Issue 5.1 - little slices of earth

HAPPY MONTH OF MAY, READERS!  

Here is Issue 5 (because May is the 5th month), Part 1 of WHISPERshout Magazine--featuring poetry by kids ages 4-12. Maybe that's you! If you would like to see your poem published here at our magazine, click the button below to send us an email with YOUR poem attached. We can't wait to read your work!

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Here's one way to write a poem: step outside and seek a Little Slice of Earth--a blade of grass, a fallen blossom, a pebble or two. Pay attention to what it looks like--shape and color.  Notice what it feels like--texture and weight. Does it have a sound? Does it have a smell?  What does it remind you of?

Here is Ziva's Little Slice of Earth poem.

"Two Rocks" by Ziva - age 8, MD

Zora's Little Slice of Earth is a mystery plant.  Look how she made her poem match the shape of the branch--but the color is all different. Take some time to study Zora's long, thin, tangled lines of words. Can you find "i wonder" small and dotty right in the middle?

"what are you?" by Zora - age 9, MD

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Here are two poems by Kindergarten kids.  They did not write every word themselves, being beginners in spelling and writing--but they did COMPOSE their poems.  They chose the words and decided a good order for them, and put their feelings into their poems. Their teacher helped them get those words and feelings on paper.

"Fish Going Deep" by Baron - age 6 

"The Dragon" by Noah - age 6 

Which of those animal poems did you prefer?  The shorter one, with only 13 words, or the longer one, with 3 repetitions of "green"?

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That's our four poems for this issue. Let us know what you liked by leaving a comment below!

Come on back for Issue 5.2, which will publish on Wednesday, May 10.  And remember, you can submit YOUR work by email--just click the button below--and thanks for WHISPERshouting with us!

The Editorial Staff

Issue 4.4 - poems for 2 voices; night black cat

Welcome to Issue 4, Part 4 of WHISPERshout Magazine--featuring poetry by kids ages 4-12!  If you have been writing poetry during National Poetry Month and you would like to see your poem published here at our magazine, click the button below to send us an email with YOUR poem attached. We can't wait to read your work!

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A poem is a good place to pretend you are someone else.  Sometimes this is called a "mask poem" or a "persona poem" because you write and speak with another person's face or voice.  Here is a poem by a 2nd grader in which she pretends to be TWO characters talking!

"Moon and World in Space" by Madelinne, age 8

In this poem the poet Joseph writes in the two voices 
of a wolf and a bird.

"Wolf and Bird in the Forest-Woods" by Joseph, age 8

Did the last line of the bird make you laugh?  You can read more poems for two voices in the book SEEDS, BEES, BUTTERFLIES and MORE by Carole Gerber.

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We never get tired of reading and writing about animals!  Here's a cat poem by Kit. Or is it a night poem?

"The Night Is Like a Cat" by Kit, age 7

Kit wrote that poem in school, and she did not copy it from anywhere...but she did have another poem in her mind that she had read somewhere else.  It is this one:

THE NIGHT IS A BIG BLACK CAT

by G. Orr Clark

The Night is a big black cat

The Moon is her topaz eye,

The stars are the mice she hunts at night,

In the field of the sultry sky.

You can see that Kit borrowed some of her ideas from G. Orr Clark's poem, but then she added her own ideas, like the "gleaming glow of mischief" and the star-mice making "their home in ours."  She also changed the rhythm by adding more words to each line. Poets are artists, and all artists get good ideas from other artists! 

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Speaking of black, here is a color poem by a 1st-grader.

"Black and Me" by Duncan, age 7

Duncan's poem does not rhyme but it has lots of beautiful sounds in it. (Actually there are two lines that do rhyme in the middle. Can you find them?)  A famous book of rhyming color poems is HAILSTONES AND HALIBUT BONES by Mary O'Neill.

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That's our four poems for this issue.  Let us know what you liked by leaving a comment below!

Come on back for Issue 5 Part 1, which will publish on Wednesday, May 3.  And remember, you can submit YOUR work by email--just click the button below--and thanks for WHISPERshouting with us!

The Editorial Staff

Issue 4.3 -- El León, stormy weather, and more watermelon

Welcome to Issue 4 (because it's April), Part 3 of WHISPERshout Magazine--featuring poetry by kids ages 4-12!  If you have been writing poetry during National Poetry Month and you would like to see your poem published here at our magazine, click the button below to send us an email with YOUR poem attached. 

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First, how about a lion poem by a middle school student?  ¿O debería decir un poema de león?

"El León" by A.O. -  age 12, MD

This older poet used his bilingual skills to compose a poem using both Spanish and English.  What a musical first line, full of /m/ and /l/ sounds! ¡Qué primera línea musical, llena de sonidos /m/ y /l/!  And do you notice how he contrasted the softness of the lion's mane with the sharpness of its teeth? ¿Y notas cómo contrastó la suavidad de la melena del león con la agudeza de sus dientes? 

You can read more bilingual animal poems in the book FLUTTER & HUM, by Julie Paschkis.

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Next up, we have some stormy weather poems to enjoy!

"storm" by Hazel S-M - age 6, MD

Hazel is pictured playing the role of Bartholomew in *BARTHOLOMEW AND THE OOBLECK, which is a story about a dangerous king, his royal magicians and some unusual weather.  Notice how Hazel used alliteration by placing several words starting with S close together: "storm weather strikes/ spatter streak". Our ears really enjoy alliteration!

"thunder" by a 4-year-old, MD

This kid used only 7 words to create a strong image for us: can you see and hear the horses galloping through the sky?  And listen again to her alliteration: "THunder" and "THumping."

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Finally, have another delicious slice of watermelon!  Listen for some /t/ words clustered close together...

"watermelons" by Marjorie C. - 1st grade, MD

Did you hear that? "it/ tickles your/ brain and when you/ taste it  it tickles/ your tongue!"  Maybe those lines tickled your ears, too! 

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That's our four poems for this issue.  Let us know what you liked by leaving a comment below!

Come on back for Issue 4.4, which will publish on Wednesday, April 26.  And remember, you can submit YOUR work by email--just click the button below--and thanks for WHISPERshouting with us!

The Editorial Staff

*For adults who may not be aware of the changing views of Dr. Seuss's work...you can start reading more about the concerns about hidden racism in some of his books (and those of other authors) here:

 https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2017/08/reading-racism-in-dr-seuss/536625/ 

Issue 4.2 - watermelon, cucumber, planta y koala

Welcome to Issue 4 (because April is the 4th month), Part 2 of WHISPERshout Magazine--featuring poetry by kids ages 4-12!

If you think kids in Kindergarten are too little to write poems, think again.  Here are two poems that look good enough to eat! Does Madison's watermelon slice make you smile?

"watermelon" by Madison M. - age 5, MD

In this one notice how the poet Gray imagined a cucumber heading over to put itself into someone's shopping basket!

"cucumber" by Gray T. - age 5, MD

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Even 4-year-olds can compose poems!  Here's one by a group of PreK students who chose and arranged Spanish words about their garden with the teacher.

In English, this poem says

 

green plant 

soft flower

seeds in the earth

water for the plants

 

This poem is beautiful in each language--it sounds good to your ears and feels good in your mouth. Try speaking it out loud!

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Our last poem today probably isn't something you'd want to eat--but maybe you'd like to reach out and pet it. Doesn't it look soft and fuzzy?

"paper" by Jordy, age 7, MD

That's recycled paper Jordy made in his 2nd grade class.  Notice how small this poem is--just 5 words to make us look at a blob of gray paper in a whole new way!
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That's our four poems for this issue.  We hope you enjoyed them and that you'll come back for Part 3, which will publish on Wednesday, April 19.  Feel free to leave a helpful comment below.  You can submit YOUR work by email--just click the button below--and thanks for WHISPERshouting with us!

The Editorial Staff

Issue 4.1 ~ New Month, New Magazine, New Poems by Kids!

Welcome to our first full issue of WHISPERshout Magazine! We are celebrating National Poetry Month 2023 here by launching this online place to find poems written by kids ages 4-12. Each Wednesday we'll publish several poems with artwork and photos.

If you would like to see your poem published here at WHISPERshout Magazine, read the Submission Guidelines in the featured post to the right, or just click here to email your poem (and any artwork that might go with it) to WHISPERshoutMagazine@gmail.com. We can't wait to read your poem!

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The first two poems in this issue are actually older poems, written in 2017 by Angel and Nathan, who were 2nd graders at the time. These poets are now in 8th grade and have served as Student Service Learning Assistants for WHISPERshout Workshops. They have contributed so much to the work of younger kids. Thanks, guys!

"Galaxy" by Angel O. - age 8, MD                           "Clown Fish" by Nathan Z. - age 8, MD

Isn't it interesting how Angel imagined the the corals not underwater but in space, "born to shine"?  And look at how Nathan played with the -sh sounds but also captured the glorious memory of catching a fish. Here are these two poets as 2nd graders!

   

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Next up we have poems by two sisters! These collages were made during a WHISPERshout workshop called ANIMAL WORLD | MUNDO ANIMAL at the end of 2022. Kids painted papers with watercolors like Eric Carle and used the papers to make collages of favorite animals. Then they wrote poems about their animals!

"owl" by Alessia P. - age 6, MD

Listen to the sound of "owl wings/like a bailarina/in the wind"! (Bailarina is Spanish for ballerina, but maybe you figured that out!) Did you feel the dark feeling Alessia wrote about?

"jellyfish" by Lily P. - age 5, MD

In this poem Lily creates a little feeling of danger...if the jellyfish grabs the rock, maybe it will stretch to grab the fish too!  

And finally--this is a rather wet issue--another jellyfish poem with some similarities and some differences.  Look how Abby used dark dark deep deep repetition in her poem!

"The Jelly Sting" by Abby W. - 1st grade,  MD....at work on her collage

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That's our five poems for this issue!  We hope you enjoyed them and that you'll come back for Part 2, which will publish on Wednesday, April 12.  Feel free to leave a helpful comment below or to submit your work by email by clicking the button below, and thanks for WHISPERshouting with us!

The Editorial Staff

Welcome to WHISPERshout Magazine!

You found us! Want to see your poem published online?

Click the link above to read the Submission Guidelines!

Have you been writing poems in school or on your own? WHISPERshout Magazine is an online place for kids to publish their poetry and art.  Each week we’ll post several new poems by kids ages 4-12. 

If you would like to see your poem published here at WHISPERshout Magazine, here’s what to do:

1) Send your poem by email to WHISPERshoutMagazine@gmail.com.

You can type or copy and paste your poem into the email, or you can attach a photo of your poem.  You can also send a photo of yourself, like in the examples you see here, and a photo of any artwork that goes with your poem.

2) Be sure to include your first and last name and your age.

3) It’s VERY IMPORTANT that your submission includes the name and email of an adult who can give permission for your poem and photo to be published online. After we receive your poem, we will contact your teacher or family member to ask for their permission.

WE CAN'T WAIT TO READ YOUR POEMS!

PERMISSIONS: You and your adult will choose one of four Permission Levels. We include your state and country but no other location information.

Level 1: just your poem and artwork (if any) with your initials + age

Level 2: your poem & artwork with your first name/last initial + age

Level 3: your poem & artwork with your photo, initials + age but no name

Level 4: your poem & artwork + first name/last initial + age + your photo