A Great Nephew and a Great Aunt: Landon and Penny

Posted on by Penny Parker Klostermann

Ants may rule the hill, but they don’t rule here! Art by Landon (Click to Enlarge)

Ants may rule the hill, but they don’t rule here! Art by Landon (Click to Enlarge)

Hello, Great Readers of our series! Just in case you haven’t visited before, let me tell you a little about A Great Nephew and A Great Aunt. My great nephew Landon (a seventh-grader) and I (his great aunt) collaborate. I write a poem which he illustrates. We started this collaboration in the fall of 2014 and have had so much fun with it that we decided to invite others along. Landon and I will continue to have a new episode on the second Friday of each month. The other Fridays are filling up quickly with guests. I have created a page on my website to view all the episodes of A Great Nephew and a Great Aunt. Click HERE to visit the page and enjoy past episodes.

April is National Poetry Month! So  . . .

poetry friday button

National Poetry Month brings poetry to the forefront. And if you’re looking for poetry for kids, the Poetry Friday Roundup is a wonderful place to start. Dori at Dori Reads is hosting today.. Thanks, Dori. If you’d like to know more about Poetry Friday, click HERE for an explanation by Renee LaTulippe.

To find out how kidlit bloggers are celebrating poetry this month, head over to Jama’s Alphabet Soup where she’s rounded up links to a world of poetry fun.

Now onto today’s post.

I call my poem a zig-zag poem because the word that falls at the end of a line begins the next line — this creates a zig-zag effect.

My Poem

Landon’s Art

art by Landon (with photo background)

Notice the name of Landon’s airship. Notice the acronym after the S.S. Does it ring a bell?

As our followers know, Landon hides the same object in the majority of his drawings for this series. It is hidden in his art above. It’s really not much of a secret anymore since most readers know what to look for . . . but it’s still really fun to try and find it. The object is very powerful when in an artist’s hand. As a special treat, Landon created a drawing about the object and today I’m sharing a time-lapse video of Landon finishing up the drawing of his trusty pencil sword!

Recently, I got to visit Landon and his family and we took an updated picture of the Great Nephew and the Great Aunt.

Thanks so much for joining us today. I appreciate all of you who read this series. See you next week when I’ll have guest collaborators.

Meet Great Aunt Penny (the one who blogs here): Penny Parker Klostermann is the author of There Was an Old Dragon Who Swallowed a Knight (Random House Books for Young Readers, 2015) and the upcoming, A Cooked-Up Fairy Tale, (Random House, 2017). She loves all kinds of books, but especially loves very silly picture books that make her laugh. She has been known to hug her favorite picture books and seriously hopes that someday her books will gain huggable status too.

Penny grew up in Colorado and now lives in Abilene, Texas-the Storybook Capital of Texas!

Other Places to find Penny
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34 thoughts on “A Great Nephew and a Great Aunt: Landon and Penny”

  3. I’m an even bigger fan of Landon now! He’s become such a talented young man and you two complement each other so well. I really like how you incorporate the scientific names for various clouds in such a whimsical poem. Very nicely done. When does the collaborative effort come out in published form?

    Liked by 1 person

  10. Penny,

    Love that photo of you and Landon…..great idea to post it.

    HAPPY EASTER TO YOU AND YOUR FAMILY.

    Renata

    Liked by 1 person

  11. Penny, Landon’s art is starting to change a little. He is learning simplicity maybe? Who knows … it may just be new tools available now but I love his new creation and I love your zig zag technique… way cool.💃🏼💃🏼💃🏼💃🏼💃🏼💃🏼💚

    Sent from my iPhone

    >

    Liked by 1 person

  12. I think this collaboration need to turn into some kind of book, maybe a ‘how-to’ for teachers? The drawing is lovely and clever, just like the zig-zag poem. Even if I do know ‘what’ to look for, it is sometimes still a challenge, like in this zeppelin today. Great stuff!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thanks, Linda. I had fun with the zig-zag but it took a lot of revision to make sense. I wanted to blend the sky and ocean because so often clouds take the shape of waves and ocean creatures. I know what you mean about finding the object. It’s not always easy 😀

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  13. Love your zig zag poem! Very clever and so much fun to read aloud. Landon’s zeppelin is awesome — made me think of The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship. Perfect name for the airship too. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I loved the name Landon picked for the airship. And isn’t his airship cool? We texted back and forth about it. He sent pictures and I sent pictures…of fabulous airships. As usual, Landon came up with the perfect illustration for my poem.

      Liked by 1 person

  14. Landon continues to impress with his skills. Did you create your poem form with the zig-zag structure and repeated words. I love it and want to try it. Love the tails of cumulus whales!

    Liked by 1 person

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