Take Your Poet to Work Day is one of the happiest days of the year. It is marked by only the tiny sadness that it takes place in the summer. Teachers and librarians join in as best they can (sometimes from the beach—thus, we note, the sadness is but tiny) in July, but they do let us know they would love to be able to celebrate when school is in session.
This year, for the first time, we’ll be celebrating Take Your Poet to School Week (yes, all week!) during the first full week of National Poetry Month (for 2018, that’s from April 2-6). The week will culminate with Poet in a Cupcake Day on Friday. (We do not anticipate any cause for sadness over this.)
So now, in the spring, instead of poets peeking out of briefcases or beach totes (as they do in July), you might see them in a backpack. You might see them looking out the window of a school bus. You might even see them trying their darndest to get picked for dodge ball during recess. (I can assure them, if any ask, that it is not worth the trouble.)
We’ll be adding a few faces to our poets-on-a-stick collection over the next couple of weeks, and we also invite teachers, librarians and students everywhere to take one of our other poets from prior years of Take Your Poet to Work Day celebrations (they’d love to go to school *and* work). Watch for an update of our coloring book with those new faces, as well as fun new cut ‘n color cupcakes to plop your favorite poet into (in case you’d rather not bake or find real cupcake frosting just a little too sweet).
Check out Robert Louis Stevenson from last week, and this week, welcome Ogden Nash to the club.
Take Your Poet to School Week Cut ‘n Color Printable Ogden Nash
Download free Take Your Poet to School Ogden Nash Printable
Ogden Nash
In its obituary for American poet Ogden Nash (died May 19, 1971), The New York Times declared him the “country’s best- known producer of humorous poems.”
Born in 1902, Nash at one time attended Harvard, dropping out after a year. He later worked as a teacher, sold bonds, wrote ad copy, and had a short stint on the editorial staff of The New Yorker.
Nash also wrote the lyrics to Broadway shows. His first collection of poems, Hard Lines, was published in 1931, the same year he married.
Known for poems featuring puns and word play, Nash was also fond of inventing words to finish out a rhyme. In a 1958 interview, he said, “I think in terms of rhyme, and have since I was six years old.”
Post and illustrations by LW Lindquist.
_________________________________
- Earth Song Poem Featured on The Slowdown!—Birds in Home Depot - February 7, 2023
- The Rapping in the Attic—Happy Holidays Fun Video! - December 21, 2022
- Video: Earth Song: A Nature Poems Experience—Enchanting! - December 6, 2022
Bethany R. says
I’m (almost) always searching for humor in everyday life. Happy to see Mr. Nash’s likeness joining the celebration. I wonder what he’d say about being put in a cupcake?