My blog is an adult! It's hard to believe I've kept at it this long, albeit intermittently. What started as a grad school project continues to bring me joy. It's a resource I find valuable and I hope the readers of my blog do, as well.
Here's to more book reviews and program reflections as I continue on my journey as a youth services librarian!
Older Blogiversary Posts for a Walk Down Memory Lane:
Hello! It's been a busy few months with summer programs and then taking a break to plan my fall programs.
My library system uses the Collaborative Summer Library Program so 2026 was all about dinosaurs with a slogan of "Unearth a Story." My program runs for 6 weeks (with a break for the week of July 4th) and I do programs for 3 age groups: 0-6, 7-12, and 11-18. The programs for 0-6 and 7-12 happen weekly and the events for 11-18 happen twice a month.
Working within the theme of dinosaurs and with a slight nod to America 250 at the end, here are my weekly subthemes for 0-6 and 7-12.
That's a wrap, folks! Thanks for celebrating National Poetry Month with me and exploring how to share poetry with children and teens. Whether you're a fellow librarian, teacher, or homeschool parent, I hope you found and continue to find these posts useful in your own journey of sharing poetry with young people.
A little about how my interest in poetry developed: I wrote my first poem when I was eleven encouraged by a friend of the family who wrote poetry. Poets I enjoyed in middle school and high school were old school: Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost, Edgar Lee Masters. My teacher for freshman English in high school had us doing tons of creative writing. This is when I discovered haiku and acrostic poems. I filled notebooks with poetry in high school and that continued in college. As an English Literature major, I discovered other poets. I was especially taken with the Imagism. While taking a Literature for Children and Youth class, a group assignment was to put together a themed poetry collection for children. While browsing children's poetry books, I came across the poem "Click Beetle" by Mary Ann Hoberman in The Llama Who Had No Pajama. I loved the rhythm of the poem and how fun it was. This is when my interest in poetry written for children started. In my almost 16 year career as a youth services librarian, one of my goals has been and will always be to share the joy of poetry with children.
"Click Beetle" by Mary Ann Hoberman in The Llama Who Had No Pajama
If you missed any of the posts or want to look back at them, here's the complete list with links.
Day 1: Why Poetry?
Day 2: Young People's Poet Laureate
Day 3: Poetry Award Winners
Day 4: Nursery Rhymes
Day 5: Favorite Poets for PK & K
Day 6: Favorite Poets for Elementary
Day 7: Poetry Breaks, Fridays, Teatimes, & Picnics
Day 8: Using Poetry in Storytime
Day 9: Using Poetry on a Flannel Board
Day 10: Poetry Programs for Kids
Day 11: Thematic Poetry - Cats, Dogs, Pets
Day 12: Thematic Poetry - Birds
Day 13: Thematic Poetry - Fairy Tales
Day 14: Thematic Poetry - Concrete Poetry
Day 15: Thematic Poetry - Seasons
Day 16: Thematic Poetry - Performance Poetry
Day 17: Inspired by Eric Carle & Friends
Day 18: More Themes for Sharing Poetry
Day 19: Poetry Egg Hunt
Day 20: Invitation to Create - Anagrams & Art
Day 21: Invitation to Create - Illustrated Books
Day 22: Invitation to Create - Making, Crafting, Collecting, Listing
Day 23: Writing Poetry
Day 24: Poetry Tag
Day 25: Poetry for Tweens and Teens
Day 26: Sharing Poetry with Tweens and Teens - Invitation to Create Day 1
Day 27: Sharing Poetry with Tweens and Teens - Invitation to Create Day 2
Day 28: Sharing Poetry with Tweens and Teens - Invitation to Create Day 3
Day 29: Poetry Programs for Tweens and Teens
Creating and sharing poetry should be the simple goal. The teens can share poems they like or poems they've written themselves.
I've hosted an event called Puzzles and Poems. We put together jigsaw puzzles and created book spine poetry and blackout poetry.
Pairing poetry with something, especially a game, activity, or food can attract teens who otherwise wouldn't be interested. If you want to alliterate, you could pair poetry with pizza, pancakes, or pie.
Check out these links for further inspiration:
Today is all about Paint Chip Poetry. Using paint colors to inspire poetry has been around for quite a long time. I enjoy reading the color names and using them for poetic inspiration.
Check out the following links to see how to create Paint Chip Poetry:
If you don't want to waste paint chips to create poetry, you could try Paint Chip Poetry: A Game of Color and Wordplay created by Lea Redmond.
Another way to not waste but still create with color is to check out this post on Building Book Love.
What colorful poem are you going to create today?
Today I'll be sharing about book spine poetry and blackout poetry. Both of these are forms of found poetry. Here's a definition of a found poem from poets.org.
I discovered book spine poetry through a post on the ALSC blog by Travis Jonker. Travis blogs at 100 Scope Notes via School Library Journal. Creating book spine poetry is so fun. My favorite place to create is in the picture book section of a public library. Due to picture books larger spine, the titles are often free from labels which helps. I browse the shelves with paper and pen and jot down the titles that appeal. Only when I think I've got a poem do I pull the books and stack them up.
Here's one I wrote way back in 2016.
Blackout poetry is also known as erasure. Here's a definition of erasure from poets.org. Blackout poetry can be simply that or it can be more artistic. "The Art of Blackout Poetry" by Cheryl Trowbridge on Teach Kids Art is a good introduction to the form. A search of Pinterest for "blackout poetry ideas" yields a plethora of results. Here's a link to an online blackout poem generator. There's a new text to play with every day.
I hope you have fun creating found poems using book spines and blackout.
As I've said before, reading and sharing poetry often leads to creating poetry. There are some really fun ways to create poetry with tweens and teens. Today, I'm sharing magnetic poetry, cut-up poetry, and Post-it Note poetry. Most of these are ideas I came across on blogs or Pinterest over the years.
You can buy official Magnetic Poetry® kits from their website here. There are kits for every level and interest imaginable. You can even play with a few of the kits online. Find that here.
If buying an official kit isn't in your budget, you can make your own. Here are some links that show you how to create DIY magnetic poetry:
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| Screenshot of Pin on Pinterest |
Cut-Up Poetry is similar to magnetic poetry, but you don't need magnets. You can use words cut out of magazines, packages, junk mail, or really anything to create poems. You can make these temporary just by laying the words out on a table or piece of paper and snapping a picture of your poem. You can make it a little more permanent if you use cut-out words to make pushpin poetry or by gluing your selected words to a piece of paper. See gluing examples above, here, and here. Pushpin poetry as simple as it sounds. You put words on a cork board using pushpins. See an example here.
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| Screenshot of Pin on Pinterest |
Post-It Note Poetry is just what it sounds like. You're writing short poems on post-it notes. You could also use index cards or any smaller paper. The beauty of post-it notes is that they're sticky so you can display them. See the above image for an example. Amy Ludwig VanDerwater is writing index card poems for her 2026 poetry month challenge. See it here.
