Children’s Language and Language Development

Two poems forthcoming in the journal Nashim

Post author:Janet Ruth Heller
Post published:January 26, 2020
Post category:Children's Language and Language Development Published Poetry

The journal Nashim has accepted my two poems "Family Reunions" and "Synagogue Rummage Sale" for publication in its fall 2020 issue. I'm delighted! "Family Reunions" is about my my family's close ties to my mother's twin brother's family. We celebrated all holidays together. I used to be in charge of rummage sales at my synagogue, and I write about this complex experience in "Synagogue Rummage Sale." Janet Ruth Heller reading her poetry at the Kalamazoo Public Library; photo by Hedy Habra

What Young Children Mean by “No!”

Post author:Janet Ruth Heller
Post published:December 26, 2016
Post category:Children's Language and Language Development Language

Recently, I was talking with my three-year-old great-nephew Wesley. Like many toddlers, he often uses the word “No!” As I spoke with him, I realized that he may use “No!” to mean something different than adults do when they use this word. I think that Wesley and other young children often indicate that they are having trouble understanding something when they say “No!” Adults may not realize that some ideas or statements do not compute well in a child’s brain. (more…)

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I love books by British writers P. D. James, Seamus Heaney, S. T. Coleridge, Jane Austen, William Wordsworth, Robert Browning, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, George Eliot, W. B. Yeats;

American writers Judy Blume, Edna St. Vincent Millay, T. S. Eliot, Maxine Kumin, Jim Daniels, Mong-Lan, Robert Hayden, Langston Hughes, Naomi Shihab Nye, Alberto Ríos, Gail B. Griffin, Jerry Spinelli, Jane Yolen, Kathryn Erskine, Gary D. Schmidt, Adrienne Rich, Judith Minty, Gwendolyn Brooks, Marge Piercy, Grace Paley, Alicia Ostriker, Jaimy Gordon; South African writer Athol Fugard;

Israeli writers Chaim Nachman Bialik, Yehudah Amichai, Rachel Bluwstein, Chaim Guri, S. Y. Agnon; and Hispanic writers Sor Juana, Federico García Lorca, Ruben Darío, Antonio Machado, Jorge Guillén, Pedro Salinas, and Dámaso Alonso.

I also love Japanese haiku, especially those by Matsuo Bashō.

My writing has been influenced by many other authors, including British writers Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Jane Austen, William Wordsworth, Robert Browning, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, George Eliot, W. B. Yeats;

American writers Edna St. Vincent Millay, T. S. Eliot, Maxine Kumin, Adrienne Rich, Judith Minty, Gwendolyn Brooks;

Israeli writers Chaim Nachman Bialik, Yehudah Amichai, Rachel Bluwstein, Chaim Guri, S. Y. Agnon, and Hispanic writers Sor Juana, Federico Garcia Lorca, Ruben Dario, Antonio Machado, Jorge Guillen, Pedro Salinas, and Damaso Alonso.