Poetry Friday - Jigsaw Puzzle

Did you know that January is National Puzzle Month? In honor of this month-long celebration I'm sharing a wonderful poem by Russell Hoban. You can find it in A New Treasury of Children's Poetry, selected by Joanna Cole (p. 210).

Jigsaw Puzzle
by Russell Hoban

My beautiful picture of pirates and treasure
is spoiled, and almost I don't want to start
to put it together; I've lost all the pleasure
I used to find in it: there's one missing part. 

I know there's one missing -- they lost it, the others,
the last time they played with my puzzle -- and maybe
there's more than one missing: along with the brothers
and sisters who borrow my toys there's the baby. 

There's a hole in the ship or the sea that it sails on,
and I said to my father, "Well, what shall I do?
It isn't the same now that some of it's gone."
He said, "Put it together; the world's like that too."

Now that you've read it, see and hear the poem in this amazing little video by Michael Sporn Animation.

We're big puzzle fans in my house. Here's a closeup of the puzzle we completed on New Year's eve to help bring in 2015. It's a Liberty Puzzle of a Blue Whale. Liberty Puzzles are wooden puzzles in which every piece is a different shape and many of the shapes feature whimsical items. This one included a sailboat, octopus, seahorse, scuba diver, and more.

I do hope you'll take some time to check out all the wonderful poetic things being shared and collected today by Tabatha at The Opposite of Indifference. Happy poetry Friday friends!

National Puzzle Month - Great Reads

January is National Puzzle Month. In our house we do a lot of jigsaw puzzles (usually one a week), but we also like logic puzzles and "thinking" games (sudoku, Mastermind, chess, etc.). As big readers we're quite fond of fiction with challenging puzzles to solve. Here are some books and/or series that will encourage readers put on their thinking caps. Also included are links to related puzzling resources.

The Puzzling World of Winston Breen by Eric Berlin - Winston sees puzzles everywhere. Imagine his dismay when he gives his sister a box for her birthday, only to learn that it has a secret compartment containing four wood sticks with puzzle clues. Readers will solve puzzles right along with Winston and his sister Katie as they try to solve the mystery. The sequel to this book, The Potato Chip Puzzles, is also highly entertaining.

• Download puzzles from the Winston Breen books
• Check out the Winston Breen puzzle blog

The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart - Eleven year-old Reynie Muldoon is intrigued by an ad in the paper that asks “Are You a Gifted Child looking for Special Opportunities?” Reynie and dozens of other children show up to answer the ad and take a mind-boggling series of tests, but only Reynie and three others are left at the end. Puzzles and mysteries abound in this adventurous tale. Sequels include The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey and The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Prisoner's Dilemma.

• Play games for the gifted at the Mysterious Benedict Society site.
• Download and print some logic challenges.
• Get everyone involved and download the Family Reading Guide.
  

Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett - Petra and Calder are preoccupied with Vermeer. When a Vermeer painting is stolen in transit from the National Gallery in Washington D.C. to the Chicago Institute of Art, they become intent on finding the painting and solving the mystery. Clues and mysteries abound.

• Calder carries a set of pentominoes in his pocket at all times, so be sure to print your own set to use while reading this one!
• Play pentominoes online.

The Origami Master by Nathaniel Lachenmeyer, Lissy's Friends by Grace Lin (picture books), and Fold Me a Poem by Kristine O'Connell George (poetry) are all books about origami. Paper folding is a great visual and spatial puzzler for kids and adults. It's also fun!

• You can get great paper at Origami Corner.
• Try making this origami crane.
• Here are directions on folding an origami frog. You can also try this origami math lesson which includes a "fabulous frog" reproducible.
• If you have trouble reading origami directions in print, try following along with the videos on this site.

Do you have a favorite book that offers something to puzzle over? If so, please share. I would love to add your ideas to this list.