First Steps in Verse: *You’re a Poet and Dino Poet

You’re a Poet is a friendly and practical guide not just to writing poetry, but thinking poetically.

*You’re A Poet: Ways to Start Writing Poems by Sean Taylor, Illustrated by Sam Usher. Candlewick, 2025, 65 pages.

Reading Level: Picture Book, ages 4-8

Recommended for: ages 5-10

Piglet and his mom are out for a walk on a beautiful sunshiny day. Happy for no particular reason, Piglet drops a stone in a puddle and “Words splashed out of the water.” The air must have been thick with inspiration, because the same thing happened when Piglet shuffled in the sand (warm, loose, deep). Just a few words, but true words, says Mom, and that’s what matters. Calling up true words for any experience leads to Piglet making a “Puddle poem,” with a key word in the middle and descriptive words all around.  

In the next episode, Piglet and his best friend Squirrel spend a day at the beach. A pop-up thunderstorm chases them out of the water, but that a perfect opportunity to think up a Comparing (simile) poem. Later, a breezy day inspires an “If-I-Was” poem and gratitude for parental help an “I-Would-Give-You” poem. By the end of the book, most young readers—even pre-readers—will be charmed by the warm text and lively pictures. But more, they may just be encouraged to follow up with poems of their own. Each episode ends with how-to pages and further writing hints, making it almost impossible not to follow the simple steps.

A quote by Adrian Mitchell captures the spirit of this approach: “Poetry is a bucket for holding truth.” Piglet learns it’s a way to “say big things in little ways.” Just looking around and letting the words splash out is a great way to start.

Bottom Line: Appealing in text and illustration, and effective in communicating the joy of creating with words.

Dino Poet introduces poetry-phobic kids to the wide world of verse.

Dino Poet: A Graphic Novel by Tom Angleberger. Abrams, 2025, 93 pages.

Reading Level: Picture Book, ages 4-8

Recommended for: ages 5-10

Rather than pastel pictures and the warm family life of Piglet and Squirrel, this poetry primer begins with splashy colors and ravenous predators. Coelophysis (pronunciation guide included) is trying to write a poem amid the clamor of other species eager to eat him. Coelophysis has his eye on another meal: a lowly frog. But first to write about the experience. Frog objects, naturally; besides resistant to being eaten, he also criticizes the big lizard’s facile rhymes. “If you wan to write a good poem, you have to put in the work. Don’t chase me . . . Chase life!” This makes sense to Coelophysis, who immediately sets off chasing life with a reluctant Frog in tow.

First lesson: If nothing rhymes with Pterodactyl, forget about rhyming; just choose words that show how you feel about the sight of a flying reptile on the breeze. Second lesson: Poems are about feelings, so they don’t have to be pretty. They can also be SCARY (as Frog knows). More lessons: Poems can be about anything, common or epic. They can follow a strict rhyme scheme (such as limerick) or a strict syllabic scheme (like haiku). They can be funny or gross. But the big question is, will Frog end up as lunch for Coelophysis? Your not-so-literate 4^th-grader will enjoy finding out, and may even learn something about poetry, too.

Bottom Line: A fun and funny introduction to what makes poetry work.

Also at Redeemed Reader

• Resource: Think you don’t like poetry? Megan begs to differ.
• Review: Another interesting approach to writing it: Poetry Comics.
• Reviews: Tom Angleberger is the author of Origami Yoda and its many sequels, including Darth Paper Strikes Back. Also Fuzzy, a robot novel with human implications.

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