Introducing Poetry and Children to Each Other

KEYNOTE ADDRESS INTRODUCING POETRY AND CHILDREN TO EACH OTHER Introduction Althea Helbig I would like to introduce to you someone whose works have long been favorites of children. Although she has written for adults and is well known as an illustrator, doing the pictures for the books of other authors as well as for her own books, it is for her poetry and her verse that Karla Kuskin is most popular. Some of her books are story books in verse like James and the Rain, and some are nonsense like Alexander Soames : His Poems ; some are thematic collections like Any Me J. Want to Be, while others are random offerings of poems and verses on a variety of subjects including In the Middle of the Trees , The Rose on My Cake, Near the Window Tree, and Dogs & Dragons , Trees & Dreams . She speaks in tones predominately joyful. Her poems are intended to amuse. She has said: "I love to laugh, and that is what much verse is about," and many of her verses are very funny indeed as they play with language, rhythms, and situations. Her true gift, however, lies in her ability to lift up for children, with skill and sensitivity, the little things that make up the young child's world with sympathy, gentle humor, and very great warmth. It is my honor and my pleasure to present to you an award winning illustrator, book maker, and poet; my friends, will you join me in welcoming Karla Kuskin. Address Karla Kuskin In general my life, my way of working, is at home alone, in a room, facing a blank piece of paper. But every so often, more and more often in the past years, I find myself on the road. About three weeks ago I spent two weeks in Dallas. I will be in Ohio a couple of times and in Louisiana before this spring is out, and all of this sets me to brooding every once in awhile. Poems from Karla Kuskin' s books Copyright (C) by Karla Kuskin. Reprinted by permission of the author. A couple of years back I was preparing to go through the gate, at Eastern Airlines at LaGuardia Airport on my way to Atlanta, and I watched the young man who worked for the airline checking in people. He was very nice. To everybody who came up to him he said: "Aisle? Window? Smoking? Nonsmoking ?" I began to think about that, and when I got to my turn, I said, "After awhile doesn't it get so you can tell 'Aisle' from 'Window' and 'Smoking' from 'Non-smoking' just by looking at somebody?" And he said, "I can't really do that, but I've been at this job for some time, and by now I can tell the professional traveler from the tourist." Then he looked at me and said, "You look like a combination of both." As I walked on I had one of those internal conversations: "I suppose I'm sort of a traveling salesperson ," I said to myself. "But then what's my product?" I asked and answered, "Poetry." I guess that is my product. Well, it is a product I believe in deeply, and that's why I'm here. I've been writing poetry for children for a long, long, time; I've been reading it all my life and still do. I love poetry, and I think everybody, well, many people, will love it if introduced to it correctly. I would like to talk more about that. When I was in Dallas, a short time ago, I spent a week with the same classes everyday, so I was able to really get children to write, to give them assignments. I got a response from them. It's my aim, I think, always, whether I'm in that room by myself looking at the blank sheet of paper or in a classroom or here, to do the same thing, to try to communicate some thoughts, some feeling. Mainly, I try to draw the reader in, whether I'm writing a poem or putting some pictures and words together in a picture book, to get a response. I...