“A great poem can be there for you — the same way other works of art you hold dear can. Franny Choi, an educator and co-host of the poetry podcast VS (pronounced like ‘verses’ or ‘versus,’ get it?), says a great poem ‘makes me want to get out of my chair and pace around the room. It makes me want to throw my hands up and show it to somebody or say it out loud or shout it from the rooftops … when I have [it], it’s the only thing that matters.’ But if you haven’t flexed your poetry muscles in a while, or if you’ve always thought poems were the domain of clove cigarette smokers and adjunct professors, that feeling might be a little hard to tap into. Here are 5 tips that might help you get there.” Time to give poetry a try! “The brains behind the beloved children’s book series The Gruffalo (and also Stick Man and Zog, to name a few) have reimagined some of their favorite storybook characters to exist in our brave new world during the coronavirus pandemic. Author Julia Donaldson and illustrator Axel Scheffler have written and illustrated new panels featuring some of their favorite characters like The Gruffalo, Stickman, and The Smeds and The Smoos practicing social distancing, washing their hands, and dealing with stay-at-home orders.” Awww, I cried a little. “He held his first book signing on Facebook to reach out to readers. His book is called ‘The Magic Microwave.’ ‘It feels great. I wrote this book for people to travel and for people who can’t travel,’ Farley says.” I am always here for children publishing books, and this little guy held a Facebook signing!
