Poetry for Children & Teens

Children & Teen Poetry Collection (PoetryCHaT)
Our extensive circulating and special collections support teaching, learning, writing, and illustration. Holdings include antiquarian materials, ephemera, contemporary poets, artists, oral histories, and spoken word. PoetryCHaT is Distinctive Collection in the Western Libraries. 

Poem In Praise of Mystery to Fly on NASA’s Europa Clipper
Blast - off is October 2024!A Message From Humankind

The poem will be engraved on NASA’s robotic Europa Clipper spacecraft, along with participants' names etched onto microchips mounted on the spacecraft. Together, the poem and names will travel 1.8 billion miles on Europa Clipper’s voyage to the Jupiter system. Europa Clipper is set to launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in October 2024, and by 2030, it will be in orbit around Jupiter. Over several years, it will conduct dozens of flybys of Jupiter’s icy moon Europa, gathering detailed measurements to determine if the moon has conditions suitable for life.

In Praise of Mystery by Ada Limón (Author), Peter Sís (Illustrator)

Poetry & Young People: A Morning of Workshops on sharing, teaching, and celebrating poetry!

Saturday, Sept 28, 2024 
9:00AM - 12:30PM
Western Libraries - Western Washington University

From nursery rhymes to spoken word - young people love poetry! Come and be inspired, learn new strategies, and consider the possibilities of poetry. The exhibit, Listen To Children: The Jack Prelutsky Antiquarian Poetry Collection is currently on display in the Western Libraries Special Collections. A complimentary print catalogue is included with registration along with poetry book give-aways, curriculum, and posters!

Clock Hours: 3 clock hours available.

Schedule
9:00 - 9:30 - Check-In & Coffee/Tea, Muffins, Fruit
9:30 - 9:40 - Welcome
9:45 - 12:10 - Forty-minute sessions: attendees divided into three groups and rotating through all sessions:

• Janet Wong and Kevan Atteberry - Recommended poetry books for classrooms and libraries.
• Sylvia Tag - Prelutsky Exhibit, tour of the Special Collections vault, and discussion of controversial topics
• Nancy Johnson and Megan Sloan - Side by Side: Poetry with kids in classrooms and libraries.
• 12:10 - 12:30 - Share-out and networking
• 12:30 - Optional no-host lunch - Brandywine Kitchen in downtown Bellingham

Location - Western Libraries Reading Room and Special Collections, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA

Parking - Use the WWU Parking App to park for $2.35/hr. Spaces are available for purchase in 6V (Viking Union), 9G (Carver Gym), 11G (Fine & Performing Arts).  The C Lot off Bill McDonald Pkwy is free - factor in a 10 minute walk through campus to the library: Parking Lot Map. Street parking is available in neighborhoods around campus. There is no shuttle service for the workshop. Accessible parking is available near the library with a placard.