Kimberlee Conway Ireton shares her top 10 YA and children’s books (actually, 17 or so).
Literary Birthdays: Dorothy Sayers’ Gaudy Night
June 13 is the birthday of Dorothy Sayers, a 20th century British writer, poet, playwright, and translator. Her book Gaudy Night shows that being a writer requires one to be both a master of words and mastered by them.
Literary Birthdays: C.S. Lewis, Louisa May Alcott, Madeleine L’Engle
C. S. Lewis shares a birthday with beloved authors Madeleine L’Engle and Louisa May Alcott. Kimberlee Conway Ireton gives tribute to the three.
Libraries and Living Books: Seattle Public Library
If words have the power to shape a child’s soul, and books are the carrier of those words, then the library, according to Kimberlee Conway Ireton, is a powerful place indeed.
The Swing: A Children’s Poem on the Playground
Kimberlee Conway Ireton takes a toddler to the park and remembers a children’s poem while doing underdog pushes on the swing.
Blokes Who Write Bad Poetry: Black Bart
With twenty-seven robberies and two poems to his credit, Black Bart was a legend. Kimberlee Conway Ireton answers with a poem to Black Bart.
The Poetree: An Afternoon Well-Spent
How creating a “poetree” can do what poetry at its best does: calls attention to the present, the beauty and joy and wonder and gut-wrenching glory of it.
Carry a Shield: 10 Good Books About Dragons
Adventures with dragons may be a rite of childhood. Kimberlee Conway Ireton has 10 great books about dragons to read with your children.
World Read Aloud Day: 6 Benefits of Reading Aloud to Your Children
On this World Read Aloud Day, Kimberlee Conway Ireton give us 6 great benefits of reading aloud to our children.
Llamas in Pajamas (and 10 great children’s poetry books)
Kimberlee Conway Ireton reads Llamas in Pajamas — and 10 great children’s poetry books — with her kids. In fleecy pajamas.
5 Amusing Pride and Prejudice Quotes: Wet Shirt Included
Five fun quotes from Pride and Prejudice promised to nurse one sick writer back to health. Or maybe it was the dose of Colin Firth. One can never be sure.
Mass at Notre-Dame (or, How to Write a Found Poem)
Using a paragraph of prose from Kristin LeMay’s “I Told My Soul To Sing, ” Kimberlee Conway Ireton crafts — and explains how to write — a found poem.
Poetry with Children: What’s In Your Journal
Kimberlee Conway Ireton lets William Stafford’s poem “What’s in Your Journal” build a foundation of images and metaphors to talk poetry with children.
Literary Citizen, Hug a Writer!
As I sip a dark red vanilla rooibos in a Seattle teahouse and type these words, I am feeling rather smug. Today is Hug an Author Day. Already, I have hugged fourteen dead writers (via Facebook, of course. I didn’t exhume them or anything. That’s just creepy). I have also hugged five living writers, among […]
Speak Like Rain
1. “Mama, ” my five-year-old calls from the back of the minivan, “can you make up a poem?” “A poem?” I ask. “Yes. A poem about words. A poem that rhymes.” I look out the window. Well, crap. A rhyming poem about words? “It might take me awhile, ” I say. “That’s okay, Mama. Whenever […]
This Week’s Top Ten Poetic Picks
The best in poetry (and poetic things), this week with Kimberlee Conway Ireton. 1 Art Mandy Kahn creates community poetry installations. For art galleries. At least, that’s the dream. It’s sort of like improv comedy using lines of poetry, only a lot more lyrical. Al Black used to travel the roads of Florida selling paintings […]
This Week’s Top Ten Poetic Picks
The best in poetry (and poetic things), this week with Kimberlee Conway Ireton. 1 Art We heart book art. Here’s Erica Baum’s new collection of paper art. Called Dog Ear, it’s a collection of photographs of the dog-eared pages of books. Sound boring? It’s not. It’s beautiful. We’ve spotlighted quite a bit of book art […]
This Week’s Top Ten Poetic Picks
The best in poetry (and poetic things), this week with Kimberlee Conway Ireton. 1 Art Oh. My. Goodness. Did you know there is a website called Bookshelf Porn? Did you know it is a bibliophile’s dream come true? Hundreds of photos and videos of bookshelves, bookstores, books, books, and more books. It’s like Pinterest for […]
This Week’s Top 10 Poetic Picks
The best in poetry (and poetic things), this week with Kimberlee Conway Ireton. 1 Art True confession: I used to read house porn. You know: those glossy magazines with full-color photos of beautiful houses and gardens. They exist to make people like me sigh tragically as we stare around at the books and Cheerios that […]
This Week’s Top 10 Poetic Picks
The best in poetry (and poetic things), this week with Kimberlee Conway Ireton. 1 Art I’ve been reading Emily Dickinson’s poetry to my kids. I love her simple, spare, evocative verse. So I was captivated by The Little White House Project, brain child and love labor of a 17-year-old boy. The 5-acre art installation is […]