Hi everyone,

MATT FORREST ESENWINE is bringing to market a gorgeous new anthology with an official publication date of April 1. Here’s the description: “What do Yellowstone’s Grand Prismatic Spring, Peru’s Vinicunca mountain, the star Betelgeuse, and a drop of water have in common? Rainbows! In this iridescent collection, Joyce Sidman, Nikki Grimes, Janet Wong, and seventeen other poets explore bursts of color across nature.” And here’s the cover:

Congratulations to Matt, to artist JAMEY CHRISTOPH, and the other nineteen poets who contributed to making this such a delightful book. I recommend it and hope that many of you will add it to your libraries.

I also want to put in a good word for my own recent anthology co-edited with TIM RASINSKI. 40 Poems for 40 Weeks came out December 10 and continues to do well as it seeks its place in libraries and homes around the country. Here’s the description: “With this anthology of hand-chosen poems written by well-known, beloved poets, you can introduce poetry to your students in the classroom and beyond. Poetry is a powerful tool for teaching phonics, fluency, comprehension, vocabulary, and a love of reading. Curated specifically for students in Grades 3–5, this book contains 40 poems for 40 weeks in the school year, making it easy for teachers and librarians to read the poems sequentially throughout the year.” And here is the cover:

And then there’s the saga of a flea-bitten dog. WAKE UP, SUN! came out with Random House 38 1/2 years ago today and is still going strong. The opening lines of the Step Into Reading story: “One night, in the middle of the night, a flea bit dog on the ear.” And here’s the cover:

The one and only HANS WILHELM illustrated the book and I love his pictures all over again each time I look at them. When I checked in 2019, WAKE UP, SUN! was in its 72nd printing. In 2022 it was up to 82. I would love to see it make 100 one of these days, hopefully before I do!