A poetry collection that both illustrates what mindfulness is and encourages young, growing minds to be present, from poet and educator Georgia Heard, with art by Isabel Roxas. Poets have long observed the world in a mindful way. They point out beauty we might have missed, draw our attention to our inner thoughts, and call us to see our society in new ways. But as daily life become more and more chaotic, children grow distracted. According to the CDC, 9.4% of children have ADHD and 7% have anxiety/depression. And these numbers continue to climb. As treatment doctors recommend healthy eating, physical activity, plenty of sleep, and mindfulness techniques. Georgia Heard is a poet and educator—and she has long had her own meditation practice. In My Thoughts Are Clouds, she uses poetry to demonstrate what mindfulness is and gives kids—and their parents and teachers—accessible ways to learn mindfulness tools.

The long-awaited second collection by a central literary figure, Columbia University professor, and poetry editor of the Boston Review.

"A freewheeling romp through the world of imagery and metaphor, this quietly startling collection of thirty poems, framed by the four elements, is about art and reality, fact and fancy. Look around: what do you see? A clown balancing a pie in a tree, or an empty nest perched on a leafless branch? As poet Connie Wanek alludes to in her afterword--a lively dialogue with former US Poet Laureate Ted Kooser--sometimes the simplest sights and sounds "summon our imaginations" and cry out to be clothed in the alchemical language of poetry. This compendium of the fleeting and unexpected turns the everyday--turtles, trees, and tadpoles; cow pies, lazy afternoons, and pillowy white marshmallows--into poetic gold." -- Amazon.com.

A picture-book biography of celebrated poet Gwendolyn Brooks, the first Black person to win the Pulitzer Prize A 2021 Coretta Scott King Book Award Illustrator Honor Book A 2021 Robert F. Sibert Informational Honor Book A 2021 Association of Library Service to Children Notable Children's Book Gwendolyn Brooks (1917–2000) is known for her poems about “real life.” She wrote about love, loneliness, family, and poverty—showing readers how just about anything could become a beautiful poem. Exquisite follows Gwendolyn from early girlhood into her adult life, showcasing her desire to write poetry from a very young age. This picture-book biography explores the intersections of race, gender, and the ubiquitous poverty of the Great Depression—all with a lyrical touch worthy of the subject. Gwendolyn Brooks was the first Black person to win the Pulitzer Prize, receiving the award for poetry in 1950. And in 1958, she was named the poet laureate of Illinois. A bold artist who from a very young age dared to dream, Brooks will inspire young readers to create poetry from their own lives.

"Shadow of a Cloud but No Cloud" is the latest offering from enigmatic prose-poet Killarney Clary. Like her earlier book, "Potential Stranger," this is a book-length sequence of unnumbered, untitled poems. "Shadow of a Cloud but No Cloud," in poem after poem, evokes crystal-clear moments in time in fraught domestic relationships. One can almost hear the speakers inhaling and exhaling worry or gratitude in the spaces between speech, emulating or reflecting the sparkling or bleak landscapes around them. In a poem that begins We watched ravens, ostensibly about two people in a car at a truck-stop on a desert highway, the speaker muses: As long as we were not speaking, I wouldn t hear what I was afraid you d say. I wouldn t say the words I d be sorry for. Doesn t the wind need to rest? A motley sparrow turned his working, calico eye to the sun, heated the mites then dusted them. Tending to himself, he looked bad. In another poem that begins There went my chance to say: "I never said that." We are on the phone. I am wondering, "Could I have said that?" as you speak forward into other news, what might be. I run behind, see what you have missed. I am missing too. Oh but what I let you say. This quietly haunting book, remarkable for its subtlety and delicacy, is Clary s strongest, most engaging book to date, and amply shows her to be the master of this most difficult of lyric genres."

A Native American poet explores aspects of language, American Indian culture, and the land.