By Hand is a monthly prompt focused on freeing our words by using our hands. This month, we’re exploring what happens to our words when our hands are tired—with Megan Willome as our guide.
Fun Reading Activities: Color & Trace “The Lady Mouse Has a Mandolin”
Early readers Molly and Joe want to help a child learn to read. Learn fun facts about mandolins and take a spin writing a limerick, along with this fun reading activity coloring page.
Poets and Poems: Susan Lewis and “Zoom”
“Zoom” by Susan Lewis contains 57 poems representing a wild romp through words, language, phrases, metaphors, and just about everything else.
Poetry Prompt: The Tanka’s Turn
Can you write a poem in 31 syllables that takes the reader in an unexpected direction?
Nothing Lost: Shakespeare Adapted
Nothing is lost when you take the time to see Shakespeare adapted—in film or on stage.
How to Turn Your Story Questions Into Writing Prompts!
After reading a good story, you can follow these three easy steps to turn your story questions into writing prompts. See 5 sample prompts based on the fairy tale ‘The Golden Dress,’ to help you on your writing way!
The Golden Dress—A Fairy Tale!
T. S. Poetry Press is delighted to announce its new picture book, The Golden Dress: A Fairy Tale. One dress, sparkly and shimmery, grants wishes for a long, long time. Then the “emerald day” comes, and everything is about to change. Will the dress survive? That’s up to one girl, who needs to open her heart and her hands.
Poets and Poems: Mark Burrows and “The Chance for Home”
To read “The Chance for Home” by Mark Burrows is to immerse oneself in the quiet beauty of memory, experience, reflection, and, ultimately, hope.
Poetry Prompt: Japanese Art and the Tanka
There’s a long tradition of poetry being inspired by painting and other fine arts. Come write tanka inspired by Japanese art!
Children’s Book Club: The Tale of Despereaux
Join us for today’s Children’s Book Club discussion of Kate DiCamillo’s The Tale of Despereaux, and shine some light through story.
Teach It: 10 Terrific Little Red Riding Hood Tales
This summer, when you want to keep your emerging and early readers from going on a skill slide, it’s a great idea to explore the fun of fairy tales. And there’s no better place to start than with Little Red Riding Hood.
“The Fall of Arthur” – A Fragment by J.R.R. Tolkien
The legend of King Arthur has captivated imaginations for centuries. Geoffrey of Monmouth started it, and even J.R.R. Tolkien tried his hand at it.
Tanka Poetry Prompt: What’s a Tanka?
This month, we’ll explore the ancient Japanese form called the tanka. This lesser known form might be thought of as haiku’s quiet older sibling.
Happy Birthday, Reading in the Wild!
Help us say Happy Birthday to Reading in the Wild, our monthly reading roundup with Megan Willome as our guide.
Slipping In Poem On Your Pillow Day
Poem On Your Pillow Day slipped in quietly, leaving poems, pillows, and quiet bits of love—from Prague and Belfast to New Zealand and North Carolina.
Poets and Poems: Athena Kildegaard and “Course”
The poems of “Course” by Athena Kildegaard provide a kind of natural sanctuary, where one comes to watch and to listen to what the landscape has to say.
It’s Poem on Your Pillow Day!
Tired after National Poetry Month? Relax with a soft, fluffy pillow and share the joy of poetry. It’s Poem on Your Pillow Day!
Birthdays & Birthstones Poetry Prompt—The Tempest as Fairy Tale
Explore Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” and write a fairy tale poem about a royal birth where magic is afoot and things aren’t what they seem.