Poetry: Poems in the Attic

Title: Poems in the Attic 

Author: Nikki Grimes 

Illustrator: Elizabeth Zunon

Genre: Poetry 

Major Awards:Arnold Adoff Poetry Award Honor, NCTE Notable Poetry List 2016, Texas Bluebonnet Award nominee 

Age Group: 8-10 years old 

Poems in the Attic by Nikki Grimes is a multi-generational story told through poetry. While at her grandmother's house the protagonist, a young girl, was rummaging through the attic when she discovers a wooden box that use to belong to her mother filled with poems that she had written growing up. As the little girl is reading through her mothers poems, she gains a greater understanding of her mother and what her life was like growing up with her father in the Air Force and having to 

move all the time. The little girl reads of all the places her mom traveled to, the adventures she had, and those experiences inspired her to write her own poetry. You find the little girls poem on one side of the page. On the other side of the page is the little girls mothers poem,which she used as her source of inspiration. In the end of the book, as a surprise to her mom, the little girl takes the poetry she has written and copies them, binds them with ribbon and presents them to her mom as what she calls a collection of their memories. 

Poems in the Attic is a beautiful story and would make a nice edition to any 3rd-5th grade classroom library. The book itself is comprised of poems written in two styles both Free Verse and Tanka. In order to incorporate this book into the classroom, after reading and sharing it with the class I would teach the students about free verse poetry and then give them the opportunity to write and illustrate their own free verse poem about a family member or an experience they've had, and like the little girl in the story, we can bind the poems together with ribbon and make a class book of our free verse poetry.