Out of Wonder

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Poetry is a very special, lyrical language that can open our eyes to see, our hearts to rejoice and our minds to better understand.  Art is a very special language that does the very same.  Yet poems can be very different because individual poets are very different people.

This is a collection of twenty poems each written by the team of Kwame Alexander, Chris Colderley and Marjory Wentworth.  The genius at work here is that each poem celebrates a specific poet and is written in his or her style. It's amazing to see how recognizable their individual styles are.

Lucile Clifton told us, "Poems come out of wonder, not out of knowing."  Twenty poets, people who looked for wonder in the world, were chosen for this book because they were interesting people and our three author poets were "passionately in love with their poetry."

"The poems in this book pay tribute to the poets being celebrated by adopting their style, extending their ideas, and offering gratitude to their wisdom and inspiration."

You have to really know a poet, really walk in her shoes, to write a poem in her style.  I would imagine it's like trying on someone else's soul.

Here are twenty outrageously fabulous poems.  Try them on.  Find the one that feels like you.  Make a new friend here.

Celebrate what poetry can be when it's allowed to run free and be itself...kind of like people...especially young ones.

Take the time, too, to look at the illustrations rendered by Ekua Holmes.  To match her artwork to the poems she, too, had to get into the mind, the spirit, the essence of who these poets were and once she understood them, she pulled from within herself and gave us a visual image of the poet's energy and vibrations so we could open ourselves and find a place to soar and explore and try them to see if they fit ... us.

Divided into chapters with titles like, "Got Style" or "In Your Shoes," the perspective of artist and poet shines some light on what it's like to be alive on this planet.

A masterpiece. Every classroom library and every home should own this book.

45 pages     978-0763680947      Ages 8-12

This book is a Finalist for the 2018 Children’s & Teen Choice Book Awards in the 3rd and 4th grades category.

Recommended by:  Barb Langridge, abookandahug.com

Editor's note: A short bio of each celebrated poet is included.

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