The Proper Way to Meet a Hedgehog and Other How To Poems

The Proper Way to Meet a Hedgehog and Other How To Poems

I was intrigued by the idea of a collection of “How To” poems, specifically because in the past two years, teachers had been asking me for more example of how to within books as how to writing is pretty explicitly taught within our curriculum. So, I was very excited as I read examples that I could share with our teachers.  One takeaway, the poems “On the Fourth of July” and “Fireworks” seemed slightly jarring to me as I read the anthology in order. I’m not sure if I felt they didn’t fit as “How To” poems or if their placement within the book felt off following two spreads about snow angels and snowflakes. The two poems that followed: “Tired Hair” and “Barbershop” also seemed out of place to me. Overall, I really enjoyed “The Proper Way to Meet a Hedgehog and Other How To Poems.”

I found How to Tell a Camel to be very clever! The difference between Bactrian and Dromdary – if you turn the first letters B and D on their sides, you will see two humps (Bactrian) and one hump (Dromedary). Brilliant!

My favorite poem was “Basketball Rule #2” by Kwame Alexander. The last four lines of the poem were particularly insightful:

Work smart

Live smarter

Play hard

Practice harder

Title: The Proper Way to Meet a Hedgehog and Other How To Poems

Selected by: Paul B. Janeczko

Illustrator: Richard Jones

ISBN: 978-0-7636-8168-5

Published 2019 by Candlewick Press

@apaintedmouse 

This book was borrowed from the public library for purposes of review.