My Pictures, My Words - Mac Kenney

Publisher:  Outskirts Press
Pages:  46
Genre: Photographs and Poetry
Source:  I received a copy from the publisher

Product Description from Amazon
 Unique Book that Captures the Full Beauty of Nature and the Human Spirit. Stirring images and piercing poetry come together in this gorgeous collection from the multi-talented Mac Kenney. Here are vibrant color photographs that evoke the full range of human emotions, set against powerful verses on love, life, and the beauty that surrounds us. Ponder the mysteries of existence from a single lonely bench; reflect on what really matters as the sun drops beneath a brilliant red horizon; and examine the incredible diversity of life on our planet as you gaze on nature's wonders. Those images gain even more meaning as you read Kenney's memorable poems that urge a greater appreciation of our short time on earth. That's the message of the poem "Life," which reminds us of the dangers of settling for a "9-5" existence and the incredible reward of being bolder. "So Little Time" is about taking advantage of our brief appearance and our ability to take control of it. "You Are Here, Where Am I" is about accepting the love that's out there waiting for us. And that's just for starters. Add some humor and patriotism and you have a truly wonderful book. Perfect for reading in sequence or in bits and pieces as you need them, My Pictures, My Words is the kind of book you'll return to again and again to receive the most important kind of nourishment-food for the soul.

My Review
A simple, yet beautiful book at only 46 pages.  This book with its gorgeous pictures, photos the author had taken, along with simple poems with very deep meanings will lift, inspire and make you think about life.  It amazed me that something so simple could make me ponder so many things.  The pictures are beautiful enough to frame.  There is no age limit on this book.  The pictures could invoke hours of discussion with young ones and at the same time turn into conversations among the older ones.  My only complaint is that I would have loved to have known where some of these photographs were shot.  I hope he does more books like this because I would definitely buy them.

Dust and Other Poems - Thomas Noel Smith

Outskirt Press

Pages:  90

Adult, Poetry

Copy for review from publisher

Thomas Noel Smith’s poetry is a reflection of life in all its nuances.  In his poetry we see his thoughts on life as he has lived it.  It is full and reflective showing life through his eyes.  This is not one of those fluffy, happy poetic books.  It makes us stop and reflect on our own life.  I had to ask myself what would the poetry of my own life look like?  In a world where everything must make us feel good and happy it was refreshing to read something that made us pause and reflect.  I have a student in my class who read poetry he feels.  The poem he turned in as one of his favorites was, “Life” by Charlotte Bronte.  Not too many kids read poetry like this.  He is an aspiring poet.  He told me he writes what he feels.  I will be passing this book on to him.  It will be interesting to get his impression of the poetry within.  It was great reading poetry like this.  I enjoyed it very much.

Hate that Cat a Novel by Sharon Creech

Publisher:  Scholastic,
Pages:  153
Source:  My shelves
Genre:  Middle Grades Poetry

Sharon Creech has inspired me to use this book this next year.  I will read it aloud to my students.  It demonstrates  poetry in its uniqueness.  It lets every child know that there is no right or wrong way to write poetry.  It encourages students to write.  All of this is done through the character of Jack and his teacher Miss Stretchberry.  This was a very quick and easy book of verse.  I loved the "Books on the Class Poetry Shelf" in the back of the book.  It gave me some ideas to add to my own limited poetry shelf.  This is a definite read as is her book "Love that Dog".

Soldiers of the Cross by J. Laurence Stillwell

Publisher: Outskirts Press, Inc, 2009
Pages: 224
ISBN: 978-1-4327-3970-6
Source: Review Copy
I loved the idea of telling the story through poetry and it was definitely beautifully done. At times the poetry didn’t flow smoothly due to the story line. Paul is a dreamer and is taken on a journey through the world of spiritual warfare. He realizes that he can't just stand by and watch the wars around him, he must participate actively. Not all battles are won. It is very applicable to anyone who reads this book, young or old. One of my favorite parts was reading about Daniel standing with the other soldiers facing off the demons. They tried to tempt him and scare him into changing sides because of his size and age. He courageously stood his ground and fought the demon. The book is filled with scripture references. That was another reason it was so slow reading it. At first I kept my Bible along side and tried to look the scripture up. Finally I had to wait until I had finished and go back to find the references. I believe this is a must read for anyone. This should especially be read by Christians who fight the fight alongside Daniel.

Surrender Tree, Chosen One, The Wall, Thirteen Reasons Why

Last week was awful at school. The students are shutting down. With less than 25 school days left they are acting crazy. Fighting, horse play, all of which cause injuries. I did get to read some great books this week.

 I ordered and read The Surrender Tree: Poems of Cuba's Struggle for Freedom by Margarita Engle. It was a great book. One of my students read it and told me how much he liked the poems.
The next book I read was Secret Keeper by Frances Hodgson. This is the story of a young girl waiting with her mother and sister while her father seeks work in America. Forced to live with her uncle she must make some choices that change her family's future. I asked myself if I could be as unselfish as she was.

The Chosen One by Carol Lynch Williams reminded me of so many scenes we have seen of religious groups gone bad. I was reminded of Jim Jones as I read this book. I could not put it down and finished it in two hours.
I purchased the book

The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain by Peter Sis. It was his story of growing up in a communist country after the wall was put up in Berlin. Although he was not in Berlin the stories were similar. It gave me more insight into the Berlin Wall. I have been doing research for my book. I recommend it to Middle School children to teach about life during the cold war.

The last book Iread this week was calld Thirteen Reasons Why, by Jay Asher. This is the story of young girl who commits suicide then sends out a box of tapes to those who were a part of her story explaining why. I recommend this book to teens and adults alike. There were so many signs in the book that this girl was in trouble. It made me ask myself how often I have seen similar signs and didn't reach out to ask a question.
I am currently four lesson behind on my 2YN (for those new to my blog that means 2 year novel). We had global youth services week. During the week of the 21st our students did service projects. Each grade had their own day. By the end of the week they had logged in over 4000 combined volunteer hours. I had students making baby quilts in my classroom. They sewed them by hand. We have a total of 12 handmade baby quilts. It took a lot out of me but was so worth it. We start our next round of testing. My reading class had a benchmark and oral reading fluency test this last week. The county had a fluency test for all of my reading students that was separate from their other test. We have a test this next week for my English for Speakers of other Languages students. Then there are at least 2 others for our students. All of them fall this month. I am wondering when I am going to be teaching with only 24 days of school left. I am looking forward to the end of the school year. I have at least forty books that I plan on reading and I plan on hitting the writing hard.
This of course will be after my final eye surgery a week after school is out. Until later, keep reading.