HOW TO WRITE A POEM

In this evocative and playful companion to their New York Times bestselling picture book How to Read a Book, Newbery Medalist Kwame Alexander teams up with poet Deanna Nikaido and Caldecott Honoree Melissa Sweet to celebrate the magic of discovering your very own poetry in the world around you.

Begin
with a question
like an acorn
waiting for spring.

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.

Kwame Alexander is a poet, educator, publisher, and New York Times Bestselling author of many books, including Rebound, which was shortlisted for prestigious UK Carnegie Medal; the Caldecott Medal and Newbery Honor-winning picture book, The Undefeated, illustrated by Kadir Nelson; and his Newbery medal-winning middle grade novel, The Crossover. A regular contributor to NPR's Morning Edition, Kwame is the recipient of numerous awards.

Deanna Nikaido is the author of two collections of poetry, Voice Like Water and Vibrating With Silence and holds a degree in Illustration from Art Center College of Design. Visit her at www.deannanikaido.com.

Melissa Sweet has illustrated more than one hundred books. Her work has been in magazines, on greeting cards, and on her living room walls. Melissa has received the Caldecott Honor Medal twice, among many other awards, including the Sibert Medal, and is a New York Times bestselling author and artist. Melissa lives in Maine. You can visit her at www.melissasweet.net.