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You are here: Home / Poems for Teachers / Poetry Friday: Spot the Plot (J. Patrick Lewis)

Poetry Friday: Spot the Plot (J. Patrick Lewis)

October 2, 2009 By Laura

 

J. Patrick Lewis has a new poetry book out this fall. OK, really, he has 2 or 3 or maybe even 5! And this one, Spot the Plot, has the cleverest premise ever. Each poem is a riddle full of clues to a children’s book. Kids are going to adore these fun and funny poems, and the fact that the poems are riddles helps extend the reader age upward, too. Here’s one of my favorite poems from Spot the Plot: A Riddle Book of Book Riddles (charmingly illustrated by Lynn Munsinger). 

A magical telling,
a pig for the selling,
a spider is spelling
out words that amaze.

Do you know this spider,
this spiderweb writer?
The pig will delight her
the rest of her days.

–J. Patrick Lewis, all rights reserved

Funny and poignant, too, since it reminds me of the beautiful friendship between Wilbur and Charlotte and also of Charlotte’s inevitable death.

    

I nominated this book for a Cybils award in the poetry category (and I’m so pleased to see how many books are already nominated!) because not only is it a great collection but I think it meets and surpasses the kid appeal criterion. This is one collection you won’t have to spoonfeed to kids because you know it’s good for them and they’ll appreciate it with help. Nope. This is one you’ll have to wrestle back from the kids just to finish reading it yourself.

Other bloggers have written more in-depth reviews of this book, and you can check out a few of them here:

A Year of Reading

Gotta Book

The Miss Rumphius Effect

Now, if you haven’t already nominated a poetry book you love, and a book in every other category, I hope you’ll zip over here and start nominating. We only have two weeks to make sure our favorite books get read and considered!

The Poetry Friday roundup today is at Crossover. Enjoy!

Tagged With: J. Patrick Lewis, poetry books, Poetry Friday, riddle poems

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JANUARY NEWS

I loved the holidays! And I'm so glad they're over. A quiet, snowy January is just what I need. This month, I'm working on two board book manuscripts, and I'm making materials to go with my 3 spring 2023 books.

I'm also busy prepping for upcoming author visits and setting my goals and priorities for 2023. Wishing you a lovely start to your own new year!

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