It’s almost one of my favorite times of year, when two of my absolute loves collide: National Poetry month.  All of April I will be sharing poetry picture books (one for every single day).  Why poetry picture books? Well…

Poetry is something I’ve been passionate about ever since I can remember and one of the first things I memorized, wrote, and published at a young age.

Maybe it’s Shel Silverstein’s fault.  Maybe he was my first influence.  BUT since it was my dad that helped me pick out one of Shel’s poems to perform (though I was terrified to stand on a stage in front of a crowd) for some event in elementary school (a talent contest?), perhaps it’s his influence.  I found out late in life that he wrote poetry as well.  Perhaps it was he that steered me towards those books in the library when I was younger.  I really don’t know.  BUT there is just something about poetry that has always spoken to me.

It is almost like taking a feather quill to prick your finger and write with blood as ink on the page.  Perhaps that’s too romantic or gruesome an image?  BUT it’s that intimate, personal, profound, and heartfelt look into someone’s soul captured in the fewest amounts of words that never ceases to enthrall me.  HOW do you get words to reveal so much, in so little?

And this year, the National Poetry Month poster is done by a kidlit author-illustrator!  YES!  Did you hear?  Marc Brown (of ARTHUR fame) was tasked with painting the poster this year.  And the poem he picked for inspiration is beautiful.  Aren’t we all carrying something with us these days?  This also feels like such a perfect introduction to poetry picture books this year!

I hope you will enjoy all of the picture books I’ve read for these as much as I did.  I read quite a few books and culled them down, just for you dear readers.  I hope you too will find the poetry in marshmallow clouds, in ponds, in sea glass and even in spiders.

If you enjoy my posts, comment and let me know.  But more importantly, I ask you to support all the poets and book editors I post about.  These are small niche books and can be easily overlooked.  Check them out or request them from the library.  Buy them.  Review them on amazon, Goodreads, etc.  Share them.  Gift them.  Any way you can support the poets I will be sharing this next month would be greatly appreciated.

Keep in mind, these won’t be my only posts in April.  I will still have some Simply 7 interviews too.  BUT I do know that poetry isn’t everyone’s thing.  If you don’t want to read the poetry ones, ignore anything with NPM (aka National Poetry Month) in the title. And thank you for continuing to read my blog! <3