16 Words

  Since our house is filled with books of poetry, I appreciate the children's biographies that are about the poets themselves.  16 Words is a lovely imagining of what inspired William Carlos Williams and led him to write poetry that seems short and simple but gave such a sense of the moment and emotion.

My friend, Margaux, and I are currently writing a poem a day to send to each other.  It's a pretty fun practice!  A lot of our poems are inspired by our daily life and the world outside our back door.  (Much like Williams Carlos William's inspiration).

16 Words

William Carlos Williams and "The Red Wheelbarrow"

Lisa Rogers

illustrations by Chuck Groenink 2019

    

Poetry for Young People William Carlos Williams

Scholastic has a series of Poetry for Young People that takes the works of famous poets and makes them accessible to children.  They do this by including a biography of the poet, illustrations, explanations of the poems and definitions of words and styles.   It's a great way to read poetry with kids.  Though William Carlos Williams is not one of my favorite poets, it's still worth reading his lines, especially when you are learning to appreciate his sound and rhythm and inspiration at the same time.  We have several of this series, all picked up second hand.

Poetry for Young People

William Carlos Williams

edited by Christopher McGowan

illustrated by Robert Crockett