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A RIVER IN WORDS/HOW TO WRITE A POEM

  • Writer: Sarah
    Sarah
  • Sep 27
  • 2 min read
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A RIVER IN WORDS/HOW TO WRITE A POEM


I am a huge fan of Melissa Sweet's illustrative work! When I found two picture books by her that both focus on poetry, they went into my pile immediately. I'll start by talking about the picture books themselves and then dive into Melissa Sweet's work a little deeper!


A River of Words: The Story of William Carlos Williams by Jen Bryant is the beautiful story of a man whose days from his boyhood to adulthood were always packed full. In the early years it was school and track practice and in adulthood it was his medical career. Despite all of this, he always left room for his love of poetry and constantly scribbled lines down wherever he could. In the beginning he tried to fit the accepted ideas of rhyme and meter, but he often found that the words that came to him did not fit the normal patterns. So, he created his own style.

This book is a tribute to taking something you love and creating your own path within that love. It is a delight to read celebrating the possibilities of doing things in life that resonate with you!


The second book, How to Write a Poem, by Kwame Alexander and Deanna Nikaido is the abstract journey of examining your senses, feelings, and imagination and combining them with observations of the world around you into a poem. This is not your traditional 1, 2, 3 step formula book. Instead it helps you examine what things move you inside.

So- what am I going to do with these two books? I'm going to read them both out loud to my kids and then we'll all sit down and do some poem writing together! Yes, even me!

Let's talk about Melissa Sweet for a moment! She is a master of multiple art mediums, and she unites them into amazing collages. In A River of Words she takes a box of discarded library books and works parts of them into her wonderful illustrations. In How to Write a Poem she takes sketches and pairs them with vintage and handmade paper circles and wheels. The color and movement is a delight to the eyes!



Sharing stories, building faith, and growing together, one book at a time.

© 2025 by Sarah's Book Reviews

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