Chronicle Books | 978-1797219653

It’s National Poetry Month and although, YES, we should celebrate poetry year round, April is always a great opportunity to welcome more poetry into our lives.

This week, I’m sharing a new book by writer and illustrator Grant Snider. I saw an advance copy of POETRY COMICS at the Chronicle booth at NCTE last Novemeber and the title and cover  immediately caught my eye. What a clever way to make poetry accessible to young readers!

The truth is that, sometimes, teachers and adults get the idea that poetry isn’t approachable. I think back to when my kids were in elementary school. Year after year, they had to complete a “poetry notebook” that was a collection of familiar poetry forms – haiku, acrostic, limerick, and diamante. It was an introduction, but I never had the sense that my kids appreciated poetry, that their teacher regularly read poetry to the class, or that they even enjoyed the poetry project. And since I didn’t really come to appreciate poetry until several years later, I did nothing to grow their love of poetry, either.

Maybe that’s why I think POETRY COMICS is so inpiring. Take a look:

Doesn’t it make you want to try your own, two-or-more-panels poetry comic?

Framed around spring, summer, winter, and fall each section of POETRY COMICS contains poems as one or two page spreads about personal and seasonal moments throughout the year. From friendship to finding the perfect pumpkin, favorite colors to a “Lament for a Lost Bicycle,” there’s a poem for everything and everyone.

Here’s one last bit of inspiration from the book:

I’m inspired to try writing my own set of poetry comics. What about you?

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For more inspiration, visit Grant Snider’s comics website, Incidental Comics.

Make your own comic book template or use THIS one!