April is poetry month! Be sure to check out a poetry book from the library. Here are some ideas:
National Geographic book of Nature Poetry: more than 200 poems with photographs that float, zoom, and bloom!
Edited by Patrick J. Lewis
When words in verse are paired with the awesomeness of nature, something magical happens. Beloved former U.S. Poet Laureate J. Patrick Lewis curates an exuberant poetic celebration of the natural world in this stellar collection of nature poems. From trickling streams to deafening thunderstorms to soaring mountains, discover majestic photography perfectly paired with contemporary (such as Billy Collins), classics (such as Robert Frost), and never-before-published works.
What are you Glad About? What are you Mad About?: poems for when a person needs a poem
By Judith Viorst
Illustrations by Lee White
However you feel, whatever the day, everyone needs a poem. Because sometimes you don't have the words to say how you are feeling today.
Rainbow Soup: adventures in poetry
By Brian P. Cleary
Illustrated by Neal Layton
An introduction to poetry that uses humorous poems, illustrations, and annotations to clarify terms and explain different types of poems, such as macaronic verse, concrete poems, and limericks.
If it Rains Pancakes: Haiku and Lantern Poem
By Brian P. Cleary
Illustrations by Andy Rowland
Packed with poems to make you chuckle, puzzle, and ponder. And when you've finished reading, you can try your hand at writing your own haiku and lanterns!
Amazing Apples
By Consie Powell
Simple poems in acrostic form describe an apple orchard through the seasons, as well as the activities of the family that tends the orchard. Includes a page of notes about apples.
African Acrostics
By Avis Harley
Photography by Deborah Noyes
The wild animals of Africa spring to life in clever, lighthearted poems and compelling, evocative photographs. Inside every acrostic is a secret message, often lurking in the first letter of each line (read top to bottom).
Summer
By Steven Schnur
Illustrated by Leslie Evans
A companion volume to Autumn: an alphabet acrostic and Spring: an alphabet acrostic.
A Curious Collection of Cats
By Betsy Franco
Illustrated by Michael Wertz
16 entertaining, visual concrete poems (poems typeset in the shape of their subjects) capture the distinctively entertaining habits and attitudes of cats.
Blue Lipstick
By John Grandits
A 15-year-old girl named Jessie voices typical--and not so typical--teenage concerns in this unique, hilarious collection of poems. Her musings about trying out new makeup and hairstyles, playing volleyball and cello, and dealing with her annoying younger brother are never boring or predictable. Who else do you know who designs her own clothes and writes poetry to her cat? Jessie's a girl with strong opinions, and she isn't shy about sharing them. Her funny, sarcastic take on high school life is revealed through concrete poetry: words, ideas, type, and design that combine to make pictures and patterns. The poems are inventive, irreverent, irresistible, and full of surprises--just like Jessie--and the playful layout and ingenious graphics extend the wry humor.
A Poke in the I
Selected by Paul B Janeczko
Illustrated by Chris Raschka
Thirty poems which have their text arranged to startle the reader.
Wet Cement
By Bob Raczka
Who says words need to be concrete? This collection shapes poems in surprising and delightful ways. Concrete poetry is a perennially popular poetic form because they are fun to look at. But by using the arrangement of the words on the page to convey the meaning of the poem, concrete or shape poems are also easy to write! From the author of the incredibly inventive Lemonade: And Other Poems Squeezed from a Single Word comes another clever collection that shows kids how to look at words and poetry in a whole new way.
A Spectacular Selection of Sea Critters
By Betsy Franco Illustrated by Michael Wertz
An entertaining grouping of concrete poems focusing on undersea life.
Yuki and the One Thousand Carriers
By Gloris Whelan
Illustrated by Yan Nascimbene
In Japan, as a provincial governor, his wife, and daughter Yuki, followed by 1,000 attendants, travel the historic Tokaido Road to the Shogun's palace in Edo, Yuki keeps up with her lessons by writing poems describing the journey.
The Cuckooās Haiku and Other Birding Poem
By Michael J. Rosen
Illustrated by Stan Fellows
In spare and graceful words, poet and birder Michael J. Rosen captures the forecasting call of the mysterious cuckoo as well as essential characteristics of more than twenty commonly seen North American birds.
Guess Who, Haiku
By Deanna Caswell
Illustrated by Bob Shea
A collection of haiku, each of which describes an animal and asks a question that rhymes with the answer on the following page.
Won Ton: A Cat Tale Told in Haiku
By Lee Wardlaw
Illustrated by Eugene Yelchin
A cat arrives at a shelter, arranges to go home with a good family, and settles in with them, all the while letting them know who is boss and, finally, sharing his real name.
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