Current Projects

Spring 2009: NEW READING ROOM IN HARVEY, ILLINOIS

Since March, 2008, we have been conducting our activities in Harvey (weekly reading groups, trips to bookstores and libraries) from a temporary site while the agency built an entirely new facility on the site of the old.

The wait is almost over! Construction will be completed this Summer, and we will open a new reading room in which we can triple our existing core collection of 1000 books. In other words, we have more than 300 lineal feet of shelves to fill with new quality books for children ranging from six to sixteen.

If you can donate to purchase new books: NOW WOULD BE THE TIME!

The easy answer: send a book from the BREAD FOR THE HEAD wish-list at www.amazon.com.

April, 2009: NATIONAL POETRY MONTH

Once again, our sites will be joining The Academy of American Poets to celebrate National Poetry Month. Sites will display the NPM Poster, and post a new BREAD-supplied poem every day. (No stale bulletin boards here.)

At each site, BREAD will meet with children for at least three sessions: read-aloud and discussion; writing of poems as a group and individually; and recitation of memorized poems. We will read poems from Shel Silverstein to Elizabeth Bishop; Naomi Shihab Ney to Gerard Manley Hopkins; Robert Frost to Michael Van Walleghen; Billy Collins to Theodore Roethke; Louise Bogan to Jack Prelutsky; Dean Young to Ogden Nash; Alberto Rios to Lewis Carroll; Lola Haskins to Maya Angelou.

This poem was written on April 10, 2006 by: Aaliyah, Adolpho, Alesia, Anthony, Antwon, Cristian, Gabriela, Geneva, Horacio, Hugo, Isabel, Jacki, Jessica, Juan, Justin, Kelly, Leo, Lisa, Miguel, Nathan, Robert, Sarah, Taryn, Tony H. and Victor:

I HAD THIS DREAM

I had this dream that I

was a Samurai

in a ski mask,

and I beat King Kong.

I had this dream that I

was tickled by

Michael Myers

(in a ski mask).

I had this dream of heaven,

where books grew from clouds,

oranges—candy—grapes—

I had this dream that my brother

tried to kill me,

and I killed him back.

I had this dream that I was flying

on a hot dog.

That I was tickled by my dog:

I’m not sure how.

I had this dream that I

was chased by a pirate ghost.

Chased by a dark

shadow; a hand rattled

the locked door knob.

There was a bad guy.

In this dream, I was chased

by natural disasters:

flew to Virginia—tornado!

To Miami—tsunami!

Hawaii—volcano!

I had this dream that the sky was falling.

I had this dream that I was falling

off the Empire State Building,

and just kept on falling.

In my dream, I was trapped

and couldn’t get up.

Can you ever die in a dream?

I had this dream that King Kong,

Godzilla and I ruled the world:

but my part was biggest.

In my dream I was a spy.

I helped Spiderman.

Kids ruled the world.

I was David and beat Goliath,

with a rubber band.

I dreamed about puppies.

About PlayStation.

I had this dream that Dora

the Explorer hugged me.

Copyright©2006 BREAD FOR THE HEAD NFP

Future Projects

Winter/Spring 2009-10

• Select new sites to partner with BREAD, to run Urban Literary Adventures with the ultimate goal to design, build and stock centers for their reading communities.

View past projects