Love Letters to Poetry | Reflection on SINGING WITH ELEPHANTS

National Poetry Month
Written By Reem Faruqi

This first page by @margaritapoet is beautiful. It tells us immediately what poetry means to the main character.

It evokes a sense of time and place, a magical summer with a famous poet and a family of musical elephants. Through whimsical verse, the first page has hooked us in! Who can put this book down after the first page?

Poetry is a dance

I also love the alliteration – wordless, wistful, wishful…

The language is playful and I get a sense of who this character will be.

This first page reminds me of the joy of poetry. Writing in verse has its challenges, but this page gives me hope and encouragement to keep on writing. Maybe, I too can write poems and twirl and leap on paper.

Reem Faruqi

Reem Faruqi is the award-winning children’s book author of Lailah’s Lunchbox, a book based on her own experiences as a young Muslim girl immigrating to the United States. She’s also the author of Amira’s Picture Day, I Can Help, Milloo’s Mind, Anisa’s International Day, and three middle grade novels in verse, Unsettled, Golden Girl, and Call Me Adnan, many of which received starred reviews. After surviving Atlanta traffic and the school drop off, Reem spends her days trying to write, but instead gets distracted easily by her camera and buttery sunlight. Reem Faruqi lives in Atlanta with her husband and three daughters. You can find her at www.ReemFaruqi.com or on Instagram or Twitter.

https://reemfaruqi.com/
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Love Letters to Poetry | Advocating for Poetry All Year Long
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Love Letters to Poetry | Art & Abolition