Feature Article May 29, 2002
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Not Quite Rich, looks like a witch, the odd itch: Sheree Fitchby Jeff GreenBood Gorning, Doys and Birls. Thats how Sheree Fitch introduced herself to a group of students from St. James Catholic School and Sharbot Lake Public School last Friday. After a bit of hesitation and a few giggles, some of the kids smiled and said Bood Gorning back; Sheree Fitch had captured their attention, and she didnt relinquish her hold on them for the next hour. In front of the crowd of children, she was totally at ease, rhyming off entire sections of her books without hesitation, to the astonishment and delight of the audience. In between reciting from her work, she took questions from the audience, taking time to look at each child and answer their question with care. Then she was off on another ramble. From monkeys in the kitchen to plugs in bathtubs, Sheree Fitch uses a child-centred imagination to come up with surprising rhymes.
She told the audience how she originally started writing poetry in Grade 2, for her favourite teacher, Mrs. Goodwin. You have to love a teacher named Mrs. Goodwin, she recalls. Mrs. Goodwin had given the class an assignment to write a poem, and after thinking and thinking, little Miss Fitch wrote something like this: My name is Fitch, and I look like a witch, and Im not very rich, and sometimes I itch. Mrs. Goodwin liked it, and others liked it; and that was the beginning of a poets career.
However, it took another 23 years for Sheree Fitch to publish her first book Toes in my Nose, in the late 80s. Perhaps her most famous work is Mabel Murple, about a girl who loves the colour purple. She is also very proud of If You Could Wear My Sneakers, a book she wrote for UNICEF (The United Nations Childrens Education Fund) as a kind of kid-friendly tool in the fight against racism around the world.
Most of the inspiration for the books has come from my two sons, Sheree Fitch told the audience last week, but they went and grew up on me. She also explained how poetry comes about. Can you hear that there is music in words? she asks. But its more than language, she says When you are a poet, you dont only listen to the sound of words, you listen to the sound of the world.These comments gave the audience something to think about, but they were really only breaks from the main event: rap-style firecracker recitations of Fitchs nonsense rhymes, bringing poetry to life for the children and adults in attendance.Sheree was born in Ottawa, and lived in the Maritimes for many years. She presently lives in Washington D.C. with her husband. She has won numerous awards for childrens writing, and her next published work will be a novel for older children.
The Sharbot Lake performance was sponsored by the Kingston Frontenac Public Library (KFPL). Fitch appeared in Sydenham on the same day, and performed twice in Kingston on Saturday. The performances were funded by a grant from the Canada Council, according to KFPL childrens librarian Kimberly Sutherland-Mills, who introduced Sheree. We wanted to be able to bring this event to children outside the big city of Kingston, so you kids could see something here, without having to travel all the way in to Kingston.
For her part, Sheree Fitch said she found Sharbot Lake very beautiful during her short stay. After the performance, she recounted to The News that she used to go anywhere and everywhere to do readings for schools and community groups, because at that time I was a single mother raising two kids and making a living off childrens poetry.
That all changed when she married eight years ago. Having a mate with an income has changed her schedule, she says. I can now pick and choose when and where I do readings, and I enjoy them more for it.
The children of SLPS and St. James Catholic are certainly glad she found time to present her magical world of poetry to them last week.
