Green Facts for the Last Day of April

I hope you've had a great April. On this last day, here are a few facts on the environment from a local library fact sheet which might surprise you.

• recycling just ONE aluminum can save enough energy to equal a half gallon of gas
• 2,500,000 plastic bottles--that's how many bottles Americans use in an HOUR.
• 40% of the waste produced in the world is made by us Americans

Some things you can do right now to help:

• reuse plastic bags or switch to paper bags (over 1,000,000 sea creatures are killed each year by plastic garbage in the ocean)
• change the most frequently used light bulbs in your home to incandescent ones (electricity for lighting could be cut by 50%)
• recycle paper (in 2007 in the U.S. more than 56% of the paper used was recycled)

Working together we can make a difference.

National Library Week, National Poetry Month, Earth Day, and More

This has been a busy week. It's NATIONAL LIBRARY WEEK, so I certainly hope you've visited your local library at least once this week. I'm reading Elise Broach's fun mystery story for middle grade readers called, MASTERPIECE. A cockroach named Marvin is the main character. He has an amazing talent which takes him on an adventurous quest. Click on the link and hear the author read from the book.

And it still POETRY MONTH. I've been writing a poem a day. How about you? One of my favorite young adult novels is written in free verse poetry--OUT OF THE DUST by Karen Hesse. Or another free verse novel, this one a middle grade read by Sharon Creech, is LOVE THAT DOG. This story is wonderful also.

Monday, April 20, is EARTH DAY. Here are 3 suggestions for green activities:

• cut two minutes off your morning shower to conserve water
• pick up trash in your neighborhood
• plant a tree or some wildflower seeds

What else can you think of do? 

Last, but not least, I invite you to visit MY LIGHT magazine for the April issue which features my article on St. Catherine of Siena, a 14th century young adult celebrity. 

HAPPY EASTER!

GOOD FRIDAY Remembrances

As we celebrate this holy day and reflect on Christ's death, we take time to remember special people in our lives who are no longer with us. Our dear family members and friends who have passed on. And, perhaps, some special saints in heaven whom we admire.

I have been reading many of the writings of Blessed Mother Teresa lately. She stresses that we need to see Christ in everyone--and to treat each person as Christ. The little things we do for others become big things in God's eyes. 

Whatever you do to the least of them, that you do to me.

If you would like to read about another of my favorite saints, click on this link to MY LIGHT magazine. There you will find an article I wrote on St. Catherine of Siena--a very interesting and amazing saint from the 14th century.

Holy Thursday and Passover as Told to Children

Today is a very holy day in both the Christian and Jewish faiths.

Christians celebrate Jesus' Last Supper--the meal he shared with his followers on the night before he died. The feast Jesus and his friends were celebrating was Passover.

Passover is a special time when the Jewish people remember how God helped them leave the slavery of Egypt. God convinced Pharaoh to release all the Jewish people after a terrible tenth plaque killed the first born sons of all the Egyptians. The Jewish first born were spared because God had instructed the Jews to mark their homes in a special way. The Angel of Death "passed over" all their houses and their first born were spared. The Jewish people share a special Passover meal each year to remember God's love for them.

During the Passover meal at The Last Supper, Jesus told his followers he would become their bread--broken and shared for them. In THE JESUS STORYBOOK BIBLE by Sally Lloyd-Jones; illustrated by Jago and published by Zonderkiz, the author retells this and many other Bible stories in beautiful poetic words. The Bible stories come alive with Jago's pastel portraits and scenes. What a wonderful way to celebrate this holy day--reading the Bible story.

Oddle, Poodle, and a Schnoodle at Opening Day for the Cardinals

Holly can't quite seem to keep out of the limelight. She's featured on author, Donna Shepherd's new blog, POODLE AND DOODLE. 

Here you'll find the inside scoop on Donna's adorable dogs, Sadie and Angel. Plus, you'll see a sneak peak at Donna's upcoming book, POODLE AND DOODLE, illustrated by a very talented, Jack Foster. 

Donna's latest book from Guardian Angel Publishing is CHIZZY'S TOPSY TALE, illustrated by Kevin Collier. It's a rhyming romp through the jungle with monkey Chizzy chasing after forbidden fruit. What a better way to celebrate National Poetry Month than with this clever story.

Holly wanted to share her snapshot from Opening Day with the St. Louis Cardinals. As you can see, in her excitement she forgot her baseball glove. But she usually catches the fly balls in her mouth anyways. Go CARDS!!!

Writing Poetry about THE World's LARGEST Ball of Twine

Okay, have you been doing it?

Writing a new poem every day during POETRY month this April???

I'm so proud of myself. So far (5 whole days) I've managed to do it.

My poems are posted among the hundreds of poems (click on Comments)

at "Poetic Asides with Robert Lee Brewer" from WRITER'S DIGEST.

I'm amazed how much fun it has been--this poetry challenge. 

Mr. Brewer presents a new poetry topic each day.

So far, these are the prompts: origin poem; outsider poem; The problem with ____; animal poem; landmark poem.

Those prompts have helped me create poems on the etymology of "word;" pear tree blossoms;problems; a robin; and THE WORLD'S LARGEST BALL OF TWINE, in Kansas anyway. 

Now it's your turn to try writing poetry.

Remember, poems don't have to rhyme. 

Free verse poems are very close to regular talking--only you can break up the words and phrases the way you want to. 

And you can use zinger words--words that pack a punch. Words that sound special or mean something special or make people almost smell something or see something special.

And poems don't have to be serious either. Read some of Robert Lansky's silly poems at GIGGLE POETRY.  Be sure and check out his POETRY CLASS where he shows you how to write all different types of poetry. I've highlighted some of them in the paragraph above. 

Henry, my yellow and white kitty,(see photo at the top) suggested a poetry prompt you can try for today: CATS.

And he wanted to let you know that he, and Herman & Holly are featured today at Mayra Calvani's blog: "PETS and AUTHORS."

No Fooling--April Is All About POETRY

Happy April Fool's Day!

Has anyone played a joke on you? I can remember on one bright and springy April 1st when I was about 6 my dad called from the front room. "Hurry! Come and look. It's snowing." 

My brothers and I came running. All we could see out the big front window was sunshine and almost green grass. No snow.

"April Fool's!" Dad said with a grin.

Snow would be an unexpected event for April--although not unheard of. Mother Nature does have a way of playing tricks on us sometimes. One Easter in Oklahoma, we had several inches of snow. No fun looking for Easter Eggs in snow mounds.

April is a fun and busy month. In April we celebrate POETRY and NATIONAL LIBRARY WEEK and EARTH DAY.

If you'd like to learn how to write a poem, go to Kenn Nesbit's Poetry for Kids website. He has lots of fun stuff for you--funny poems, poetry games, podcasts, poetry links, and more.

Mr. Nesbit has a new poetry book out this month--My Hippo Has the Hiccups. What a great title! I'm sure the poems are just as silly. In fact, you can read one, "Don't Ever Bite Your Sister," when you click on the title above.

Can you write a poem every day this month? Why not give it a try.

Start right now...