Dori Reads: Lee Bennett Hopkins

"Imitation is not just the sincerest form of flattery - it's the sincerest

form of learning."— George Bernard Shaw

Welcome to Day 22 of FEET IN THE CREEK. And it's Poetry Friday with Jama Rattigan hosting the roundup at Jama's Alphabet Soup. And you must catch up on the 2016 Progressive Poem with Robyn at Life on the Deckle Edge.

Week 3 Poets:
April 15: Myra Cohn Livingston
April 16: Mary Ann Doberman
April 17: Christina Rosetti
April 18: Rebecca Kai Doltish
April 19: Wallace Stevens
April 20: April Halprin Wayland
April 21: Robyn Hood Black

For each day I have chosen a favorite poem, a favorite poet, or a favorite friend. I will look at the work, decide what draws me to it, what makes it resonate for me, and then write my own poem about the creek with those techniques in mind. These are first drafts, so nothing will be especially polished, but they will be starting points for revision after the month is done. Feel free to follow along or join in.

Today's poet is Lee Bennett Hopkins, prolific poet and anthologist. For a terrific interview with Lee, visit this page at Renée M. LaTulippe's blog, No Water River. Click here for information on SCBWI Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award and here to see recent winners.

from Good Rhymes, Good Times

Donna

She
likes
getting
toys

that
make
lots
of
noise

especially
the
kind
that
will

SCARE

all
the
boys.

© Lee Bennett Hopkins, 1995. All rights reserved. Used with the author's permission.

My Intention: Write a one sentence poem about the creek that includes a girl, uses one rhyme, one or two words per line, and a surprise.

Most of my poems on this FEET IN THE CREEK project have been solitary with my narrator, whom I envision as a boy, interacting with the creek. When Lee gave me permission to use his poem, he told me that Donna was his sister. It made me think I needed another character in this collection and it had to be a girl. So here we go.

Girls!

I
see
her
watching

through
the
trees

and
she
looks
at me
like

I

have
a
disease.

© Doraine Bennett, 2016. All rights reserved.

Week 1 poets:
April 1: Ralph Fletcher
April 2: Douglas Florian
April 3: Progressive poem. Catch up here.
April 4: Michelle Heidenrich Barnes
April 5: Walt Whitman
April 6: Irene Latham
April 7: Carmen Bernos de Gasztold

Week 2 Poets:
April 8: Janet Wong
April 9: George Ella Lyon
April 10: Bobbi Katz
April 11: Nikki Giovanni
April 12: Margarita Engle
April 13: Mother Goose
April 14: William Carlos Williams

10 comments:

jamaApril 22, 2016 at 11:36 AM
This one made me smile. Fun project!
Violet N.April 22, 2016 at 11:21 PM
I think yours is my favorite of all the poetry month projects that I'm following, with the creek weaving all this variety into one. Lee Bennett Hopkins I know, but some of these poets are new to me, so thanks for the intro.
Mary LeeApril 23, 2016 at 7:25 AM
I really have no idea how I missed the part of this project that really ties the whole thing together -- the creek and the boy. I just went back and read all your posts and I agree with Violet -- what you've done here is flat-out amazing. You'll have a manuscript worth shopping, or at least a mentor text that I'll use to show students how to write from a mentor text. Please consider this a very belated standing ovation!!!
Brenda at FriendlyFairyTalesApril 23, 2016 at 12:16 PM
That was a great take on the original. I like both poems very much.
DoraineApril 23, 2016 at 4:34 PM
Thanks, Brenda. Sometimes using mentor texts from favorite poets can be daunting. You always feel you don't come close to the beauty and simplicity of the original. But that's what learning from them is all about--finding a way to make it your own.
Charles WatersMay 10, 2016 at 4:58 PM
Thanks for highlighting and learning from LBH. You're doing yourself a poetic service.

Friday, April 22, 2016

Lee Bennett Hopkins

10 comments: