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Put your spine into it for National Poetry Month

Originally Published: March 22, 2011

On the blog of the Association for Library Services to Children, Travis Jonker has put out an unusual call for submissions for National Poetry Month: book spine poetry.

Last year, inspired by artist Nina Katchadourian, I tried my hand at book spine poetry and came away convinced that this was just the sort of thing that kids would take to. I shared my experience on the ALSC Blog and encouraged others to try it with their students or young patrons and send me photos. I posted a gallery of student poems on my blog, 100 Scope Notes.

Jonker will be putting up a new gallery all through the month of April with photos of student poems, but you shouldn't feel shy about playing along at home with your own library. Jonker encourages aspiring book spine poets to take notes on particular titles or use the library catalog to find specific words your dream poem requires, but he also notes that, "The best part of this type of poetry is the fact that you don’t know where you’ll end up." If the kids' poems are any indication, simple works best in this format:

Allison
The Dreamer
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The Angry Moon

So for a real challenge, try starting with something a little more complicated. Might we recommend some mIEKAL aND?

Voyage 1984 Greta Garbo Limbo Book
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The Angry Moon