Our Choices for National Poetry Month
In honor of National Poetry Month, we're highlighting new standouts from our poetry section, plus old favorites!
We have a new picture poetry book about the life of Ezra Jack Keats,
A Poem for Peter: The Story of Ezra Jack Keats and the Creation of The Snowy Day by Andrea Pinckney. I thought it was an interesting format to use to tell Keats' story to younger kids. For young adults, Kwame Alexander's new book,
The Playbook is lyrical, and very good.
I love anything by Billy Collins but his newest book,
The Rain in Portugal, is terrific. I also love an anthology called
A Book of Luminous Things, selected and edited by Nobel Laureate Czeslaw Milosz. Each poem chosen for inclusion is truly a luminous gem. In the store, we also carry a good selection of
Donald Hall,
Rita Dove,
Louise Glück,
Kay Ryan,
Ted Koose and
Robert Pinsky. All have been Poets Laureate of the United States.
I LOVED
The Poet's Dog by Patricia MacLachlan. It's a novel in verse for elementary-aged readers, about a poet, his dog and two children lost in a snowstorm. It's poetic and beautiful to read!
Sharon
I really enjoyed the brand-new
Keep a Pocket in Your Poem: Classic Poems and Playful Parodies by J. Patrick Lewis. Famous poems by writers like Emily Dickinson and Robert Frost are presented and then parodied by Lewis. A witty and fun way to introduce children to the classics, and their opposite!
Jayne
I love the book
Ubiquitous: Celebrating Nature's Survivors, about animals that have lived and adapted for millions of years to become part of the 1% of life on Earth that has survived, when 99% has become extinct. Poetry, pictures and fascinating facts--it's just a cool book!
Jessica
I love
Citizen by Claudia Rankine and anything by Nikki Giovanni, especially her
Bicycle: Love Poems. And Mary Oliver's
Upstream is a great inspiration for any creative out there! It's her essays, rather than her poetry, but it's darn soulful.
If you would like to explore more contemporary poetry,
this list from Signature is a great place to start. There's a summary of each book on the main page, plus, if you're feeling inspired, a downloadable guide on how to write your own poetry.
Mary Jane
Combine poetry and science with this great new series from Scholastic and Children's Poet Laureate, J. Patrick Lewis:
Rookie Poetry: Animal Homes. Beautiful photography and appealing, informational rhymes!
Karla
If you want to encourage a child to write poetry (or write your own!), a rhyming dictionary can be a big help. The
Oxford Children's Rhyming Dictionary is bright and colorful and makes it simple to find the rhyme you need.
