This Poem Is A Nest, written by Irene Latham and illustrated by Johanna Wright. Wordsong, Pengin Random House. 2020. $23.99 ages 10 and up

 

"HIDDEN TREASURE STORY

This poem has gemnstones, 

pirates and feast

glittery gold

      and a ladder - 

time now to stop, 

ask, why mouse-squeak?"

In Part I, Irene Latham writes four seasonal poems, collectively called NEST.  Her premise is to then use these poems to provide words and phrases for each 'nested' written for Part II. The first four poems describe a robin's nest from building, to nestlings, to fledglings, to independence, to the abandoned nest being used by a squirrel as a haven from winter's chill. The first three lines of the spring poem parallel the first three lines of the winter poem, with slight changes made to describe the nest's different inhabitants. 

From those poems, the accomplished Ms. Latham goes on to pen 161 'nestlings' poems - all created from the original NEST. Each of the short 'found' poems deal with a variety of themes: time, color my world, animals among us, only human, for the love of words, places seen and unseen, and (out of) time. Quite the incredible accomplishment.

Each is titled; some titles are longer than the poems themselves. Only those title words are not found in the initial poetry.  

'THE POWER OF IMAGINATION 

turtle tucked in moonlight

makes cathedral 

inside"

"DANCING

wordless flight 

of heartbeat 

and feet

I found myself going back again and again to find the 'nestlings' and be amazed by the rich language. In Tips From a Nest-Builder: How to Find Nestlings, the poet gives clear instructions for choosing the nest with care, and then doing the research needed to find the words, play with them, write carefully, and let them go. This is wonderful guidance for teachers and students wanting to explore poetry and to try writing found poems of their own. An index of poem titles follows, allowing readers to go back to their favorites.

Inspirational!