Pocketful of Poems

    Grimes, Nikki and illustrated by Steptoe, Javaka. Pocketful of Poems. Clarion Books, 2001. 4 to 7 years.

This collection of playful poems and highly inventive collages come together to follow protagonist Tiana as she uses her pocket full of words to make short poems on each page with an accompanying Haiku on the same subject. Grimes explains,"Ive always loved what traditional haiku teaches us about Eastern cultures, but I also thoughts It would be fun to read haiku poetry with contemporary images that I could relate to as a Harlem-born city girl, who grew up in North America. So I decided to write a few" (Author's note). The words utilized throughout to build these poems center around city life and include things like pigeons, snow, Harlem, and the moon. Each word is given two pages and due to the two poems on the same subject, it often makes a fun call and response between the poems. 
The audience for this book is young readers who may not have much experience with poetry. Due to the highly engaging illustration, even those who don't normally engage with poetry will find an appreciation for it. Grimes and Steptoe have made this collection very accessible for young readers and encourages them to play with language. The poems in this collection are all by the same author and include multiple short poems that could be read in any order but can also be read as a story. The poems are organized as things you would find in the city and the mixed media illustrations by Steptoe further add to the accessibility. Steptoe uses construction paper, clay, seeds, leaves, paper clips, and more to accompany Grimes' poems. Readers can spend time analyzing the poems and collages for a deeper understanding of the poems. Overall, this unique and creative work makes poetry highly engaging and accessible for young hesitant readers. 

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