Ready to Rock National Poetry Month? YOU BET!

National Poetry Month is finally here! I'm happy to report that many terrific celebrations of poetry will be happening around the kidlitosphere. Here are the highlights.

Greg K. of GottaBook features 30 children’s poets sharing previously unpublished poems during the second annual 30 Poets/30 Days extravaganza.

Sylvia Vardell of Poetry for Children is playing a game of "Poetry Tag." Sylvia has invited poets to "play" along by offering a poem for readers to enjoy, then "tag" a fellow poet who then shares her/his own poem THAT IS CONNECTED to the previous poem in SOME way—by a theme, word, idea, tone-- and offers a sentence or two explaining that connection.

Jama Rattigan of Jama Rattigan’s alphabet soup will be featuring a Poetry Potluck by posting an original poem and favorite recipe each weekday throughout the month of April by some of the Poetry Friday regulars.

At A Year of Reading Mary Lee will be posting an original poem about teaching and/or learning each day in April. Franki will review poetry books and describe the Poetry Month activities she conducts in the school library.

Jone MacCulloch of Check It Out is once again sponsoring a poetry postcard project, where students write poems, decorate a postcard, and send them off. I've been a lucky recipient of these snail mail treats and they're wonderful! Jone will also be posting a new student poem every day.

Laura Purdie Salas will be posting a favorite children’s poem each day.

Lee Wind of I'm Here. I'm Queer. What the Hell do I read? will be sharing new GLBTQ poetry.

Irene Latham will be giving away a favorite poetry anthology each Poetry Friday during April 2010.

Finally, the following energetic folks are challenging themselves to write a poem a day:

• Susan Taylor Brown of Susan Writes
  
• Mary Lee Hahn of A Year of Reading
  
• Andi of a wrunge sponge
  
• Irene Latham
  
• Jone MacCulloch of Deo Writer
  
• Elizabeth Moore of Tiny Reader
• Amy Ludwig Vanderwater of The Poem Farm
  
• April Halprin Wayland

Finally, right here at The Miss Rumphius Effect I'll be featuring interviews with children's poets each day.

It's going to be a fabulous month. I do hope you'll join us!