NPM 2024 - Book Spine Poem 30

For National Poetry Month this year, I am perusing my bookshelves and building book spine poems. Since someone pointed out I'd written poems about spring, summer, and fall, I knew I couldn't leave out winter.

Zero is the leaves on the tree

How do you know it's winter?

Animals

snack, snooze, skedaddle

snowflakes fall

Old bear

time to sleep

wait, rest, pause

Footprints in the snow

bear snores on

Time flies

On a snow-melting day

snowman - cold = puddle

Wake up world!

Spring is here

Poem ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2024. All rights reserved.

Sources

• Zero Is the Leaves on the Tree by Betsy Franco, illustrations by Sino Arihara
• How Do You Know It's Winter? by Ruth Owen
• Picture This: Animals by Margaret Hynes, illustrations by Andy Crisp
• Snack, Snooze, Skedaddle: How Animals Get Ready For Winter by Laura Purdie Salas, illustrations by Claudine Gévry
• Snowflakes Fall by Patricia MacLachlan, illustrations by Steven Kellogg
• Old Bear by Kevin Henkes
• Time to Sleep by Denise Fleming
• Wait, Rest, Pause: Dormancy in Nature by Marcie Flinchum Atkins
• Footprints in the Snow by Mei Matsuoka
• Bear Snores On by Karma Wilson, illustrations by Jane Chapman
• Time Flies by Eric Rohmann
• On a Snow-Melting Day: Seeking Signs of Spring by Buffy Silverman
• Snowman - Cold = Puddle: Spring Equations by Laura Purdie Salas, illustrations by Micha Archer
• Wake Up, World!: A Day In the Life of Children Around the World by Beatrice Hollyer
• Spring is Here: A Bear and Mole Story by Will Hillenbrand

It's hard to believe this is the last day of April and the last book spine poem for a while. You can find all the poems I've written this month on the Book Spine Poems page. I can't thank you enough for joining me on this journey.

NPM 2024 - Book Spine Poem 29

    For National Poetry Month this year, I am perusing my bookshelves and building book spine poems.

Stichin' and Pullin' a Gee's Bend Quilt

Eight hands round

growing patterns

inch by inch

stitch by stitch

the seasons sewn

Poem ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2024. All rights reserved.

Sources

• Stitchin' and Pullin' A Gee's Bend Quilt by Patricia C. McKissack, illustrations by Cozbi A. Cabrera
• Eight Hands Round: A Patchwork Alphabet by Ann Whitford Paul, illustrations by Jeanette Winter
• Growing Patterns: Fibonacci Numbers in Nature by Sarah C. Campbell, photographs by Sarah C. Campbell and Richard P. Campbell
• Inch by Inch by Leo Lionni
• Stitch by Stitch: Elizabeth Hobbs Keckly Sews Her Way to Freedom by Connie Schofield-Morrison, illustrations by Elizabeth Zunon
• The Seasons Sewn: A Year in Patchwork by Ann Whitford Paul, illustrations by Michael McCurdy

I hope you'll come back again to see what new poem I've cobbled together. You can find all the poems I've written this month on the Book Spine Poems page. 

NPM 2024 - Book Spine Poem 28

   For National Poetry Month this year, I am perusing my bookshelves and building book spine poems.

Climb into my lap

here’s a little poem

you read to me, I’ll read to you

books day by day

love in the library

Poem ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2024. All rights reserved.

Sources

• Climb Into My Lap: First Poems to Read Together, selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins, illustrations by Kathryn Brown
• Here's a Little Poem: A Very First Book of Poetry, collected by Jane Yolen and Andrew Fusek Peters, illustrations by Polly Dunbar
• You Read to Me, I'll Read to You: Very Short Stories to Read Together by Mary Ann Hoberman, illustrations by Michael Emberley
• Books Day By Day: Anniversaries, Anecdotes, and Activities by Susan Ohanian
• Love in the Library by Maggie Tokuda-Hall, illustrations by Yas Imamura

I hope you'll come back again to see what new poem I've cobbled together. You can find all the poems I've written this month on the Book Spine Poems page. 

NPM 2024 - Book Spine Poem 27

For National Poetry Month this year, I am perusing my bookshelves and building book spine poems.

Count Down to Fall

Shrinking days, frosty nights

summer green to autumn gold

goodbye summer, hello autumn

leaf by leaf

leaves fall down

in November

a chill in the air

every autumn comes the bear

Poem ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2024. All rights reserved.

Sources

• Count Down to Fall by Fran Hawk, illustrations by Sherry Neidigh
• Shrinking Days, Frosty Nights: Poems About Fall by Laura Purdie Salas
• Summer Green to Autumn Gold: Uncovering Leaves' Hidden Colors by Mia Posada
• Goodbye Summer, Hello Autumn by Kenard Pak
• Leaf by Leaf: Autumn Poems, selected by Barbara Rogasky, photographs by Marc Tauss
• Leaves Fall Down: Learning About Autumn Leaves by Lisa Bullard, illustrations by Nadine Takvorian
• In November by Cynthia Rylant, illustrations by Jill Kastner
• A Chill in the Air: Nature Poems for Fall and Winter by John Frank, illustrations by Mike Reed
• Every Autumn Comes the Bear by Jim Arnosky

I hope you'll come back again to see what new poem I've cobbled together. You can find all the poems I've written this month on the Book Spine Poems page. 

Poetry Sisters Write Poems to Unanswerable Questions

This month the Poetry Sisters' challenge was to dream up an unanswerable question and answer it in a poem. For example, in the poem "How Many How Much," Shel Silverstein asked, "How many slams in an old screen door?" 

On our Zoom call Sunday, we spent 5 minutes generating questions on our own, and then we shared them. It gave us a lot of ideas to work with! I tried writing to a couple of different prompts but found that every poem I started wound its way to an answer, which was not the point. Ultimately, I ended up with lots of questions and no answers. 

Ode to Wonder

How many ticks in a grandfather clock?
How many rings in a bell?
How many days in a rotating Earth?
How many pails from a well?

How many songs in 88 keys?
How many drops in the rain?
How many spins on a merry-go-round
How many thoughts in a brain?

Who made the stars?
What makes them shine?
Is there life beyond Earth in space?
Where are lost souls?
When are they found?
Why have they fallen from grace?

The why of the world
is a curious thing
with so many questions to ponder.
Sit down for a bit
and think big things
there's so much for us to wonder.

Poem ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2024. All rights reserved.

You can find the poems shared by my Poetry Sisters at the links below. 

• Tanita Davis
• Mary Lee Hahn
• Sara Lewis Holmes
• Kelly Ramsdell
• Laura Purdie Salas
• Liz Garton Scanlon

Would you like to try the next challenge? In May we’re writing in the style of Lucille Clifton and are writing poem about body parts ala "Homage to My Hips." Are you in? Good! You have a month to craft your creation and share it on May 31st in a post and/or on social media with the tag #PoetryPals. We look forward to reading your poems!  

In addition to this poem, I have been building a book spine poem each day to celebrate National Poetry Month. I hope you'll pop over to my April 26 post to check it out and explore some of the other poems I've written. If you've been following the Progressive Poem, you might like my April 25 poem, which was inspired by the unfolding plight of the poem's characters.

This week, Poetry Friday is hosted by Ruth at There is no such thing as a God-forsaken town. I hope you'll take some time to check out all the poetic things being shared today. Happy poetry Friday, friends!

NPM 2024 - Book Spine Poem 26

Happy Poetry Friday! For National Poetry Month this year, I am perusing my bookshelves and building book spine poems.

Up in the garden and down in the dirt

a seed is the start

When green becomes tomatoes

my father’s hands

Pick! Pull! Snap!

Tops and bottoms

first, peas to the table

corn

rah, rah, radishes

fresh, delicious

Let’s eat!

Poem ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2024. All rights reserved.

Sources

• Up In the Garden and Down In the Dirt by Kate Messner, art by Christopher Silas Neal
• A Seed Is the Start by Melissa Stewart
• When Green Becomes Tomatoes: Poems for All Seasons by Julie Fogliano, pictures by Julie Morstad
• My Father's Hands by Joanne Ryder, illustrations by Mark Graham
• Pick, Pull, Snap!: Where Once a Flower Bloomed by Lola Schaefer, illustrations by Lindsay Barrett George
• Tops & Bottoms, adapted and illustrated by Janet Stevens
• First Peas to the Table by Susan Grigsby, illustrations by Nicole Tadgell
• Corn by Gail Gibbons
• Rah, Rah, Radishes!: A Vegetable Chant by April Pulley Sayre
• Fresh Delicious: Poems From the Farmer's Market by Irene Latham, illustrations by Mique Moriuchi
• Let's Eat!: What Children Eat Around the World by Beatrice Hollyer

I hope you'll come back again to see what new poem I've cobbled together. You can find all the poems I've written this month on the Book Spine Poems page. 

This week, Poetry Friday is hosted by Ruth at There is no such thing as a God-forsaken town. I hope you'll take some time to check out all the poetic things being shared today.

NPM 2024 - Book Spine Poem 25

For National Poetry Month this year, I am perusing my bookshelves and building book spine poems. Today's poem was inspired by this year's Progressive Poem. (See the list of participants to follow the poem. It began with Patricia Franze at Reverie.)

The journey

out of the dust

dreamers

the undefeated

illegal

chasing freedom

unspoken

unsettling truths

This child, every child

now and then

an American story

Poem ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2024. All rights reserved.

Sources

• The Journey by Sarah Stewart, illustrations by David Small
• Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse
• Dreamers by Yuyi Morales
• The Undefeated by Kwame Alexander, illustrations by Kadir Nelson
• Illegal by Eoin Colfer and Andrew Donkin, illustrations by Giovanni Rigano
• Chasing Freedom: The Life Journeys of Harriet Tubman and Susan B. Anthony, Inspired by Historical Facts by Nikki Grimes, illustrations by Michele Wood
• Unspoken: A Story From the Underground Railroad by Henry Cole
• Unsettling Truths: The Ongoing Dehumanizing Legacy of the Doctrine of Discovery by Mark Charles and Soong-Chan Rah
• This Child, Every Child: A Book About the World's Children by David J. Smith, illustrations by Shelagh Armstrong
• Now and Then by Claire Philip, illustrations by Greg Paprocki
• An American Story by Kwame Alexander, art by Dare Coulter

I hope you'll come back again to see what new poem I've cobbled together. You can find all the poems I've written this month on the Book Spine Poems page. 

NPM 2024 - Book Spine Poem 24

For National Poetry Month this year, I am perusing my bookshelves and building book spine poems.

We 

wonder

the shape of the world

gravity

spiders and their webs

dinosaur bones

bubble homes and fish farts

how the sea came to be

the stunning science of everything

Poem ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2024. All rights reserved.

Sources

• We by Alice Schertle, illustrations by Kenneth Addison
• Wonder by R.J. Palacio
• The Shape of the World by K.L. Going, illustrated Lauren Stringer
• Gravity by Jason Chin
• Spiders and Their Webs by Darlyne A. Murawski
• Dinosaur Bones by Bob Barner
• Bubble Homes and Fish Farts by Fiona Bayrock, illustrations by Carolyn Conahan
• How the Sea Came to Be: And All the Creatures In It by Jennifer Berne, illustrations by Amanda Hall
• The Stunning Science of Everything: Science With the Squishy Bits Left In! by Nick Arnold, illustrations by Tony De Saulles

I hope you'll come back again to see what new poem I've cobbled together. You can find all the poems I've written this month on the Book Spine Poems page.