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“Poetry magnetizes both depth and the possible. It offers widening of aperture and increase of reach… To step into a poem is to agree to risk. Writing takes down all protections, to see what steps forward. Poetry is a trick of language-legerdemain, in which the writer is both magician and audience. You reach your hand into the hat and surprise yourself with rabbit or memory, with odd verbs or slant rhymes or the flashing scarf of an image. This is true for discovering some newness of the emotions, and also true of ideas. Poems foment revolutions of being. Whatever the old order was, a poem will change it.”

-Jane Hirshfield, Psychology Today

Spring is in the air. We enjoy moments of sunshine and see the delicate pink and white blossoms on trees. We hear birds calling and feel warm breezes on our faces. This is the time of year that our young writers head out of their classrooms and into nature to be immersed in the writing of poetry.

What is your favorite reading memory? This is a question I often asked parents on Back-to-School Night, prompting them to think and write their reflections as a special gift to their child. When students arrived the next morning at school, they eagerly asked me to read their parents’ reflections. Their faces beamed with smiles as I read about the many warm memories related to books. 

Read to your child. As parents, we are told this from the time our children are born. Some of my favorite memories with my own children are our bedtime reading routines, from Goodnight Moon and Owl Babies to The Secret Garden and The Hunger Games. Some people think that once your children can read on their own that you do not need to read to them anymore. I believe that you should read to your children as long as they will allow it! It is one of the most impactful experiences you can give your child and yourself.