21 November 2023 HOW TO WRITE A POEM by Kwame Alexander, Deanna Nikaido, and Melissa Sweet, ill., HarperCollins/Quill Tree, April 2023, 32p., ISBN: 978-0-06-306090-6

“Begin with a question,

Like an acorn waiting for spring.

Close your eyes, 

Open the window of your mind, and climb out,

Like a seedling reaching for tomorrow…”

Poetry has always felt to me like a first-cousin to music. I particularly love good single-poem picture books. To me, a good single-poem picture book is the children’s lit equivalent of a great music video. Decades after the fact, I can still play books like SUMMERTIME WALTZ (Nina Payne/Gabi Swiatkowska, 2005) and MOOSES COME WALKING (Arlo Guthrie/Alice M. Brock, 1995) in my head, complete with the lyrics I memorized back then.

“...Next, listen to the grass, the flowers, the trees–

Anything that’s friends with the sun.

Feel their glow, 

And when you think you know the answer,

Lean into the endless sky 

And dive deep into the silent sea of your imagination

To discover a cotton candy cavalcade of sounds–

Words raining everywhere.

Invite them into your paper boat

And row row row across the wild white expanse…”

HOW TO WRITE A POEM is an entertaining and inspirational single-poem picturebook illustrated by Melissa Sweet in her distinctive collage style. There will be plenty of young people who, like me, will be thoroughly engaged and inspired by the words of the poem itself. It’s one worth memorizing. 

And, in collaboration with Melissa Sweet’s illustrations, this beautiful book is a home run. The poem itself  is lovely, inviting rereading. Readers will spend quality time poring over the detailed, whimsical illustrations.  

HOW TO WRITE A POEM will inspire many young people to take the bait, dive deep into their imaginations, come up with just the right words, and create a word picture that is suitable for framing. Sure, many pre-Ks and kindergarteners will be a bit young for doing much more than creating two-line rhymes. But the richness of the language and the award-quality illustrations make this one worth actively sharing with ages four right up through middle school.

Richie Partington, MLIS

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