Irene Latham | Cathy C. Hall Writes

An exciting day here in Cathy C. Hall World ’cause I won a book!

I tore into the envelope and then I…well, I just stopped in mid-rip because the book is so gorgeous.

antartica

And I wanted to tear into the book right then and there but I stopped again because…well, it’s Irene Latham and her wonderful poetry and that’s something that one doesn’t tear into. One pauses and finds a nice spot–say, the sunny deck outside the kitchen–and then one sits and drinks in the poetry.

Ahhhh. And then one reads the interesting facts about Antarctica and feels snobbishly superior to all those folks who think they know Antarctica. Finally, one sighs and goes back to the beginning to read again. (One might even sit there pondering when one’s kidders will have kidders so that one can read wonderful books of poetry to said kidders…)

Anyway, if you have kidders or grandkidders, treat yourself to When the Sun Shines on Antarctica by Irene Latham. ‘Course, my book is extra special because I won it!

I almost don’t want to tell you how I won it because then maybe you’ll win the next book that I want, but Sheila’s so generous…so, okay. Get yourself over to Sheila Renfro’s blog where she gives away at least one wonderful book a month. You’ll find picture books, middle grade books, writing books…well, just a bounty of books! All you have to do to win is…

Hmmmm. I think you’ll just have to zip over and find out for yourself. I mean, I don’t want to make it too easy for you. After all, I’ve got my fingers crossed for this month’s book!

031 Yes, I know “poemiest” is technically not a word. But I was making a high-falutin’ reference here, y’all, so even though poemiest is not a word, we’re all smarter now.

And when I received Irene Latham’s newsletter this month with all her poetry doings for April, I was beside myself (and smarter, too!). But then I thought what if y’all don’t get Irene’s newsletter? Well, that wouldn’t do. So I’m sharing here with you! (I know. It’s a little poem. Sometimes I just can’t help myself.)

First of all, you have to zip over to Irene’s website and read all about Artspeak! Here’s the deal on that:

“This year I am continuing my National Poetry Month poem-a-day project called ARTSPEAK! Each day I respond to a piece of art from the National Gallery of Art’s digital collection — this year’s theme is Plant. Grow. Eat. You can find last year’s offering as well as this year’s (growing!) collection at my blog Live Your Poem.”

Very cool. And she’s also participating in the 2016 Kidlit Progressive Poem. Irene has a running list of everyone who’s participating (look for the list in her sidebar) so you can keep up with all the wonderful poetry each day.

And I don’t want to forget to give a shout out to her latest book, FRESH DELICIOUS, POEMS FROM THE FARMER’S MARKET. I’ll be looking for it the next time I visit my local library and I hope you’ll look for it, too! I’ve loved all of Irene’s poetry books–and reading wonderful poetry will be a huge help to you if you’re participating in RhyPiBoMo!

Finally, if you sign up for her newsletter, you might get an April surprise. And not like the April surprises I give to my kids–oh, April Fool’s was epic this year! I’ll share that story next time–but something really nice and poemy.

Which also may not be a word, but it’s April, y’all, and anything goes, right?