Poetry for Children, Return of the Classics, and Deep Work

For the Littles:
Mirror Mirror by Marilyn Singer
This is a book of children’s fairytale palindrome poems. I squealed when my children brought me this at the used bookstore. Yes, like a joyful pig! A '“palindrome” poem reads the same backward as it does forwards (Singer calls these “Reverso” poems, which works too). Most of the poems had one perspective (Snow White, for example), and on the other side of the page, a different perspective (the Evil Queen) and the poem reversed. Not all poems worked 100%, BUT I thought this book was ambitious and fun. Best of all, it inspired me and my kids to write our own palindrome poems. I squealed again when I discovered she has a Greek Mythology one.

Beastly Verse illustrated by JooHee Yoon
Classic animal poems (think any number by Ogden Nash and Christina Rosetti) set against vivid illustrations. This one leapt off the shelf at us at the library, and this would be a fun one for introducing classic authors in a kid-friendly way. I particularly liked how many pages folded out and had surprises in the illustrations.


Family Readalouds:
The Return of the King (LOTR) by J.R.R. Tolkien
This book is the reward for making it through the (sometimes slow) Two Towers. At this point, my family is fairly immersed. Two of my children are reading the Silmarillion—for fun. My husband is watching the Nerd of the Rings YouTube videos on his lunch break. We are all relistening to the Hobbit (narrated by Andy Kircus, obviously). Eowyn and Samwise are our favorite characters. We notice, discuss, and usually reject any change the movies made from the books (Some are slightly permissible, but only with great discussion and argument)(and No, we do not accept the Rings of Power, nor will we acknowledge the new Gollum movie they are making because they think they can make more money…).

Yes, the series can sometimes be slow and the reading difficult, but if you can get your family to buy into it, it can be your LOTR year, which has been fun for us. It is an old series, but, before you disregard it—have you actually read it? If not, give it a try.

The House at Pooh Corner by A.A. Milne
The original Winnie the Pooh books are full of dry humor and wit, much more sophisticated than the Disney version (which makes much too much of Tigger, let’s just be honest). Poets will especially enjoy Pooh’s thoughts on writing. I have a special place in my heart for this book (and the first one) since I read them aloud to my daughter Kit in her hospital room before she died. and a happy 5th birthday to my sweet girl, Kit, so on my heart and mind this month and always:

Kit

For Myself:
Deep Work by Cal Newport
I found myself taking extensive notes while reading this book. I work from home and, like most humans, find it difficult to balance work and life. While I do think this is mostly written for people who have full-time jobs, I found many applications for my work-from-home part-time work, such as getting off social media, weighing the cost / benefit of every activity, and focusing on the aspect of work that is most important. For example, as a poet, I found that in this busy season of life, I needed to hold off on some good things (like writing groups, blogging, essays, writing classes…) in order to focus on my essentials (writing good poems and submitting them to magazines / presses). I applied this same idea of essentials / nonessentials to the rest of my life too (an essential may be homeschooling my kids…a nonessential may be signing up for an activity no one is crazy about). I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn how to better manage their time.

Suffering is Never for Nothing by Elisabeth Elliot
I have read this book 5 times in as many years (Kit died about 5 years ago). It was published after Elliot’s death, from notes she had written from a conference. Elliot has a knack for combining deep theological truths with a down-home practicality that is easy to connect with. She acknowledges that suffering is a mystery, yet God loves us, is in control, and never abandons us.

After Kit died, I read literally dozens and dozens of books on grief, suffering, God’s will—and after all that reading, the three books that I thought were worthwhile, after a loss were this one, A Grief Observed by C.S. Lewis, and The Moon is Always Round by Jonathan Gibson. What all three of these have in common are their acceptance of God’s goodness despite outward circumstances and their trust that God loves us.

Going Out to Gather by Carolyn Adams
I enjoyed these poems of the natural world, reminiscent of Mary Oliver in all the best ways. What was particularly refreshing about this collection was the optimistic and lovingly detailed attitude she took toward nature; not examining it to point out what is dying, but instead what is living, what is growth. She turns that inward as well, marrying spiritual truths with the natural world. You can read her title poem Here.

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
I began reading January 1^st, with intentions to take the entire year to read it, but couldn’t slow down at certain places, and, well, here I am. This was my second read through, and I found this book more delightful than the first time I read it and all the more necessary. War and Peace, yes, is long. And it is Russian, and it is not easy. Is it poetry, history, social commentary? Yes, all of those things.

The essence of War and Peace: The individual is only playing one small, seemingly insignificant part in the grand scheme of things; however, God uses each individual to orchestrate his grand plan.

We can, as Pierre tells Natasha in one of my favorite scenes, endure all of the suffering of life because we know that there is a God behind it all, in control, and life, suffering, death — is not meaningless chaos.

Writing News:

My poem “Communion Ghazal” is in the spring issue of Ekstasis Magazine
My poem “Miscarriage” is in the latest issue of The Rabbit Room poetry substack

!EVENT!
Poetry Meetup
Monday, June 10th, 2pm
Family Vision Library
ages 10 - adult
A casual meetup to discuss and share about your writing and the writing process. Come ready to do some writing exercises, read your work, and chat about poetry.