Publishers WeeklyThrow out the formidable rhythm and rhyme schemes: Ralph Fletcher's Poetry Matters: Writing a Poem from the Inside Out laughs in the face of formality. Organized into two sections "Lighting the Spark" and "Nurturing the Flame" and peppered with interviews with published poets, Fletcher's accessible volume teaches kids to write poetry from the heart. (Mar.) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.
Children's LiteratureBudding poetry writers will receive plenty of encouragement here for both the creative process and the crafting of a poem. In part one, "Lighting the Spark," Fletcher addresses the emotional aspects, the imagery, the sound and what to write about. He tells his readers, "The best poems don't tell us what to think, they show us, and they let us feel it, too.
