These poems from Ralph Fletcher feel as if they are from children, and they are strong. These "children" witness life, they write about it. Poetry gives you that special insight into ones heart and soul - to let you know what's on their mind. One particular one that got me tearing up was Memory Loss, on page 7, and Grandma on page 10. It is beautifully blunt with the truth that children feel. ( )

This book was filled with different poems. The poet wrote the poems in different styles throughout the book. The words were very easy to pronounce and understand. The author wrote about many different topics. The author encourages poets to write about whatever is on there mind, just to have emotion with the words that they choose. The illustrations in this book were vauge, but they went with all of the poems. This would be a great book to share with students when discussing poetry. ( )

summary: A young writer's experiences are described in twenty seven mostly free verse poems. Like roadkill, Flytraps, a grandmothers senility. snow angels.

personal: this book is nothing short of amazing the way the author tells their story through poetry

extension: 1. have students write a poem of something in their life
2.start a round robin poetry writing with class

Z picked this up as part of his ongoing effort to clean off the shelves at the branch library. It was meh for him . . . Some worked and some didn't. Lots of focus on poetry units at school . . . So this was kind of not in his frame of reference. ( )

Different forms of poetry with various topics are presented.

The book would be useful in discussing poetry, writing, and finding inspiration for writing. ( )