There are no words...

...to describe how broken my heart is right now. I'm in tears, praying for a family whom I have never met in real life. I heard the news through Twitter and realized how quickly, and helpful, this service can be when there is news that needs to be spread.

A beautiful toddler lost her life today and her family (and loved ones near and far) are mourning the death of someone too young and too precious to say goodbye to so soon.

Madeline Alice Spohr
November 11, 2007 - April 7, 2009

Words just cannot explain how devastating it was to find out that L.A. based mom and dad Heather and Mike, lost their daughter Madeline today. Although Heather wrote about her daughter needing to go to the hospital just yesterday, there's nothing that could've ever prepare her (or any parent) for the death of their child.

If you are able to be Los Angeles on Saturday, April 25th, please join the walk for the March of Dimes or donate in Madeline's name if you cannot be there and please spread the word through your blog, website or on your Facebook, Twitter or other networking pages.

R.I.P. dear Madeline

National Poetry Month

April is National Poetry Month and it's just around the corner! My good blogger friend, Greg Pincus, over at Gotta Book, has put together a wonderful schedule of events to celebrate this annual event and month-long celebration.

In his own words, here's what he'll be showcasing on his blog throughout the month of April:

I'm incredibly excited to announce the first annual 30 Poets/30 Days, a celebration of children's poetry taking place at GottaBook during National Poetry Month.


Every day in April, I'll be posting a previously unpublished poem by a different poet. Here's the alphabetical list of who's participating:

Arnold Adoff, Jaime Adoff, Rebecca Kai Dotlich, Douglas Florian, Betsy Franco, Kristine O'Connell George, Charles Ghigna, Nikki Giovanni, Joan Bransfield Graham, Nikki Grimes, Mary Ann Hoberman, Lee Bennett Hopkins, X. J. Kennedy, Julie Larios, J. Patrick Lewis, Pat Mora, Kenn Nesbitt, Linda Sue Park, Ann Whitford Paul, Gregory K. Pincus, Jack Prelutsky, Adam Rex, Jon Scieszka, Joyce Sidman, Marilyn Singer, April Halprin Wayland, Janet Wong, and Jane Yolen.

We'll launch on Tuesday, April 1, with former Children's Poet Laureate Jack Prelutsky's “A Little Poem for Poetry Month.” We’ll end April 30th with “Books & Me” by Pat Mora to help celebrate El día de los niños/El día de los libros (Children's Day/Book Day). And every day in between will bring something new. You can follow along here and via @30poets30days on Twitter.

There will also be a lot of other poetry related fun going on in the kidlitosphere during April, including

- at the Miss Rumphius Effect, Tricia has a cool series called Poetry Makers, with a highlight being interviews with 36 (!!!) poets.
- at Poetry For Children, Sylvia Vardell will be reviewing a new children's poetry book every day;
- at the Pencil Talk blog, Anastasia Suen will be collecting school poems written by children throughout April... and posting one each day.
- and of course there's Poetry Friday and much, much more, so look for updates all month long.

I want to thank all the poets for their generosity and enthusiasm, and I particularly want to single out J. Patrick Lewis and Kenn Nesbitt for going above and beyond the call in helping me put this event together. Also, special thanks to my brother Jon and all the folks who’ve given me ideas and support along the way. If there has been any frustration in organizing this event at all, it's only that there are so many other wonderfully talented people writing poetry for kids and it was hard not to invite them all. But that's why I plan to make this an annual celebration.