30th May

Tomorrow is Elizabeth Coatsworth's birthday (1893 - 1986) and as there are three birthdays I thought I would do her today. She is the American author of the 1931 Newbery Medal winning story The Cat Who Went to Heaven, a short novel set in Japan that reminds its readers that animals can change lives. In this case a cat, and as someone who lives with two cats I have no trouble believing in this possibility. None of her other books are still in print, but for me she is much better known for her poetry anyway. You will find her poems in nearly every children's poetry anthology there is. She manages to include great descriptions, similes, rhythm and good rhyme in succinct verse. Two of my favourites that I have used over and over again, especially on rainy days are:

Rain Poem The rain was like a little mouse, Quiet, small, and gray, It pattered all around the house And then it went away. It did not come, I understand, Indoors at all, until, It found an open window and Left tracks across the sill. - Elizabeth Coatsworth I Like To See A Thunderstorm I like to see a thunderstorm, A dunder storm, A blunder storm, I like to see it, black and slow, Come tumbling down the hills. A plunder storm, A wonder storm, Roar loudly at out little house And shake the window sills! - Elizabeth Coatsworth