Independent Reading Level: 2-5
Awards: Mom's Choice Gold Award/Educator's Choice, Winner, 2008
Best Juvenile Book Award--Missouri Writer's Guild, Winner, 2007
February Kirkus Reviews--Starred Review, Commended, 2006
NAPPA Honor Award, Winner, 2006 ( )

This is a great book to read when introducing poetry to children! Each letter of the alphabet corresponds to a type of poetry, with a brief description and then a poem featuring that type. Definitely a great resource to use and start discussions with. ( )

I enjoyed this poetry book titled, R is For Rhyme, A Poetry Alphabet by Judy Young. I enjoyed the book for its writing, illustrations and language. I enjoyed the book for the writing aspect because it was clear and direct. It showed an example of what the type of poem was supposed to be coupled with an illustration, and on the side of the page was a side note of information about what that type of poem is and how to construct one. For example, in the P is for Picture Poems with the poem “The Kite” showed how a kite looks with the description of the kite in the shape of a kite. Then on the side, the information revealed how to compose a picture poem and how they are “not only meant to be read, but also be seen” meaning that the words describing the kite should be in the shape of a kite (Pg. 25). I liked this layout of the book so I knew what to look for in each poem and understand why it was written the way it was. I also liked the illustrations in this book because the illustrations were vibrant and colorful. They seemed to be watercolor paintings. They matched the poems so well. For example, for the letter B, for Ballad the title of the poem was named “Ballad of the Butterfly and Rose”. Ballads are historically known for being love stories that end in tragedy. While this ballad was most definitely tragic, the illustration made me smile, because I thought it was the perfect picture to match the poem. The illustration included a butterfly proposing to a rose bud with a ring in a box. While the story, far fetched, the illustration made it that much more real and easier to grasp. Illustrations like these were what made the poem stand out and special. I also enjoyed the language of the book because the language was descriptive and well explained. The poems were just as valuable as the artwork. The language of each of the poems showed imagery and descriptive language. For example, the D is for Doublet poem, called “Rain to Snow” described how it feels to be outside when the rain turns to snow. The side note information also did a great job of explaining how the concepts of doublets work and putting the seemingly confusing formula into simple, easy-to-understand contexts. The audience was directed towards all ages of children because it was sophisticated enough language that it would entertain a 6th grader, but explanatory enough that with assistance, a first grader would love to learn about poems. The big message of this book is that poetry is beautiful, and deserves recognition and is all around us. There are so many types of poems that it could make an entire book, meaning that there is a lot to learn and to be aware about with poetry. And this book is a great way to introduce poetry to all ages.

A non fiction poetry picture book set at a basic reading level. it is based around the alphabet. includes a teacher guide and activity sheets

Genre: Poetry

Media: Watercolor and Colored Pencils

Summary: This book is an alphabet book of acrostic poems. This book could be used to teach children the alphabet, or it could be used to show examples of acrostic poems. This book is a good example of a poetry book because it also includes other aspects such as the alphabet. This is also a good example of a poetry book because it shows alliteration as well.