National Poetry Month is just around the corner and, like many of you, I’m thinking about ways to share the joy of poetry with my students. One of my favorite poetry warm-ups is creating book spine poetry. Here are a few short verses using books old and new.
Hey world, here I am!
Save me a seat.
This is the chick.
Handle with care.
The girl who drew butterflies
Finding wonders
under the egg.
On a magical, do-nothing day,
another way to climb a tree!
What are you waiting for?
Birdsongs,
voices in the air.
Feathers
soar
north on the wing.
Congratulations to Keri Snowden! Keri is the winner of a signed copy of Meet My Family: Animal Babies and Their Families by Laura Purdie Salas.
Speaking of Laura, please be sure to visit her at Writing the World for Kids for the Poetry Friday Roundup. Also, thank you to Stacey, Betsy, Beth, Kathleen, Deb, Melanie, and Lanny for creating this community and providing this space for teachers and others to share their stories every day in March and each Tuesday throughout the year. Be sure to visit Two Writing Teachers to read more Slice of Life posts.
Reading to the Core 
Your spine poems are fabulous and I love the idea of using them as a warm up with students. I think the first and the fourth are my favorites.
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Charming! I like that they can be as short as two books. In the past, I tried to make them pretty long and that’s a lot of pressure 🙂
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Book spine poetry..I’ve never tried it, but your poems inspire me. Thanks for sharing them.
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I’m always fascinated by spine poetry!
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Spine poetry! Such fun! Like you, I’m busy getting geared up for poetry month. I live poetry every day, but there’s something about spring and poetry that takes it up a notch.
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Love spine poetry! The last one is my favorite. I’ve been playing around with a few spines, too.
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Every one of these is a gem! I think I love the first one best. Thank you, Catherine! xo
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Cool spine poems, Catherine. I need to do some too. 🙂
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Your spine poems are wonderful, Catherine, but I do like the last one the best because it reminds me that spring is supposed to be here.
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I love book spine poetry! The bird one is my favorite, but these are all charming!
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This is one of those forms that seems to be easy but in reality is very tough to do well. Love these! My favorite is the birdsongs one. I hear so many birds on my morning walks, they seem to be singing just for me.
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I love this idea. I want to do it again with class this year.
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Each one brings a smile, Catherine. Nice way to welcome Poetry Month!
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Super clever.
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Catherine, your spine poems are soooo good! I need to try this idea. Favorites: the first one and the last one.
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I love this. I am going to do this, this year with my students. I will use your post as an example.
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I have alway meant to do this with students. These examples & pics are just what I need to show them. Stay tuned!
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What a great poetry exercise idea. Thanks for sharing!
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I love book spine poetry! These are great poems using the book titles.
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These are wonderful, Catherine! Often they feel forced, but not these—you’re an expert spine poet! The butterfly one is my favorite. 🙂
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I love your spine poems. The books find extra meanings in each other.
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“The Girl Who Drew Butterflies,”a familiar and intriguing book! What fun your spine poems are, thanks!
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