40 Poems for 40 Weeks
edited by David L. Harrison and Timothy V. Rasinski
Routledge, 2025
It is a huge honor to have one of my poems living inside this book with poems by so many poets whose work I admire!
This book was inspired by a school librarian who wanted a source for poems that she could share, one a week, in her library. As a bonus, a word play activity — a word ladder — was created to accompany each of the poems. The joy of poetry and the fun of word games, combined! What’s not to love?!?!
In her introduction, Sylvia Vardell, who blogs at Poetry for Children and who, with Janet Wong (Pomelo Books), has worked tirelessly to encourage the use of poetry for developing language skills, lists fifteen solid benefits for sharing poetry with children. One of my favorites is #7 “Poetry has built-in opportunities for choral reading, group presentations, recitals, and performance.” Almost every Friday in my classroom was Poetry Friday. Students would choose a poetry book and a partner (or go it alone), find a poem, practice reading it aloud, then perform for the class. It was a favorite time of the week for the students and a weekly opportunity for me to do informal assessments of oral fluency!
Do you need to get a little more poetry into your classroom EVERY week and month of the year (not just in April)? This is the book for you!
A(nother) Year of Reading 
I’ll be checking this gem out! I love a poetry prompt book like no other book – – what a way to inspire creativity! Thanks for sharing this!
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Thank you for this! I love Tim Rasinski and I love poetry. I always felt that my students were empowered to be poets even when they didn’t feel like they were writers.
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There was so much talk about the need for poetry at Saturday Reunion this past weekend, so this book rec is coming at the exact right time. What an awesome accomplishment to be a part of this book – congrats!
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Mary Lee, you sold me. And I’m not even in the classroom anymore. How could I resist the combination of poetry, word play, and poets I love? And I want to know what poem was included by Ted Kooser.
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Kooser’s poem is a long narrative about apple trees that work their way down a hill. It’s delightful. If you’ve read the adult book NORTH WOODS, it will remind you a bit of that.
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I love so many of his poems, but I’m not familiar with this one. I heard him speak at the Seattle Arts & Lecture series some time ago. It remains a favorite memory. He spoke at the Chihuly Garden and Glass Museum!
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Oooooooh! A weekly poem in the classroom is already my practice–and I can’t wait to check this out. Might just be perfect to share with colleagues who are less confident about choosing poems to share with their students. And congrats on having your poem in the book. What an honor!
Kim
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You’re breaking my book budget, Mary Lee! Congratulations to you — what a well deserved honor!
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