Poetry
Do you see the tiger?
Ardagh, Philip, author.
jE Ardagh
Kids, Picture Books, Animals, Poetry
"One rainy night, Penny and her daddy take an underground train packed with passengers. As they stand in the crowded car, Penny can't believe what she's seeing. A tiger's tail? A tiger's paw! No, that's just a person with a striped glove, assures Daddy. But when they find a seat and Penny has a clearer view, there's no mistaking the tiger's foot poking out from under a pant leg. And when this extraordinary tiger makes a sudden, marvelous leap across the floor to rescue a baby's fallen teddy, Penny can't help but join in the action!"--
Heart of a Shapeshifter
Coyote Park
"Heart of a Shapeshifter: 2Spirit Love Medicine" is a collection of poems, short essays, and prose by Coyote Park. It explores transformation, non-linear transitions, ancestor worship, diaspora, T4T romance, non-monogamy, queer awakenings, and various intersections of Park's lived experiences. Woven throughout the collection are 8 Vessels, taking shape as themed chapters and representing lifetimes. Throughout these vessels, Coyote reflects on extensions of themself, their lovers, and what love medicine means to them. "Heart of a Shapeshifter" is born out of the passion of Brown leather dykes, Trans Deities, and the fierce and overflowing protection of Spirit. A collection of writing to all of those yearning to love and shapeshift freely.
Despite this book not being in the ICPL collection, I wish to recognize it here. I found the relationship descriptions to really hit me hard--the idea of loving outside gender and being able to explore oneself without feeling the weight of what is expected was ever present and beautiful. This is a great example piece of why I love queer and genderqueer people. This book's perspectives on all relationship types including non-monogamous ones gives me a new perspective on friendships and relationships in general. Love comes in many forms and I love that. -Zach
Above ground : poems
Clint Smith
811.6 /Smith
Black Lives Matter, Black History, Nonfiction, Poetry, Literary Nonfiction
Clint Smith's vibrant and compelling new collection traverses the vast emotional terrain of fatherhood, and explores how becoming a parent has recalibrated his sense of the world. There are poems that interrogate the ways our lives are shaped by both personal lineages and historical institutions. There are poems that revel in the wonder of discovering the world anew through the eyes of your children, as they discover it for the first time. There are poems that meditate on what it means to raise a family in a world filled with constant social and political tumult. Above Ground wrestles with how we hold wonder and despair in the same hands, how we carry intimate moments of joy and a collective sense of mourning in the same body. Smith's lyrical, narrative poems bring the reader on a journey not only through the early years of his children's lives, but through the changing world in which they are growing up--through the changing world of which we are all a part.
A beautiful and healing collection of poems from Clint Smith (author of "How the Word Is Passed"), reflecting on the ups and downs of parenthood, how it has changed him and other epiphanies that come with it. Sprinkled with both the small happy memories and the bursts of grief that can come with the vicissitudes of life, loss and trauma. -Annie
I am dog!
Peter Bently
jE Bently
Picture Books, Animals, Humor, Poetry
A day in the life of a dog--told from the dog's point of view! A funny rhyming picture book from Peter Bently and Chris Chatterton. Have you ever wondered just what goes on in a dog's head? Now you can find out in this funny rhyming story!
I Am Dog, sure is great. Get this book, don't hesitate! This book rocks! This dog is fun! Share this book with everyone! -Casey
The lodge that beaver built
Randi Sonenshine
j599.37 Sonenshine
Nonfiction, Animals, Poetry
"Resourceful Beaver and his family work every day to build the perfect lodge in the pond, made of branches from the shore willow and silty mud from the streambed, in a book that introduces the engineering feat of dam-building and the life cycle of beaver families"--Provided by publisher.
A zen, poetic rendition of the "House that Jack Built" featuring soothing colored pencil imagery of beavers, geese, moose and more. If you can't be in the middle of the calm on a lake in the woods, reading this beautiful nonfiction picture book might be the next best thing. -Mari
Berry song
Michaela Goade
RECEIVED
Picture Books, Read Woke, Nature, Poetry
As a young Tlingit girl collects wild berries over the seasons, she sings with her Grandmother as she learns to speak to the land and listen when the land speaks back.
Lyrical and visually stunning, Berry Song is a picture book for all seasons. -Casey
Goldenrod : poems
Maggie Smith
811.6 /Smith
Poetry
"With her breakout bestseller Keep Moving, Maggie Smith captured the nation with her "meditations on kindness and hope" (NPR). Now, with Goldenrod, the award-winning poet returns with a powerful collection of poems that look at parenthood, solitude, love, and memory. Pulling objects from everyday life--a hallway mirror, a rock found in her son's pocket, a field of goldenrods at the side of the road--she reveals the magic of the present moment. Only Maggie Smith could turn an autocorrect mistake into a line of poetry, musing that her phone "doesn't observe / the high holidays, autocorrecting / shana tova to shaman tobacco, / Rosh Hashanah to rose has hands" -- Amazon.
This has been a difficult year for all of us. With that in mind, I related to many beautiful lines in the poems of Goldenrod. Smith has a way of expressing doubt and misgivings, an unsureness when one is grappling with grief or fear. -Anne M
When the light of the world was subdued, our songs came through : a Norton anthology of Native nations poetry
811.6080897 /When
Read Woke, Poetry
"United States Poet Laureate Joy Harjo gathers the work of more than 160 poets, representing nearly 100 indigenous nations, into the first historically comprehensive Native poetry anthology. This landmark anthology celebrates the indigenous peoples of North America, the first poets of this country, whose literary traditions stretch back centuries. Opening with a blessing from Pulitzer Prize-winner N. Scott Momaday, the book contains powerful introductions from contributing editors who represent the five geographically organized sections. Each section begins with a poem from traditional oral literatures and closes with emerging poets, ranging from Eleazar, a seventeenth-century Native student at Harvard, to Jake Skeets, a young Diné poet born in 1991, and including renowned writers such as Luci Tapahanso, Natalie Diaz, Layli Long Soldier, and Ray Young Bear. When the Light of the World Was Subdued, Our Songs Came Through offers the extraordinary sweep of Native literature, without which no study of American poetry is complete"--
For me, poetry anthologies are evergreen. I always find something new to enjoy upon a revisit. I am particularly excited about revisiting this lovely anthology edited by Joy Harjo. -Casey
Is was
Deborah (Deborah Jane) Freedman
jE Freedman
Picture Books, Poetry
Takes a look at change, from the innocent and everyday to the gigantic and irreversible, as well as how some things remain the same.
This is a high concept book presented in the most accessible of ways, and I can't wait to share it in storytimes. Be sure to read the dedication at the end, as the poetry and illustrations come together fully realizing the larger concept here. Simply lovely. -Casey
Say her name
Zetta Elliott
811.6 /Elliott
Poetry
"Inspired by the #SayHerName campaign launched by the African American Policy Forum, these poems pay tribute to victims of police brutality as well as the activists insisting that Black Lives Matter. Elliott engages poets from the past two centuries to create a chorus of voices celebrating the creativity, resilience, and courage of Black women and girls." -- amazon.com
Added by Beth
Wonderful rhyming and rhythm, incredibly expressive illustrations, and a mysterious tiger make for perfect storytime reading. I can't wait to share this one out loud! -Casey