Poetry Friday--Write Your Own Poetry

One day I was walking by the children's librarian's desk at my library and she said, "That book you ordered--the one on writing poetry--it's great!" It turns out that the book is Write Your Own Poetry by Laura Purdie Salas (Compass Point Books, 2008). I met Laura back in 2003 at Chautauqua, and I follow her blog, so when Write Your Own Poetry came out last year I made sure to order it. I was pleased that the children's librarian found the book to be a good choice.

From the beginning, even before the "Contents", Laura sets the tone:

Choose Your Own Style

Poems explore the entire world, from infinite space to a tiny bug on the sidewalk, from the death of a friend to the silliest way to make a sandwich. No topic is off-limits. And there are as many right ways to write poems as there are poets...

Ten chapters then follow. The one dealing with poetic forms briefly covers seven forms, more than enough to engage a young reader without being overwhelming. The chapter on imagery shows how to create a chart and thus provide ideas to incorporate in a poem. Meter and rhyme are fully explored, as is the arrangement of the words on a page. Concepts are accompanied by examples from contemporary children's poets.

The book is only 64 pages long, but those pages are packed full with information and tips for the young writer. The book design is also appealing with its use of color photos.

Good job, Laura!

The Poetry Friday Round-Up is at Live. Love. Explore! with Irene Latham.

--Diane