Keep a Pocket in Your Poem: Classic Poems and Playful Parodies

Thirteen classic poems by poets such as Robert Frost, Langston Hughes, Emily Dickinson, and David McCord are paired with parodies that honor and play off of the original poems in a range of ways.

For example, ＂Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening＂ is paired with ＂Stopping by Fridge on a Hungry Evening＂ to hilarious effect, whereas the combination of Emily Dickinson’s ＂’Hope’ is the thing with feathers＂ with Lewis’s ＂’Grief’ is the thing with tissues＂ is profound, and both David McCord’s ＂This Is My Rock＂ and Lewis’s ＂This Is My Tree＂ hum with a sense of wonder. This playful introduction to classics will inspire imagination and wonder even as it tickles funny bones.

J. Patrick Lewis is the 2011 winner of the NCTE Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children and was the U.S. Children’s Poet Laureate (2011-2013). His many books include If You Were a Chocolate Mustache, Face Bug, and Please Bury Me in the Library. He lives in Westerville, Ohio. jpatricklewis.com.

Johanna Wright has illustrated the Top-Secret Diary of Celie Valentine series published by Boyds Mills Press as well as her own picture books The Orchestra Pit, Bunnies on Ice, and The Secret Circus. She lives with her family in Portland, Oregon. johannawright.com