31 in 31 Day 7: There is a Flower at the Tip of my Nose, Smelling Me.

I went to a poetry writing workshop a few weeks ago at Bookshop Santa Cruz.

The teacher was drawing prompts from a few picture books.
One of those books was this one,
and another one I’ll have up during 31 in 31 as well!

In this book by Alice Walker, the action is flipped around.
It’s like this, in the title:

There is a flower at the tip of my nose smelling me.

After we were read the picture books,
the teacher said we could write poems using any of the books as a jumping off point.

“You can even try doing them like Alice Walker,” she said,
“but it’s tricky. I have a hard time coming up with ones like that.”

So, naturally, I decided to do that one,
and I’m really happy with my results!
I’ll share them with you after this review!

 

Title: There is a flower at the tip of my nose smelling me
Published by: HarperCollins, 2006
Written by: Alice Walker
Illustrated by: Stefano Vitale
Word Count: 138
Pages: 32

In one word: Perspective
In one sentence: Poetry about connecting with yourself and the world around you is presented in a really fresh way in his fun book.
Favorite pages:

 

 

 

 

Likes:
It’s so simple and SO fresh. When I read it, I felt things flipping around inside my head. It’s a new perspective!

The illustrations use such beautiful colors. They’re bright, fill the entire page, show a lot of movement, and are simple and fun.

After reading the book, you may want to try some of these poems for yourself! At the very least, you’ll think about how we’re connected to everything around us.

Learns:
Try something new! One little flip in perspective can make all the difference!

Poetry for children works! There are so many great poets and poetry books out there.

Find inspiration in a book you read and see where it takes you!

Thank you guys so much for sending in the books you’re reading!
It’s cool to see the list!
We’re up to 17; I’m hoping we get to 100 by the end of the challenge.
Then I’ll put them up here by the word you described the book as and we’ll have an awesome list!

Ok, I promised I would share my poems with you.
Keep in mind we have about ten minutes to come up with something.
I immediately knew I’d HAVE to try ones like this,
and thought of two subjects that I loved:
Reading and creating art.
I also love writing, but since Alice had already put in one about writing,
I thought I’d go ahead with these two.

Reading
By Kathy Ellen Davis

There is a book
sad on the shelf,
searching for me.

When it finds me,
it holds me by the hands,
and when I take a page,
it turns me.

As the book goes along,
word by word,
picture by picture,
it moves me.

And when it ends,
the book puts me
back where it found me,
waiting patiently
for another chance
to read me.

Painting
By Kathy Ellen Davis

There is a paintbrush
dipped in water
readying me.

And when it dances
on the page
it paints me.

Stroke by stroke,
color by color,
it builds me,
until slowly but surely
it thinks that it
has finished me.

Then the painting’s
on the fridge,
displaying me.

It’s proud of all
the work it’s done,
creating me.

There you go!
What do you think?
Are you going to try some poems like this?