Buttons & Figs

On this episode we sail our sieve to the land of POETRY! Rosemarie Dombrowski, poet laureate for Phoenix, celebrated National Poetry Month by writing two special poems for Buttons & Figs! Rosemarie shares her poem "Why I Want to Be a Lizard." The 3rd graders at Camelview Elementary School play with the poetry prompt "Why I Want to Be....," creating original wordplay poems of their own. Enjoy the writing and voices of the students in Ms. Cowen's class and Ms. Stiles class. Poetry everyday, we say! www.buttonsandfigs.com

extra! extra! we have a bit of improv play for you today! on this episode, these Buttons & Figs kids share and play two improv games. we hope you'll play along. be sure to share your way to play at 623-282-4080. we say, play is the way! www.buttonsandfigs.com

On this episode we set sail to the cave of repetition, repetition, repetition. You'll hear many, many, many ways to play with this literary device with original stories from our Buttons & Figs kids. We were inspired by Julian Sheer's book, Rain Makes Applesauce, and several of Dr. Seuss's books too. We hope you'll listen, listen, listen and play, play, play. Visit ButtonsandFigs.com for more wordplay fun.

Nonsense appeared to be on a collision course with reason...presenting Buttons & Figs and the Oyster Actors on the Air in The War of the Fools. It was on this day, April 1st, in which weird happenings began to happen. Reporters began to report reportable events, reportable strange happenings, reportable odd sightings - a meat shower, a weird alphabet song, odd creatures sailing in a sieve making demands...what if it were all true?! Featuring voices from the pod-o-sphere, including The Past & The Curious, Composer Dad, and What If World. Tune in to Buttons & Figs to find out what the reporters are reporting this April Fool’s day. btw...does anyone have any stilton cheese?!

extra! extra! They say we have an astronomical, astrological double header here, March 20th, to be clear - a Super Moon and Equinox! Only one thing is certain on this day, when the tilt is tilted in just the right way, we can hear a telephone conversation, but just one side, of a gentleman with a great deal of pride, who happens to like carnations….listen in....

For more one-sided phone conversation play, check out Chris Raschka's book, "Ring, Yo!" and of course, call Buttons & Figs at 623-282-4080 if you have a one-sided conversation to share with me. Thanks for listening to me and you and you and me.

extra! Welcome to the Librarian Library Lounge featuring the fabulous book recommends of Erin Meadows, librarian at the Desert Foothills Library in Cave Creek, Arizona, and the fabulous voices of kids playing with alliteration at the library. Join us here and there, or at a library near you. You can find the free downloadable activity sheet we used on Read Across America day to play with alliteration, alright? www.buttonsandfigs.com

Alliterate-ate-ate-ate-ate! On this Nonsensilicious episode we share a great way to remember how to play with alliteration...with our very own Buttons & Figs song! Hear the debut of "What a Word!" as we celebrate Dr. Seuss's birthday on March 2nd. Find a Read Across America event near you and play with nerds...I mean words! Play-play-play-play-play-play-play

Wow, wow, wow! On this episode we're sailing our sieve to the land of palindromes where we get to meet the master of wordplay himself -Jon Agee. Our Buttons & Figs kids, Elle, Sophie, Samuel, Asher, Claire and Jayleigh, will define and play with palindromes and they’ll share how they used Jon Agee’s palindrome books to inspire their play AND Jon Agee will be answering their questions….like - how did you make a job out of palindromes?! Visit www.buttonsandfigs.com for more word play fun.

extra! extra! We've got a little extra! nonsense to celebrate Thesaurus Day! On this extra! episode we celebrate words by sharing a Thesaurus Day game YOU can play here or there and you also get to meet a few peculiar Buttons & Figs kids! AND...Be sure to call in and share YOUR list of synonyms that best describe YOU 623-282-4080. Wishing you and your family a Happy, Delightful, Cheerful, Joyous, Peaceful, Pleasant, Jubilant (Belated) Thesaurus Day from Buttons & Figs!!!

Thanks for listening to me and you.

On this episode we introduce new Buttons & Figs kids who set us sailing to the land of Rhymes...isn't it about time?! We'll be sharing three literary devices for creating rhymes, Consonance, Assonance and Rhyme, we'll have great examples of each, and we'll also try to sell you a C.A.R. so you can go far. Visit ButtonsandFigs.com for more wordplay fun.