Poetry I

COOL CONCRETE POEMS and more

	Joan Bransfield Graham’s brightly illustrated Flicker Flash (Sandpiper, 2003) is a collection of 23 concrete poems about many aspects of light, from birthday candles to fireflies, moonlight, light bulbs, and lightning. For ages 4-9.
	Also by Graham, Splish Splash (Sandpiper, 2001) is a collection of concrete poems about water, from rain, hail, and dew to waterfalls, popsicles, steam, and crocodile tears. For ages 4-9.
	J. Patrick Lewis’s Doodle Dandies (Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2002) is a delightful collection of concrete poems, using a creative mix of word shapes and photographs. Subjects include skyscrapers, giraffes, dachshunds, and baseball. For ages 5-10.
	Chris Harris’s I’m Just No Good at Rhyming (Little, Brown, 2017), with great illustrations by Lane Smith, is a wickedly funny collection that will win over even determined poetry-haters. For ages 7-11.
	Karen Jo Shapiro’s Because I Could Not Stop My Bike and Other Poems (Charlesbridge, 2005) is a collection of hilarious poems that are take-offs on famous works by Shakespeare, Tennyson, Dickinson, and others. (Pair with the originals.) For ages 7-11.
	By John Grandits, Technically It’s Not My Fault (Sandpiper, 2004) is a terrific collection of concrete poems, supposedly written by a snarky eleven-year-old named Robert. Titles include “Skateboard,” “My Sister Is Crazy,” “Bloodcurdling Screams,” and “It’s Not Fair,” which last involves forbidden fireworks.
	Also by Grandits, Blue Lipstick (Sandpiper, 2007) is a collection of concrete poems supposedly written by a fifteen-year-old girl, Jessie. Titles include “Bad Hair Day.” “Talking to My Stupid Younger Brother Is Like Swimming Upstream in a River to Nowhere,” “Zombie Jocks,” and “Pocket Poem.”
	Paul B. Janeczko’s A Poke in the I (Candlewick, 2005) is a wonderful collection of 30 concrete poems – that is, poems that have two-dimensional shapes, or in which the arrangement of words and letters contributes to the meaning of the poem – by some extraordinary visual poets, among them John Hollander and Douglas Florian. For all ages.