Write! Write! Write!

Following their poetic tribute to reading, Read! Read! Read!, VanDerwater and O’Rourke return with a collection of 22 poems about writers and their craft. VanDerwater, via various poetic forms, covers familiar motifs—starting out (“First: Find a place”), overcoming writer’s block (“Ideas spread like wildflowers/ when you move your hand”), and editing (“I read again. What do I see?/ Superfluous apostrophe?”)—alongside broader explorations of drafting. O’Rourke’s lightsome artwork, rendered in oil paints and colored digitally, features paper doll–like children of various skin tones embodying their accompanying poems, sometimes surreally: one child draws a dragon in midair with a magical pen, another picks glowing gems from an idea tree. The poems are by turns amusing and thoughtful, and their examination of the writing process will be particularly useful to educators. Ages 5–9. [em](Mar.) [/em]