NPM Celebrations - Siblings Day

April 10th is Siblings Day. It is currently celebrated in 49 states. It was founded by Claudia Evart in 1995 to honor and celebrate siblings. After losing both of her siblings early in life in separate accidents, she knew how important siblings can be in our lives. Claudia selected April 10 in honor of her late sister, Lisette’s birthday. She later founded the Siblings Day Foundation with the goal of establishing a National Siblings Day.

Mary Ann Hoberman has written a number of poems about siblings. Here's one from the book The Llama Who Had No Pajama: 100 Favorite Poems (1998).

Brother

I had a little brother
And I brought him to my mother
And I said I want another
Little brother for a change.
But she said don’t be a bother
So I took him to my father
And I said this little bother
Of a brother’s very strange.
But he said one little brother
Is exactly like another
And every little brother
Misbehaves a bit he said.
So I took the little bother
From my mother and my father
And I put the little bother
Of a brother back to bed.

Poem © Mary Ann Hoberman, 1998. All rights reserved.

Fathers, Mothers, Sisters, Brothers: A Collection of Family Poems (1991), written by Mary Ann Hoberman and illustrated by Marylin Hafner, contains 30 poems about any relative you can imagine, from the traditional nuclear family members to step-parents and siblings, cousins, and more. 

The Little Sister Store

When my silly little sister
Knocks my blocks down on the floor,
I tell her I will sell her
At the little sister store.

She knows I'm only joking,
That there isn't such a shop;
But even though she knows it--
As least it makes her stop!


My Big Brothers

When my big brothers have a fight,
Each one thinks that his is right.
(The only time that they agree
Is when they both gang up on me!)

Poems © Mary Ann Hoberman, 1991. All rights reserved.

Relatively Speaking: Poems About Family, written by Ralph Fletcher with drawings by Walter Lyon Krudop, is a collection of 42 poems that together provide a loving picture of a family as they move through the year waiting on the arrival of a new baby. Told by a young boy, they are funny and poignant. 

My Big Brother

Explained to me

                      about Santa Claus,

showed me how

                      to light a match,

taught me

                      my first curse.

Now he's sixteen

                      obsessed with friends,

girls, cars,

                      lifting weights

and I'm nowhere

                      on that list.

Poem © Ralph Fletcher, 1999. All rights reserved.

Emma Dilemma: Big Sister Poems, written by Kristine O'Connell George and illustrated by Nancy Carpenter, highlights the relationship between big sister Jessica and Emma, her little dilemma (sister!). Their relationship is funny, annoying, caring and oh so complex. Just what a relationship between sisters should be.

Snooping

One good thing about a little sister
is that if I give her a boost
she can reach
that mysterious box
hidden
on the top shelf.

One bad thing about a little sister
is that she can't keep secrets.
When my secrets
are inside Emma,
they leak out slowly,
like air out of a balloon,
or fast —
in one enormous
Tattletale Explosion.

Poem © Kristine O'Connell George, 2011. All rights reserved.

Take Two!: A Celebration of Twins, written by J. Patrick Lewis and Jane Yolen and illustrated by Sophie Blackall, is a collection of poems organized into the sections Twins in the Waiting Womb, Twinfants, How to Be One, and Famous Twins. In addition to the poems, footnotes throughout the pages highlight "twin facts."

Learning to Tie Our Shoes

Every time I tie my shoe,
I think of me, I think of you,
And how the laces, side by side,
Are so much stronger when they're tied.

As one loop goes around the other,
So we twins bond — sister, brother —
Safely knotted, like a shoe,
You to me, and me to you.

Poem © Jane Yolen, 2012. All rights reserved.

That's it for today. I hope you'll join me tomorrow for our next celebration.