Excerpt from Old Elm Speaks: Tree Poems. Copyright 1998.
 

Old Elm Speaks: Tree Poems was the featured book for KidsRead 2007 in San Ramon, California. Check out the innovative program librarian Amy Mockoski designed!
 




What do trees think about all day long? Do they dream at night? What might trees tell us? Old Elm Speaks invites us to look at trees in new and surprising ways!


Welcome! As an author of children's poetry, I'm often not sure what delights me more — writing poetry or sharing my love of poetry.  That may explain why this site has mushroomed over the years to include information about my published work as well as resources I hope you'll find helpful for teaching, writing, sharing, and enjoying children's poetry.

Thanks to your feedback and encouragement, my little corner of the web continues to grow and to develop in exciting ways.  If you would like me to notify you when this site is updated, sign the Guest Book or use the form below. You might also want to take a minute to read the Guest Book.  We've had visitors from 98 countries, and over 28,000 visitors during National Poetry Month!

What's new?What's in here? Little Dog Poems : Copyright 1999 June Otani.

 





Just stuff!
I really enjoy where I live; it is never boring. How can I not be inspired to write when I have great neighbors like this?


Photo by Dustin T., age 11
Juliet is a 3-month old baby goat who munches roses.
Thorns? No problem.

Wolfie!

King of the Hill

Boris is our neighborhood's very own "Billy Goat Gruff." He's actually a very mellow fellow.
Driving home in the late afternoon, I spotted a coyote. I pulled over, rolled the window down, and took a quick picture as he loped off.


Book News

FOLD ME A POEM was just translated into Korean! See the Teacher's Guide for FOLD ME A POEM to discover fast and fun ways to introduce students to poetry concepts by "Folding and Poeming."


...a dazzling celebration of imagination. Publishers Weekly, starred
"[An] engrossing collaboration." Kirkus, starred
 
Think UP! for Father's Day!

Check out: 
UP! An Activity Guide for Toddlers and Preschoolers 


"...You can be sure Daddy won't be sleeping for long in this joyful picture book..." CCBC Choices
 
BOOK! is making its way around the world and has been reprinted in Portuguese, Japanese, and Italian.


See Poetry Aloud for audio clips of poems from Hummingbird Nest with music and arrangement by Cece Worrall Rubin.

HUMMINGBIRD NEST: A Journal of Poems, illustrated in watercolor by Barry Moser, received the Bank Street College Claudia Lewis Poetry Award, the John Burroughs Nature Award, The ASPCA Henry Bergh Children’s Book Award, the Myra Cohn Livingston Poetry Award, and was nominated for the Texas Bluebonnet Master List for 2005-2006. It received starred reviews from Booklist and Publishers Weekly, and was a lead review in the New York Times Book Review.
 

 

Little Dog Poems
Little Dog "unplanting"

Explore! Dig in! 

You'll discover teacher's guides, author comments, 
audio clips, and more for each of my current titles:

 


 
 
Teaching resources such as:
 
Celebrate Poetry    Over 33 ways to celebrate and share poetry during National Poetry Month and the other eleven months of the year
Poetry Book Shop   An extensive annotated bibliography of books on teaching and writing poetry
Poetry Power   Teaching ideas and links to terrific sites 
Poetry Aloud   Audio clips of my poetry
Tips for Young Poets   An animated "mini-web" with writing tips for students
Tips for Poets: Observation   Ideas on using observation skills in writing poetry
Poetry Thinks   Respite and inspiration for writers of all ages


 

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E-Mail!I've got the mail!  (From Little Dog Poems. Copyright 1999 June Otani.)
 

 

 


An American Library Association Great Web Site for Kids

Copyright © 1997 - 2004 
Kristine O'Connell George. All rights reserved.

Acknowledgements, Site Awards, and Privacy Notice

 

Poems, excerpts, and art images on this site are copyrighted and used with permission of Clarion Books, a division of Houghton Mifflin,  and Harcourt Publishing.  All rights reserved.
 

Graphics design and wild attacks of creativity are compliments of Mike Colgin,

  PMC Computer Graphics


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