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From Horn Book

May 1, 2023
Alexander and Nikaido offer a single poem as this lyrical picture book's text, inviting young readers (and listeners) to "dive deep into the silent sea of your imagination" and "discover... / words / raining / everywhere. / Invite them / into your paper boat / and row row row." They cleverly integrate alliteration, similes, allusions, and wordplay to model for young writers what a poem can look and sound like. The buoyant text provides ample sensory imagery and nudges readers to look, listen, hear, feel, touch, speak, and then write, offering a guide for the process of observing, imagining, and putting it all down in words. Sweet's dynamic collage illustrations, composed of "vintage and handmade papers, paint, pencils, printed letterforms, and beach pebbles," suggests another level of engagement with the concept; her lively arrangement of words and lines across each double-page spread gives readers a visual example of how to play with language. In her appended note, she reveals that the text inspired her to think of circles ("big rounded marks, delicate lines, and cut-paper shapes in orbit filling the space"), suggesting the circular nature of the writing process; lined notebook paper is visible in many of the illustrations, hinting that the goal of the book is to inspire writing, too. A note from Alexander provides further thoughts on the question: "What is poetry?" Sylvia Vardell

(Copyright 2023 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

From Publisher's Weekly

April 17, 2023
Emphatic and rhythmic verse instructs readers about the titular subject in this wonder-filled companion to Alexander and Sweet's How to Read a Book, in collaboration with poet Nikaido. An opening suggestion encourages openness ("Begin with a question,// like an acorn/ waiting for spring") and beckons readers to take "dive deep into the silent sea// of/ your/ imagination." As vivid descriptions capture sensations of creativity, imperative lines build toward a prompt to put pencil to paper and share the result. Natural motifs weave throughout as children of varied skin tones ecstatically "listen to the grass,/ the flowers,/ the trees-anything// that's friends with the sun." Sweet's striking mixed-media collages use handmade and vintage paper, watercolor and gouache techniques, and even pebbles as they visualize the text's expansive energy via wheels, circles, and spheres. The range of techniques in use supportively connects the ideas of creativity and remixing. The result is a highly welcoming invitation to write that makes clear poetry is for everyone-reader and writer alike. Creator notes conclude. Ages 4—8.

From Booklist

Starred review from March 1, 2023
Preschool-Grade 3 *Starred Review* In this companion to How to Read a Book (2019), Alexander, joined by poet Nikaido, once again encourages thoughtful and fun play with words, this time explaining how to write a poem. The text is a poem itself that asks children to "Begin with a question, / Like an acorn / waiting for spring" and continues with visceral prompts, from "listen to the grass, / the flowers, / the trees--anything / That's friends with the sun" to "discover a cotton candy cavalcade of sounds-- / Words raining everywhere," all of which elicit a connection with one's senses, emotions, and imagination. An opening quote from Nikki Giovanni, emphasizing that we are all wheels or connectors, much like a bicycle, helps set the overarching metaphor of connection. Sweet's always colorful, eye-popping collage artwork, in turn, extends the metaphor with illustrations of children interacting with a variety of spheres, lines, and arrows, crafted from vintage and handmade papers, vivid paints and pencils, and even beach pebbles. The book concludes with the ultimate encouragement, "Now, show us what you've found," as a girl appears to be on a unicycle. Upon closer inspection, however, her wheel (and by extension, idea) is connected to an array of other multicolored wheels. An exquisite guide that inspires and encapsulates the essence of poetry.

COPYRIGHT(2023) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

From Kirkus

Starred review from February 1, 2023
This companion to Alexander and Sweet's How To Read a Book (2019) offers children a path from swirling inspiration to poetry. Alexander and Nikaido's own poem, blossoming with metaphor, its similes multiplying like mushrooms, locates its advice in nature. "Begin / with a question, / like an acorn / waiting for spring." Their free verse, at once economical and luminous, beautifully charts the process from thought to expression, inviting children to imagine boundlessly. Accentuating the work of poem-making, the authors offer advice on handling those teeming words: "Invite them / into your paper boat / and row row row / across the wild white expanse." Sweet's gouache-and-watercolor illustrations depict diverse, dynamically active people within a colorful universe of collaged cut shapes, word-strewn vintage papers, pebbles, and hand-lettered text. Endlessly inventive, she affixes a drawing to loose-leaf paper, making its straight lines leap up and over three rowboats. Opposite, a group of kids collect letter shapes in a vessel folded from an old book page. Echoing the sentiment of an introductory quote from poet Nikki Giovanni ("We are all either wheels or connectors. Whichever we are, we must find truth and balance, which is a bicycle"), the double spreads are peppered with circles, curves, and loops. Alexander and Nikaido end with a final, heartfelt call to poets-in-training: "Now, show us what you've found." (This book was reviewed digitally.) Marvelously crafted to inspire blooming writers. (notes from Alexander and Sweet) (Picture book/poetry. 5-8)

COPYRIGHT(2023) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

From School Library Journal

Starred review from January 1, 2023

Gr 3 Up-What is poetry? Alexander and Nikaido use their experiences as poets, authors, illustrators, and teachers to explore the answer to this question. Written as a step-by-step guide, and using language including "first," "next," and "then," the authors teach the art of poetry. Readers are prompted to first ask a question, and then to "listen to the grass, the flowers, the trees-anything that's friends with the sun" to create imagery for their poetry. In this expert manner, the book teaches poetry by tasking students with exploring nature, questions, and ideas in unique ways. Sweet provides exquisite artwork through collage, adding to the layered metaphor of poetry. Young writers may draw inspiration from the illustrations as they embark on their own poetic pursuits. This book can be used as a class read-aloud, a stand-alone reading experience, or an integrated text for writing instruction to inspire and engage young poets. VERDICT Both a teaching tool for writing poetry as well as an ode to poetry itself. Highly recommended.-Tracey Hodges

Copyright 2023 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

From Horn Book

January 1, 2023
Alexander and Nikaido offer a single poem as this lyrical picture book's text, inviting young readers (and listeners) to "dive deep into the silent sea of your imagination" and "discover... / words / raining / everywhere. / Invite them / into your paper boat / and row row row." They cleverly integrate alliteration, similes, allusions, and wordplay to model for young writers what a poem can look and sound like. The buoyant text provides ample sensory imagery and nudges readers to look, listen, hear, feel, touch, speak, and then write, offering a guide for the process of observing, imagining, and putting it all down in words. Sweet's dynamic collage illustrations, composed of "vintage and handmade papers, paint, pencils, printed letterforms, and beach pebbles," suggests another level of engagement with the concept; her lively arrangement of words and lines across each double-page spread gives readers a visual example of how to play with language. In her appended note, she reveals that the text inspired her to think of circles ("big rounded marks, delicate lines, and cut-paper shapes in orbit filling the space"), suggesting the circular nature of the writing process; lined notebook paper is visible in many of the illustrations, hinting that the goal of the book is to inspire writing, too. A note from Alexander provides further thoughts on the question: "What is poetry?"

(Copyright 2023 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)