And the Winner Is.......

The winner of a copy of SPIN A CIRCLE by Raven Hoowell and Ann Pilicer is Christie Wyman! Congratulations, Christie! Email me your mailing address, and I will get a copy of this book in the mail to you ASAP!

Poetry Friday: Let's Celebrate SPIN A CIRCLE with a Book Review and Giveaway

 Welcome back, friends! It's been a whirlwind. I haven't been checking in regularly because I started a new job with Mississippi Valley Regional Blood Center. The job is fulfilling, but it's also been a lot of hard work and training. I'm thrilled to be back this week to celebrate a new book written by Raven Howell and illustrated by Ann Pilicer. Please help me celebrate, SPIN A CIRCLE.

SPIN A CIRCLE

Written by Raven Howell

Illustrated by Ann Pilicer

Published by MacLaren-Cochrane Publishing, Inc.

ISBN 9781649720548

What a delight! Each poem in this collection celebrates the activity, creativity, and imagination of preschoolers and elementary age children. From an exuberant teeter-totter ride to a colorful adventure in finger painting to a lovely lullaby and so much more in between, Raven Howell captures the simple, yet oh so special moments that make up childhood. Raven’s beautiful verse shines through Ann Pilicer’s lively illustrations. They make an unbeatable combination!

You wouldn’t think the book could be any more special until you learn that it was designed with a dyslexic font. This font makes letters easier to identify and allows children with dyslexia to read with less effort and frustration. As the parent of a child with dyslexia, I would have loved to have had books designed with this font when my child was struggling mightily to make sense of letters and words and how they came together to form sentences and paragraphs. This book should be a staple on every school, library, and home bookshelf. SPIN A CIRCLE was an absolute joy to read and experience.

Here are a few of my favorites:

My thanks to Raven Howell and MacLaren-Cochrane for gifting me with an extra copy of the book that I am happily going to gift to one of my readers. Just comment below for your chance to enter to win. The computer will randomly select a winner on Friday, April 24^th.

Thank you for stopping by and helping me celebrate this wonderful new collection. The Poetry Friday Round Up is hosted this week by Jama Rattigan and her beautiful Jama's Alphabet Soup blog. Be sure to click over to enjoy all of this week’s poetry goodness.

Poetry Friday: Hope and Connection

Welcome to Poetry Friday. This week's round up is hosted by Sylvia at Poetry For Children. 

I'm at a loss for words when it comes to what happened at the U.S. Capitol this week. I think most of us had hoped that the turning of the calendar page would bring unification, peace, kindness and decency. What we saw on Wednesday in D.C. was absolutely the ugliest and worst of America. 

With that said, I still see glimmers of hope. Many of you are part of the New Year's postcard exchange, and you have or will receive this in the mail, but I wanted to share it with our community.

Connection, longing

Watching the great conjunction

Universal hope

Copyright 2020 Kimberly M. Hutmacher

I received a few goodies in the mail as well.

Linda Mitchell sent this beautiful bookmark.

And Jone Rush Macculloch sent this lovely postcard.

Thank you for delivering poetry goodness to my mailbox. It nourishes me. 

Poetry Friday: Winter Is Coming

Poetry friends, I'm feeling frightened, exhausted, and defeated by the pandemic. I live in central Illinois, where we've set new case records everyday for the last three days at 12,000 plus cases per day. Our specific metropolitan has the 11th highest case count in the nation. My daughter is a Covid ICU nurse who has to deal with the horrific reality of this situation every single day. Our governor has begged us to wear masks, social distance, and not gather in large groups. He's trying like hell to keep our economy open. So many people ignore his pleas. These people claim to be liberty loving Americans- liberty loving Americans who refuse to do the most patriotic thing they could do- follow the few simple steps that have proven to lower case counts and save lives. Our healthcare system is overwhelmed, and because of that, we've been warned that if things do not begin to turn around in the next few days, we will be under a state mandated shutdown again. I hate this for our local businesses (especially during this time of the year), but I also absolutely see the necessity to do it. It just saddens me to no end that so many people won't do what they can to protect their fellow Americans.

Covid cases rise

Hospital beds dwindle

Winter is coming

And now for some hope....

Scientists working

Clinical trial success 

Vaccine on the way

This week's Poetry Friday round up is hosted by Robyn at Life On The Deckle Edge Blog. Be sure to click over to savor all of this week's poetry goodness.

Poetry Friday: Please Vote

I voted early in-person at our county building a few weeks ago. They did temperature checks at the door, masks were required, and there was plenty of room to safely social distance. I've never been in such a hurry to cast a ballot in my life! I seriously shook as I filled it out. I felt the enormity of what I was doing. I prayed that, unlike four years ago, my candidate would prevail. I also prayed that somehow, our country could begin healing. If you haven't already voted in-person or mailed in a ballot, I beg of you to vote. Please do not sit this out. Please make your voice heard. Please.

Four long painful years

The wait is finally over

How will it turn out?

Biting nails, pacing,

Belly full of butterflies

Election night wait.

They say he'll win big

They said the same about her

This time, please be right.

This week's Poetry Friday host is Linda at Teacher Dance blog. Be sure to click over to enjoy all of this week's poetry goodness.

Potry Friday: Apple Haiku

Welcome to Poetry Friday! As I was mulling over what I might post this week, my granddaughter showed me her apple and exclaimed, "Look! It has polka-dots!" Well, of course that line provided this week's inspiration.

Rosy red ripened 

Deliciously tasty tart 

Autumn polka-dots

This week's round up is hosted by Jama Rattigan at Jama's Alphabet Soup blog. Be sure to click over to enjoy all of this week's poetry goodness.

Poetry Friday: Fall Haiku

Hello my poetry friends! Welcome to Poetry Friday. We've had lots of wind loosening leaves from our trees, and that is what inspired this week's haiku.

Autumn winds whipping

Leaves billowing, blanketing

Snuggling cold ground

Autumn winds whipping

Balding trees loosing their coats 

Branches shivering

This week's round up is hosted by Janice at Salt City Verse. Be sure to stop by to enjoy all of this week's poetry goodness.