Michelle Heidenrich Barnes
Children's Poet, Anthologist, and Teacher

Welcome, my friends!
          Glad to have you along—
on this journey called Life, chiseled down to a song.

Today's Little Ditty is a poetry playground featuring writing tips, interviews with authors and editors, and monthly poetry challenges for anyone with a passion for wordplay.

Ditty of the Month Club (DMC) challenges from authors such as Kwame Alexander, Margarita Engle, Nikki Grimes, David L. Harrison, Lee Bennett Hopkins, J. Patrick Lewis, Kenn Nesbitt, Naomi Shihab Nye, Joyce Sidman, Jane Yolen, and others, have inspired more than 1500 poems (so far). Whether you're an experienced poet or a beginner, an educator or student, I hope you'll join our vibrant community.













Join me at Today's Little Ditty
http://michellehbarnes.blogspot.com


(I left the gate open for you.)



Praise for Today's Little Ditty and the Ditty of the Month Club

"Today's Little Ditty is an amazing resource in the blogging community of poetry for young people."
          ~ Dr. Sylvia Vardell, professor of children's literature at Texas Woman's University

"Sometimes a poet needs a bit of smooth transition into another poem, sometimes a kick to the rear. Today's Little Ditty supplies both. This goes for old poets as well as new."
          ~ Jane Yolen, multi-award-winning author of more than 365 books

"'Poetry is prose, bent out of shape,' I like to say, and for proof, you need only connect with Michelle Heidenrich Barnes's Ditty of the month Club, where children's poets are busy flexing their poetic muscles through the use of various verse forms. The y are not showing off; they're practicing. And they invite you to do the same."
          ~ J. Patrick Lewis, former U.S. Children's Poet Laureate

"Writing with Michelle feels like I'm participating in a workshop. I've learned so much from keeping up with Today's Little Ditty."
          ~ Linda Mitchell, Teacher Librarian

"The Ditty of the Month Club . . . gives my students a way to participate and be celebrated as practicing poets."
          ~ Margaret G. Simon, recipient of the NCTE Donald H. Graves Award for Excellence in the Teaching of Writing

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