Sixty-four poems by former teacher and award-winning poet and children's writer Laura Purdie Salas capture moments--silly, bizarre, heartbreaking, and humorous moments--in a teacher's life. They were inspired by her childhood teachers, her own teaching experience, her children's teachers, her sister (a long-time elementary school teacher) and all the fabulous educators (teachers, librarians, media specialists, reading specialists, etc.) she knows who give everything they've got to make their students stronger, happier, and smarter.
Notes at the end of the collection share inspirations or thoughts about the poems and also identify the poetic form.
About the Author: As a kid, Laura Purdie Salas devoured books. Her three big sisters taught her to read when she was 4, and she read constantly, ignoring orders from her parents to "Go outside and get some fresh air!" She grew up in Florida and heard these dreaded words year round. When forced outside, she climbed up to her treehouse or lay on the trampoline, reading. Books were magic, and it never occurred to her that real people actually wrote them.
Today, Laura is thrilled to be part of creating that magic for today's kids. She has written more than 120 books for kids and teens, including the Can Be... books (Millbrook): Bank Street Best Books, IRA Teachers' Choice, Minnesota Book Award Finalist, Riverby Award for Nature Books for Young Readers, and more), and BookSpeak! Poems About Books (Clarion/HMH): Minnesota Book Award, NCTE Notable, Bank Street Best Books, Eureka! Gold Medal, and more). She loves to visit with students and teachers to share her joy in poetry, books, and language. She is also the author of several how-to poetry books for kids and a series of 30 Painless Classroom Poems books for teachers.
Laura and her family live in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where it's just a touch cooler than Florida!
Learn more about Laura at laurasalas.com
