Lee Bennett Hopkins: Prince of Picture Book Poetry

by J.G. Annino

We here at Group Blog share a lot in common

with the creative and prolific children's author

& editor,

Lee Bennett Hopkins.

He LOVES great picture books.

Especially picture books that connect children to an

appreciation of nature, to their unique heritage,

and to kindness.

And,
if you like picture books that openly celebrate poetry for young readers,
you are really in league with Lee. His mantra is "Poetry is a necessity."

More than 120 beautiful books for young readers

have his name on the cover! This is either via his work

as an editor/anthologist or, via his own writing.

COMING  IN 2017

His newest will arrive in 2017 from Lee & Low,

when Lee Bennett Hopkins collects together contributions
for older children from

Kwame Alexander,

Naomi Shihab Nye,

and Margarita Engle,

among others. Illustrated by 16 incredible artists it is called,

I REMEMBER: POEMS and PICTURES OF HERITAGE.

It sounds significant.

As much as fans like his topics, they like

this author's way of looking at the world through

a child's eyes.

At the beach he discovers:

"Ocean waves rush in

just in time

to give the shore-birds'

hot-burning legs

a cool, cool bath."

c. Lee Bennett Hopkins

"On an August Day" in
THE SEA IS CALLING ME

The award-winning poet tells icicles to

"Swell

and

grow,

put on

your

mighty

show

'cause

you

cannot

know

tomorrow's

tad

of sunshine prey

will

stalk

to take

your

breath

away.

c. Lee Bennett Hopkins

"Icicles" in SHARING THE SEASONS,
illustrated by David Diaz

BELOVED

Beloved people, but also coping with disappointment in childhood, 

are equal subjects of BEEN TO YESTERDAYS, his own story

of his years up to 13, shared in spare,

beautiful poems.

In it we see 

how a teacher stood up for Lee, helping validate that he would grow up 

to be a writer,

how much he loved his mother and his siblings,

and just how important, a butter dish might be.

I feel fortunate, to begin to know

Lee Bennett Hopkins a tiny tad better,

through some of his Beloveds. Since we both live in Florida
(far apart, he & his partner, South, me & my hubby, North) 
I started with a couple of topical topics.

LEE BENNETT HOPKINS Beloveds

sea shell

The shankha or conch, believed to be the

purest of sounds, which ushers in freshness

and new hope.

seafood

Salmon - Well done with Charles Egita's

homemade tartar sauce.

magic trick

Making people disappear (especially those I

don't want to be around!)

magician

David Copperfield

library

My own - with an estimated 18,000 volumes

including poetry and more poetry.

librarian

The late-Augusta Baker, for whom I wrote the poem

"Storyteller" in JUMPING OFF LIBRARY SHELVES (Boyds

Mills Press/Wordsong.) Augusta was the first African-

American to hold an important post in the New York

Public Library system. She was among my dearest

friends.

bookend (as in the hunky thing that holds the books on the shelf)
A pair of wooden pieces sculpted with etchings of sailing ships to remind
me of many years living on the Hudson River in Westchester, N.Y.

book end (as in the last line or lines of a book)
"Don't ever tell anybody anything. If you do you will start missing
everybody. From THE CATCHER IN THE RYE by J.G. Salinger.

bookstore
Any, each, all of them

book
LITTLE WOMEN by Louisa May Alcott

historical figure

Walt Whitman - a man - a poet - far ahead of his time

whose words explode hearts and minds.

historical marker/site

The Statue of Liberty standing for acceptance of all.

stars in the night sky

The cluster that forms Orion, the hunter.

star from the stage

Barbara Streisand, who brightens my life with song.

playground

The Boardwalk on Royal Caribbean's OASIS and ALLURE

ships where I love riding the carousel.

playwright

Tennessee Williams, for his streetcar, tattoo, menagerie

and more.

pen name

Tamara Kitt, pen name of children's author,

Beatrice Schenk de Regniers, whose book MAY I BRING A FRIEND,

won the Caldecott for Beni Montressor. "Tammy" and "Mara" were

two of Beatrice's cat's names. We worked together for years at

Scholastic where she was the first editor of The Lucky Book Club.

pencil

Any one, with a #2 lead!

AWARDS with the LBH TOUCH

Published since 1969, Lee Bennett Hopkins' life work and individual

books are well-awarded, including this year, the bestowing of 

the Regina Medal, from The Catholic Library Association. 

While he is proud of his work & his books' honors, he is more eager to 

highlight awards that you may receive some day, which he helped create.

scbwi Lee Bennett Hopkins PoetryAward

Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award

Lee Bennett Hopkins/IRAPromising Poet Award

For two recent posts online about LBH, please see these children's book sites:

NO WATER RIVER

TODAY'S LITTLE DITTY

So, appreciations and applause to Lee Bennett Hopkins!

We look forward to many more books we can hoard,
books collected, edited, anthologized or written by you,

in pencil #2 lead and

via the keyboard.

(photo: SCBWI mid-year conference, Florida, Lee Bennett Hopkins 

and fan, Jan Annino.)