“What is Poetry” is written at a very basic level for children in their pre-teen and early teen years. The ideas presented are introductory and the book contains almost no exercises to allow readers to practice with the material. I imagine this would be most helpful to youngsters who have not yet been exposed to poetry in their studies or home environment. ( )

"What Is Poetry?" is an engaging book that guides children through various ways of reading and thinking about poetry. It also encourages and inspires readers to write their own poems. The author's causal style makes the topic more approachable and fun to read about.

What is Poetry: The Essential Guide to Reading and Writing Poems is a delightful easy-to-read introduction to reading and writing poems. It would be an excellent book for Middle School age students, and even younger students of an advanced nature of Elementary School age; even as an adult I found it a fun refresher course on various Poetic Terms.

The book itself is divided between matters of interpretation of a poem which take up the first seventy pages of the book and then it moves into the area of performing and writing poems along with analysis of the different ways in which poems are constructed.
Interpretation of poetry is taken from a subjective viewpoint with a focus on how poetry makes us feel, but it also focuses on how poetry can make us think as well.

Michael Rosen, the author, does an excellent job of supporting each chapter of his book with a wide variety of poems providing an easy to understand example of the point under discussion.

I’d highly recommend this book as an introduction to poetry that is accessible and fun. ( )

Who better to write a book about poetry for children than the brilliant children's author and poet, Michael Rosen? What is Poetry is just that, a clear and clever book for children about how to read and write poems. A teacher couldn't do better than to lead her class through this book during a unit on poetry. ( )

I really enjoyed "What Is Poetry? The Essential Guide to Reading and Writing Poems" by Michael Rosen. I read it in one sitting, though it's apparent that it was not meant to be digested in that manner. I will definitely plan to use this volume with my own children, as they grow to an age to appreciate it.

The format is well thought out. I especially appreciate the first section, "What Is Poetry?," which is divided into a number of sub-sections dedicated to individual poetic devices, with examples from the poetic canon. In a brief and engaging manner, this book covered much of what I remember about poem explication from my high school English studies.

Rosen doesn't stop at analyzing existing poems, however: he moves deftly from ways to engage with poets of the past to describing some personal reflections on writing poetry himself. Then come "Ways to Start a Poem" and "Writing Poems," which encourage to reader to experiment with writing poetry for themselves.

The final chapter repeats the question from the title of chapter 1: "What Is Poetry?" but this time blank, lined pages are provided for the reader to process the book's information and postulate new definitions on their own.

This book is very visually engaging-- almost surprisingly so, given that there are no color pictures. The use of different fonts, highlighting, and footnotes throughout the provided examples ensure that anyone approaching the book will be able to understand the material being presented. In addition, clever line drawings support the text, while blank space gives room for contemplation.

Recommended!