Riddle me this, Batman....
Statcounter's Keyword Analysis tells me that since I started my blog in August 2008, I have the most hits from people searching for Riddle Poems and Acrostic Poems, yet there are barely any Riddle Poem or Acrostic Poem collections on the bookshelves.
These Riddle Poem and Acrostic Poem-hungry readers land on my lessons of how to write and teach these forms plus they get a mini-helping of my original poetry---and I'll be honest, I don't put my best work up on this blog because that is the work I plan to sell to publishers.
So, why the editor resistance to student-loved Riddle and Acrostic Poems?
BTW, I also receive a lot of Haiku-hungry searchers who land on my two Haiku lesson posts. Haiku is huge in the classroom and I am thrilled to see the success of Wabi Sabi, Zen Ties, If Not for the Cat, and more.
Posts
All the Publishing Information You Ever Wanted
2 hours ago
18 comments:
I hope some editors see this! I get lots of hits for cinquain poems. Bring on the poetry hits!
:0)
It doesn't say it in the title, but Butterfly Eyes and Other Secrets of the Meadow is a collection of riddle poems . . .
Joyce
Joyce, BUTTERFLY EYES looks wonderful. Thank you for posting.
For all interested in buying Joyce Sidman's beautiful riddle collection, BUTTERFLY EYES AND OTHER SECRETS OF THE MEADOW, here is a link:
BUTTERFLY EYES AND OTHER SECRETS OF THE MEADOW
I'm always hungry
for a little haiku treat
post us some more, Jill!
I wonder if the number of hits reflect reader interest or teacher interest.
Paul, you are the teacher. What do you think?
While most searches are for the general term 'riddle poems' or acrostic poems, I get some great specifics like 'acrostic poem for Brenda or California or Birthday' or 'riddle poem for moon' as well as how to teach acrostic poems and riddle poems.
Just today I have:
acrostic poem for economy
riddle poem (actually 7 of these)
how to write a riddle poem
teaching children poetry-riddles
acrostic poem for wisdom
acrostic poem for Spring
Children's riddle poems
Mother's Day acrostic poem
Mother and Father Acrostic Poems.
There are more but I think you get the point:)
Forgive my hubris, Jill, but may I offer a toot for my third book of riddles, coming out in the fall--SPOT THE PLOT: A RIDDLE BOOK OF BOOK RIDDLES, Chronicle Books, Lynn Munsinger, ill. The riddles in it all concern famous children's books. And Lynn's art, of course, is alway smashing. Here's an easy one:
Dear Mr. Farmer,
The letter we’re typing
goes under GRIPING!
This barn is too cold,
not climate-controlled.
If we have to shiver,
we don’t deliver.
No bedding, no butter.
No blankets, no udder.
Stop the madness.
End the battle.
Sincerely yours,
The Cattle
Pat,
I can't wait to read SPOT THE PLOT! Thanks for the sneak preview.
You are being modest, you have 5 riddle books and while the first two I'm going list below are out of print we can all still order them through cyber-space.
Riddle-icious
Riddle-lightful
Arithmetickle
Scien-Trickery: Riddles in Science
Spot the Plot
Puzzling to me also why editors resist riddle poems. My favorite the aforementioned
Riddle-Icious by J. Patrick Lewis
Ah, if you haven't already seen it, you must watch the Avatar episode "The Tales of Ba Sing Se." One of the characters gets involved in a Haiku contest (much like rappers do). It's so serious when he makes a mistake (one too many syllables) he's thrown out of the room by a bouncer! Poetry is fun. ;)
I'm always interested in hearing what works with reluctant readers. Thanks for the post.
You raise a great question! They're such fun forms to read -- and try your hand at writing! By the way, one of your earlier blogs inspired me to dig out a riddle poem from my files and post to my blog earlier this month:
http://marthacalderaro.wordpress.com/writing-for-children/what-am-i/
Thanks for the conversation and links to some great collections!
Love Pat's "Click Clack Moo" poem. So great. And Joyce's Butterfly Eyes is marvelous.
I suspect that Paul may be correct about teachers doing the looking (possibly for samples of particular sorts of acrostics to share in class - Mother's Day, in particular). Acrostic poems and haiku are the two forms my kids actually learned in elementary school (because they are considered easy to teach to young children).
I'll be guest editing an edition of Bumbershoot, a really fine zine that publishes light verse and children's verse. Have a look at their back issues to get an idea of the quality, which I think you'll agree is pretty high indeed
Anyway, I will be looking in particular for riddle poems, which is why I'm mentioning it here. The call is not for children's poems, per se, so the riddle poems can be entirely "adult" or, as I hope, suitable for all ages.
Anyway, here are the guidelines:
http://umbrellajournal.com/spring2009/editorial.html
I just found a cute haiku book called Dogku by Andrew Clements. Each page contains a haiku, but as you go along it reads as a story. Super cute!
Further up the page, you will see my call for riddle poems in Bumbershoot. I'm back to renew my call with the added enticement of possibly having your riddles appear next to six riddles by someone I know you all like. Hint. He posted on this page, too, and his initials are JPL. I'm hoping that will be enough information to solve the riddle. In addition to Patric Lewis (darn, I let the answer slip), we have many other masterful poets contributing to our riddles feature. So go ahead and send us stuff, okay?
I always like haiku!
Acrostic and Haiku
CAT
Chasing all the mice
Acting innocent and nice
Trouble in my eyes
I am doing research for my college thesis, thanks for your brilliant points, now I am acting on a sudden impulse.
- Laura
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