Out of Wonder: Poems Celebrating Poets

 

Alexander, K., Colderley, C., Wentworth, M., & Holmes, E. (2017). Out of Wonder: Poems Celebrating Poets.  Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press.

56 Pages, Grades 3-7, Poetry Picture Book, ISBN 076368094X

Out of Wonder: Poems Celebrating Poets is exactly that--poems celebrating poets.  These poems were written by Kwame Alexander, Chris Colderley, and Marjory Wentworth in the style of the twenty poets being celebrated.  The Newbery Award winning author, Kwame Alexander, and her team, not only write like the writers that inspired them, they tell the celebrated poets' stories in another way, express their love of poetry, and encourage the readers to write poems, perhaps from the inspiration of some of the great poets.  Together, Kwame and her team commemorate poets like Langston Hughes, Maya Angelou, and Robert Frost.  In this book, there are celebrated poets from ancient times, the nineteenth century, the twentieth century, and contemporary time.  The book also provides information on each of these poets and the three celebrating them.  The information includes the awards they won, their style of writing, their inspiration, their contributions, and their famous works. In addition to the poems, the illustrations by Ekua Holmes also tell a story.  Through the use of mixed-media painted collages,  Ekua expresses a sense of wonder, and she earned the Coretta Scott King Award for her illustrations.

Out of Wonder: Poems Celebrating Poets is a wonderful ode to the twenty poets included, and the writing of the three authors is moving.  This book would be an excellent addition to any classroom, especially starting at upper elementary and even through high school.  This book has a variety of different styles of poetry.  I am a huge advocate for poems, but I was not as familiar with the vast majority of the poets being celebrated.  So, I was not able to fully appreciate the similitude of the authors' writing.  I recognize that there were many poets included who significantly influenced history, however, the poems included focused more on the poets themselves and the audience's sense of wonder than the history the poets portrayed.  That being said, I love this book for language arts; as for social studies I think it could be a wonderful mentor text for a project where the students write poems from the perspective of historical figures or contemporary figures.  In addition, I love the mixed-media collages and will use this book as a mentor for the artwork, as well.