Barnes & NobleHow to Write a Poem by Kwame Alexander

I Felt Like I was 6 Again Biting into a Warm Donut

A Book Review: How to Write a Poem, By: Kwame Alexander and L. Deanna Nikaido, authors, and Melissa Sweet, illustrator. A hardcover picture book published by‎ Quill Tree Books, April 4, 2023. This book prodded me to reject the cardinal rule that book reviews must be written objectively in the third person. When I picked up How to Write a Poem and saw Melissa Sweet’s endless colorful spinning wheels, starry nights full of constellations, bicycles build for three flying across the universe and Alexander’s and Nikaido’s “words raining everywhere,” a warm sensation enveloped me - I was 6 years old again, biting into a warm donut on a chilly fall morning. I felt joy, not an adult’s joy, but a child’s unbridled joy. How to Write a Poem is pure lyrical whimsy; it opens with an excerpt from Nikki Giovanni’s Bicycles: Love Poems beguiling the reader to find truth and balance. Miniature pencil figures walk and swing on tiny colored wheels and connectors reminiscent of a circus high wire act. “Begin with a Question,“ hand-drawn in a fantastic type is the next step in crafting a poem. Kids quickly realize letters and words can be fun as they not only have sounds but shapes and colors. This is the second corroboration between Newbery Medalist Kwame Alexander and Caldecott Honoree Melissa Sweet as they had previously published How to Read a Book. A sister book in style and spirit, Deanna Nikaido joined the duo to create How to Write a Poem. Figurative text welds with the eclectic blend of paper, newsprint, watercolor, gouache, pencil, cloth, and stone, that enchants from cover to cover. Assonance, consonance, imagery, metonymy, metaphors, and similes create the song while alliteration – “Dive deep, Silent Seas, Cotton Candy Cavalcade, Twist and Turn, Budding Branches, Wild, White” sings the melody. “And Dive Deep Into the Silent Sea Of Your Imagination To Discover A Cotton Candy Cavalcade Of Sounds – Words Raining Everywhere. Invite Them Into Your Paper Boat And Row Row Row Across The Wild White Expanse.” The text never loses its tempo and rhythm while the illustrations build upon the joie de vivre to the final page as a curly-haired little girl in a fuchsia headband and sweater rides a unicycle in exhilarating elation. This is also the chosen illustration for How to Write a Poem’s cover. The last page of text inside of the book challenges us to ‘Now Show Us What You’ve Found.” Interestingly, enough the final line is outside the book on the back cover. This is likely emblematic as the final answer of How to Write a Poem is not confined and locked inside of a book: “ The words have been waiting to slide down your pencil.” This is a five-star book that should appeal from toddlers to teens. This book is an excellent model for Gifted and Talented, Art, and English programs to teach and encourage students to write and illustrate their own works. This book should inspire creativity at all levels.