This Week in Children's Literature: Poetry

This has probably been one of the most enjoyable weeks of learning for my children's lit. class, partly because we didn't have a quiz in honor of Thanksgiving. It was about poetry, a subject I've always loved but have sadly neglected in recent years.

What is poetry anyway?

Poetry, at it's most basic, is a short, lyrical response to the world. It is emotion under extreme pressure or recollection in a small space. It is the coal of experience so compressed it becomes a diamond. 

 -Jane Nolan

It is time to make some diamonds again.

Here is a sample poem from my textbook:

Great, Good, Bad

A great book is a homing device

For navigating paradise.

A good book somehow makes you care

About the comfort of a chair.

A bad book owes to many trees 

A forest of apologies. 

-From Please Bury Me in the Library by J. Patrick Lewis  

Who You Gonna Call?

Stress Busters!! Another gem from Library Teamwork and Supervisory Skills, which has quickly become a more enjoyable class.

https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/healthyliving/Stress-busters

Take a Deep Breath....

Looks like I'm back, in spite of being so very busy. Six classes and all their accompanying homework, plus the housework that never ends, keep me pretty busy. But we must not forget the ever important down-time. Down-time for me is usually first thing in the morning with toast, a hot cup of tea, and a good book (more often than not Harry Potter.) Unfortunately, my foolish brain cannot help making me feel guilty about the down-time I am taking, telling me that I'm subtracting valuable minutes from my day that could be used getting homework or laundry done. 

Long story short, life is full of stress! Surprisingly, today I found encouragement in one of my least favorite classes, Library Teamwork and Supervisory Skills. This week my teacher assigned some articles for us to read on stress and how to reduce it. Here are links to two articles that really helped me:

http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/stress-management/in-depth/stress/art-20046037?reDate=13112016

http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/stress-management/in-depth/positive-thinking/art-20043950?reDate=13112016

Let's all hope for a more relaxed week.