You Say It’s Your Birthday

Today, I would like to extend birthday greetings to J. Patrick Lewis!

If you haven't heard of this gentleman, he is a notable and well-loved U.S. children's author-poet.

He is also quite prolific.

In 2009, he had several titles published including The Underwear Salesman: And Other Jobs For Better or Verse, First Dog, Countdown to Summer: A Poem for Everyday of the School Year, and Spot the Plot!: A Riddle Book of Book Riddles.

But wait there's more. He has several titles with a 2010 publication date including The House, Mr. Nickel & Mrs. Dime, The Kindergarten Cat, Skywriting: Poems to Fly, and Twinspiration: A Double Dose of Poems (with Jane Yolen).

Last year, Lewis created a poetic form called the zeno. Here is his definition of the zeno: "A 10-line verse form with a repeating syllable count of 8, 4, 2, 1, 4, 2, 1, 4, 2, 1. The rhyme scheme is abcdefdghd". You can read a couple of his examples of the zeno here.

To learn more about J. Patrick Lewis, visit his website at www.jpatricklewis.com.

In closing, I invite you all to track down and read one or several of his poems in celebration of his special day.