Caroline Starr Rose has written entire books in verse. Now don’t be intimidated. Her book, May B, has been described as part Hatchet, part Little House on the Prairie, and part Out of the Dust.
In this episode, you’ll hear:
- her books, of course!
- how to get started with poetry even if it’s as intimidating to you as it is to me
- her booklist (a-mazing!) I can’t believe how many of Caroline’s favorite books I hadn’t heard of before
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Books from this episode:
(All links are Amazon affiliate links.)
Little Britches: Father and I Were Ranchers
FROM SARAH:
This one comes up again and again in podcast episodes! The first in Ralph Moody’s autobiographical series, this is a wonderful father-son story. Note: Does contain a few mature words that begin with H and D.
FROM THE PUBLISHER:
Ralph Moody was eight years old in 1906 when his family moved from New Hampshire to a Colorado ranch. Through his eyes we experience the pleasures and perils of ranching there early in the twentieth century. Auctions and roundups, family picnics, irrigation wars, tornadoes and wind storms give authentic color to Little Britches. So do adventures, wonderfully told, that equip Ralph to take his father's place when it becomes necessary.
More info →May B.
May becomes abandoned 15 miles from home on the Kansas Prairie. Fans of Little House will enjoy this fast-paced story and the strong heroine. (A novel in verse.)
More info →Blue Birds
Another novel in verse by the talented Caroline Starr Rose, this one set in the 1580s in Roanoke.
More info →The Count of Monte Cristo (Open Road)
**Description from Amazon: An epic adventure and one of the most enduring fables in Western literatureEdmond Dantés has a life that any man would envy. A promising young sailor about to be made a captain, he has come home to Marseille to marry his beautiful fiancée, Mercédès. But on the eve of his wedding, Dantés is betr...
More info →Okay for Now
FROM SARAH:
I want to give this book to every teenager I know. It's a book that will make you want to hug a mean kid, stare at Audubon paintings, thank a veteran, read Jane Eyre, and get an orchid. Even if you ignore every other book I recommend, read this one. Highly, highly recommended. Meet author Gary Schmidt in the Author Access replay in RAR Premium.
FROM THE PUBLISHER:
At once heartbreaking and hopeful, this absorbing novel centers on Doug, 14, who has an abusive father, a bully for a brother, a bad reputation, and shameful secrets to keep. Teachers and police and his relatives think he's worthless, and he believes them, holding others at arm's length.
More info →Out of the Dust
** Description from Amazon: Out of the Dust joins the Scholastic Gold line, which features award-winning and beloved novels. Includes exclusive bonus content!"Dust piles up like snow across the prairie. . . ."A terrible accident has transformed Billie Jo's life, scarring her inside and out. Her mother is gone. Her father can't...
More info →Heartbeat
** Description from Amazon: “A stunning accomplishment. This story pierces the heart.” —Chicago Sun-Times RUN RUN RUN. That’s what twelve-year-old Annie loves to do. When she’s barefoot and running, she can hear her heart beating…thump-THUMP, thump-THUMP.It’s a rhythm that makes sense in a year when everything’...
More info →The Poetry Teacher’s Book of Lists
** Description from Amazon: Need help finding the perfect poem for a holiday celebration or a science unit? A funny riddle poem or a bilingual poetry book? Here is a comprehensive resource for teachers, librarians, and parents packed with poetry bibliographies and research-based strategies for selecting and sharing poetry with...
More info →A Tangled Web
** Description from Amazon: A Tangled Web' is a tale that follows two intertwined families through a year of heartbreak and hilarity in a scramble to acquire a family heirloom. When Rebecca Dark realises she is dying, she invites her extended family to one of her usual gatherings to inform them of her departure. After the shoc...
More info →Possession
** Description from Amazon: National Bestseller Winner of England’s Booker Prize and the literary sensation of the year, Possession is an exhilarating novel of wit and romance, at once an intellectual mystery and triumphant love story. It is the tale of a pair of young scholars researching the lives of two Victorian poets....
More info →Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night
** Description from Amazon: A 2011 Newbery Honor Book Come feel the cool and shadowed breeze, come smell your way among the trees, come touch rough bark and leathered leaves: Welcome to the night. Welcome to the night, where mice stir and furry moths flutter. Where snails spiral into shells as orb spiders circle in silk. Wher...
More info →The Pet Project: Cute and Cuddly Vicious Verses
** Description from Amazon: Embark on a methodical, meticulous, and hilarious quest for the perfect pet in this wickedly witty cautionary collection of pet poems.If you’re the type that oohs and aahs at furry faces, precious paws, the words ahead may be alarming: Animals aren’t always charming. If you think you’d like a ...
More info →Forest Has a Song: Poems
** Description from Amazon: A spider is a “never-tangling dangling spinner / knitting angles, trapping dinner.” A tree frog proposes, “Marry me. Please marry me… / Pick me now. / Make me your choice. / I’m one great frog / with one strong voice.” VanDerwater lets the denizens of the forest speak for themselves in t...
More info →A Lion to Guard Us
** Description from Amazon: The inspiring classic that The New Yorker called "an exciting tale [with] top-notch writing," about one girl facing harsh conditions and huge responsibility as she brings her family to the American colonies. Featuring a heroine with faith, courage, and a great deal of grit, this acclaimed histori...
More info →Star of Light
** Description from Amazon: Hamid rubbed the light from his eyes and looked again. He was not dreaming; it was his stepfather!The man watched Kinza as a snake might watch a baby rabbit at play, waiting for the moment to strike. And for one breathless moment Hamid was sure that he would reach out and snatch her away. Hamid doe...
More info →Where Things Come Back
** Description from Amazon: This poignant and hilarious story of loss and redemption “explores the process of grief, second chances, and even the meaning of life” (Kirkus Reviews).In the remarkable, bizarre, and heart-wrenching summer before Cullen Witter’s senior year of high school, he is forced to examine everything h...
More info →Anne of Green Gables
FROM THE PUBLISHER:
The Cuthberts are expecting a boy to help work on their farm, Green Gables. Instead, they get “Anne with an e,” who will surely win girls’ hearts with her spunky personality and big imagination.
More info →Emily of New Moon (The Emily Books, Book 1)
When Emily’s father dies, her mother’s relatives take her to live at New Moon Farm, where she deals with snobby relatives and cruel classmates. Will Emily ever feel at home again?
More info →The Book of Three (The Chronicles of Prydain Book 1)
The Newbery-winning fantasy series now available in gorgeous new paperback editions! Since The Book of Three was first published in 1964, young readers have been enthralled by the adventures of Taran the Assistant Pig-Keeper and his quest to become a hero. Taran is joined by an engaging cast of char...
More info →Links from this episode:
- Caroline Starr Rose’s Website
- The Little House course that Caroline mentions during the show
- Sylvia Vardell’s blog: Poetry for Children
- The Writers Almanac on NPR
- Lucy Maud Montgomery Journal volume 3
- Pioneer Girl (an autobiography of Laura Ingalls Wilder coming out in December 2014)