![Sky Magic](/sites/default/files/styles/book_cover_mobile_1x/public/book/0525478620.jpg?itok=wZV7PkiS)
Poets have always looked to the sky for inspiration. A range of contemporary and older poets and their exploration of the stars, sky, moon — and more — are presented, illustrated with lush, evocative paintings.
Sky Magic
![Falling Down the Page: A Book of List Poems](/sites/default/files/styles/book_cover_mobile_1x/public/book/1596432209.jpg?itok=OGx_BVn6)
Schools and students create many lists. This collection is filled with poetry made up of lists, generally suggesting the pattern of a school year. A range of contemporary poets offer accessible and appealing work in a delicately illustrated, long list-like format.
Falling Down the Page: A Book of List Poems
![The Poet Slave of Cuba: A Biography of Juan Francisco Manzano](/sites/default/files/styles/book_cover_mobile_1x/public/book/0805077065.jpg?itok=1K0sCuX3)
Written in verse, this is a Pura Belpré Award-winning portrait of Juan Francisco Manzano, the poet who was born a slave in Cuba in 1797. Margarita Engle explores Manzano’s poetic interpretations of his world and what freedom really means in a slave society.
The Poet Slave of Cuba: A Biography of Juan Francisco Manzano
![Faces of the Moon](/sites/default/files/styles/book_cover_mobile_1x/public/book/157091785X.jpg?itok=oITChvch)
A rhyming text in an intriguing format introduces the Moon’s cyclical nature — its phases. An informational note concludes this introductory look at the Moon and why it appears to change.
Faces of the Moon
![Vacation: We're Going to the Ocean](/sites/default/files/styles/book_cover_mobile_1x/public/book/1590785681.jpg?itok=lT5SI8Ec)
Sam’s clear, boyish voice becomes clear from the first poem and as he and his family take to the car traveling toward an ocean vacation. Sam is all boy — reflected in his candid observations, his often humorous actions, and black/white illustrations.
Vacation: We’re Going to the Ocean
![Dinothesaurus: Prehistoric Poems and Paintings](/sites/default/files/styles/book_cover_mobile_1x/public/book/1416979786.jpg?itok=PsMwfU6B)
Mixed-media illustrations and playful poetry portray a range of mostly well known dinosaurs from their start to extinction. Wordplay and poetry combine to present prehistoric creatures in a large format just right to support the subject.
Dinothesaurus: Prehistoric Poems and Paintings
![Mirror to Nature: Poems about Reflection](/sites/default/files/styles/book_cover_mobile_1x/public/book/1590786246.jpg?itok=-ZgBGPA6)
A variety of animals in their natural habitat are presented here in handsome full-color photographs accompanied by a range of short poems that they inspired. Both words and pictures present reflections, literal and figurative, and will likely generate discussion.
Mirror to Nature: Poems about Reflection
![Thanks to You: Wisdom from Mother & Child](/sites/default/files/styles/book_cover_mobile_1x/public/book/0061240028.jpg?itok=_jI51Zcd)
Children learn from their mothers and mothers learn from their children. Photographs from the authors’ extended family combine with gentle language to convey universal emotions and universal wisdom.
Thanks to You: Wisdom from Mother & Child
![Julie Andrews' Collection of Poems, Songs, and Lullabies](/sites/default/files/styles/book_cover_mobile_1x/public/book/0316040495.jpg?itok=XDTtZm_H)
A range of poetic styles, some rooted in the authors’ family, are shared in this handsome, easily accessible collection. Attractive illustrations are sprinkled throughout, building the joy when the poems are shared, even when listening to the beautifully read CD.
Julie Andrews’ Collection of Poems, Songs, and Lullabies
![Zen Shorts](/sites/default/files/styles/book_cover_mobile_1x/public/book/0545040876_0.jpg?itok=RNCsN27Q)
Stillwater, a large panda, tells each child a story that illustrates a principle of Zen. Although the tales will captivate children, adults may recognize the philosophy imbedded in them. Delicate, handsome illustrations capture the mood and flow of the stories.
Zen Shorts
![A Kick in the Head: An Everyday Guide to Poetic Forms](/sites/default/files/styles/book_cover_mobile_1x/public/book/0763641324.jpg?itok=GUB5JOn7)
Despite the dry subtitle, this is actually a lively guide to poetry forms both familiar and obscure. In a picture-book format, Janeczko uses examples and informative language to illustrate a wide variety of poems.
A Kick in the Head: An Everyday Guide to Poetic Forms
![Calling the Doves](/sites/default/files/styles/book_cover_mobile_1x/public/book/0892391669.jpg?itok=dFxPeN9T)
Calling the Doves is poet Juan Felipe Herrera’s story of his migrant farmworker childhood. In delightful and lyrical language, he recreates the joy of eating breakfast under the open sky, listening to Mexican songs in the little trailer house his father built, and celebrating with other families at a fiesta in the mountains. He remembers his mother singing songs and reciting poetry, and his father telling stories and calling the doves.
Calling the Doves
![Wing Nuts: Screwy Haiku](/sites/default/files/styles/book_cover_mobile_1x/public/book/0316607312.jpg?itok=ia2job4u)
Sophisticated readers will appreciate the sly humor and wordplay in the “kissin’ cousin of haiku.” Senyru focuses on everyday activities (e.g., “Freedom vanishes, as the babysitter arrives… kids are tied in nots”) complemented here by comic illustrations.
Wing Nuts: Screwy Haiku
![A Whiff of Pine, a Hint of Skunk: A Forest of Poems](/sites/default/files/styles/book_cover_mobile_1x/public/book/1416942114.jpg?itok=a743fRTw)
A range of forest inhabitants are presented imaginatively in a variety of poetic styles. From the “Bucktoothed Cleaver” (a beaver) to the chipmunks that invest in the “Acorn Savings Bank,” poetry and illustrations allow readers to see animals afresh.
A Whiff of Pine, a Hint of Skunk: A Forest of Poems
![Rhymes Round the World](/sites/default/files/styles/book_cover_mobile_1x/public/book/0525478752.jpg?itok=ejQRUBzU)
Children everywhere enjoy similar things, celebrated here in rhymes from around the world. Some are traditional while others are by credited authors; each is accompanied by soft illustrations until it’s time to say good night (in many languages).
Rhymes Round the World
![The Negro Speaks of Rivers](/sites/default/files/styles/book_cover_mobile_1x/public/book/0786818670.jpg?itok=jOTtId8R)
Dazzling watercolors turn Hughes’ short poem into an unforgettable glimpse of African American history and an emotional journey through time. A concluding note details the illustrator’s personal connection to the classic poem.
The Negro Speaks of Rivers
![Foot in the Mouth: Poems to Speak, Sing, and Shout](/sites/default/files/styles/book_cover_mobile_1x/public/book/0763606634.jpg?itok=P3gnnv1R)
The team who created A Kick in the Head (opens in a new window) presents another appealing collection of poems in varied forms and from different time periods. All these poems shout to be shared aloud while illustrations deserve multiple looks.
Foot in the Mouth: Poems to Speak, Sing, and Shout
![Flip, Flap, Fly! A Book for Babies Everywhere](/sites/default/files/styles/book_cover_mobile_1x/public/book/0763631094.jpg?itok=qNAfmw97)
A predictable rhyme leads from one baby animal to another until a child and his mama kiss “in the honey-sunny day, in the bright and breezy air.” The lively language uses lots of onomatopoeia and soft illustrations that are just right for sharing aloud.
Flip, Flap, Fly! A Book for Babies Everywhere
![The Cuckoo's Haiku and Other Birding Poems](/sites/default/files/styles/book_cover_mobile_1x/public/book/0763630497.jpg?itok=bnr8cqxb)
This handsome book is presented as though the notebook of a birder. It combines haiku, information about birds, and realistic watercolors with notes. Additional brief comments conclude a book that is sure to spark continued interest.
The Cuckoo’s Haiku and Other Birding Poems
![Calendar](/sites/default/files/styles/book_cover_mobile_1x/public/book/0823417255.jpg?itok=SN7oqwVn)
Luminous illustrations brighten up each month of the year in this brief but evocative jaunt. The seasons come to life through rhythmic language and translucent images that beg to be shared aloud.
Calendar
![Brothers and Sisters: Family Poems](/sites/default/files/styles/book_cover_mobile_1x/public/book/0060562846.jpg?itok=o4zYdi9E)
Recognizable sibling relationships and associated emotions come alive in dynamic poems and realistic watercolor illustrations. As irritating as brothers and sisters can be, “…I’d rather have them, than not.”
Brothers and Sisters: Family Poems
![The House in the Night](/sites/default/files/styles/book_cover_mobile_1x/public/book/0618862447.jpg?itok=XRt0e1_3)
A spare, patterned text and glowing pictures explore the origins of light that make a house a home in this Caldecott Medal-winning bedtime book for young children. Naming nighttime things that are both comforting and intriguing to preschoolers—a key, a bed, the moon—this timeless book illuminates a reassuring order to the universe. (2009 Caldecott Medal Winner)
The House in the Night
![Home of the Brave](/sites/default/files/styles/book_cover_mobile_1x/public/book/0312535635.jpg?itok=UB0TBt2x)
This novel, written in free verse, tells the story of Kek, an eleven-year-old boy from the Sudan who arrives as a refugee to Minnesota in the middle of winter. In moments both amusing and heartbreaking, it is possible to see through Kek’s eyes what it is like for new immigrants who come to this country and to think about the scars that war leaves on its youngest victims. Teacher’s Guide (opens in a new window) available.
Home of the Brave
![The Tale of Tales](/sites/default/files/styles/book_cover_mobile_1x/public/book/0552548871.jpg?itok=AFjyX9v6)
The story of a group of animals making their way to Volcano Valley to hear the Tale of Tales, the greatest story ever told. Along the way, the animals meet new travelers and each shares his own story with the group.