In the audio clip below, author Karen Hesse reads from her Newbery-winning novel Out of the Dust (Scholastic, 1997), which is written as a poetry cycle. Hesse shares a poem that describes a rare rain during the time of the Dust Bowl in the 1930’s.
This is an excellent audio resource to demonstrate the creative use of adjectives and writing to elicit the reader’s five senses.
Listen to Karen Hesse perform “First Rain”
A favorite excerpt:
I button my dress, slip on my sweater,
and push my way off the porch,
sticking my face into the fog,
into the moist skin of the fog.
Poetry Friday is hosted at Great Kid Books this week.
Posted by Danika Brubaker, MLS, Author and Publisher Liaison Librarian
Hi Danika,
Thank you for this. I have read Out of the Dust, but I didn’t know the genesis of the book. Very interesting!
Laura
all things poetry