University of Richmond education professor interviews more than 30 children's poets to celebrate the 30 days of April's National Poetry Month

To celebrate National Poetry Month in April, University of Richmond education professor Tricia Stohr-Hunt will interview 36 of the nation’s best-known children’s poets, featuring one to two of the interviews each day on her blog, The Miss Rumphius Effect.

Stohr-Hunt spent the winter months writing to some of the most well known children’s poets in the country, asking each of them to contribute an online interview about the craft of writing children’s poetry to her blog. She aimed high, inviting writers such as this year’s children’s poet laureate, Mary Ann Hoberman, to participate, and even she was astounded by the positive responses she received.

Schedule of Children’s Poet Interviews

In all, the list of children’s poets includes 10 recipients of the Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award (Helen Front, Carole Boston Weatherford, Joyce Sidman, Marilyn Nelson, Marilyn Singer, Jaime Adoff, Paul Janeczko, Janet Wong, Kristine O’Connell George and Douglas Florian), two winners of the Américas Award for Children’s and Young Adult Literature (Jorge Argueta and Pat Mora), two recipients of the Virginia Hamilton Literary Award (Joseph Bruchac and Arnold Adoff), three recipients of the Jane Addams Children’s Book Award (Carole Boston Weatherford, Joseph Bruchac and Arnold Adoff), two recipients of the Coretta Scott King Author Award Marilyn Nelson and Joyce Carol Thomas), one Newberry Medal honoree (Marilyn Nelson), one Pura Belpré honoree (Pat Mora), two recipients of the IRA Lee Bennett Hopkins Promising Poet Award (Janet Wong and Kristine O’Connell George), three recipients of the NCTE Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children (Lee Bennett Hopkins, Mary Ann Hoberman and Arnold Adoff), one state poet laureate (Marilyn Nelson) and one national children’s poet laureate (Mary Ann Hoberman). Together, the participating children’s poets will publish a total of at least 26 books in 2009 alone.

Jane Yolen is the author of the beloved dinosaur series for preschool children, which includes books such as How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight? And How Do Dinosaurs Eat Their Food? Joyce Carol Thomas is the author of over two dozen books and received Coretta Scott King Honors for her first picture book, Brown Honey in Broomwheat Tea, and more recently for her picture book, The Blacker the Berry. Pat Mora’s book, Doña Flor, was named a 2006 American Library Association Notable Book.

Stohr-Hunt’s blog gets approximately 10,000 hits per month. She started it in November 2006 because she intended to start asking her students to blog about their coursework, and she wanted to first familiarize herself with the platform.

“I started the blog as a short-term project, but it really took off. I wasn’t sure what to write about at first, but over time it evolved into a place where I review picture books, usually nonfiction and poetry for use across the curriculum, discuss teaching and learning and write a bit of poetry with folks who join me online,” said Stohr-Hunt.

Today, Stohr-Hunt’s audience is made up of teachers, librarians, parents and homeschoolers who want to find great books for the children in their lives. In 2007, the blog was named as a finalist in the Weblog Awards’ “Best Education Blog” category.

The blog’s name, The Miss Rumphius Effect, was inspired by the children’s book Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney. In the book, a little girl named Alice tells her grandfather that, like him, she wants to grow up and travel to faraway places and then live beside the sea. The grandfather tells her that there is a third thing she must do. She must do something to make the world more beautiful; but, as a young girl, she does not know what that could be.

Stohr-Hunt wrote in her first blog entry, “Miss Rumphius planted lupines, but I want to do so much more. What could that be? Like young Alice, I still do not know. When I find the answer, I’ll let you know.”
 

Posted March 30, 2009