NPM 2020 Day 1: Tribute

As we start the month of April looking at poetry in picture books, I feel it only right to start off with a tribute. The poetry world suffered great losses this last year with the passing of Lee Bennett Hopkins and Paul B. Janeczko.  I didn’t know Paul personally, but I loved his poetry picture book anthologies (and discovered them far too late in life).  And I was just starting to get to know Lee; I cried when I found out he passed away.  Sometimes life is cruel, taking those that have touched our lives in ways we can never express.

I knew then that this would be the first poem I would post.  I had read it before in the past and loved it.  I heard Lee read it himself when I was at Highlights in October 2018.  There is no better poem to describe the heaviness I feel at Paul and Lee’s loss than this.  It comes from one of Lee’s collections titled “Oh, No! Where Are My Pants! And Other Disasters: Poems.”  I was stunned by its beauty on such a heavy topic, and how it was handled for children.  I will post the full spread and then a closeup of the poem so you can read it better.

And if you’re looking for more poetry fun this month, be sure to check out the Kidlitosphere Event Roundup!