Advice and Inspiration for Young Poets, which is the subtitle of Seeing the Blue Between, is an accurate description of the book's contents. Poet and teacher Paul B. Janeczko compiled Seeing the Blue Between, a collection of poems and letters to young poets from 32 well-known poets who write for children and young adults. These include Douglas Florian, Nikki Grimes, Lee Bennett Hopkins, Ralph Fletcher, Mary Ann Hoberman, and Jack Prelutsky. At the end of the book, in the Notes on Contributors section, you'll find a photograph of each of the writers, along with a paragraph-long biography.
Seeing the Blue Between - The Source of the Title
The title of the book comes from Kristine O'Connell George's poem "The Blue Between." In the first stanza, she recounts, "Everyone watches clouds, / naming creatures they've seen, / I see sky differently, / I see the blue between -". In her letter, George talks about how she enjoyed watching clouds and thinking about what each cloud looked like; then, one day, she became aware of the blue between the clouds. From that sudden shift in her vision of the clouds and the sky came the poem. It is just such personal accounts that make this book so interesting and valuable for young writers.Seeing the Blue Between - The Poems and Letter
The poems, and the advice, are as varied as the poets. Poems are humorous, witty, poignant, and/or thought provoking. While each letter represents one poet's views, the same advice crops up repeatedly: the importance of reading, the importance of writing, the importance of revising (again and again), and the importance of paying attention to what is around you.Seeing the Blue Between - My Recommendation
Seeing the Blue Between: Advice and Inspiration for Young Poets is 132-pages long. The audience for this book is the tweens and teens who are already interested in in writing poetry. This hardbound book is an excellent resource for 9- to 12 year-olds and young teens who are aspiring poets. (Candlewick Press, 2002. ISBN 0763608815)
