Phenomenal Woman

Phenomenal Woman  (M.A. Reilly, May 28, 2014)

Phenomenal Woman

      - Maya Angelou

Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.
I'm not cute or built to suit a fashion model's size
But when I start to tell them,
They think I'm telling lies.
I say,
It's in the reach of my arms
The span of my hips,
The stride of my step,
The curl of my lips.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

I walk into a room
Just as cool as you please,
And to a man,
The fellows stand or
Fall down on their knees.
Then they swarm around me,
A hive of honey bees.
I say,
It's the fire in my eyes,
And the flash of my teeth,
The swing in my waist,
And the joy in my feet.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Men themselves have wondered
What they see in me.
They try so much
But they can't touch
My inner mystery.
When I try to show them
They say they still can't see.
I say,
It's in the arch of my back,
The sun of my smile,
The ride of my breasts,
The grace of my style.
I'm a woman

Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Now you understand
Just why my head's not bowed.
I don't shout or jump about
Or have to talk real loud.
When you see me passing
It ought to make you proud.
I say,
It's in the click of my heels,
The bend of my hair,
the palm of my hand,
The need of my care,
'Cause I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me. 

Called from Bed (M.A. Reilly, 2012)

After Making Love We Hear Footsteps 

        by Galway Kinnell

For I can snore like a bullhorn

or play loud music

or sit up talking with any reasonably sober Irishman

and Fergus will only sink deeper

into his dreamless sleep, which goes by all in one flash,   

but let there be that heavy breathing

or a stifled come-cry anywhere in the house

and he will wrench himself awake

and make for it on the run—as now, we lie together,

after making love, quiet, touching along the length of our bodies,   

familiar touch of the long-married,

and he appears—in his baseball pajamas, it happens,

the neck opening so small he has to screw them on—

and flops down between us and hugs us and snuggles himself to sleep,

his face gleaming with satisfaction at being this very child.

In the half darkness we look at each other

and smile

and touch arms across this little, startlingly muscled body—

this one whom habit of memory propels to the ground of his making,

sleeper only the mortal sounds can sing awake,

this blessing love gives again into our arms.

Galway Kinnell, “After Making Love We Hear Footsteps” from Three Books. Copyright © 2002 by Galway Kinnell.

16 Visually Rich Books for Children & Their Parents from 2013 and 2014

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Bryan Collier's illustration from Knock Knock: My Dad's Dream for Me. 

Beaty, Daniel. (2013). Knock Knock: My Dad's Dream for Me. Illustrated by Bryan Collier. New York: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.

Aaron Becker's illustration from Journey.

Becker, Aaron. (2013). Journey. Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press.

Illustration by Isabelle Arsenault from Jane, the Fox, and Me.

Britt, Fanny. (2013). Jane, the Fox, and Me. Illustrated by Isabelle Arsenault. Translated by Christine Morelli & Susan Ouriou. Toronto, ON: Groundwood Books.

Peter Brown's illustration from Mr. Tiger Goes Wild.

Brown, Peter. (2013). Mr. Tiger Goes Wild. New York: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.

  Author and Illustrator Peter Brown On His Process from School Library Journal on Vimeo.

Illustration by Charlotte Dematons from Holland.

Dematons, Charlotte. (2013). Holland. Rotterdam, Netherlands: Lemniscaat.

Illustration by Øyvind Torseter from My Father's Arms Are A Boat.

Lunde, Stein Erik  (2013). My Father's Arms Are A Boat. Illustrated by Øyvind Torseter. Translated by Kari Dickson. Brooklyn, NY: Enchanted Lion Books.

Illustration by Matte Stephens from Mr. Flux.

Maclear, Kyo. (2013). Mr. Flux. Illustrated by Matte Stephens. Tonawanda, NY: Kids Can Press.

 Illustration by Javier Martínez Pedro from Migrant: The Journey of a Mexican Worker.

Mateo, José Manuel. (2014). Migrant: The Journey of a Mexican Worker. Illustrated by Javier Martínez Pedro. New York: Harry N. Abrams.

Illustration by Rohan Daniel Eason from My First Kafka: Runaways, Rodents, and Giant Bugs.

Roth, Matthue. (2013).  My First Kafka: Runaways, Rodents, and Giant Bugs. Illustrated by Rohan Daniel Eason. Long Island City, NY: One Peace Books.

Illustration by Alessandro Sanna from  The River.

Sanna, Alessandro. (2014). The River. Brooklyn, NY: Enchanted Lion Books.

Illustration by Maurice Sendak from My Brother's Book.

Sendak, Maurice. (2013). My Brother's Book. New York: Michael de Capua Books/HarperCollins Publishers.

 Illustration by Jon Klassen from The Dark. 

Snicket, Lemony. (2013). The Dark. Illustrated by Jon Klassen. New York: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.

Illustration by Speck Lee Tailfeather from Architecture According to Pigeons.

Tailfeather, Speck Lee. (2013). Architecture According to Pigeons. London, UK: Phaidon Press.

Illustration by Øyvind Torester from  The Hole. 

Torseter, Øyvind. (2013). The Hole. Brooklyn, NY: Enchanted Lion Books.

Illustration by Valerio Vidali from Jemmy Button.

Uman, Jennifer. (2013). Jemmy Button. Illustrated by Valerio Vidali. Somerville, MA: Templar.

Illustration by Tomi Ungerer from Fog Island.

Ungerer, Tomi. (2013). Fog Island. London, UK: Phaidon Press.

Silence (M.A. Reilly, 2010)

Pablo Neruda - I Like For You To Be Still

I like for you to be still

It is as though you are absent

And you hear me from far away

And my voice does not touch you

It seems as though your eyes had flown away

And it seems that a kiss had sealed your mouth

As all things are filled with my soul

You emerge from the things

Filled with my soul

You are like my soul

A butterfly of dream

And you are like the word: Melancholy

I like for you to be still

And you seem far away

It sounds as though you are lamenting

A butterfly cooing like a dove

And you hear me from far away

And my voice does not reach you

Let me come to be still in your silence

And let me talk to you with your silence

That is bright as a lamp

Simple, as a ring

You are like the night

With its stillness and constellations

Your silence is that of a star

As remote and candid

I like for you to be still

It is as though you are absent

Distant and full of sorrow

So you would’ve died

One word then, One smile is enough

And I’m happy;

Happy that it’s not true

Recent Books about War & Civil Unrest: Grades 5-8

Novels
Agosín, Marjorie. (2014). I Lived on Butterfly Hill. Illustrated by Lee White. New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers. (Pinochet’s takeover of Chile)
Avi. (2012). Sophia's War. New York: Beach Lane Books.
Bradman, Tony. (Ed.). (2014). Stories of WWI. London, UK: Orchard Books. (WWI)
Dallas, Sandra. (2014). Red Berries, White Clouds, Blue Sky. Ann Arbor, MI: Sleeping Bear Press. (Japanese Interment, WWII)
Faulkner, Matt. (2014). Gaijin: American Prisoner of War. New York: Hyperion. (Japanese Interment, WWII)
Fleming, David. (2013). The Saturday Boy. Viking Children's (US-Afghanistan)
Foreman, Michael. (2014). War Game: Village Green to No-Man's-Land. London, UK: Pavillion. (WWI)
Gonzalez, Christina Diaz. (2012). A Thunderous Whisper. New York: Knopf Books for Young Readers. (Spanish Civil War/WWII)
Gonzalez, Christina Diaz. (2010). The Red Umbrella. New York: Knopf Books for Young Readers. (Castro's Revolution, Cuba, 1961)
Matti, Truus. (2013). Mister Orange. Brooklyn, NY: Enchanted Lion Books. (WWII - Set in Manhattan)
Morpurg, Michael. (2012/2015). A Medal for Leroy. New York: Square Fish. (WWI)
Myers, Walter Dean. (2013). Invasion. New York: Scholastic. (WWII) (Grade 8 and higher)

Pellegrino, Marge. (2014). Journey of Dreams. London, UK: Frances Lincoln Children's Books. (Guatemala, 1980s)
Voorhoeve, Anne C. (2012). My Family for the War. New York: Penguin. (Kindertransport, WWII)
Whelan, Gerard. (2013). The Guns of Easter. Dublin, Ireland: The O'Brien Press. (Dublin, 1916)

Novels in Verse/Poetry
Brown, Skilla. (2014). Caminar. Somerville, MA: Candlewick. (Guatemala, 1980s)
Frost, Helen. (2013). Salt: A Story of Friendship in a Time of War. New York:  Farrar, Straus and Giroux. (War of 1812)
Lewis, J. Patrick. (2014). Harlem Hellfighters. Illustrated by Gary Kelley. Mankato, MN: Creative Editions.  (World War I)

Lewis, J. Patrick. (2012). And the Soldiers Sang. Illustrated by Gary Kelley. Mankato, MN: Creative Editions.  (World War I)
Lewis, J. Patrick. (2009). The House. Illustrated by Robert Innocenti. Mankato, MN: Creative Editions.  (World War II to Present)
Nagai, Mariko. (2014). Dust of Eden: A Novel.  Park Ridge, IL: Albert Whitman & Company. (Japanese Interment, WWII)

Nonfiction

Arato, Rona. (2013). The Last Train: A Holocaust Story. Toronto, ON: Owlkids Books. (WWII/Holocaust)

Ellis, Deborah. (2010). Children of War: Voices of Iraqi Refugees. Toronto: Groundwood Books. (US-Iraq War)

Farrell, Mary Cronk & First Lieutenant Diane Carlson Evans. (2014). Pure Grit: How American World War II Nurses Survived Battle and Prison Camp in the Pacific. New York:  Abrams Books.

Marrin, Albert. (2104). A Volcano Beneath the Snow: John Brown's War Against Slavery. New York: Knopf Books for Young Readers. (1800-1859)

Matthews, Jenny. (2014). Children Growing Up with War. Somerville, MA: Candlewick.  (Refugee Camps, Contemporary)

Moss, Marissa. (2013). Barbed Wire Baseball. Illustrated by Yuko Shimizu. New York: Abrams Books. (Japanese Interment/WWII)

Stone,Tanya Lee. (2013). Courage Has No Color, The True Story of the Triple Nickles. Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press. (WWII)

Walker, NIki. (2013). Why Do We Fight?: Conflict, War, and Peace. Toronto, ON: Owlkids Books.

Wilkes, Sybella.  (2010). Out of Iraq: Refugees' Stories in Words, Paintings and Music. Evans Brothers. (US-Iraq War)

Tonight I can write the saddest lines.

And Full of Sleep (M.A. Reilly, 2012)

Pablo Neruda

Tonight I Can Write (The Saddest Lines)

Tonight I can write the saddest lines.

Write, for example, 'The night is starry and the stars are blue and shiver in the distance.'

The night wind revolves in the sky and sings.

Tonight I can write the saddest lines.
I loved her, and sometimes she loved me too.

Through nights like this one I held her in my arms.
I kissed her again and again under the endless sky.

She loved me, sometimes I loved her too.
How could one not have loved her great still eyes.

Tonight I can write the saddest lines.
To think that I do not have her. To feel that I have lost her.

To hear the immense night, still more immense without her.
And the verse falls to the soul like dew to the pasture.

What does it matter that my love could not keep her.
The night is starry and she is not with me.

This is all. In the distance someone is singing. In the distance.
My soul is not satisfied that it has lost her.

My sight tries to find her as though to bring her closer.
My heart looks for her, and she is not with me.

The same night whitening the same trees.
We, of that time, are no longer the same.

I no longer love her, that's certain, but how I loved her.
My voice tried to find the wind to touch her hearing.

Another's. She will be another's. As she was before my kisses.
Her voice, her bright body. Her infinite eyes.

I no longer love her, that's certain, but maybe I love her.
Love is so short, forgetting is so long.

Because through nights like this one I held her in my arms
my soul is not satisfied that it has lost her.

Though this be the last pain that she makes me suffer
and these the last verses that I write for her.

Translation by W. S. Merwin

Fables for Children: Picture Books

A collection of children's fables.

Brown, Marcia. (1989). Once a Mouse... New York: Aladdin.
Bruchac, Joseph. (2005).  Turtle's Race with Beaver. Illustrated by Ariane Dewey and Jorge Arugeo. New York: Puffin.

Bruchac, Joseph. (2004).  Raccoon's Last Race.  Illustrated by Ariane Dewey and Jorge Arugeo. New York: Puffin.
Daugherty, James. (1989). Andy and the Lion. New York: Puffin.
Demi. (2014). The Pandas and Their Chopsticks: and Other Animal Stories. Wisdom Tales.
Demi. (1996). The Dragon's Tale: And Other Animal Fables of the Chinese Zodiac. New York: Henry Holt.
Franklin, Kristine L. (1999). The Gift. San Francisco, CA: Chronicle Books. 

from The Grasshopper's Song: An Aesop's Fable Revisited.

Giovanni, Nikki. (2008). The Grasshopper's Song: An Aesop's Fable Revisited. Illustrated by Chris Raschka. Somerville, MA: Candlewick. 
Hartman, Bob. (2004). The Wolf Who Cried Boy. Illustrated by Tim Raglin. New York: Puffin.
Hoberman, Mary Ann. (2013). You Read to Me, I'll Read to You: Very Short Fables to Read Together. Illustrated by Michael Emberley. New York: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.

Lionni, Leo. (2010). Six Crows.  New York: Knopf.
Lionni, Leo. (2002). Frederick and His Friends: Four Favorite Fables. Illustrated by Eric Carle. New York: Knopf.
Lionni, Leo. (2000). Tico and the Golden Wings. New York: Knopf.
Lionni, Leo. (1996). It's Mine! New York: Dragonfly Books.
Lionni, Leo. (1973). Frederick. New York: Dragonfly Books.
Lionni, Leo. (1973). Swimmy. New York: Dragonfly Books.
Lobel, Arnold. (1983). Fables. New York: HarperCollins.
Marlow, Layn. (2009).  Hurry Up and Slow Down. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

Mora, Pat. (2001). The Race of Toad and Deer. Illustrated by Domi. Toronto, ON: Groundwood Books.
Mora, Pat. (2001). La carrera del sapo y el venado. Illustrated by Domi. Toronto, ON: Groundwood Books.
Morpurgo, Michael. (2005). The McElderry Book of Aesop's Fables. Illustrated by Emma Chichester Clark. New York: Margaret K. McElderry Books.
Morrison, Toni & Slade Morrison. (2014). The Tortoise or the Hare.  Illustrated by Joe Cepeda. New York: Simon & Schuster/Paula Wiseman Books.
Morrison, Toni & Slade Morrison. (2010). Little Cloud and Lady Wind.  Illustrated by Sean Qualls. New York: Simon & Schuster/Paula Wiseman Books.
Morrison, Toni & Slade Morrison. (2003). The Ant or the Grasshopper?  Illustrated by Pascal Lemaitre. New York: Scribner.

from Looking for the Easy Life. 

Myers, Walter Dean. (2011). Looking for the Easy Life. Illustrated by Lee Harper. New York: HarperCollins
Naidoo, Beverley. (2011). Aesop's Fables. Illustrated by Piet Grobler. London, UK: Frances Lincoln.

Nunes, Shio S. (2013). Chinese Fables: The Dragon Slayer and Other Timeless Tales of Wisdom. Illustrated by Lak-Khee Tay-Audouard. North Clarendon, VT: Tuttle Publishing.

Jerry Pinkney's The Tortoise & the Hare.

Pinkney, Jerry. (2013). The Tortoise & the Hare. New York: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.
Pinkney, Jerry. (2009). The Lion and The Mouse. New York: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.
Pinkney, Jerry. (2000). Aesop's Fables. San Francisco, CA: Chronicle Books.
Rocco, John. (2007). Wolf! Wolf! New York: Hyperion Books for Children.
Robinson, Sandra Chisholm. (1994). The Rainstick, A Fable. Illustrated by Peter Grosshauser. Stonington, CT : TwoDot.

Illustration by Talleen Hacikan from Aesop's Fables

Rosen, Michael. (2013). Aesop's Fables. Illustrated by Talleen Hacikan. Vancouver, BC: Tradewind Books.
Scieszka, Jon. (2003).  Squids will be Squids.  Illustrated by Lane Smith. New York: Puffin.
Slater, Kate. (2011). Magpie's Treasure. London, UK: Andersen's Books.
Sneed, Brad. (2003). Aesop's Fables. New York: Dial Books.
Steig, William. (2012). Sylvester and the Magic Pebble. New York: Little Brown.
Thornhill, Jan. (2006). Folktails: Animal Legends from Around the World. Maple Tree Press.
Ward, Helen. (2003). The Rooster and the Fox. Minneapolis, MN: The Millbrook Press.
Waters, Fiona. (2013). Aesop's Forgotten Fables. Illustrated by Fulvio Testa. London, UK: Andersen Press.
Wiesner, David & Fritz Leiber. (2004). Gonna Roll the Bones. Mills & Cookies Press.

Wildsmith, Brian. (2008). Brian Wildsmith's Favorite Fables. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Wildsmith, Brian. (2000). The Little Wood Duck. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Young, Ed. (2004). I, Doko: The Tale of a Basket. New York: Philomel.