If This Bird Had Pockets by Amy Ludwig Vanderwater {Poetry Friday}

It's March and poet Amy Ludwig Vanderwater along with illustrator Emma J Virjan had a book birthday this week with If This Bird Had Pockets  - A Poem in Your Pocket Day Celebration. The very first poem is an invitation to participate in Poem in Your Pocket Day written by me. 

The author line of me is clever and a subtle point of view to observe. The rest of the poetry collection is authored by various animals until you read the last poem where me returns to end the book with a poem about writing poetry and loving animals. 

Informational poetry is interesting! I read them with an inquiring mind looking for pieces of information to teach me more about a creature. This morning I learned the gargantuan tarantula cannot dine on birds and they can't because birds can fly. Did you know bottlenose dolphins live in pods and stay together for protection from hunters or predators? It's Not Difficult by American Alligator is the perfect piece of text when there is confusion or a need to identify an alligator versus a crocodile. 

The illustrations are done using granite sketches painted digitally and enhance each poem. The illustrations help the reader understand what each animal looks like and where they live in a simplistic yet detailed way.

I can't wait to spend more time with this text and look at Amy's poetry craft moves and weave these into our upcoming poetry unit.

Thank you Kat at Karthryn Apel for hosting Poetry Friday this week.