About the Holiday

Today is the day to unleash your inner poet – without thinking twice about it. What are the words in your heart or in your imagination? Write them down! You don’t have to be Shakespeare for your words, lines, thoughts, jottings – your poems – to have meaning and value. Then share them with family, friends, or even strangers. To celebrate today’s holiday you can also attend a poetry reading or enjoy a volume of verse – like today’s book!

When Green Becomes Tomatoes: Poems for All Seasons

Written by Julie Fogliano | Illustrated by Julie Morstad

Sometimes you wish for just the right words to express a moment in time, a skip of the heart, or a glimpse of color that truly captures the elation, sadness, or awe you feel. Those words live on every page of When Green Becomes Tomatoes: Poems for All Seasons. Each month of the year is represented by three to five dated poems that expose a nugget of inspiration or a spark of recognition about the natural world and our place in it.

Spring begins its reawakening in the poem dated march 20, on which “from a snow covered tree / one bird singing / each tweet poking / a tiny hole / through the edge of winter / and landing carefully / balancing gently / on the tip of spring.”

Image copyright Julie Morstad, text copyright Julie Fogliano. Courtesy of us.mcmillan.com

Spring is slow in shaking off its winter coat, however, and march 22 finds “just like a tiny, blue hello / a crocus / blooming in the snow” Even though the days continue to dawn chilly and rainy, early flowers long to see the sun. On march 26: “shivering and huddled close / the forever rushing daffodils / wished they had waited.”

With the onset of April and no reprieve from the weather, everyone it seems is tired of the persistence of winter, which sticks around like a party guest who doesn’t know when to go home. On april 3 “today / the sky was too busy sulking to rain / and the sun was exhausted from trying / and everyone / it seemed / had decided / to wear their sadness / on the outside / and even the birds / and all their singing / sounded brokenhearted / inside of all that gray.”

Image copyright Julie Morstad, text copyright Julie Fogliano. Courtesy of us.mcmillan.com

At last summer comes and on june 15 “you can taste the sunshine / and the buzzing / and the breeze / while eating berries off the bush / on berry hands / and berry knees.” The warm days also bring swimming holes and fireflies, and by july 10 “when green becomes tomatoes / there will be sky / and sun / and possibly a cloud or two…” and summer bursts with all the wonder that makes it such a yearned for season. 

Then as summer wanes and the nights grow dark, september 10 makes you look into that deep vast space and think “a star is someone else’s sun / more flicker glow than blinding / a speck of light too far for bright / and too small to make a morning”

Image copyright Julie Morstad, text copyright Julie Fogliano. Courtesy of us.mcmillan.com

A nip in the air means Fall has come around again. It’s time for sweaters and pumpkins, and for the trees to rest. If you listen carefully, you may hear on november 2 “more silent than something / much noisier than nothing / the last leaf / when it landed / made a sort of sound / that no one knew they heard.”

Then on december 21 “as if one day, the mountain decides / to put on its white furry hat / and call it winter” the season has changed, bringing with it crackling, cozy fires and snow, snow, snow. But this too offers its own enchantment on december 29: “and i woke / to a morning / that was quiet / and white / the first snow / (just like magic) came / on tiptoes / overnight.”

Image copyright Julie Morstad, text copyright Julie Fogliano. Courtesy of us.mcmillan.com

When Green Becomes Tomatoes begins and ends with a poem dated the same day—March 20, the vernal equinox—giving this book a cyclical form that echoes the passing of time. Julie Fogliano’s delicate and gentle poems are a perfect tonic for the busy, non-stop days the year becomes. Instead of letting the surprising, profound, or beautiful moments pass us by Fogliano gives readers a reason and a way to stop and fully enjoy them.  

In Julie Morstad’s gorgeous watercolors of nature and the changing seasons, readers can almost feel the warm sunshine that feeds the vivid spring and summer blooms, the icy breeze that loosens the last leaf of autumn, and the fluffy blanket winter tucks around the earth. The multiethnic children in Morstad’s paintings are thoughtful, charming, and enchanted with the world around them, actively experiencing the marvels of each changing day. 

When Green Becomes Tomatoes contains such lovely verses that readers will want to revisit them over and over – the way the seasons recur and we are always glad to welcome each one back. This volume of poetry would make a wonderful gift and a terrific addition to anyone’s bookshelf.

Ages 6 and up (adults will enjoy these poems too)

Roaring Brook Press, 2016 | ISBN 978-1596438521

You can connect with Julie Fogliano on Facebook!

You’ll find a gallery of picture books, prints, and other illustrations on Julie Morstad‘s website!

Random Acts of Poetry Day Activity

Grow a Poem Craft

A poem often grows in your imagination like a beautiful plant—starting from the seed of an idea, breaking through your consciousness, and growing and blooming into full form. With this craft you can create a unique poem that is also an art piece!

Supplies

• Printable Leaves Template, available here and on the blog post
• Printable Flower Template, available here and on the blog post
• Wooden dowel, ½-inch diameter, available in craft or hardware stores
• Green ribbon
• Green craft paint
• Green paper if leaves will be preprinted
• Colored paper if flowers will be preprinted
• Flower pot or box
• Oasis, clay, or dirt
• Hole punch
• Glue
• Markers or pens for writing words
• Crayons or colored pencils if children are to color leaves and flowers

Directions

1. Paint the dowel green, let dry
2. Print the leaves and flower templates
3. Cut out the leaves and flowers
4. Punch a hole in the bottom of the leaves or flowers
5. Write words, phrases, or full sentences of your poem on the leaves and flowers (you can also write the poem after you have strung the leaves and flowers)
6. String the leaves and flowers onto the green ribbon (if you want the poem to read from top to bottom string the words onto the ribbon in order from first to last)
7. Attach the ribbon to the bottom of the pole with glue or tape
8. Wrap the ribbon around the pole, leaving spaces between the ribbon
9. Gently arrange the leaves and flowers so they stick out from the pole or look the way you want them to.
10. Put oasis or clay in the flower pot or box
11. Stick your poem pole in the pot
12. Display your poem!

Picture Book Review