Poached egg on toast, why do you shiver
With such a funny little quiver?
So sings the adorable picky eater badger named Frances in Bread and Jam for Frances when she would rather have
Jam on biscuits, jam on toast,
Jam is the thing that I like most.
As others will, I pay tribute this Poetry Friday to Russell Hoban, author of the beloved Frances books, the classic The Mouse and His Child and a host of other children’s titles. Hoban passed away on December 13.
Hoban’s books were part of my children’s childhoods and I love the books, too. But I did not know that Russell Hoban wrote poetry.
I’m captivated by the sounds in these lines from "Long, Lone" in Hoban’s book The Last of the Wallendas.
Long, long, long and lone
Is the selkie's song when the storm winds moan,
is the sigh of the sea as it rubs the stone,
is the word of the sea that lives in the bone.
“Ice Bears” is a haunting poem that challenges the reader to think of the effects of climate change.
Huge, silent-moving like
white dreams hungering for
the yester-prey,
what will they do when
the ice is gone?
Read the whole poem here. Don't miss the last stanza!
I’ll be reading more of Russell Hoban in the future. Lawrence Downes wrote this editorial about Hoban in the NY Times.
Thanks to Book Aunt for today's Poetry Friday round-up.
Joyce, thank you for sharing this tribute and these wonderful poems. I didn't know of them, either, and I'm thankful to now. ... "the word of the sea that lives in the bone" - gorgeous! (and in keeping with Kate's theme at Book Aunt today!). The polar bear one is haunting.
ReplyDeleteI'm a daughter of the sea and so like Robyn I was deeply moved by these lines:
ReplyDelete"is the sigh of the sea as it rubs the stone,
is the word of the sea that lives in the bone."
- thank you for this beautiful tribute. will check out his other works.
I have to agree with the above comments -- I hadn't read these before, but they are excellent. Thanks!
ReplyDelete