You're a Poet: Ways to Start Writing Poems
“This delightful balance of story and rhyme makes poetry accessible and engaging for young readers.” Books for Keeps, Books of the Year 2024
When Piglet picks up a stone and drops it into a puddle, something special happens … words splash out: Wet, Fresh, Earthy, Sploshing, Sunshiny, Puddle. Piglet is a poet!
You’re a Poet is a story book with a difference – through five uniquely warm and cosy tales, readers can delight in the happy world of Piglet, his family and his friends and, at the same time, learn five brilliantly fun and easy ways to write a poem. Within each story, Sean Taylor shows children how to make a: "Puddle Poem", a "Comparing Poem", a "Make a Person Poem", an "If I Was Poem" and an "I Would Give You Poem". With plenty of poetry-writing tips and tricks after each story, Sean makes this form truly accessible and by the end of the book, even the very smallest of children will be able to confidently call themselves a poet.
Sean Taylor has written more than 60 books for young readers. These include picture books such as Hoot Owl Master of Disguise, How to be Cooler than Cool, and I Want to Be in a Scary Story, illustrated by Jean Jullien, and A Brave Bear, illustrated by Emily Hughes. He’s the author of The Dream Train, a much-loved collection of poems for bedtime, illustrated by Anuska Allepuz. And for 30 years he’s been encouraging children to write poems themselves. Find Sean online at seantaylorstories.com and on Twitter and Instagram as @seantstories.
Sam Usher graduated from the University of West England and has been shortlisted for the Waterstones Prize and the Red House Children’s Book Award and longlisted for the Kate Greenaway medal. His titles include the Seasons series: Snow, Sun, Rain and Storm. Also a talented pianist, when he’s not holding a pen and wobbling at paper you’ll find him perfecting a fiendishly difficult piece of Chopin. You can find him online at samusher.com and on Instagram as @samusherbooks.