Guest Post: Lee Wardlaw on MY BOOK OF FIRSTS

I invited Lee Wardlaw to give us a sneak peek into her new poetry book, My Book of Firsts: Poems Celebrating a Baby's Milestones illustrated by Bruno Brogna and published by Red Comet Press. Lucky for us, she shares an interview led by fellow poet Kristine O'Connell George, author of Old Elm Speaks, Toasting Marshmallows, Little Dog Poems, Hummingbird Nest, Emma Dilemma, and many more. Here they dig deep into Lee's process in creating My Book of Firsts.

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KRISTINE: I admire how creatively and deftly you used off rhyme. Can you tell us more about how you construct your rhyme schemes?

LEE: Yikes. Couldn’t you start with an easier question, such as “What is your middle name?” (I’ve always hated it and don’t use it. I’ll give you a hint, though: it’s a palindrome.*)

As for rhyme schemes: First, I decide what the poem is going to be about. Then, with paper and pen, I brainstorm what sorts of things I want to say, possible ways to say them, who might say them, etc. And thenI scribble words or sounds or phrases that rhyme with the words and sounds and phrases I might use in the poem. I jot down true rhymes, off rhymes, internal rhymes; big words, little words, multisyllabic words. Everything. And when an inkling inkles, I use whatever paper is handy: notebooks, paper placemats, grocery store receipts, the back of a canceled check…

I used to have a rhyming dictionary, and I’d boost my brain with words from that; now I visit RhymeZone.com because it’s both a rhyming dictionary and a thesaurus – which is handy when I’m stuck for a rhyme and need to find a synonym that rhymes with more words than the original one did.

Sometimes my brainstorms are very neat. Other times – not. Doesn’t matter. The deeper and messier I get, the better the words are. I never want to use the first words/rhymes that come to my mind, because those tend to be cliched, predictable, ho-hum.

KRISTINE: The poems in MY BOOK OF FIRSTS are such fun to read aloud. Do you read your poems aloud as you are working?

LEE: Constantly (to the great frustration and confusion of my cats, who think me speaking aloud is a precursor to petting or feeding them). All poetry is meant to be read aloud. Sure, you may need to read poems silently in certain situations, but to get the full effect of the sounds, rhythms, the rhymes, you MUST hear them. A poem is learned best, understood best, enjoyed best, when read aloud. And, obviously, since babies can’t read, reading aloud is the only way to share the poems from my book!

Too, reading my work aloud helps me to hear mistakes: places where the meter and rhythm are off, where a line doesn’t flow naturally or doesn’t fit the expected pattern. I can also hear the places where I trip or stumble. And I can better hear if a word truly rhymes or if I’m simply forcing the word to rhyme. I once had a spat with an editor because I used the word ‘mirror’ as a one-syllable word, pronouncing it ‘mere.’ She said, “No, no, no. It’s TWO syllables. Mir-ror.”

I said, “But I pronounce it as ONE syllable.” Her response: “Doesn’t matter. Most people don’t. Choose a different end word.” That wasn’t so easy. I had to rewrite the entire stanza.

KRISTINE: You are a trained Montessori teacher. Did that experience influence this or your other books? If so, how?

LEE: I have a B.A. in Education and a public school teaching credential. But I’ve always been fascinated with Dr. Maria Montessori’s work, and my son attended an AMI Montessori school for 11 years. So at the tender age of 53, I went back to school to get my M.Ed. in Child Development and my Montessori certification for teaching at the primary level (ages 3-6). I didn’t intend to teach; I just wanted to write better books for children. What I learned is: From that first breath at birth to quasi-maturity at age 24 (okay, for some people, 42), children go through four stages of dramatic physical, intellectual, emotional, and psychological changes. Knowing what these changes are, and when and how they appear, has helped me to better choose age-appropriate themes, construct believable, authentic characters, and hook kid-readers from the first sentence. I know the difference between what kids find hilarious at six months and what cracks them up at age six – and 16! – and why. And I now know the important milestones they must reach in those first three years of life in order to build upon that knowledge, that development, as they grow. I teach workshops for writers about this. When you write for children and teens it’s crucial to know your audience. And for young readers, that means it’s hugely helpful to take crash course in child development.

KRISTINE: Designing your book as a keepsake was an inspired decision by your publisher, Red Comet Press. I can see MY BOOK OF FIRSTS being one that stays in a family for generations. What keepsakes did you keep (or wish you had kept) from your son‘s very early years?

LEE: I kept a lock of Patterson’s soft, wispy hair from his first haircut. I also kept his first tooth. True confession time: I kept all his baby teeth! Well, except for the one that popped out when he bit into his seat belt while we were on a ride. That tooth got lost somewhere in the crumb-y, dusty depths of his car seat. I kept the rest of his wee chompers in a small crystal jar with a sterling silver lid. My great-grandmother’s initials are engraved on the top. One day, when Patterson was 12 or 13, he found the jar and shook it. It made a faint chinka-chinka sound. “Hey, what’s in here?” he asked.

“Take a peek!”

He did. “WHAT the - - are those - - ?”

“Yep, your baby teeth!”

“Mom. MOM. That is just…GROSS.” 

He was so creeped out, and I was so embarrassed, that I threw them away. But I saved other ‘first’ items from his babyhood, like the remaining scrap of his favorite blankie. “Rag” is too good a word for it. But it’s poetry in cotton flannel to me. Oh! I also saved most of Patterson’s toothpaste collection. He started collecting tubes when he was two. (Don’t ask why. We don’t know.) Friends heard of his collection and brought tubes home from their travels. France. Israel. Mexico. Japan. China. Iceland. Patterson kept them in a container under his bed, so his room always smelled minty fresh. That story is going to be a picture book someday…”

KRISTINE: What question(s) do you wish someone had asked you? (Besides your preference for milk or dark chocolate?

Lee's first hat!

LEE: But dark chocolate is LIFE. And my favorite is: Trader Joe’s The Dark Chocolate Lover’s Dark Chocolate. It is The Best. 

But I wish someone had asked me about MY firsts. So here are a few: First Word: Kitty. First Cat: Pit-a-Pat. Got him when I was 7. First Haircut: Didn’t get one till I was 3. My mom said I was bald for a very long time. First Poem I Wrote: “The Midnight Ride of Mouse Revere.” (Refrain: “The Cats are coming! They Cats are coming!” ) First Hat: See picture  

>>> Thank you to Lee and Kristine for this fun look at the poet's process and the intersection of life and writing! Be sure to look for My Book of First's-- the perfect gift for a family expecting a new baby or for prompting older kids to learn more about their own arrival! 

Now let's meet up at Heidi's place, My Juicy Little Universe, for our Poetry Friday celebration. See you there! 

Blog Tour: Nikki Grimes and A CUP OF QUIET

Photo credit: Marchel Hill 

I'm so happy to welcome Nikki Grimes to the blog today. I've been a huge fan of hers for YEARS. She's won nearly every imaginable award including a lifetime achievement award from NCTE for her poetry and from ALSC and from CSK for her entire body of work. She's a legend! So many amazing works from her poetry collections, novels in verse, picture books, and a memoir. So many of her works are landmark books, like her prose-poetry blending in Bronx Masquerade, her spunky girls Danitra Brown and Dyamonde Daniel, her novels in verse for middle grade readers like Garvey's Choice (now also a graphic novel), her golden shovel poem collections like One Last Word, her powerful memoir, Ordinary Hazards, her picture book biographies like Talkin' About Bessie-- I could go on and on and on. And she's still going strong! 

Her newest book debuts April 15 and I'm so happy to be part of the virtual book tour to help launch it. A Cup of Quiet is a lyrical picture book about a loving grandma and imaginative granddaughter as the little girl gathers all the quiet noises she discovers in her backyard garden and gifts that "cup of quiet" to her grandma. I asked Nikki four questions to explore a bit of background about this gem of a book Here are her thoughtful, interesting responses.

1. Where did the idea for A Cup of Quiet come from?

Silence and quiet have grown increasingly important to my work over the years, and so I have long been attentive to both, and have particularly mulled over the difference between the two. Silence is refreshing, but I relish the quality of quiet found in nature. I wanted to celebrate that. Nature's quiet—which can be quite noisy, if you're paying attention—is a source of both inspiration and calm. It is musical, rhythmic, and dynamic. It is, in fact, the very stuff of poetry. And it can be a great source of healing, if we allow ourselves to take it in. I wanted to write a story that would allow readers to experience a moment of that in a book. And who better to orchestrate such a moment than a grandmother?

2. The illustrations are almost as lovely and lyrical as the narrative.  Were you able to consult with the illustrator, Cathy Ann Johnson, in creating this book?

 

I never consult with my illustrators because I dare not interfere with their creative process. The minute an author does that, you risk inhibiting the artist's creativity. That's one bell you cannot un-ring. Anything you say creates a boundary the artist may not be able to circumvent and, thereby, limits the possibility of what an artist might have been able to create, or which wonderful, fantastical direction the art might have taken. Instead, I focus on being involved in the selection of the artist. If I trust that the style and sensibility of an artist's work is right for my book, then I trust them to interpret my story, and to bring their own, complementary visual narrative to the party. That is very much what happened here with the luminous work of Cathy Ann Johnson.

 3. You have so many loving grandmas in this picture book and in your poetry.  Can you share memories of special grandmas or grandma friends?

 

The grandma in this book is very much a grandmother of my imagination, as are many of the grandmothers in my stories and novels in verse. I only had one grandmother—my mother's mother—and she was nothing like the grandmas of my imagination, or the grandmother in A Cup of Quiet—except that she was equally stylish. But she was very practical, not given to playfulness, or games of imagination, or overt expressions of emotion. She had a sharp tongue and would routinely whip out a pithy cultural colloquialism that would stop you in your tracks. Say something that she considered silly, or foolish, and she'd cut you off you with "Why don't you use your head for something other than a hat-rack?" This was a pragmatic, no-nonsense grandma who had no time for hanging out in the garden with her granddaughter or talking about imaginary cups of quiet. So, I suppose I've lifted elements of grandmas I've encountered in stories and films, or observed in the lives of people around me. They all helped me conjure up the grandmother in A Cup of Quiet.

4. Which of your previous poems might you pair with this picture book?

"Pineapple Surprise" is a poem I wrote for Food Fight, an anthology of food poems edited by Michael J. Rosen.  I referenced it again in my memoir, Ordinary Hazards.

"Pineapple Surprise" is not a poem about nature, but it is a poem about a grandmother's love for her granddaughter, and how that young girl comes to appreciate the particularly thoughtful, time-consuming, concrete way her grandmother—my grandmother—chose to demonstrate that love.

As a grandma myself, I love this look at the intergenerational love between these two characters. A Cup of Quiet is a lovey book to read aloud-- with its evocative illustrations and perfectly paced narrative. It could prompt a walk together outside, a heightened awareness of the noises around us, and a closer bond between the two. Check it out! 

Now head on over to Live Your Poem where the lovely poet Irene Latham is hosting our Poetry Friday gathering. See you there! 

Let's get KOOKY!

Just in time for National Poetry Month, Janet and I are so excited to announce a new book for kids: MY Kooky Compendium of Thimblethoughts & Wonderfuzz! 

This is a companion book for Clara’s Kooky Compendium of Thimblethoughts and Wonderfuzz, with fun and funny prompts to ignite kids' imaginations and get them wondering and writing! 

do elephants like music?

things I wonder . . . 

what new holidays should we invent?

here's a list of happy sounds:

These prompts are organized around sub themes and topics to guide young writers in trying a variety of activities. Kids can write IN this book because most of it is BLANK. But around each blank space, you'll find kooky prompts and crazy questions to spur creativity and critical thinking. Here are four sample pages: 

Janet and I talk about it briefly here:

Let's grow young writers and encourage their wondering, their curiosity, their research, their writing, and their laughter! You can find the book at QEP Books and Amazon. Check it out!

Now head on over to Rose's blog, Imagine the Possibilities, for our Poetry Friday gathering! 

Guest Post: Joan Bransfield Graham and AWESOME EARTH

I'm so happy to share this space with poet Joan Bransfield Graham as she debuts her new poetry collection, AWESOME EARTH: Concrete Poems Celebrate Caves, Canyons, and Other Fascinating Landforms. It is illustrated by Tania Garcia and published by Clarion/HarperCollins on Feb. 18. Here Joan writes about how this book came to be and what influenced her writing of it. 

From Joan: 

At the end of Mary Oliver’s poem “The Summer Day,” she asks, 

young Joan

“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with this one wild and precious life?” As someone who grew up on a barrier island at the southern tip of New Jersey, where the waves whispered, “See the world, go beyond the horizon,” I wondered will I ever see what is on the other side of this huge ocean?  Yes!

Eventually, I found that not only did I want to see the world, I wanted to capture it, write about it, photograph it, embrace it. With poetry and photography, you can capture a moment in time, a place, a new perspective. 

The inspiration for this book happened one day when I was in my yoga class.  The teacher asked us to do the “Mountain” pose (Tadasana), to feel its power and majesty.  And I did!  I started to write a poem in my head in the voice of the mountain, a mask poem.  What I scribbled down on a scrap of paper, evolved into my “Mountain” poem. Later I thought about all the amazing landforms on our Earth and realized what better way to write about all these awesome shapes than with shape itself--concrete poetry. This picture book combines poetry, science, art, and the art of words to explore what creates landforms from “Mountain,” “Glacier,” and “Volcano” to “Island,” “Hills,” & “Hoodoos” -- artistic wonders that cover our Earth’s surface.

I did a great amount of research and had learned much from all of my travels.  I have snorkeled in Bora Bora and the Galapagos Islands, hiked on the Great Wall of China and in Machu Picchu in the Andes Mountains. I’ve sailed on the Yangtze River and on the Nile.  I’ve gone black water rafting and cave tubing in Waitomo, New Zealand & much more. What I wrote as sidebars became back matter, along with my glossary, and my additional resources. Of the 16 photos that I submitted, they were able to fit in six.

Artist Tania García, from Barcelona, Spain did a fantastic job with a palette of luscious, jewel-toned colors, creating a glorious, inviting environment for the poems! I love the cover, the whole jacket! ¡Muchas Gracias, Tania—magnífica! And, of course, abundant accolades to my editors Ann Rider (now retired) and Lynne Polvino and the whole team at Clarion/HarperCollins for their awesomeness! 💖

 

Joan with her painting 

Interestingly, many years ago after my second year of teaching, I took a Summer Session Abroad through the University of San Francisco. Majorca, an island in the Balearic archipelago off the east coast of Spain, is almost directly across the ocean from where I grew up. I lived with a Spanish family there and took classes in Landscape Painting and Drawing.  Later I toured through Spain and Portugal and visited Barcelona.  I certainly did get to see what was on the other side of that huge Atlantic Ocean and am so grateful.

Now I am 15-20 minutes from the Pacific Ocean in California. I’ve lived in the north, south, east, and west US and have visited about 50 countries. I want to see as much of our planet as I can and want to open the world for curious, creative children everywhere to enjoy and embrace this Awesome Earth we all share.  As I say on my website, “A good poem surprises your senses, shakes you awake, stirs your emotions, and startles your imagination. Each poem is an act of discovery. Poetry helps us widen our vision and our hearts.”

 

Thanks for helping me celebrate, Sylvia, and for all you do to bring a “passion of poets” together—such an incredible community! Enjoy all of your many travels! ❤️

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AWESOME EARTH -- BLOG/MEDIA TOUR, Feb. 17 – Feb. 21— Pub Date: Feb. 18

Monday, Feb. 17-- Poetry for Children -- Dr. Sylvia Vardell, Professor Emerita, Texas Woman's University, Past President of IBBY, author, and publisher, a look behind-the-scenes (here!).

Tuesday, Feb. 18 – Georgia Heard, poet, educator, author, and inventor of Heart Maps ®, 2023 NCTE Excellence in Poetry for Children Award here and here.

Wednesday, Feb. 19-- Simply 7 Interviews -- Jena Benton Lasley, Alaska SCBWI Illustrator Coordinator, author-illustrator, poet, teacher; interview, plus giveaway:  .

Thursday, Feb. 20-- The Miss Rumphius Effect -- Dr. Patricia M. Stohr-Hunt, Chair, Education Dept., University of Richmond, VA; President, VA Association of College and Teacher Educators (VACTE):  

Friday, Feb. 21-- Jama’s Alphabet Soup — Jama Kim Rattigan, Virginia-based author, blogger, foodie, alphabet lover, picture book nerd; review of book, recipe, plus giveaway: 

Guest post: Matt Forrest Esenwine

I'm so happy to welcome poet and now anthologist Matt Forrest Esenwine to my blog this week. His newest book, the collaborative A Universe of Rainbows is out soon (April 1) and he shares a bit of the back story here.

From Matt:

 “Organization, Research, and Luck: Crafting a First Anthology”

It’s one thing to come up with an idea for a poetry collection. It’s another thing to try to figure out what types of poems (rhyming, free-verse, formal, etc.) will be written for which subjects. And then there are…

Anthologies.

 

These require a whole other level of organization – especially when they include a nonfiction element. With an anthology, one needs to determine not only how to balance the poetry with the facts, but which poet might be best suited for which subject, according to their style, ability, and interest.

 

That’s where I found myself when developing my very first poetry anthology, A Universe of Rainbows (Eerdmans Books for Young Readers 2025), which arrives in the world April 1.

I’d been a contributor to numerous anthologies already, but had never been the one to steer them to completion! Fortunately, my experience with these anthologies – coupled with a conversation with my friend Lee Bennett Hopkins and some good old-fashioned intuition – helped me immensely when it came to trying to create something cohesive and not just a smattering of random poems and science.

Excuse me while I back up a moment. Many anthologies, you see, are crafted using open submissions, whereby the anthologist announces the premise for the book and invites multiple writers to submit their best potential contributions, then chooses the entries they feel are the best. 

 

Other anthologies, such as A Universe of Rainbows, were created with a closed submission process; after extensive research, I decided upon a list of subjects I knew I wanted to include, then I went out and asked specific poets if they would be interested in contributing poems about those specific subjects. (Fortunately, they said YES!)

 

I did this for two reasons. One, because I wanted the book to be as good as I could possibly make it! I knew that by inviting the best of the best (Betsy Bird at SLJ even called this book a “veritable Who’s Who of poets” – and she’s right!) I would have the highest-quality poems possible. 

 

And two, as an unagented author, I needed to show prospective editors that I not only knew what I was doing (ha!), but that I could pull off a project as ambitious as a debut anthology comprised of some of the most highly-esteemed names in children’s poetry, dedicated to the late, great Lee Bennett Hopkins. So I “front-loaded” my proposal by including 4 or 5 completed poems I had written along with the complete list of contributors and the subjects of their yet-to-be-written poems.

 

After a couple of rejections, editor Kathleen Merz at Eerdmans Books for Young Readers – who had worked with Lee on his anthologies Night Wishes, Manger, and the posthumously-published Bless our Pets, loved the premise of my book and seemed just as thrilled to offer me a contract as I was to accept it!

 

So I set about reaching out to everyone who had agreed to contribute, letting them know we were moving forward and to begin working on their poems. And it was at that point that the balancing act of poetry and science really began.

 

I knew sidebars would accompany the poems so that readers unfamiliar with some of the subjects could gain information that might elucidate the poems a little better. I had notes about each subject, but I didn’t write any of the sidebars until I after I had worked with some of the poets on revisions and received finalized poems. 

 

I wanted to be able to connect the sidebars with the poems either through a reference to the poem or its subject. And above all, I wanted poems written not for the sake of science, but for the sake of poetry. In other words, I wanted poems that weren’t didactic, explanatory, or fact-laden; I wanted poems that sang, that flowed, that resonated with imagery and emotion and wordplay! 

 

I wanted poetry, first and foremost.

 

This is where that balancing act was crucial. If the poems were beautiful, but the sidebars were too verbose or technical, it would feel like two different texts competing for attention. If the poems were too heavy with details and facts, they would lose their poetic souls. 

 

But by allowing the poets to simply write about the subjects in whatever way they chose, without worrying about needing to “explain” their subjects – then writing the sidebars as complements to the poems – the beauty of the poetry and the science meld as one cohesive text! The poems have a little bit of science, the sidebars have a little bit of poetry, and Jamey Christoph’s beautiful illustrations pull everything together.

                                                          

Kathleen was a joy to work with, and the revision process we went through was extremely collaborative – she’d suggest revisions, I’d suggest revisions – and eventually we had a finalized manuscript with final art, ready to head off to the printer!

 

Of course I don’t know exactly what Lee would think, but I have a suspicion he’d be pretty proud to see such an incredible book, written and edited by his friends, dedicated to him. I’m sure he’d be over the moon(bow)!

>>>> Matt shares more about this beautiful book at his own blog here.

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Me: Thank you, Matt, for sharing this glimpse into your process. I can attest that the book is really lovely and does a great job of melding lyrical poems and fascinating facts. Contributing poets include Nikki Grimes, Renée M. LaTulippe, Joyce Sidman, Irene Latham, David L. Harrison, Heidi E. Y. Stemple & Jane Yolen, Amy Ludwig VanDerwater, Alma Flor Ada & F. Isabel Campoy, Rebecca Kai Dotlich, Marilyn Singer, Charles Waters, Laura Purdie Salas, Charles Ghigna, Lee Wardlaw, Janet Wong, Allan Wolf and Georgia Heard. Don't miss it! Now join the Poetry Friday crew where Carol is hosting all the poetry goodness here.

Sneak Peek List 2025

It's time again for my "sneak peek" list of the poetry collections, poetry picture books, poetry anthologies, and novels in verse that are set to be published in 2025. This is my initial list, but I will be adding to it as I am able, so if I have missed a book due to be published this year, please let me know. I hope this continues to be a useful resource for poets, critics, educators, and all who seek out new poetry for young people. So many wonderful new books to look forward to! 

Sneak Peek List of Poetry for Young People 2025

1. Abbas, Marzieh. 2025. Aarzu All Around. S&S/Salaam Reads.
2. Ackerman, Sara Holly. 2025. Woods & Words: The Story of Poet Mary Oliver. Ill. by Naoko Stoop. Simon & Schuster/Beach Lane.
3. Adams, Kaua Māhoe. 2025. An Expanse of Blue. HarperCollins/Heartdrum. 
4. Agard, John and Lawson, Jonarno. 2025. Wise Up! Wise Down! A Poetic Conversation. Ill. by Satoshi Kitamura. Candlewick.
5. Águila, María Dolores. 2025. A Sea of Lemon Trees. Roaring Brook Press.
6. Alexander, Kwame and Craft, Jerry. 2025. J vs. K. Little, Brown. 
7. Angelberger, Tom. 2025. Dino Poet: A Graphic Novel. Abrams.
8. Arango, Andrea Beatriz. 2025. It’s All or Nothing, Vale. Random House.
9. Atkins, Jeannine. 2025. Green Promises: Girls Who Loved the Earth. Atheneum.
10. Atkins, Jeannine. 2025. Knocking on Windows. Atheneum.
11. Atkins, Marcie Flinchum. 2025. One Step Forward. Versify.
12. Baron, Chris. 2025. Spark. Feiwel & Friends.
13. Bird, Betsy. 2025. Pop! Goes the Nursery Rhyme. Ill. by Andrea Tsurumi.
14. Browne, Mahogany L. 2025. A Bird in the Air Means We Can Still Breathe. Random House/Crown.
15. Burgess, Matthew. 2025. Words with Wings and Magic Things. Ill. by Doug Salati. Tundra.
16. Chewins, Hayley. 2025. I Am the Swarm. Penguin/Viking.
17. Cummings, E.E. 2025. When the World is Puddle Wonderful. Ill. by Blanca Gómez. Norton Young Readers.
18. Damluji, Mona. 2025. I Want You to Know. Ill. by Ishtar Bäcklund. Seven Stories/Triangle Square. 
19. Dashielle, Alegra. 2025. When a Book Begins. Ill. by Daniella Alarcon, Paw Prints.
20. DeChambeau, Rhonda. 2025. Top Heavy. Holiday House. 
21. de la Jara, Jovi. 2025. ¿Qué es un poema?/What Is a Poem? Arte Publica/Piñata.
22. Denise, Anika Aldamuy. 2025. La Bandera: Poems of Resistance and Pride. Ill. by Ericka Lugo. HarperCollins. 
23. Elliott, David. 2025. In the Desert. Ill. by Gordy Wright. Candlewick. 
24. Engle, Margarita. 2025. Friend of the Rainforest. Holt/Macmillan.
25. Engle, Margarita. 2025. Island Creatures. Atheneum. 
26. Esenwine, Matt Forrest. Ed. 2025. A Universe of Rainbows. Ill. by Jamey Christoph. Eerdmans.
27. Florian, Douglas. 2025. Cows and Sheep and Chicks That Cheep. Beach Lane Books.
28. Frankel, Erin. 2025. Mary Oliver, Holding on to Wonder. Ill. by Jasu Hu. Astra/Calkins Creek.
29. Freeman, Megan E. 2025. Away. Aladdin.
30. Fussner, Kate. 2025. 13 Ways to Say Goodbye. HarperCollins. 
31. Ghigna, Charles. 2025. Sweet Dreams: Moon Poems for Bedtime. Ill. by Jacqueline East. Schiffer Kids.
32. Gill, Nikita. 2025. Hekate: The Witch. Little, Brown. 
33. Goodwin, Idris. 2025. King of the Neuro Verse. Atheneum.
34. Gorman, Amanda. 2025. Girls on the Rise. Ill. by Loveis Wise. Viking.
35. Gow, Robin. 2025. Sabertooth. Amulet. 
36. Graham, Joan Bransfield. 2025. AWESOME EARTH: Concrete Poems Celebrate Caves, Canyons, and Other Fascinating Landforms. Ill. by Tania Garcia. Clarion/HarperCollins.
37. Griffin, Molly Beth. 2025. Rings of Heartwood: Poems on Growing. Ill. by Claudia McGehee. Minnesota Historical Society.
38. Grimes, Nikki. 2025. A Cup of Quiet. Ill. by Cathy Ann Johnson. 
39. Hall, Kirsten. 2025. A Forest Song. Ill. by Evan Turk. Random House Studio. 
40. Harjo, Joy. 2025. For a Girl Becoming. Ill. by Adriana M. Garcia. Norton Young Readers. 
41. Hewitt, Nicole M. 2025. The Song of Orphan’s Garden. Macmillan.
42. Himmelman, John. 2025. The Boy Who Lived in a Shell: Snippets for Wandering Minds. Holiday House.
43. Hoberman, Mary Ann. 2025. How Elegant the Elephant. Ill. by Marla Frazee. Little, Brown.
44. James, Nancy Johnson. 2025. Dream a Dress, Dream a Poem: Dressmaker and Poet, Myra Viola Wilds. Ill. by Diana Ejaita. Abrams.
45. Jensen, Cordelia. 2025. Lilac and the Switchback. Holiday House.
46. Keith, Toby Jr. 2025. Knucklehead. Quill Tree. 
47. Kooser, Ted. 2025. Seven Skies All at Once. Ill. by Matt Myers. Candlewick.
48. Kurtz, Jane. 2025. Oh Give Me a Home. Catalyst Press. 
49. Kuyatt, Meg Eden. 2025. The Girl in the Walls. Scholastic.
50. LaTulippe, Renée M. 2025. Limelight: Curtain Up on Poetry Comics! Ill. by Chuck Gonzalez. Charlesbridge.
51. Lee, Rev. Chris and Lee, Jenny. 2025. You Are Beloved. Ill. by Carlo Molinari. Tyndall House/Tyndale Kids. 
52. Levinson, Suzy. 2025. Dinos that Drive. Ill. by Dustin Harbin. Tundra Books. 
53. Levy, Debbie. 2025. Photo Ark 1-2-3: An Animal Counting book in Poetry and Pictures. National Geographic Kids.
54. Limón, Ada. 2025. And, Too, the Fox. Ill. by Gaby D’Alessandro. Lerner/Carolrhoda. 
55. Lukidis, Lydia. 2025. Up, Up High: The Secret Poetry of Earth’s Atmosphere. Ill. by Katie Rewse. Capstone.
56. Macfarlane, Robert. 2025. Glow Worm. Ill. by Luke Adam Hawker. Magic Cat Publishing. 
57. McCullough, Joy. 2025. Everything is Poison. Dutton.
58. Messner, Kate. 2025. The Trouble with Heroes. Bloomsbury.
59. Moore, Jessica Care. 2025. Your Crown Shines: For Ketanji Brown Jackson. Ill. by Dare Coulter. HarperCollins.
60. Muñoz, Gloria. 2025. This Is the Year. Holiday House.
61. Murray, Yvette, 2025. A Gullah Geechee Color Wheel. Ill. by Tonya Engel. Free Spirit.
62. Novesky, Amy. 2025. The Poet and the Bees. Ill. by Jessica Love. Viking.
63. O'Brien, Gráinne. 2025. Solo. Little Island.
64. Ogle, Rex. 2025. When We Ride. Norton Young Readers. 
65. Oet, Rainie. 2025. Glitch Girl! Kokila Books.
66. Paulino, Jasminne. 2025. The Extraordinary Orbit of Alex Ramirez. Putnam. 
67. Pérez, Ashley Hope. Ed. 2025. Banned Together: Our Fight for Readers’ Rights. Ill. by Debbie Fong. Holiday House. 
68. Perron, Lisa Varchol. 2025. Wonder Why. Ill. by Nik Henderson. HarperCollins.
69. Pixley, Marcella. 2025. Neshama. Candlewick. 
70. Pyron, Bobbie. 2025. Octopus Moon. Penguin/Paulsen Books.
71. Rose, Caroline Starr. 2025. The Burning Season. Nancy Paulsen Books. 
72. Salazar, Aida. 2025. Sing Me a Story: Latine Short Stories in Verse. Penguin.
73. Sawyerr, Hannah V. 2025. Truth Is.  Abrams/Amulet.
74. Schu, John. 2025. Ruthie Rose's Big Idea: A Poetry Story. Ill. by Holly Hatam. Candlewick.
75. Semmer, Lauren. 2025. The Night Before Christmas. Clarion Books. 
76. Singleton, Kimberly. 2025. I Love My People. Ill. by Kim Holt. Augsburg Fortress/Beaming Books. 
77. Smith, Colby Cedar. 2025. The Siren and the Star. Simon & Schuster.
78. Snyder, Laurel. 2025. The Book of Candles. Ill. by Leanne Hatch. HarperCollins. 
79. Steinberg, D. J. 2025. Father’s Day, Here I Come! Ill. by Laurie Stansfield. Penguin/Grosset & Dunlap. 
80. Stemple, Heidi E.Y. 2025. The Poetry of Car Mechanics. Astra/Wordsong.
81. Sumner, Jamie. 2025. Please Pay Attention. Simon & Schuster.
82. Tate, Don. 2025. A Poem for Dudley Randall. Ill. by Laura Freeman. Abrams. 
83. Taylor, Sean. 2025. You're a Poet: Ways to Start Writing Poems. Ill. by Sam Usher. Candlewick.
84. Tison, Ari and Chapman, Ty. 2025. All Power to the People: Poems to Address the Past, Present, and Future of Policing. Lerner/Zest.
85. Todd, Traci N. 2025.This is Not a Small Voice. Ill. by Jade Orlando. Nosy Crow.
86. Torrible, Tricia. 2025. Torrible Puns: A Collection of Punny Poems. Ill. by Robert Dunn. Gnome Road. 
87. Venkatraman, Padma. 2025. Safe Harbor. Penguin.
88. Wardlaw, Lee. 2025. My Book of Firsts: Poems Celebrating a Baby’s Milestones. Ill. by Bruno Brogna. Red Comet Press.
89. Watson, Renée. 2025. All the Blues in the Sky. Bloomsbury.
90. Waters, Charles and Latham, Irene. 2025. If I Could Choose a Best Day: Poems of Possibility. Ill. by Olivia Sua. Candlewick.
91. Weatherford, Carole Boston and Weatherford, Jeffery Boston. 2025. Rap It Up! Ill. by Ernel Martinez. Macmillan/Holt.
92. Weil, Zero. 2025. 2025. Hear the Trees. Web of Life.
93. Wilson, Kip. Ed. 2025. All the Love Under the Vast Sky. Nancy Paulsen Books.
94. Winters, Kari-Lynn and Sherritt-Fleming, Lori. 2025. Hungry for Engineering: Poems to Gnaw On. Ill. by David Whamond. Fitzhenry & Whiteside. 
95. Wolf, Allan. 2025. The Gift of the Broken Teacup: Poems of Mindfulness, Meditation, and Me. Candlewick Press. 
96. York, Rabiah. 2025. The One and Only Rumi. Ill. by Manuel Manouchehri. Penguin/Paulsen. 
97. Zoboi, Ibi. 2025. (S)kin. Versify.

I'm late to the party, but be sure to check out the other blog posts gathered for our recent Poetry Friday by Tabatha at The Opposite of Indifference here. Meanwhile, happy new year of poetry!

Cybils Poetry Finalist: CLARA'S KOOKY COMPENDIUM

Janet and I are so pleased to share the news that Clara's Kooky Compendium of Thimblethoughts and Wonderfuzz is a finalist for the Cybils Award in the Poetry category! Woohoo!

There are 7 poetry finalists and we are SO honored to be among them! For more information, go here. Meanwhile, here's the full list: 

A Planet Is a Poem
Amanda West Lewis, illustrated by Oliver Averill
Kids Can Press, Ltd

Black Girl You Are Atlas
Renée Watson, illustrated by Ekua Holmes
Kokila

Grace Notes: Poems about Families
Naomi Shihab Nye
Greenwillow Books

Haiku, Ew!: Celebrating the Disgusting Side of Nature
Lynn Brunelle, illustrated by Julia Patton
Millbrook Press

Poetry Comics
Grant Snider
Chronicle Books

Windsongs: Poems about Weather
Douglas Florian, illustrated by Douglas Florian
Beach Lane Books

AND OUR BOOK:
Clara’s Kooky Compendium of Thimblethoughts and Wonderfuzz
Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong; illus. by Frank Ramspott
Pomelo Books

The committee also chose 7 novels in verse! 

The winners in each category will be announced on Feb. 14, 2025.

But it is truly an honor to be one of the 7 finalists! 

Now head on over to Mary Lee's amazing blog, A(nother) Year of Reading, for our Poetry Friday gathering here.