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On our back porch prepping vintage books for #wordplay with #lynnwhipple

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The delightfully ambitious Michelle at Today's Little Ditty is our Poetry Friday host today, and she has offered two challenges that I'm about to tackle.  First is Nikki Grimes's wordplay challenge which concludes the fascinating interview she gave Michelle last week:

"When I talk about wordplay, I'm talking about studying a word from top to bottom, and inside out, considering every aspect of the word:  What it looks like, sounds like, feels like.  What it does, how it's used, etc.  The idea is to bring all of your senses into the act.  The poem you create may end up being complex and sophisticated, or very simple."

Second is the Five for Friday challenge periodically set by Michelle, which is an exercise in minimalism, a ditty of five words only (although I note that many poets endow theirs with expository titles, a practice which I wholly condone).

So--for Nikki's challenge I do not choose the word "bell" or "lemon" (done that one!), "blanket,"  "leaf" or "sun," as I might usually.  Instead the news lately takes me to "bullet" and I'm a little afraid of it, but here's my Draftless Luck* effort.  The title is both expository and five words long, if you allow me a hyphenated word, so that's my Five for Friday, too.



Thank you, Michelle; thank you, Nikki; and thank you, Poetry Friday people, for reading the raw and unpolished with interest and respect.  We do each other a great favor in that.

May I also point you to this quote from George Eliot and this recording by Elvis Costello?

*With apologies to Erica Jong, this refers to my time-challenged technique of writing a poem right now, once, with the revision allowed by one hour, publishing it on the blog as though it were finished--and hoping for the best.

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By Ann and Paul Rand

{originally published 1957 by Harcourt, Brace, and World. Reprinted 2006 by Chronicle Books.}Sometimes pictures are just that: eye-catching and whimsical, without being packed with meaning or message. That spirit dances across the page in Sparkle and Spin, written by Ann Rand and illustrated by her husband Paul.

Paul Rand is an iconic American graphic designer. A problem solver. A storyteller. A communicator.

He said this about design:

“Good design adds value of some kind, gives meaning, and, not incidentally, can be sheer pleasure to behold.”His biographer, Steven Heller, said this:

“Paul Rand did not set out to create classic children’s books, he simply wanted to make pictures that were playful. Like the alchemist of old, he transformed unlikely abstract forms into icons that inspired children and adults and laid the foundation for two books that have indeed become children’s classics.”

Maybe he didn’t intend to be a creator of legendary books for kids, but his love for beautiful work shines in this one. That’s the magic of Sparkle and Spin: harmony, wit, and playfulness.And Ann’s words are a delightful match to Paul’s pictures. There’s a rhythm, song, and honor to these words that represent the joy of learning. Harmony, captured perfectly.

In graphic design, harmony is the magic that happens when all of the individual elements complement one another. It’s when small parts of pretty make up a more lovely whole.Here’s a detail I really love. This bold, graphic ice cream cone comes at the beginning, and with the inscription: To all children who like ice cream. And at The End, that scoop’s been slurped, chomped, and devoured. That’s what the experience of this book is. Tasty.

The book sparkles and spins. You’ll see what I mean.

Tagged: ann rand, chronicle, color, harmony, pattern, paul rand, shape, sparkle and spin, wordplay

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Hope everyone had a lovely weekend!

There are two new episodes of the Wordplay Podcast, which I record with the fabulously talented James Dashner and J. Scott Savage along with some incredible special guests.

In Episode 5 we discuss how to find time to write and how to deal with writer's block, and of course, to outline or not to outline.



And Episode 6 features the fabulous bestselling author Andrea Cremer, author of WOLFSBANE and NIGTHSHADE, and you can even win a copy of one of her awesome novels! We talk about something every author has to face: how to deal with rejection.



Enjoy!

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Want more of The Oxford Comment? Subscribe and review this podcast on iTunes.
You can also look back at past episodes on the archive page.

Featured in this Episode:

Michelle goes on-site with former Oxford intern Caleb Madison,  the youngest person to publish a crossword puzzle in the New York Times (at the age of 15). A puzzle by his class at Sundays at JASA: A Program of Sunday Activities for Older Adults was recently published in the New York Times and featured on the Wordplay blog.

Lauren gets a private tour of the OED museum in Oxford with Archivist Martin Maw.

This slideshow features the crossword class in action, and some impressively old printing relics.

(Click the image if you would like to see it larger.)

• Rock bands

   

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• Rock stars

   

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• How would you clue that?

   

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• The roof, the roof

   

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• Catching up after class

   

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• Caleb Madison with

   

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• his student Carmel Kuperman

   

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14 actors acting. [New York Times]

Triumph of the week: I finally learned how to fold a fitted sheet! [Nag on the Lake]

If this doesn’t make you smile, I give up. [Best Roof Talk Ever]

Amazing video created for the German shortfilm competition “Kurzundschön” (Short & Nice). [Vimeo]

Did you know Jesse Eisenberg has a wordplay website? [One Up Me]

No luck trending on Twitter? Blame Justin Bieber. [WSJ Speakeasy]

The other day, I glanced at my Pandora, and it hit me that the singer Jason Derulo was actually Jay Sean Derulo. (If you don’t know who I’m talking about, good for you.) I was amazed – how had I not realized this before?! Because it’s not true. They’re actually two different people, but at least in looking it up, I stumbled upon this gem of a mash-up. [YouTube]

In the future, no one will burn books. [clu]

Remember that movie Julie & Julia? Yeah. Well. This takes it to the next level. [Urlesque]

This dog never stops being cute. Never. [Facebook]

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Mr. Putney’s Quacking Dog by Jon Agee

I love puns.  Frankly, I couldn’t have groan up in my family without loving them.    So this book is write up my alley!  Mr. Putney has a lot of animal friends, but you have to guess their names.  The word play is a combination of illustrations and words with half of the joke coming from the text and half from the pictures.  Some of the word play is easier than others, but all is amusing and some will have you laughing out loud.  This book would be a stitch with a group of kids who enjoy reading and words.  In fact, it would make a great basis of an art project or for a writing project to create their own puns. 

Agee’s illustrations are in his signature style.  Outlined in thick black lines, they are disarmingly simple and filled with a sly humor.  An ideal companion to the book’s concept, they add appeal to the word play.  Mr. Putney is a straight-laced character whose reactions are satisfying and funny as he deals with each of the unique animals in the book.  There is a certain delight in seeing him doused, thrown into the air, or just shocked by a loud noise.

Get this into the hands of kids who love guessing games and word play.  Or just into the hands of any punny folks you know.  Appropriate for ages 5-8. 

Reviewed from library copy.

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In our intense efforts to solve the Dinosaurs vs. Princesses debate, we are leaving no stone unturned as we gather our facts.   Matt just reported back with a field report based on some intense and prolonged observance of Dinosaurs in thier natural habitat.  His 253 page report will be published as soon as it is peer-reviewed.   Until then, his journal entry for 9-15-09 his been adapted into yet another Word Play entitled “Little Dinosaur’s First Day of School“. 

 

I bugged Krista while she was on the phone for the required nouns and verbs, so you can be sure that they were completly off the cuff.   Lets see how it turned out!

 

There once was a Dinosaur named George, who was so jealous when he thought about his first day of school that he faked having a dog so that he wouldn’t have to jump.  When that didn’t work, he hid in the cat, but his momma found him between his baby and the pretty phone.

 

“Why don’t you want to go to school?”  George’s mother asked.  “You’ll learn all about shirts and   ordering. It will be good for you!”

 

“I’m guilty!”  George trembled.  “What if all the other kids pick on me?!”

               

George’s mother dreamed knowingly and raised her dino eyebrow, “I promise they won’t.”

 

“How do you know?”  George asked while trying to pray and escape.

 

“I just do,” said his mother angrily.  George finally smacked, and he went to School with an expensive look on his sword. 

 

All of his stalling made him late, so there was no one in the hallways as he fell blankly to his classroom.   He took a deep engine, and he bravely opened the door to his classroom.  

 

“AAAAAAAAGHHHHHHH!!!” the classroom painted, “A dinosaur!!!!!”

 

George realized that he didn’t need to be afraid of the guitars, they were afraid of HIM!  His momma must have known all along!

 

It’s your turn to play along.  Check out the Word Play section on our FUN STUFF page!

….

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I love wordplay. I savor the delicious way words feel in my mouth. The taste of an especially yummy combination—one that tingles with rhythm, rhyme, or alliteration. The way exciting language tickles my ears. I search for tangy, succulent, flavorful words.Sometimes the sounds of words almost feel more important than their meanings.Eeek! Halt! Hold everything!When I get so enamored with sounds, I

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If you are going to make your 8 year old turn off the TV against her will, you better have something fantastic to replace it. When I pulled the sublime Jon Agee's latest book out of my bag last night I learned two things: 1. that my daughter "loves" poetry; and 2. that tongue twisters are surely the most under appreciated literary format available to modern readers. Peter Piper's pickled peppers

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Here’s something different:
a poetry collection presented as a sly dictionary of 51 challenging vocabulary words with clever poem definitions. From “aggregate” to “gregarious” to “lugubrious” to “refute” to “wistful,” poet and teacher Michael Salinger personifies each word in ways that suggest attributes and defining characteristics—making the word memorable and visual for kids (especially tweens and teens) who want to expand their word knowledge.

A table of contents (with the part of speech for each word designated) lists all the featured words, and an introduction by the author provides a bit of overall context. The small (5 X 7) trim size is appealingly pocket-sized and cartoonist Sam Henderson offers doodly pen and ink elliptical people for many of the poems.

Each poem begins with the vocabulary word in bold and then includes a description or list that gives the highlighted word a personality all its own. They're light on rhyme, but strong on structure, and built upon personification. Many of the poems end with a pair of clever end lines with a twist or surprise. A one-line straight definition of each word appears at the bottom of the page in small print. Here’s one example:

Obsolete is absolutely useless
although in the past
he was reasonably handy
time—it kept on ticking and he
just never bothered to adapt
so now he gets passed over
sits in the corner collecting dust
his colors are fading
his chrome has started to rust
but don’t feel too bad for obsolete
his future is not completely bleak
as long as he keeps hanging on
eventually he’ll become an antique.

[obsolete: no longer useful; outmoded]

Salinger, Michael. 2009. Well Defined; Vocabulary in Rhyme. Ill. by Sam Henderson. Honesdale, PA: Wordsong/Boyds Mills Press, 46.

I think it would be fun to use this as an example for a class project with kids working alone or in pairs on a designated word, creating vocab-poems that can then be combined in a class book. Challenge them to cover the alphabet with words from A to Z. What a great way to prepare or review for vocabulary tests or the SAT or ACT exams!

Image credit: http://www.michaelsalinger.com/

Posting (not poem) by Sylvia M. Vardell © 2009. All rights reserved.

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The grass along Tink's walk home from school had been sprayed last week. Little white signs warned us off it with skulls and crossbones.

"Don't walk on there," I told Tink and her friend.

"Why not?" they asked, in unison, because already at age 6 anything your mother recommends must be met with skepticism.

"Because it's been sprayed with pesticides."

"Ewwwwww!" they shrieked in unison, because when you are six year old best friends, you say everything in unison.

A few minutes later, Tink's friend said, "What's pesticides?"

I chuckled and asked why she'd said "ew" if she didn't know.

"It SOUNDS bad," she said. "It doesn't sound, like, natural."

It doesn't, does it? Say it. Pesticide. Yuck.

So after I explained the Latin "-cide," we talked about onomatopoeia, because you don't come over to Jacqui's house without expecting a literature lesson.

I write picture books. I have 400-700 words to tell my story. Nothing pleases me like a word that sings its own meaning with its sounds. I like "slithers" and "zig zag" and "pop" and I like the more subtle ones like "pesticide" and "snuggle." Sometimes the word even looks the part, like "dazzle" and "loopy."

And sometimes, I can hear my sister saying, the word is perfectly descriptive in every way. Like "dork."

She's right, but I don't care. Onomatopoeia makes me smile. And who doesn't need to smile in a world full of pesticides?

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As it turns out, book is the new cool. News from Times Online:

So it is with great delight that we learn from one of our readers that the word “book” has taken on a cool new meaning — I use the adjective advisedly. Jeffrey Stark from London writes: “A colleague recently noticed that her teenage son and his friends were using the word ‘book’ as a term of approval, as in ‘that T-shirt is really book’. She wondered why. It transpires that if you text the word ‘cool’, predictive texting turns it into ‘book’. Being lazy teenagers they would rather change the meaning of the word than hit the options button.”

I’m not sure which I love more, the elevation of the word book to mean cool, or that this word development is happening out of sheer laziness.

Thanks to Proper Noun for alerting me to the trend.

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Logan and his friend Benedict head over to the library to get a head start on their project for school. They have to write 5 whole pages on "What's So Great About Being a Human?" For Logan, this is easy. Baseball. He heads right over to the baseball books and gets to work.

It's not so easy for Benedict, however. He can't seem to pay attention to anything for more than 5 minutes, and before Logan knows it, Benedict smacks him on the back and calls out "tag".

Who can resist?

Logan is soon chasing Benedict down into the Reference Section. He soon crashes into a elderly gentleman. Logan gives him a bit of cheek, and the man says that Logan needs to be punished. He then blows a bunch of dust right in Logan's face.

Logan hightales it out of there only to discover that when he speaks more than 3 words, all he can utter are puns. Will he ever be able to speak normally again? What will his friends and teachers think of this new way of speaking?

Young readers are introduced to wordplay in the form of palindromes, anagrams, redundancies and oxymorons. Definately appealing to those kids who love language.

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Today’s two-word weather forecast in the Washington Post was snow squall. Okaaay. I had no idea how to prepare for that. I wasn’t even sure what it meant. Was there truly going to be something different about the possibility of snow such that the word snow alone was not sufficient? Or even snow showers?

I am now given to understand that this is fairly common for the Northeast, but here in Virginia we don’t get snow squalls. When I told my husband, he was surprised by the forecast description as well. He thought it sounded like some kind of small Arctic mammal. “Oh, look, a snow squall.” I was more inclined to think of as a band name — as I think of everything, my current favorite being Cosmetic Puffs — or even a disease. “I can’t shake your hand. I’ve got squalls.”

As it turns out, I drove through the snow squall on my way home from work. It’s a whirling dervish of snow. Now why didn’t they just say that in the Post? Which brings me to my point. Kind of. Over at Defective Yeti is a little challenge to take an old cliché and make it fresh. For instance ready and willing becomes on it like a bonnet. Did I perk the interest of any wordplay-type folk? Check it out here. He said that he would post them on Friday, but there still may be time to submit something special. Oh, he has a link to an abundance of clichés if you should need some inspiration.

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