Garvey’s Choice by Nikki Grimes is a short novel-in-verse that is written entirely in tanka poems. These poems consist of five lines each, and Grimes follows the format of a 5, 7, 5, 7, 7 syllable-count for the lines of her tanka poems (English syllable count may vary as this is a Japanese poetic form). … [Read more…]
Guess Who, Haiku by Deanna Caswell (homeschooling mother of five!) is what I’d consider to be the “youngest” book of the 2016 shortlisted titles in the poetry category. Of course, anyone who has ever written haiku will know that the apparent simplicity of these poems is very deceptive. However, younger kids who read this book … [Read more…]
When Green Becomes Tomatoes: Poems for All Seasons by Julie Fogliano is a delight! This collection of poems, about fifty of them, follows the changing seasons from the perspective of a child, depicted as a girl through the illustrations. Each poem is dated, so this is also a nature journal, of sorts. The poems are … [Read more…]
To Stay Alive: Mary Ann Graves and the Tragic Journey of the Donner Party by Skila Brown was shortlisted for the poetry category of the 2016 Cybils. It is a novel-in-verse that chronicles the experiences of one of the actual members of the Donner party, the group of settlers who left their Midwestern homes for California … [Read more…]
What a joy it has been this year to be a second-round judge for the 2016 Cybils! And so it is with great honor that I share my thoughts on this year’s poetry winner, The Last Fifth Grade of Emerson Elementary by Laura Shovan. Do you like novels-in-verse? I confess that after several years of … [Read more…]
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