the stands for the Rams vs. Aces.
A girl hit a home run,
But confused by the sun,
She kept running around all the basses.

3. And third, the zeno. This is a new verse form I invented, inspired by the “hailstone sequence” in mathematics.

I define a zeno as a 10-line poem with 8,4,2,1,4,2,1,4,2,1 syllables that rhyme abcdefdghd.

For example:

Weather, by The Old Masters

The Michelangelo thunder
of an April
cloudburst
hints
at what follows
a great
rinse:
spring meadows in
Monet
prints.

Do you have a few tips to help aspiring children's poets get published?

1) don't rhyme

2) don't seek to publish (that will come in time)

3) imitate great poems you love (remember, this is not plagiarism
because you are just practicing).

Can you share a few poetry writing tips?

1) Stress the importance of strong verbs.

2) Minimize the use of adjectives and adverbs.

3) Write with detail.

To learn more about J. Patrick Lewis, visit his website. Discover a J. Patrick Lewis Poetry Toolkit on a blog put together by teachers, librarians and other fans.

Happy National Poetry Month!

Who are your favorite children's poets? What are you best loved children's poems? Feel free to share your comments.

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Ten Activities for Celebrating National Poetry Month with Young People

April is National Poetry Month, a special time to celebrate and get young people excited about poetry. Try these ten activities to help children develop a love of poetry throughout the entire year:

Publish poetry online. Young people can write and publish online with the all-new game Martha’s Rhyme Time at pbskids.org/martha. Click here for more learning activities from Martha. You may also write and share poems online with Fern’s Poetry Club at pbskids.org/arthur.

Paint or draw a poem. Read poetry and paint or draw pictures of what it makes you feel and think.

Dress up as your favorite character and dramatize poems. Put on a Dr. Seuss hat or costume, grab some props, and perform a poetry book. 

Attend a children's poetry reading at a local library or arts council. Participate in The Academy of American Poets' Poetry Read-A-Thon. Click here for more information. 

Go on a poetry treasure hunt. Hide poems for children to discover around a classroom, library or at home. Have the kids share and talk about the poems they find. Create and keep a treasure chest for keeping the poems.

Explore children's poets and poetry websites. For starters, click here to meet Children's Poet Laureate J. Patrick Lewis on The Poetry Foundation's website. Check out the site's many poetry resources and offerings (Poem of the Day, poetry videos, articles and much more).

Dance a poem. Look for a poem's rhythm. Once you find it, try clapping the rhythm and then add some steps. Presto! With a hop, a skip and a twirl, you can make your own poetry dance.


Celebrate national Poem In Your Pocket Day on Thursday, April 26, 2012. Choose a poem during National Poetry Month, then carry it with you to share with co-workers, family, and friends. You can also share your poem selection on Twitter by using the hashtag #pocketpoem. Poems from pockets will be unfolded throughout the day with events in parks, libraries, schools, workplaces, and bookstores. Click here for more ideas.


Encourage children to memorize poems and recite them at an Open Mike Poetry Event.

Shape up! Write a shape poem. Choose any object you would like to write about — animals, foods, stars and planets — the possibilities are endless. Create a list of words that describe the object. Arrange your words in the shape of the object. You can draw, color or paint the words. For the tech savvy, try it on the computer.

Spread the word about National Poetry Month to your friends, family, and community by sharing this blog post. Feel free to post below in the comments information about poetry events and activities in April and the rest of the year. Got any you'd like to share?