Friday, December 12, 2008

Poetry Friday: My Dreidel's Dancing in Highlights!

Getting published in Highlights had long seemed one of the greatest possible achievements to me as a children's writer. So you probably heard the screams a few years ago when my SASE came back with a contract accepting three of my poems about the Jewish holidays.

Well, the first one is now out in this December's issue and I'm so pleased and excited I just had to share!

I can't type it here myself because I sold all rights to Highlights but I was thrilled to find a link to it online. Please check it out: The dreidel's dance.

And, as usual as a writer, as I'm celebrating my good news, I still get to aspire to how far I have to go as I read Eileen Spinelli's incredible Christmas poem in the same issue! Please check it out: The Christmas Story.

I'm honored to have an autographed poster of Eileen's beautiful poem, "The Joy of Reading," on my son's bedroom wall (the one thing I ever won bidding at an auction!). She is such an incredible poet!

Celebration and aspiration... two of the emotions that keep me going as a writer. Please let me know when I can celebrate (or aspire) with you!

P.S. Make sure to check out all this week's wonderful Poetry Friday posts at http://wildrosereader.blogspot.com/.

17 comments:

  1. Congratulations! That's a great poem -- very vivid and kinetic. So glad you were able to link to it.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow, Brianna! That is an excellent poem! Congrats also for having it published in such a great magazine!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks so much for the congratulations, Janet and Kelly! It's so much fun to get to share good news! :o)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Congratulations, Brianna! What a great publication credit for you.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Love it, Brianna. You're on a roll.

    And thanks, for linking to Eileen's poem, too. For inspiration, I keep a copy of one of her PBs -- The Best Story -- in my office.

    ReplyDelete
  6. We need more Chanukkah Poems out there. Thanks for this one & congrats to you!!!!

    -Stacey

    ReplyDelete
  7. May I link to this, http://www.thefreelibrary.com/The+dreidel%27s+dance.-a0189551653, at Chanukkah over at Two Writing Teachers? If so, may I include the first stanza?

    SAS

    ReplyDelete
  8. Congrats to you, Brianna. It's fun to see a member of our group in print!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Congratulations, Brianna. How clever to make the dreidel a "she." She's Lady Luck!

    ReplyDelete
  10. That's really exciting. My daughter has a subscription to Highlights. I'm going to show her that poem tomorrow. Great rhythm!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Congratulations Brianna! That is a cute poem. My 6 yo told me they made dreidels in school this week so I'll have to show him that poem. Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Thanks so much to everyone for the kind comments!!!

    John and Cloudscome-- I'm thrilled that you will be showing the poem to children! They're the intended audience, of course. Hope they enjoy it!

    Author Amok-- Glad you liked the dreidel as a "she". Once I personified "her," the whole poem really started to come together for me.

    Marcia and Gale-- Thanks for the congratulations! Seeing it in print is exciting!

    Judy-- So glad you enjoyed Eileen's poem. She is incredible, isn't she?

    Stacey-- I would be honored if you linked to "The Dreidel's Dance". As far as including the first stanza, I no longer own rights to the poem (Highlights bought them all), so just treat it how you would any other copyrighted poem.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Wow, how exciting! Congratulations!

    ReplyDelete
  14. I have a sub to Highlights and was delighted to find your gorgeous poem in my latest issue--before you even got comps!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Mazel tov! :) That's so exciting, Brianna.

    ReplyDelete
  16. What a thrill to see your poem in HIGHLIGHTS ! Inspiration -- and aspiration!!

    Wonderful writing !

    ReplyDelete