A Births B
by Joy E. Rancatore
Birds chirp.
Butterflies flit.
Blooms open.
Birthdays bring candles,
and books find the spotlight.
April begets Beauty.
April happens to be my birth month, which is fantastic because it is an extremely LITERARY month. Recently I did a little digging to find out what other authors share my birth month, and I’m pretty excited about my discoveries!
I’m in impressive company with these literary giants, just to name a few:
- April 2, 1805: Hans Christian Anderson, “The Little Mermaid” & “The Princess and the Pea”
- April 3, 1783: Washington Irving, “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”and “Rip Van Winkle”
- April 4, 1928: Maya Angelou, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
- April 7, 1770: William Wordsworth, “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”
- April 8, 1955: Barbara Kingsolver, The Poisonwood Bible
- April 12, 1916: Beverly Cleary, The Mouse and the Motorcycle and the Ramona series
- April 13, 1902: Marguerite Henry, Misty of Chincoteague
- April 13, 1909: Eudora Welty, A Curtain of Green and The Robber Bridegroom
- April 21, 1816: Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre
- April 23 (or thereabouts), 1564: William Shakespeare, Hamlet, MacBeth and Romeo & Juliet
- April 24, 1940: Sue Grafton, A is for Alibi through Y is for Yesterday
- April 27, 1898: Ludwig Bemelmans, Madeline series
- April 28, 1926: Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird
- April 28, 1948: Terry Pratchett, Discworld
As if that lineup weren’t enough to inspire and excite me, April holds a few more literary distinctions.
- National Library Week: You all know how much I love my library.
- School Library Month
- National Poetry Month: Last Year, I did a month-long tribute to poetry beginning with this post.
- Poem in Your Pocket Day: This happens to fall TODAY, April 18, 2019. What is your favorite poem? And, are you carrying a #pocketpoem today?
In honor of this month, I hope you enjoy the three poems I’m sharing with you today. My newsletter subscribers received another one in their inboxes today. If you’d like to join my Fellowship for other extras and exclusives, click on the button below to subscribe and then reply to my welcome email to let me know you’d like to read my extra poem, “My Favorite Place.”
Tell me how you’re celebrating this lovely literary month. Are you reading a new book or revisiting an old favorite? Do any of your favorite authors have April birthdays? Did you do something special with your local library or child’s school library? Have you participated in a poetry reading or read a favorite poem?
