How my difficult last name helped a precocious 7-year-old's wish come true.

by Babs Hadjusiewicz May 22, 2009

WOW! Today on Free-for-All Friday, we can do whatever. So come along with me. I'll take you to my birthplace in rural Indiana where I was born and reared outside of Burrows, some 30 miles north and east of West Lafayette (you know, home of Purdue). "And why are we going there?" you ask. Well, take a look at this cornfield-lined country road. And there you have it. It's about THINKing rural and THINKing rainbows...do you see that one behind those cornstalks? WOW! I snapped this scene and made a wish or two.

Rainbow and Indiana cornfields next to my birthplace.

But now we're gonna take our THINKing of that sunny rural day...and take that rainbow along...and go travelin' all the way out west to another rural spot. And then THINK about what most folks do when they see a rainbow. Yeah, they make a wish. Much like this remarkable 7 year old did a few short weeks ago.

Kiera wrote, "I'm 7 in 2nd grade. And my class read one of your poems (Arithmetic pie). We could not pronounce your last name!" So I'm getting ready to pack up and head out to Kiera's rural Southern California school. I get to meet this young lady who, I'm told, writes a lot of poetry, herself. And I get to spend the day with Kiera, her teacher, and her entire school community. I pack my bags often, traveling from one end of the globe to another...as visiting author in schools or bookstores or wherever there are kids, teachers, parents, or interested citizens who care about literacy learning. But this school visit stands out among the hundreds. Because Kiera took the initiative to make a wish. Sing this poem with your child to the "Twinkle, Twinkle" tune...and make a wish or two!

Rainbow Colors Red, orange, yellow Green and blue Indigo And violet, too! Bride of the rain Little window in the sky An arc of seven colors When the sun is nearby! Copyright © 1992 Babs Bell Hajdusiewicz

**Note: North Africans refer to a rainbow as "bride of the rain" while Vietnamese call a rainbow "little window in the sky" "Rainbow Colors" first published in Poetry Works: The First Verse (Modern Curriculum Press/PearsonLearning, 1992)

Babs Hadjusiewicz

Author

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