How to Write a Poem

Description: "From this first stanza, readers are invited to pay attention--and to see that paying attention itself is poetry. Kwame Alexander and Deanna Nikaido's playful text and Melissa Sweet's dynamic, inventive artwork are paired together to encourage readers to listen, feel, and discover the words that dance in the world around them--poems just waiting to be written down."--

Brief description:

Deanna Nikaido coauthored Photo Ark with Kwame Alexander and is the author of two collections of poetry, Voice Like Water and Vibrating With Silence. A founding member of the Book-in-a-Day literacy project, she also served as a Maryland State coordinator for the national recitation program Poetry Out Loud. She lives in Maryland.

Review Quotes:

"Marvelously crafted to inspire blooming writers." - Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"Alexander and Nikaido cleverly integrate alliteration, similes, allusions, and wordplay to model for young writers what a poem can look and sound like. The buoyant text provides ample sensory imagery and nudges readers to look, listen, hear, feel, touch, speak, and then write, offering a guide for the process of observing, imagining, and putting it all down in words." - Horn Book Magazine

"A highly welcoming invitation to write that makes clear poetry is for everyone--reader and writer alike." - Publishers Weekly

"An exquisite guide that inspires and encapsulates the essence of poetry." - Booklist (starred review)

"Both a teaching tool for writing poetry as well as an ode to poetry itself. Highly recommended." - School Library Journal (starred review)