“Hey new girl,” a boy’s voice boomed large out of nowhere. “Are you Asian? Are you from China?”
Emily’s face felt scorched. She knew it was turning the deepest shade of sunburn right now because she was dying of embarrassment. She slid further down in her seat, halfway under her desk. In her first week at her new school, this was the last thing Emily Chang wanted—to call attention to herself in this way. But she couldn’t help it. It wasn’t her fault.
Transcript:
Hello, and welcome to Poetry Soup! I’m your host, Emma Catherine Hoff. Today I’ll be talking about the poem, “A Painter’s Thoughts (1),” one of many poems of the same title by the American poet John Yau.
John Yau was born on June 5, 1950, in Lynn, Massachusetts. His parents emigrated from China, and Yau’s Chinese heritage is a constant theme in his poetry, especially in his O Pin Yin sonnets, featured in his book of poetry, Genghis Chan on Drums.
Becoming A True Hero Ruby was an 11 year old trained warrior. She had glossy red pinkish hair with beautiful soft, pure skin, and shining emerald eyes. One evening, she was lying down on her bed thinking about what she could do to be a better warrior. Then she heard her mother scream. She rushed over to her room and saw her intense, challenging master, a gigantic spider, who never backed down during a fight.
Good Fortune, My Journey to Gold Mountain,
by Li Keng Wong; Peachtree Publishers:
Atlanta, Georgia, 2006; $14.95
Have you ever read a book that grasps you from the first page and won't let go until you have finished reading it? Good Fortune, My journey to Gold Mountain, is one of them. You will feel like you are not in this world. You will feel as if you are experiencing Li Keng's world, and that you are part of the story you read at that moment.
The Magic Stone
EEK! EEK! On the beach, the seagulls were crowing, demanding that they wanted to join in the fun; the hundreds of people gathered on the shore and in the water, splashing and laughing at each other. Nobody noticed a young girl with flaming red hair creeping onto the cliff that towered over the beach. Mindy leaned against the caves entrance, located on top of the cliff.
The cassie implewart crawled out of her nest. Her long bubber colored fur fell into her eyes as she leapt from tree to tree in a snookaloo manner. Finally, she came upon a small grove where three nymphs already stood, nibbling on bloated mushrooms. She growled at them, and they disappeared into the forest of maples and oaks. She grabbed an alkay sized nut, squealing in happiness as she realized a water nerry was inside. Unfortunately, her squeal was heard.
Just like a pillow or cushion, it was soft and stuffed, but inside it was a stopwatch. That stopwatch had a button and when pressed the stopwatch would turn into a sword. A sword so sharp that it could cut through the world’s strongest metal. A sword so sharp that if you drop a single hair on the blade, it could slice it in half. That sword was once yielded by the most powerful elf soldier in Xroga, Lily Shasatra.
If you are an artist, watch this video! If you are a teacher, then use this video as part of a project in which your students illustrate a story. Art and writing are obviously linked in books for young children, in comics and graphic novels, and also in some of the classic works of children's literature, like Alice in Wonderland, and Wind in the Willows.
Emma T. Capps was a regular illustrator for Stone Soup from 2009 to 2011.
