Poet Arnold Adoff's Birthday

INTRODUCTION
Children’s poet and NCTE Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children honoree Arnold Adoff’s birthday is July 16. Bring a collection of Adoff’s poetry books and your list of favorite poems to share along with the following poem. Read this outdoors at the start of a water fun day. Have a hose or a water gun nearby to use after reading the poem.

POEM

There is A Wading Pool in Our Park
By Arnold Adoff

There is a wading pool in our park,
a swimming pool for the bigger kids,
and a bathtub full of cool water
later on when…I get back home

But right now the hydrant
is open and this stream
of water gu.sh.es out in an arc
of
ice
wet
fun
so cold we shiver in the steaming
……………………………..summer
…………………………………..sun.

There are rainbows
though the highest
splashes of water,
through the highest
reaches of water,
through the highest
curves….of…..spray.

Cold wet colors this hot day.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Adoff, Arnold. 1995. STREET MUSIC: CITY POEMS. Illustrated by Karen Barbour. NY: HarperCollins Publishers. ISBN: 0060215224.

EXTENSION
When you have moved the books to safety, spray the children with water so that they can see the arc of water and the colors the sunshine makes as it goes through the water, and primarily, so they can have fun.

Photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/.