BookSpeak! Poems About Books

Can we declare an official book for the Nerdy Book Club, please? If we did, it would be BookSpeak! a delightful and smart poetry collection reveling in all things bookish from readers and writers to literary elements.

In our classrooms, we grow readers and writers. Here is a book with a poem for nearly every occasion in your reading/writing workshops!

[T]he poem Vacation Time! would be a great one to get kids excited about summer reading. A library is simply not complete without BookSpeak!

One of my favorite poems is The Middle's Lament: A Poem for Three Voices. The conversation between The Middle, The Beginning and The End is funny with a capital F.

From the lyrical "Skywriting" to the clever personification of “Index,” the poems flow from beginning to end, providing helpful models that young writers may enjoy exploring and imitating...BookSpeak! is a book of book poems that readers of all ages will return to again and again.  

Poetry Prompts: What part of a book haven’t we heard from? Students can write their own mask poems giving voice to other book components, e.g., setting, the author's bio, or the title page. Or just the book itself—what does each student think a book will say? They might even give voices to specific books like Charlotte’s Web, The Lightning Thief, or Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. If those books could talk about themselves, what would they say?

I can't imagine any library not owning this ode to books. Actually, I can't imagine any parent who loves books and reading not having this in their home to share with their children! It's just that awesome.

“This is the Book” is a perfect poem for a group recitation. Have each reader take a stanza. Then read the poem together, each reading in his or her turn. You can even use simple props to represent each person involved in the writing and publishing process. For example, the writer could have a typewriter, the illustrator could have some art supplies, and the reader could have a finished book.

Students - I think you could write wonderful poems using "This is the Book" as a model. Try this.

Pick a process, like a seed growing into a plant. Then think about all of the different things that are needed to make that happen, like seed, soil, sun, etc. Start with a stanza describing the seed. Then give each item its own stanza where you capture what its most important contribution is. Don't worry about rhyming. Just pick the strongest, most wonderful words you can. Then end with the plant, the result of everyone's else's efforts.

You could do this with so many things. Maybe you want to write a poem in tribute to your peanut butter sandwich! You could applaud the farmers who grow the wheat for the bread. And the peanut plant. And the grocery store stock boy. And your dad for making the sandwich. The possibilities are endless!

...the rhyme, rhythm, and voice of each poem told from the point of view of a book will not only will this inspire children to read THIS book, but will inspire them to read period.

This book is exquisite in both poem and picture and celebrates the beauty of our language!